# More gratuitous death than Maude Flanders? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654 "2007-07-05T21:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/1 "2007-07-05T21:24:44Z")
I don’t want to hijack the [Single Dad Sitcom thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=427403) so I’ll ask here. Has there been a more gratuitous death of an established character than the death of Maude Flanders on the Simpsons? She was knocked out of the top of the bleachers by a projectile free t-shirt. The whale in Hitchhiker’s doesn’t count because it was created to die gratuitously. (And now I have a mental image of the poor thing wearing a red shirt.) ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/2 "2007-07-05T21:27:18Z")
Tasha Yar? ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/3 "2007-07-05T21:30:05Z")
John Ritter… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/4 "2007-07-05T21:32:50Z")
Kenny? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/5 "2007-07-05T21:36:44Z")
'Twasn’t gratuitous at all. Maggie Roswell wanted more money. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/6 "2007-07-05T21:51:49Z")
Rosalind Shays ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/7 "2007-07-05T22:23:28Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] Rosalind Shays [/QUOTE] Lord, yes! What a shock that was. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/8 "2007-07-05T22:29:28Z")
What show was Rosalind Shays in? > [@](#): > > 'Twasn’t gratuitous at all. Maggie Roswell wanted more money. Now that makes sense. Thanks. Tasha Yar was always going on away missions. Realistically, it had to catch up to a few of them somewhere along the line. Kenny is a special case. Like the whale, it’s meant to be pointless. (Is Kenny’s sweatshirt red?) ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/9 "2007-07-05T22:32:00Z")
Frankie Frame, a fan-favorite character on the cult soap opera **Another World** , was written out of the show via being brutally strangled to death on camera. [Many people are still very upset about this](http://www.igs.net/~awhp/mff1.html). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/10 "2007-07-05T22:38:32Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] [Many people are still very upset about this](http://www.igs.net/~awhp/mff1.html). [/QUOTE] That’s pretty scary. You have to love this viewer’s attitude: > [@](#): > > New producers, new writers persist in making decisions based on what _they_ want to see happen, and that’s wrong. What matters is what the viewers want. We should not be subjected to the whims of storytellers who treat the show as their personal plaything, instead of the sacred trust it is. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/11 "2007-07-05T22:44:34Z")
The British spy drama [Spooks](http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/spooks/index.shtml) (called MI-5 in the States I think) debuts. Episode one is the usual character-introduction/thin story affair, but we meet all the regular team. In episode 2 one of the “regular” team is tortured with, and drowned in, a deep fat fryer, in one of the most shocking and unexpected scenes I’ve ever seen. It got plenty of people talking about the show but boy was it gratuitous. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/12 "2007-07-05T22:51:51Z")
Weren’t the guest stars on **Police Squad!** killed off right away in every episode? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/13 "2007-07-05T23:37:07Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] What show was Rosalind Shays in? [/QUOTE] L.A. Law. She fell down an elevator shaft. Doors opened – no car. No foreshadowing either. If it had happened 20 years later, we would have been waiting for it. If I remember right, the only reaction from the man she’d just been arguing with was a slight wince. The episode title was “Good to the Last Drop”. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/14 "2007-07-06T00:00:57Z")
Rocket Romano. As if having a helicopter prop sever your arm and being the constant victim of unrequieted love wasn’t enough. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/15 "2007-07-06T00:05:07Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] L.A. Law. She fell down an elevator shaft. Doors opened – no car. No foreshadowing either. [/quote] Oh. My. God. This is beautiful. Simply beautiful. > [@](#): > > If it had happened 20 years later, we would have been waiting for it. How so? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/16 "2007-07-06T00:05:39Z")
Thanks, AuntiePam. I remember hearing about it, but hadn’t watched enough to know the character’s name. The fryer death has me cringing. Damn, that’s nasty. And I think I’m going to have to look into the Police Squad! question, mostly because it’s been too long since I’ve seen an episode. Weren’t they killed in the opening credits and never really a part of the shows? (Don’t bother answering, I’ll check.) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/17 "2007-07-06T00:15:11Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] Frankie Frame, a fan-favorite character on the cult soap opera **Another World** , was written out of the show via being brutally strangled to death on camera. [/QUOTE] Heh. I still have an “I Miss Frankie” T-shirt. But the fans got their revenge (sort of). Less than three years after Frankie was killed off, the show was cancelled after 35 years on the air. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/18 "2007-07-06T00:32:37Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] L.A. Law. She fell down an elevator shaft. Doors opened – no car. No foreshadowing either. If it had happened 20 years later, we would have been waiting for it. If I remember right, the only reaction from the man she’d just been arguing with was a slight wince. The episode title was “Good to the Last Drop”. [/QUOTE] I thought the episode title was “Rosalind Gets the Shaft.” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/19 "2007-07-06T00:36:23Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] And I think I’m going to have to look into the Police Squad! question, mostly because it’s been too long since I’ve seen an episode. Weren’t they killed in the opening credits and never really a part of the shows? (Don’t bother answering, I’ll check.) [/QUOTE] Hah! I just bought that two days ago! At least for the first two, you’re right. The guest star is announced and killed immediately. ETA: I should have said that **Gangster Octopus** , at least for the first two, is right. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Perro_Fumando)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654/20 "2007-07-06T00:45:00Z")
What about Lara Flynn Boyle’s character on _Las Vegas_? Not a sitcom, but still an out-of-nowhere death. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gratuitous-death-than-maude-flanders/410654.md?page=2)