I thought of that, but it could be argued that Sheridan didn’t die, he just pulled a Frodo and was taken “Beyond the Rim”(into the west) by Lorien(Gandalf) (sorry, as much as I love Babylon 5 I was disappointed in this particular aspect of the ending - it seemed pretty clear to me that SOMEONE had been reading RotK right before that scene was written 
). The old “no body, no death” rule - especially with the comment that the Minbari believe he’ll be back someday…
I beg to differ here, but Bond succeeds in subduing Rosa Klebb by the time his French backup shows up and is saying something to them when he collapses. The next book, Dr. No a doctor explains to M that Bond recieved a near-fatal dose of shellfish toxin.
The Bond books, ah my misspent youth.
Yes, it was Nichols. It was one of my favorite shows and I can still hum the theme song. I’ve written about it before here on the SDMB. I’ve never met another person who has seen the show, let alone admires it like I do. Funny, I once read an interview years ago with James Garner. He said that Nichols was his favorite show to work on.
IIRC, you can put most of the blame for that on the Adult Swim folks, who waited so long to renew the series.
Does “Valerie” count? They killed off the lead, renamed it or spun off as “Valerie’s Family” then renamed it “The Hogan Family.”
It’ll be back earlyish next year.
If anime counts, we’re going to be here all night. 
Interestingly, the google ads at the bottom of the page are all for P2P file sharing services specifically tailored for the sharing of TV programs. In reading the fine print on the sites, I notice that they indicate that they are not affiliated with any network or studio, and thus fall into that wonderfully grey area that Napster fell into when it was originally launched.
[QUOTE=Ethilrist]
I always loved the ending to the book version of The Spy who Loved Me, because it ended with James Bond on the floor, writhing in pain as the lethal poison works its way through his system… and nobody notices… and no mention is made of it in the next book…
[QUOTE]
Actually, that was From Russia With Love. And Bond’s miraculous recovery was mentioned at the beginning of the next book.
Well, if anime DOES count here’s two off the top of my head:
Witch Hunter Robin - The male and female leads both “disappear” from an underground laboratory when it collapses, but are generally presumed dead.
Big O - The universe itself ceases to exist.
Dallas.
Still the best TV series ending I’ve ever seen.
If you’re talking about the books, then yes, Holmes was thought to be killed in “The Final Problem”, circa 1891. He came back in 1894 for “The Adventure of the Empty House.” His last story was “His Final Bow,” which took place in August 1914. (I just finished re-re-re-reading The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, can you tell?)
The Jeremy Brett version of Sherlock Holmes does have one series end with “The Final Problem” according to imdb.com, but the very next series they did “Empty House” where Holmes returns. So … kinda.
While not actually killed in their own series
The Lone Gunmen were killed in an episode of the X-Files after their series was canceled.
What’s the point of a spoiler tag is in this context? How are you going to know what’s being spoiled if you don’t look? Maybe an exercise in self-control?
Hercule Poirot died at the end of “Curtain”, but I’m not sure if that was part of the David Suchet series.
Apart from the fact that there was no end, dammit…
Cooper didn’t die. The good Dale is trapped in the Black Lodge. Forever. With only Laura Palmer, The Man From Another Place, and a strobe light for entertainment.
I guess if I had to spend eternity in a gaudy limbo, I could probably think of enough combinations of things to do with a morally corrupted teenage girl and a dancing dwarf to get by.
Katherine Helmond once did an interview in which she stated that the series had been slated to go for at least another year, and that new scripts were already written - in which she would have been rescued from the firing line (her rebel-leader boyfriend had taken the bullets out of all the guns & substituted blanks). But the series got axed - CENSORED by humorless fundamentalists. At any rate, Jessica at least did survive the last episode.
Hmm… good point, yeah. Normally I’d say to vaguely mention the fandom that the spoiler is from. But in this thread, if you did that, people would have a pretty good idea who might have kicked it.
Newhart (the one in Vermont) sort of qualifies. It seems he is killed. If he was indeed alive in the first place. On one plain of existence he is dead - ah… maybe.
Magnum P.I. would qualify if the series had ended when it should have. So if you think of it ending without that last lame season, it would be one of the first ones thought of.