THE LAST LAUGH
Kevin Can Wait isn’t the first sitcom to have a character ‘pass away’
In a grim twist, Donna Gables, the wife and mom on Kevin Can Wait, will no longer be with us when the Global and CBS sitcom returns this fall. Following CBS’s controversial plans to replace actress Erinn Hayes with Leah Remini, the network has announced Hayes’s character “will have passed away” before the start of the show’s second season.
Killing off a sitcom character is unusual, but it’s not without precedent. Here are some other examples of sitcom characters that were written off shows in less-than-comedic (or, in some cases, macabre) ways.
SUSAN ROSS (HEIDI SWEDBERG), SEINFELD
Date of death: May 16, 1996, in the episode The Invitations.
Cause of death: George Costanza’s (Jason Alexander) long-suffering fiancée died after licking toxic envelopes for the couple’s wedding invitations.
Off-screen reason: In a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, Alexander said Susan was killed off because the show’s main cast found it difficult to work with Swedberg. “I couldn’t figure out how to play off of her,” he told Stern. “Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine were always misfiring.”
Alexander said the cast was discussing these chemistry issues when Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Elaine, asked, “Don’t you want to just kill her?” Creator Larry David was on board. After the Stern story went viral, Alexander apologized for his delivery. “(Swedberg) was generous and gracious, and I am so mad at myself for retelling this story in any way that would diminish her,” he wrote online.
ERNIE PANTUSSO, A.K.A. COACH (NICHOLAS COLASANTO), CHEERS
Date of death: It was announced in the Season 4 premiere, which aired on Sept. 26, 1985. Cause of death: Unexplained.
Off-screen reason: After struggling with heart disease, Colasanto died of a heart attack during production for the show’s third season. Woody Harrelson was brought in as a friend of Coach’s, who is offered a bartending job after learning of his death. The sitcom honoured Colasanto in the series finale when Sam (Ted Danson) lovingly straightened out a portrait of Geronimo, which the late actor had kept in his dressing room.
CHARLIE HARPER (CHARLIE SHEEN), TWO AND A HALF MEN
Date of death: Feb. 19, 2015, in the episode Of Course He’s Dead. Cause of death: Crushed by a falling piano.
Off-screen reason: Amid struggles with drug addiction and other self-destructive behaviour, Sheen had a very public and drawn-out meltdown, which began during the show’s seventh season and featured verbal attacks lobbed at creator Chuck Lorre. Sheen’s real-life drama led to him being written off the show — his character was assumed to be hit by a train. Lorre got the last laugh in the sitcom’s series finale, which was filled with thinly veiled insults and the revelation Charlie Harper was alive after all — until, you know, he wasn’t.
DAN CONNER (JOHN GOODMAN), ROSEANNE
Date of death: May 7, 1996, in the episode The Wedding. Cause of death: Heart attack.
Off-screen reason: Dan suffered a heart attack at his daughter’s wedding near the end of Season 8, but appeared to be improving in the show’s final season, which found the Conner family celebrating a winning lottery ticket. The show’s last episode cruelly revealed Dan’s recovery and the family’s newfound wealth in Season 9 were both a product of Roseanne’s imagination — on overdrive thanks to her new writing career. Ultimately, it’s hard to say why Dan died, but we know it made for one of the most manipulative series finales in TV history.
VALERIE HOGAN (VALERIE HARPER), VALERIE/ VALERIE’S FAMILY/ THE HOGAN FAMILY
Date of death: Viewers learned of Valerie’s death in the Season 3 premiere Movin’ On, which aired Sept. 21, 1987. Cause of death: Car accident.
Off-screen reason: Harper was dismissed from the show amid an ugly contract dispute. Actress Sandy Duncan was hired to play Valerie’s sister-in-law, recruited to help take care of Valerie’s three sons. The drama escalated into duelling lawsuits between Harper and production company Lorimar Television, which alleged she was disruptive on set. Harper was later awarded $1.8 million in a wrongful termination lawsuit.
PAUL HENNESSY (JOHN RITTER), 8 SIMPLE RULES
Date of death: Nov. 4, 2003, in the two-part episode Goodbye. Cause of death: Collapsed at the grocery store during a morning milk run.
Off-screen reason: Ritter died suddenly at 54 due to an undetected aortic dissection. He had been on set when he fell ill.
HENRY BLAKE (MCLEAN STEVENSON), MASH
Date of death: March 18, 1975, in the episode Abyssinia, Henry. Cause of death: His plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. Off-screen reason: Stevenson asked to be let out of his contract during the third season. In the season finale, Blake learned he could be discharged and return to the United States. The episode’s unexpected ending found a distraught Radar (Gary Burghoff ) delivering the news that Blake’s plane had been shot down. “There were no survivors,” he told the unit.
JAMES EVANS (JOHN AMOS), GOOD TIMES
Date of death: Sept. 22, 1976, in the episode The Big Move: Part 1. Cause of death: Car accident.
Off-screen reason: Creative differences. Amos, who played the beloved Evans family patriarch, felt his character’s eldest son J.J. (Jimmie Walker) was being portrayed in a stereotypical way — and taking screen time away from the family’s other two children. “I felt too much emphasis was being put on J.J. and his chicken hat and saying ‘dy-no-mite’ every third page,” Amos explained in a 2015 interview with the Archive of American Television.The character’s sudden death — which prompted his wife, Florida (Esther Rolle) to break down saying, “Damn, damn, damn” — remains a sore subject (and frequent meme) for Good Times fans.