# TV Series That Killed Off the Most Regulars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 17, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361 "2023-01-17T18:00:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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 17, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/1 "2023-01-17T18:00:08Z")
My wife started binging _ER_ recently. She picked up in the middle of the run and has already seen two series regulars die (I’m reading the episode summary and notice another will be killed shortly, and I’m pretty sure without checking that another regular character will die before the series ends.) Before about the 1980s, regular characters didn’t die, they just got written out. When a major character like Henry Blake in _MASH_ actually did die, it was considered to be a landmark event. But what series has made a regular practice of it? _ER_ had the advantage of staying on the air for 15 seasons and rotating cast members in and out, so a fatalities were just another way of refreshing the format. Was there a cop show who let you get comfortable with multiple characters who suddenly met unfortunate endings? How about something like _The Sopranos_? The only rule is that the regular character can’t simply have been inserted into the cast just to die. We have to have gotten used to the character being there, and actually involved in other stories. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/2 "2023-01-17T18:02:08Z")
I believe I learned from a similar thread years ago that British sci-fi classic Blake’s 7 will win. I think by the end of the show… all the original 7 including–Blake had been killed off? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/3 "2023-01-17T18:09:31Z")
I assume long-running daytime soap operas don’t count for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/4 "2023-01-17T18:12:53Z")
Most of the regular characters in _ **Boardwalk Empire** _ had been killed off by the end of the series, often surprisingly so. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/5 "2023-01-17T18:13:22Z")
Game of Thrones surely? Basically its the main thing it (or rather the author of the books, George RR Martin) is known for. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/6 "2023-01-17T18:14:40Z")
Of the 28 regulars of LOST listed on Wikipedia, 18 are killed off by the end of the show, 64% Of the 44 regulars of Games of Thrones, 30 are killed off, 68% ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/7 "2023-01-17T18:15:40Z")
_The Walking Dead_ sure killed off a lot of its characters. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/8 "2023-01-17T18:17:18Z")
_Grey’s Anatomy_ sure seems to kill a lot of doctors. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/9 "2023-01-17T18:18:49Z")
Blackadder also probably counts though its a bit of a cheat. It wiped out most of its characters at the end of each season (most famously at the end of that last [WW1 based season](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH3-Gt7mgyM), but it happened at the end of [each](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzsDtSBa_wo).) The gotcha being each season was set in a different era (and the characters were presumed to be the descendants of the characters in the previous season) so they were effectively brought back to life straight away. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/10 "2023-01-17T18:24:36Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > How about something like _The Sopranos_? It looks like The Sopranos was was 13 of 27 killed off. Probably helped by the good number of non-mobster characters on the show. Almost all of the mobsters were killed off by the end. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/11 "2023-01-17T18:48:02Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > The gotcha being each season was set in a different era (and the characters were presumed to be the descendants of the characters in the previous season) so they were effectively brought back to life straight away. - Kinda like _Dr. Who._ ---
**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 17, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/12 "2023-01-17T19:16:12Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I assume long-running daytime soap operas don’t count for this thread. Having actors return as lookalike cousins, long-lost brothers, and evil twins tends to mess up the bookkeeping for purposes of this thread. ---
**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 17, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/13 "2023-01-17T19:43:00Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > I believe I learned from a similar thread years ago that British sci-fi classic Blake’s 7 will win. I think by the end of the show… all the original 7 including–Blake had been killed off? Not only all of the original crew, but all their replacements. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/14 "2023-01-17T20:21:50Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Of the 28 regulars of LOST listed on Wikipedia, 18 are killed off by the end of the show, 64% That’s not counting Nikki and Paolo, right? Because I’m pretty sure they were added to the cast specifically so they could be killed off. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/15 "2023-01-17T20:22:22Z")
Nah, they were supposed to be permanent, but the backlash was too strong. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/16 "2023-01-17T21:24:18Z")
Virtually everyone from the first season. I always explained to friends that the titular “Walking Dead” weren’t the zombies, but the people. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/17 "2023-01-17T21:25:31Z")
The Wire killed off virtually all the “bad guys”. Don’t remember if any of the cops bought it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/18 "2023-01-17T21:33:00Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Nah, they were supposed to be permanent, but the backlash was too strong. I know it’s not an opinion shared by many but I think the episode where they died was one of the best in the series. It was both fan service in real time and a bit of thumbing their nose at the fans in a funny way. It can’t be truly appreciated without following the online bitching by fans at the time. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/19 "2023-01-17T22:06:44Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It looks like The Sopranos was was 13 of 27 killed off. Even if _The Sopranos_ doesn’t win this thread, I remember hearing somewhere that the actors were always nervous when they got their new scripts, because they were always afraid their characters were going to be killed off. Unlike shows that came before, anyone could die at any time. Not even the main cast was safe, which was unusual for the time. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/20 "2023-01-17T22:27:11Z")
Not remotely close to some of these examples, but Babylon 5 killed off at least three characters major enough to make it into the opening credits. Another one is debatable, due to time-travel shenanigans, and two more had their deaths seen in prophetic premonitions during the main show, and then “for real” in one of the spin-offs. Also at least two well-recognized recurring characters. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361.md?page=2)