Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Is it just my imagination, or is the prime-time body count getting a little steep?
I'm not talking about the deaths of anonymous bad guys or hapless extras. I'm talking about characters we know and love. Or at least like.
Or, in a few cases -- "ER's" luckless Dr. Romano comes to mind -- characters we've grown to tolerate, like a poorly socialized but not outright dangerous house pet.
If I were a member of the "ER" cast, I'd set aside a day each week to explore other employment opportunities, just in case.
Terminated
The past season's death toll included the chronically crotchety Romano (Paul Crane), put out of his misery by a falling helicopter, as well as a pair of little-seen but much-discussed loved ones, Chen's (Ming-Na) mother and Weaver's (Laura Innes) life partner.
Carter (Noah Wyle) managed to get out of Africa in one piece, as did -- more surprisingly -- his new love, the pregnant Kem (Thandie Newton). No sooner did viewers exhale, however, then Kem gave birth to a stillborn baby.
As for guest stars, those on hospital shows should never buy green bananas, but the suicide of the architect played for several weeks by Bob Newhart was especially cruel, what with Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) having gotten so attached to him. To top it all off, the season ended with the sound but not the sight of a car accident involving Chen, Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) and Elgin (James Earl). Earl was merely a guest star, so I figure he's toast, but if I were Phifer or Ming-Na, I wouldn't be turning down job offers, either.
Other shows
Here are characters from other shows we'll miss, some more than others:
USaddest death: On Sept. 11, 2003, one of TV's best-loved actors died of a heart ailment. John Ritter's death was followed a few weeks later by the offscreen demise of Paul Hennessy, the character he played on "8 Simple Rules." After a moving episode or two in which the other actors' grief seemed to find expression through the characters, the sitcom, which depended heavily on Ritter's playful ease, quickly faltered. Its renewal for next season may have had more to do with ABC's lack of options than anything else.
UMost unfairly unceremonious death: You could argue that "The Sopranos"' Adriana (Drea de Matteo) had it coming, even though it wasn't exactly her choice to cooperate with the feds. You could even say de Matteo had it coming, what with her much-hyped defection to NBC to play Matt LeBlanc's sister on the even-more-hyped "Joey" this fall. Still, the sweet-natured Ade, whose heart was as big as her hair, deserved better than that one-way trip to the woods with Silvio (Steve van Zandt). A few years ago, Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore), who also sang his head off to the FBI, enjoyed a relatively festive cruise with friends before he was sent to his reward.
UDead again: In 1976, after the actor had one too many arguments with "Good Times" creator Norman Lear, John Amos' stalwart James Evans Sr. suffered a fatal car accident. Just last month on "The West Wing," the dignified, decorated Adm. Percy Fitzwallace, also played by Amos, was blown to bits by terrorists. Can't this guy catch a break?
UMissed opportunity: OK, the scheming Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald) probably didn't deserve to come back for a fourth season of "24." But with all that gunplay, not to mention the deadly virus that, without actually depopulating Los Angeles, did manage to take out a few guest stars, couldn't someone have spared a bullet or a bug for the superfluous, fantastically annoying Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert)?
UMost controversial death: This spring, after the historical character Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) was shot to death just four episodes into the freshman series "Deadwood," message boards bristled with disputes over the timing of the murder, the angle of the bullet, the position and disposition of the shooter, the victim's state of mind and even the poker hand he was holding when he died. More than one Carradine fan has demanded a prequel starring you-know-who. HBO has been silent on the matter.
UMost convenient death: Amazingly, "NYPD Blue" ended the season without Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) losing a loved one, but Clark (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) was not so lucky: His new girlfriend, Dr. Jennifer Devlin (Chandra West), took her own life. Must have been the incredible strain of dating a hot series regular on a drama that hasn't had a personal tragedy lately.
XWeintraub writes for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.