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Name: Mr. Hooper (Will
Lee)
Location: "Sesame Street"
Cause of
Death: Cancer/heart attack
Date of Death:
1983
Breakdown: Lee, the actor who played the longtime
store owner Mr. Hooper, died off camera. And in one of the most
historic episodes of television, the producers of "Sesame Street"
decided to tackle it head-on and discuss an issue never explored on
children's television. In a delicate, heartbreaking skit, Big Bird
comes to deliver a gift to his old friend, but the gang (Bob, Susan,
Luis, etc.) reminds him that Mr. Hooper has died. Big Bird, standing
in for innocent children everywhere, doesn't understand ("Oh yeah. I
remember. Well, I'll give it to him when he comes back.") and must
have death explained to him. "Big Bird, when ... when people die,
they don't come back," Susan explains. The short skit ends with a
group cry ... and that includes everyone watching at home.
| |
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Name: Russell "Stringer" Bell
(Idris Elba)
Location of Death: "The Wire"
Date of Death:
2004
Cause of Death: Gunshot wounds, by Omar and Brother
Mouzone
Breakdown: For all of the death, decay, drugs and
double-crosses on "The Wire," it's surprising that few of the show's
main cast members have died. But of those who did die (D'Angelo
Barksdale) and those that almost got it (Brother Mouzone), their
blood was mostly on the hands of Stringer Bell, the smartest,
coldest gangsta in West Baltimore. Problem was (and Stringer should
have known this), no one is suave enough to beat the game. To him
everything was business, whether that meant offing his best friend's
brother or planning a hit on a state senator. But he painted himself
into a corner, squashing too many lives in the name of
business ... and he never learned. When he's trapped in an
abandoned building, by the armed Brother Mouzone and Omar (both
seeking revenge), he offers them money for his life. Omar's
response? "You still don't get it, do you, bro? It ain't about your
money." | |
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Name: Lt. Col. Henry Blake (McLean
Stevenson)
Location of Death: "M*A*S*H"
Date of Death:
1975
Cause of Death: Plane crash
Breakdown:
Until Blake's death, "M*A*S*H" was played out strictly as a comedy.
When McLean Stevenson left the show (he wanted more money), the
writers gave him one of the most shocking send-offs in history and a
reminder that yes, folks, this is a show set during wartime. Henry
receives news that he is discharged and, after the usual tearful,
clichéd goodbyes that made "M*A*S*H" cheap (see the finale), flies
out. While the staff is busy saving lives in OR, Radar (Henry's
closest friend) walks in and kicks America in the gut: "I have a
message. Lt. Col. Henry Blake's plane was shot down over the Sea of
Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors."
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Name: Ralph Cifaretto (Joe
Pantoliano)
Location of Death: "The Sopranos"
Date of Death:
2002
Cause of Death: Head smashed into a floor,
repeatedly, by mob boss Tony Soprano
Breakdown: So many
have died on "The Sopranos" that it was tough to pick just one.
Though Big Pussy's whacking was a more emotional death, we saw it
coming. Psychotic Ralphie's death wasn't only shocking and
unexpected, but perhaps the most disgusting and brutal we've seen
outside of a Scorsese film. When Tony thinks Ralphie set fire to
their racehorse, Pie-O-My, for the insurance money, it leads to the
mother of all fist-fights ... and Ralphie's bloody death. Even
worse, Ralphie's body is stoically dismembered after death (most
famous, his head ends up in a bowling ball bag). It's also another
reminder that Tony, our charming, wisecracking, "family man"
protagonist, is also a ruthless monster, an essential dichotomy that
fuels the complex "Sopranos." | |
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Name: Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle
Gellar)
Location of Death: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
Date
of Death: 2001
Cause of Death: Mystical: She jumps
from a high platform into a time portal to stop the Apocalypse
(again) and then falls to the ground dead
Breakdown: So
many painful deaths populate "Buffy" that another list is needed.
I'm sure many of you will write in and say Tara or Joyce or Jenny
Calendar or Anya belongs here instead. Yes, those were all rough
(especially Tara). However, it comes down to one thing: They were
supporting characters. When Joss Whedon and crew killed off their
titular character at the end of season five, you could hear gasps
across the Buffyverse. Gutsy doesn't begin to describe the plot
twist. And, yes, she came back in season six, but that was even more
twisted and upsetting than her beautiful self-sacrifice. The final
images are lasting. After Buffy's dead body is shown lying on the
ground, friends sobbing around her, you think, "Nah, she's not
really dead. They can't kill the main character." Cut to a
gravestone that reads: "BUFFY ANNE SUMMERS; 1981-2001; BELOVED
SISTER, DEVOTED FRIEND, SHE SAVED THE WORLD A LOT." Sniff.
| |
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Name: Teri Bauer (Leslie
Hope)
Location of Death: "24"
Date of Death:
2002
Cause of Death: Knife wound, by Nina
Myers
Breakdown: In one day, Teri Bauer, wife of special
agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) was
kidnapped, tortured, raped, thought her daughter had been killed,
got amnesia, and found out she was pregnant. She was rescued, her
husband stopped a terrorist plot, and it looked like everyone would
live happily ever after. Until special agent-turned-traitor Nina
Myers took her hostage, tied her up and slashed her throat, leaving
her lifeless body to be found by her hubby in the season's final
scene. Whoa! This was a
jump-off-your-couch-and-scream-your-favorite-obscenity moment ...
and then time to applaud the producers of "24" for having the guts
to pull off the most shocking death in TV history. If you say you
expected this, you're lying. If you didn't think anyone could die at
any time in "24," that no one is safe, you know now.
Honorable Mentions:
Edith Bunker ("All in the Family")
Boone ("Lost")
Wild Bill Hickok ("Deadwood")
Laura Palmer ("Twin Peaks")
Kenny ("South
Park")
| |
Which TV death affected
you the most? Write us at heymsn@microsoft.comDave McCoy is the
managing editor for MSN Movies, a music junkie and a TV addict. He
needs to get out more. |
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