# Killing off a character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2012, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298 "2012-01-22T11:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/21 "2012-01-23T18:18:29Z")
I heard somewhere that Henry Blake was killed off because the producers were so pissed that McLean Stevenson was leaving the show they were making he would never never come back. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/22 "2012-01-23T18:47:03Z")
Didn’t _Law & Order_ kill off a couple characters? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/23 "2012-01-23T19:04:26Z")
Part of the charm of _Oz_ was that anybody could die at any time. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/24 "2012-01-23T19:20:25Z")
> [@bmasters1](#): > > That’s what I wondered. Sometimes, both character and actor pass on (like with Michael Conrad, who died in the middle of #4 of “Hill Street Blues,” and as such, they wrote Phil Esterhaus to have passed on in the middle of getting it on, IIRC). It’s still not clear what you’re wondering about. Can you elaborate a little more? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/25 "2012-01-23T19:55:29Z")
There are basically three reasons to kill off a character. 1. The actor died (e.g., Nick Colasante in **Cheers** ; Jack Soo in **Barney Miller** ) 2. The actor wanted to leave the show (e.g., Maclaine Stevenson on **MASH** ). This sometimes inspires #3. 3. The writers wanted to have someone important die for plot reasons (e.g., Amber Benson on **Buffy** ) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/26 "2012-01-23T20:40:09Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Didn’t _Law & Order_ kill off a couple characters? Max Greevey: murdered. Claire Kincaid - drunk driver. Alex Borgia: kidnapped, beaten and murdered. Serena Southerlyn: death by lesbianism. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/27 "2012-01-23T20:42:06Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Serena Southerlyn: death by lesbianism. 😕 I can’t wait to read the wiki on this one… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/28 "2012-01-23T20:45:20Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Killing off characters “makes you care.” Joss can kiss my hairy white ass for all the carnage and heartbreak he’s put me through. I still to this day can’t watch “The Body” a second time. The webcomic “Sheldon” did a series of strips a few years ago, in which [Joss Whedon took over the Star Wars franchise](http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/070401.html). Whedon: “Everybody loves it when beloved characters get killed.” Sheldon: “No! No one likes that! It drives people nuts!” ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/29 "2012-01-23T20:46:02Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There are basically three reasons to kill off a character. > > 1. The actor died (e.g., Nick Colasante in **Cheers** ; Jack Soo in **Barney Miller** ) > 2. The actor wanted to leave the show (e.g., Maclaine Stevenson on **MASH** ). This sometimes inspires #3. > 3. The writers wanted to have someone important die for plot reasons (e.g., Amber Benson on **Buffy** ) I like 2a. The actor left and instead of the character having moved on to better things we are killing them out of spite so they can never return (Maggie Roswell in **The Simpson** , Isaac Hayes on **South Park** ) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/30 "2012-01-23T20:57:50Z")
Well, Maggie Roswell _did_ return, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/31 "2012-01-23T21:07:36Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > 😕 > > I can’t wait to read the wiki on this one… A joke on my part, but the gist of it was this: Serena seemed to side with the defense on a particular case, and was called into the DA’s office. Arthur Branch gently sugegsted that she should be a defense attorney b/c she wasn’t cold blooded enough to be a prosecutor, and fired her. Then, out of the blue, as in this had never even been hinted at any point during her entire time on the show, [this happened](http://youtu.be/aVjmXSS0wKA). Needless to say it was a very strange way to leave the show. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/32 "2012-01-23T22:16:10Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > A joke on my part, but the gist of it was this: Serena seemed to side with the defense on a particular case, and was called into the DA’s office. Arthur Branch gently sugegsted that she should be a defense attorney b/c she wasn’t cold blooded enough to be a prosecutor, and fired her. Then, out of the blue, as in this had never even been hinted at any point during her entire time on the show, [this happened](http://youtu.be/aVjmXSS0wKA). > > Needless to say it was a very strange way to leave the show. 🙂 Yeah, I read that on wikipedia, and I didn’t make it under the 5-minute edit window. I was hoping for something more suited for light fantasies on rainy afternoons. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/33 "2012-01-23T23:20:25Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There are basically three reasons to kill off a character. > > 1. The actor died (e.g., Nick Colasante in **Cheers** ; Jack Soo in **Barney Miller** ) > 2. The actor wanted to leave the show (e.g., Maclaine Stevenson on **MASH** ). This sometimes inspires #3. > 3. The writers wanted to have someone important die for plot reasons (e.g., Amber Benson on **Buffy** ) 1. The actor is Valerie Harper who gets into a nasty contract fight, and the producers say “I don’t care if the show is named after you. NO ONE is irreplaceable!” ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/34 "2012-01-23T23:33:53Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 1. The actor is Valerie Harper who gets into a nasty contract fight, and the producers say “I don’t care if the show is named after you. NO ONE is irreplaceable!” 1. The actor has a public drug-induced meltdown, during which he verbally abuses the show’s creator. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/35 "2012-01-24T04:17:42Z")
In the UK it seems to be the case that if an actor dies in the middle of a long running programme the producers leave it up to their family to suggest how the character gets written out. In the case of a young actress who died in a fall they chose to have her character win just big enough in the lottery to join another ex character in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/36 "2012-01-24T04:22:01Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > 1. The actor has a public drug-induced meltdown, during which he verbally abuses the show’s creator. Winning! ---
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/37 "2012-01-24T08:23:30Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 1. The actor is Valerie Harper who gets into a nasty contract fight, and the producers say “I don’t care if the show is named after you. NO ONE is irreplaceable!” And Valarie Harper said, “Who cares, I own part of the show, so whether I’m there or not I still make money” 🙂 Often it’s a way of a producer sending a message to actors. Norman Lear used this on two shows. He had John Amos, killed off “Good Times” as he and the actor were constantly butting heads. So when Amos left, Lear killed him off. This caused a lot of friction with the cast, as when the show was being developed, Ester Rolle and the other cast members didn’t want the show to be about a fatherless black family. Later Lear tried to use the threat against Carroll O’Conner. “All In The Family,” fans will remember the 3 (or was it 4) part episode where Archie went missing while Edith gave a Tupperware party. That was Lear’s way of saying they were ready to kill Archie off. But CBS stepped in and said, “face it Norman, if it comes down to a choice between you and O’Conner, you’re the one that’s going.” So they worked it out. You’ll notice when Lear and Rolle were at loggerheads on her show, this time he didn’t kill of the character of Florida, but sent her off to live in Arizona. This allowed Rolle to come back. ---
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298/38 "2012-01-26T00:40:54Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There are basically three reasons to kill off a character. > > 1. The actor died (e.g., Nick Colasante in **Cheers** ; Jack Soo in **Barney Miller** ) > 2. The actor wanted to leave the show (e.g., Maclaine Stevenson on **MASH** ). This sometimes inspires #3. > 3. The writers wanted to have someone important die for plot reasons (e.g., Amber Benson on **Buffy** ) 2b. The actor wanted to leave the show and the writers wanted a shot at an Emmy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-off-a-character/610298.md?page=1)