Beverly LaSalle on All in the Family. The female impersonator who was finally seen in his regular clothes, then went out and was killed in a hate crime. It lead Edith to a crisis of faith, and the agnostic Mike brought her back to herself.
It happened during the holiday season. I can still see Archie looking into the turkey for the missing dressing.
Doctor Who is the champion in this category. There were great departures of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and ninth Doctors, and for the companions:
Rose
Donna Noble
Sarah Jane Smith
Ian and Barbara
Romana
Adric (his departure was probably better than his character)
Perpigillian Brown (until the rectconned it).
Astrid
I just finished up watching The Wire so I’ll throw in
[spoiler]Omar Little. His character is such a legend in the streets and amongst the police (and the viewers), so you’re expecting him to go out in a blaze of glory. Instead he’s popped out of nowhere by a little kid and never sees it coming. Even though he’s such a huge character in the show, the way the Baltimore Sun covers it w/ just a paragraph in a back page somewhere really brought some clarity to the theme of the final season - how the news is covered and who decides what is and isn’t newsworthy.
Of course, Omar is such a mythical character on the streets that the story of how he was shot keep getting more and more exciting as you hear people tell it through the final few episodes[/spoiler]
Edited to add:
Ok… I see that my example doesn’t really fit w/ the OP since he wasn’t really being written out of the show.
Also from The Wire then, there was a producer that died who also played a detective. They had a full-blown wake for him on the show where you could tell that everyone was really feeling the loss in real life and their words were authentic.
TV’s Frank, being taken up to Second Banana Heaven by Torgo The White.
-Joe
In the category of “I didn’t see that coming”, you can’t beat NCIS’ Agent Todd catching a bullet between the eyes from Ari the terrorist.
George Mason flying the nuclear device to a safe distance on 24 also stands out in my memory.
Also from 24: Edgar dying from the poison gas while the rest of the TCU staff can only watch helplessly was particularly heartwrenching.
I always felt that Simone’s death on NYPD Blue was dragged out waaaay too long. I preferred John Kelly’s departure–his words of encouragement to Det. Martinez and his final scene with Sipowicz were properly but not overly sentimental.
Awww. I’d forgotten this. It was really well done and so sad.
I’d love to see this again…wanders off to Amazon.
My favorite part of that was when Amanda Donohoe’s character was trying to explain what had happened to a group of German business (“und Roz… gefallen… splat!”) and kept cracking up. (For those not familiar, Muldaur’s character was hated by the law firm, except for the senior partner Leland with whom she was sleeping.)
The exit of Brandon Fraser’s minor role character on Scrubs was my all time favorite sendoff.
The hot blonde Assistant ADA in Law and Order.
Do you mean Stephanie March?
Huh? All in the Family mentioned twice but not Edith.
I remember watching the episode in which Archie is sitting on the edge of the bed holding one slipper that had been missed when her stuff was taken to the salvation army. He was talking to her and telling about the morning she had died. I cried like a baby.
Ryan Chapelle’s death in 24.
Saunders discovered Chappelle’s investigation and ordered the President of the United States, David Palmer, to arrange for his execution.[1] Palmer assigned to Jack the task of executing Chappelle.[2] The two waited at the train yard Saunders had designated. Chase Edmunds led a raid to capture the terrorist, only to discover that the targeted safehouse was an empty decoy. At 06:59, Saunders’ cronies rolled up in a black van, leaving Bauer with no choice. Jack asked if there was anyone he wanted to call. Ryan replied by saying he had no friends except people he worked with, and he didn’t speak to his only brother that much at all. Chappelle asked to take his own life, but was unable to do so. Jack then said simply, “I’m sorry we let you down, Ryan. God forgive me.” Ryan Chappelle was killed by gunshot wound to the back of the head at 6:59:53.
Are you kidding? I thought all the ads for this (it was a season finale, was it not?) stated that SOMEONE WILL DIE! I had odds on her from the start. It would have been shocking had the promos not ruined it.
The death of Mrs. Landingham on *The West Wing *shocked me the most, I think.
It was impressive just because Chapelle was such a totally unlikeable tool that everyone on the show (and in the audience) hated him. But when he died it was sad.
Just shows that even though 24 can be really silly a lot of the time, the acting and writing can be good when they need it to be.
-Joe
I’ll add to that Jadzia’s death in Deep Space Nine when she was killed by Gul Dukat, who was under the influence of a Pah-wraith.
Henry’s departure was not the only great one on MASH. Radar left in a two-parter. In fact, a local TV station had a “vote for your favorite episode” contest in 1990. Goodbye, Radar came in at #3. (Abyssinia Henry was #1.)
Frank’s departure was not really celebrated, but was well done. His last episode is one of my favorites. “Now there’s your regulation hug.” snerk
I agree with you, tho. It was a good one. I was watching it in bed and I stood up and said “NO WAY!!”
I think that was one of the powerful aspects of the writing of the show. These characters mean so much to the viewer - thug or police - and they just die and it means almost nothing in the whole world of Baltimore.
Oh, without a doubt! Just caught it again last night. It never fails to give me the chills, even though I know it’s coming.
Susan (George’s fiancee) on Seinfeld dropping dead from toxins in the envelope glue of the cheap wedding invitations that George bought.
Jonny from Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps - Killed in Hawaii while attempting to jump over a shark.