If you’re talking actors instead of characters, though, it’s got a pretty big lead.
This link lists 7 characters killed off during the run of Hill Street Blues, including two major players, Sgt Esterhaus (played by Michael Conrad, died of cancer in real life) and Officer Joe Coffey (Ed Marinaro), who actually died twice on the show (the first time his death was changed to a serious injury).
Thankfully, one of my favorite characters, Buck Naked survived the series run.
*I have somehow resisted the long-standing temptation to change my name to Dr. Buck Naked.
On my favorite show of all time Dark Shadows they killed off many characters… and they didn’t even have to leave the show!
Wasn’t the Star Fury pilot character who was in the S2 credits a character that the suits insisted that JMS should add to the show? I seem to remember reading or hearing that JMS said he humored them for one season then killed him off in the S2 finale.
Oh, right, I’d forgotten about him, that makes four-- What was his name? The three I was thinking of were Marcus, Lennier, and Sheridan. (I think the others I was thinking enough are obvious enough to fans of the show).
Warren Keffer – I had to look it up; thought it was Keffler.
We don’t actually see Avon die, the screen fades as we hear lots of laser fire (Avon was surrounded). According to Wikipedia only Blake is dead dead, the others are only mostly dead.
Brian
Vic Hitler nodded off (often) but didn’t die.
Coffey was killed twice? I remember Andy Renko (Charles Haid) was proclaimed DOA in the pilot, but resurrected when he scored favorably with test audiences.
They had to reshoot the final scene, where Esterhaus informs Furillo of the death over the phone. The victim’s name wasn’t mentioned, leaving viewers to wonder who had been killed, Renko or Bobby Hill (Michael Warren).
Over the course of four seasons, there were twelve members of Blake’s Seven.
Gan, Zen, Cally and Blake died in onscreen scenes.
Jenna’s death was reported by Blake, but it happened offscreen.
The sentient computer Slave was burned out. Ambiguous “death”, it could have been repaired if the series continued.
Vila, Tarrant, Dayna, Soolin were shot onscreen, and went down. Ambiguous deaths, they could have been just stunned if the series had continued.
At the very end, Avon was surrounded, and just about to be shot.
So that’s five definite deaths, and six various degrees of probable, out of twelve.
Only Orac survived.
The Liberator blew up, too.
aka “Buck Nekkid.”
I believe the entire cast of Sledge Hammer was incinerated in a nuclear fireball at the end of the first season, when they didn’t think they’d get renewed.
They got better for the second season, when it turned out they did.
The second season was a prequel.
They didn’t exactly get better-they claimed that the second season was a prequel.
Does Six Feet Under count? The entire regular cast died, eventually.
Everyone does.
Notorious prison drama Oz inserted a new character most weeks who would be dead before the end of that episode. But most of the truly regular characters died along the way.
TCMF-2L
The second season of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret ends with Todd detonating a nuclear bomb and killing everyone on Earth.
Then the third season reveals that the first two seasons were all just a dream…or were they?
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.