The saddest deaths in TV history

The first time we all cried together

The death of Henry Blake in ‘M*A*S*H' (1983) was an emotional blow. Unexpected, with no farewell. The audience was stunned; war also kills beyond the battlefield.

The scene that silenced the whole USA

When George O’Malley died in 'Grey’s Anatomy', the nice guy nobody cared too much for until he was gone, the writers pulled off a Hitchcock-worthy plot twist with a scalpel.

Photo: ABC

A horse fall that broke us

The exit of Matthew Crawley in 'Downton Abbey', right after the birth of his son, was not a farewell: it was a ‘deal with it’ from the production. Nobody saw that cursed car coming.

Photo: Carnival Film & Television Limited

The most useful death in fiction history

Ned Stark, beheaded in the first season of 'Game of Thrones' (Game of Thrones), was more useful dead than alive. Rarely does a rolling head support so many scripts. The initial shock was global.

Photo: HBO

A bullet ended innocence

The death of Will Gardner in 'The Good Wife' left us dumbfounded and with a hole in our soul. Nobody expected a judicial execution in the middle of an episode. Not even Alicia.

When fantasy also hurt

The death of Joyce, Buffy's mother in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', was a reminder that even monsters have mothers. And that there is no spell against an aneurysm.

Photo: The WB

The day 'The Simpsons' got serious

Maude Flanders was blown away in an accident involving t-shirt cannons. It was hilarious, absurd, and sad. Fox didn’t know whether to post a "sorry" or "we went too far" notice.

Photo: Fox

He died as he lived: badly

Charlie Harper, played by Charlie Sheen in 'Two and a Half Men', died off-screen by a piano crashing down on him. Symbolic revenge, dark humor, and zero subtleties.

He died throughout the season

When Adriana La Cerva died in 'The Sopranos', it wasn't just a death: it was an execution of emotions. The scene in the woods was long, tense and cruel. So real it physically hurt.

When they ripped away the good one

The death of Derek Shepherd, aka McDreamy, in 'Grey’s Anatomy' was unnecessarily graphic. They killed him twice: with the accident and with medical negligence. Yes, it was Shonda's revenge on Patrick Dempsey.

The silence of the fans

In 'The Walking Dead', Glenn's death at the hands of Lucille, wielded by Negan was horrific. The unfiltered violence even broke the patience of the zombies.

Photo: AMC