R.I.P. Chico Rodriguez, Susan Ross and Dan Conner: A Brief History of 13 Shocking Sitcom Deaths
(If you have yet to watch this week's episode of How I Met Your Mother and you plan on doing so, then, yes, spoiler alert!)
How I Met Your Mother went down a road rarely traveled on Monday when they, quite surprisingly, killed off Marshall's dad. Even though the nature of sitcoms is supposed to be lighthearted (hence, not a drama), death sometimes seeps its way into the narrative for a number of reasons. The most sad, obviously, is when the actor portraying the character dies during production and has to be written out of the show. Other reasons, though, from contract disputes to -- as in the case of HIMYM -- a darker narrative have been a good enough excuse to kill off a sitcom character. Here now a brief history of sitcoms and how they deal with the death of a character.
(Remember, these are all main or recurring characters on sitcoms, so no one episode characters and, no matter how funny Beverly Hills: 90210 could be, no Scott Scanlon. If we've missed any, let us know in the comments.)
Coach on Cheers
For three seasons of Cheers, Coach (Nicholas Colasanto) was the lovable, though somewhat dimwitted, bartender who used to be the Boston Red Sox's third base coach at the same time Sam Malone was a relief pitcher. After Nicholas Colasanto died from heart problems during the third season, Coach's death was not immediately acknowledged. Excuses for his absence were made during conversation and some of his earlier filmed scenes were used as the cold open for the show. At the beginning of the fourth season, Coach's death was part of the storyline and the bartender role was filled by Woody Harrelson. This is Coach's final scene on Cheers.
Valerie Hogan on Valerie
Note to Conan O'Brien: Just because the name of your new show is called Conan, that doesn't mean you can't be replaced and the show's title be changed to Conan's Family. After two seasons, the producers of Valerie made the decision that they wanted to show to be more family oriented and focus on the hijinks of the younger cast members (including Jason Bateman), in an effort to pair the show up with Perfect Strangers. The star of the show, Valerie Harper, did not agree with this new tone and was fired -- on the show Valerie died in a car accident. Valerie (which would later be renamed Valerie's Family then The Hogan Family) lasted four more seasons without the title character. As usual, pretty much every wrong in the world can eventually be traced back to Balki Bartokomous.
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Comments
Mr. Leary on "Dawson's Creek." Lord why do I know that?
Goddamnit. I had never seen that News Radio clip before. Still a little choked up. We still miss you Phil.
I used to like Roseanne, but checked out once all of a sudden there were, like, 15 people living in the Conner house. I had NO IDEA that Dan died...
You forgot the death of Buffy's mother Joyce in season 5 on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not only was the episode titled 'The Body' gripping and realistic since there was no music used but in a show filled with the supernatural, Joyce's natural death really brought more to the already too-real episode especially in the long, no cut take of Buffy finding her mother.
Val, As affecting as Joyce Summers' death was, Buffy was no sitcom (see title of article).
I didn't know Dan Conner died either on Roseanne. I had stopped watching a few seasons in.
I always thought that Buffy was a joke.
If this is comedies, then you definitely missed out on a few Scrubs one's. I know since the show is set in a hospital, there is plenty of death, but John Ritter as JD's dad, or Brenden Fraser as Cox's brother-in-law were both really moving and sad
You need some serious fact-checking. Henry Blake ran the 4077th for 3 seasons, not 2, and he died in a helicopter crash, not a plane crash. Also, Edith Bunker was in 202 episodes, not 1 season. Or were TV season just a LOT longer in the '70's.......
uhh, Chuckles the Clown ???
Thanks for the correction about Stevenson and the third season; it's been noted. However, he was shot down in a plane. And, accurately, Edith Bunker was killed off after a season of ABP, not eight seasons of AITF.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong about Henry Blake's death. Radar's line (which can be heard in the provided video clip) was "Henry Blake's plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan." As for Edith Bunker, she was in over two hundred episodes of "All in the Family" but only five epsidoes of "Archie Bunker's Place," which is the show on which her character was killed off.
Jack Soo (as Yemana) on Barney miller. They never really killed him off on the show, but had instead a very real tribute episode with the cast reminiscing.
...Ned Flanders wife???
Does Sesame Street count as a comedy? Cuz the death of Mr. Hooper literally scarred me for life.
NBC's "Night Court" inexplicably lost not one but two court bailiffs. I bet that Marsha Warfield was sitting on pins & needles...
What about Rita?! Dexter's wife! If that didn't come as a shock, then you must be a writer on that show!
Can a character death really be shocking when the actor who played that character died in real life? It would be more shocking if they just literally recast the part...
Really? You consider Dexter a sitcom?
Yes! And I believe they even did an episode focusing on Bull and his concern that it was going to happen again.
I *almost* included this. But, alas, there was no way that I could somehow make the case that Sesame Street was a sitcom.
PHYLLIS' husband, Lars Lindstom
"Dark" isn't the word i'd use for Seinfeld - bull-goose raving stupid and pointlessly boringly not funny, maybe.
You are wrong. No where is it stated that Henry Blake is in a helicopter when he died. He was flying over the Sea of Japan, so he was definatley in an airplane.
And Edith was in only one season of Archie Bunkers Place (a spinoff of All in the Family)
You left out the best TV death ever--Chuckles the Clown.
Wow, do most of you posters know what a SITCOM is?
Anyway, regarding your list: I would rarely count any sitcom in which one of the actors actually died as a shocking sitcom death, since everybody already knew that the actor had died by the time the show aired. But, yeah, stuff like Roseanne, Valerie and Seinfeld (what the hell does everyone have against the finale anyway???) were totally shocking. If we'd allow cartoons (which I'm not sure we should since the death of a cartoon character naturally has less of an effect than on a character played by a live actor), I'd put:
-Maude Flanders on The Simpsons
-Kevin Swanson on Family Guy: the guy's just not around for like 5 years, then Peter just casually asks Joe, his dad, "Hey, whatever happened to Kevin?" to which Joe replies, "He died in Iraq." That's it, no further explanation needed.
-Chef on South Park: not so much shocking as gross and horrific. Loved it when he crapped himself.
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