# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/41 "2023-01-18T13:53:07Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Oz should be given a special mention in that category. Its pilot episode follows one particular character, showing the prison and its intrigues almost entirely form his perspective, only to kill him off at the end of the episode, when you thought he was going to be the main character\*. > > The person who kills him then becomes one of the major players in the show. Every (almost?) killing in the first season is either committed by him, or brought about by his manipulations. > > \*The Shield pulled the same stunt many years later. The first episode of CSI also did this. Miami Vice did something similar. They had somebody who appeared to be a main character in the series get killed in the second episode. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/42 "2023-01-18T13:53:29Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It looks like The Sopranos was was 13 of 27 killed off. Well, either 13 or 14… ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/43 "2023-01-18T14:01:26Z")
The British series _Spooks_ (known as _MI-5_ in North America) killed off its characters at a pretty steady pace. Counting off the wiki page, of the 24 characters from “the grid” (the agents and employees of MI-5), only eight survived the series. ---
**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 18, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/44 "2023-01-18T16:09:25Z")
I actually counted Tony as one of the deaths, but I didn’t count Silvio, who was in a coma ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/45 "2023-01-18T17:02:16Z")
_Slings and Arrows_ did something similar, with the twist that the character who’s killed off remains part of the main cast - as a ghost. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/46 "2023-01-18T18:10:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Miami Vice did something similar. They had somebody who appeared to be a main character in the series get killed in the second episode. Buffy the Vampire Slayer tried something similar. In the pilot, a friend of the main characters gets turned into a vampire. The original plan had been to include him in the opening credits, so everyone would assume he had plot armor, making his death more surprising. But they’d need to cut a different intro for the rest of the series without that character in it, and they didn’t have the budget for it. ---
**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 18, 2023, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/47 "2023-01-18T23:57:15Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > But they’d need to cut a different intro for the rest of the series without that character in it, and they didn’t have the budget for it. That seems implausible… The intro is what, a minute? They produced fifty times that much content, every single episode. They didn’t have the budget for an extra 2% of an episode? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/48 "2023-01-19T00:22:49Z")
I can believe that extra 2% putting the show over budget in the first season. But also, screen running time isn’t a great indicator of cost. The intro was a sequence of fast edits from episodes throughout the season. Super cheap if you’re working with existing footage, but the character in question dies halfway through the first episode, so there’s no other footage of him to use. They’d have to film scenes with him specifically for inclusion in the opening credits, which can get pretty expensive pretty quickly. Or stick to using just the ~10 minutes of screen time he actually got, which maybe didn’t have enough material to pull the gag off. They revisited the idea in Season 3, when one of the background characters does a spell to make him the most important person in Sunnydale, and the intro is reworked to make it a show about him, instead. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/49 "2023-01-19T01:11:29Z")
Marcus Cole (frozen, awaiting revival), Keffer, Talia (erased), Kosh, Londo, G’Kar, Sheridan. Last we see of Lennier was him fleeing in shame. His death during the Telepath War wasn’t part of the canon show. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/50 "2023-01-19T01:15:41Z")
The Expanse killed off a lot of characters, including some that I certainly expected to be around for the long haul. ---
**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 19, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/51 "2023-01-19T02:24:19Z")
Liev Schreiber substituted for William Peterson in several episodes of _ **CSI** _. For a while, it looked as though he was going to be a regular member of the cast, but he was killed off after it was revealed he had a dark past. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/52 "2023-01-19T03:08:31Z")
I believe JMS said the books were canon. He also wrote a short story where, centuries later, the planet that “healing” device came from and they figured out how to reverse the effects or something. So Marcus was brought back. He found out he was excessively wealthy because of back pay and interest, so he (a) cloned Ivanova, (b) went to a museum where important people had dumped their brains (memories/personalities) up to close to the moment of death and either copied or stole everything up to the time of her injury, (c) dumped the memories/personality he’d acquired into the brain of the clone, (d) purchased a hyperspace capable ship, and (e) marooned the two of them on a planet that was an earthly paradise but hadn’t developed intelligent life. It’s a bit overboard, but it sounds like something Marcus would do. He could get dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/53 "2023-01-19T08:36:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Talia (erased) Bester started to say she’d been dissected before he stopped himself. > [@Morgyn](#): > > It’s a bit overboard, but it sounds like something Marcus would do. He could get dramatic. But… did he finally get to… boink her? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/54 "2023-01-19T12:39:25Z")
The implication is there. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/55 "2023-01-19T13:09:31Z")
From season 1 of the Walking Dead, only Daryl and Carol were still active at the end. Rick did not die, though they certainly were initially going that way(they wimped out and he survived). If we go by the opening credits, all of the credited lead cast was off the show and all chracters killed except Rick. That’s right, Daryl and Carol were not credited as leads in season 1. If we included credited supporting cast, three characters survived out of eighteen. **16.6% survived, 85% were killed off, unless I am mistaken.** I’m using Walking Dead Season 1 Wikipedia as a guide for the cast. > [@E-DUB](#): > > Virtually everyone from the first season. I always explained to friends that the titular “Walking Dead” weren’t the zombies, but the people. Rick says this in the comics and show. “_We’re_ the Walking Dead!” ---
**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 20, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/56 "2023-01-20T01:31:28Z")
Huh, I couldn’t remember Marcus’ last name. My brain started to say “Cole”, but then it corrected itself and said “No, that was the guy from City of Heroes”. Huh, I guess Jack Emmet was uncreative with names, in addition to his other flaws. And I’m pretty sure that I remember, in the show, everyone treating Marcus as dead-dead, and we get a suicide note from Lennier. But it’s been a while since I’ve seen it. Also add to the dead-list Zathras (though his cousin Zathras did survive to the end). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/57 "2023-01-20T13:49:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And I’m pretty sure that I remember, in the show, everyone treating Marcus as dead-dead, and we get a suicide note from Lennier. He is mentioned by Ivanova in the “Absent friends” toast (where they immediately cut to his cryochamber). Delenn mentions Lannier. His note was one of apology, saying he wouldn’t return until he had cleansed himself of his shame and was considered “worthy.” He later is killed in the books during the bombing of Psi Corps Headquarters. Said explosion also killed Lyta Alexander. I thought about including Zathras, but he wasn’t killed so much as sent back in Time with Sinclair. Absent evidence to the contrary we must assume he died a natural death a thousand years ago. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/58 "2023-01-20T14:24:33Z")
Zathras have very sad life. Probably have very sad death. But at least, is symmetry. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/59 "2023-01-20T16:13:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Buffy the Vampire Slayer tried something similar. In the pilot, a friend of the main characters gets turned into a vampire. The original plan had been to include him in the opening credits, so everyone would assume he had plot armor, making his death more surprising. But they’d need to cut a different intro for the rest of the series without that character in it, and they didn’t have the budget for it. Buffy did play with this later. Amber Benson made her first and only appearance in the opening credits in the episode in which Tara was killed. And the opening credits for the season 4 episode “Superstar” included a bunch of specially-shot clips of Danny Strong as Jonathan, as the ep was about him inserting himself into the Scoobies’ memories of their adventures. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361/60 "2023-01-20T17:24:54Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > Buffy did play with this later. Amber Benson made her first and only appearance in the opening credits in the episode in which Tara was killed. And the opening credits for the season 4 episode “Superstar” included a bunch of specially-shot clips of Danny Strong as Jonathan, as the ep was about him inserting himself into the Scoobies’ memories of their adventures. Yes, Amber Benson had enough footage at that point to actually edit in content to look comprehensive. Jesse(the character’s name) had, of course, no footage outside the first episode since he dies in it quickly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-killed-off-the-most-regulars/978361.md?page=2)