Do you ever feel bad when a character on a TV show gets killed?

[exitseven]

Some times I get invested in a TV show and some of the characters and if somebody gets killed sometimes I actually feel bad.

Updates

+1 y

I cried when Tony Stark died.

[abc3643]

In TV history, I can think of only four major TV character deaths that were newsworthy.

The first was in 1975 on "M*A*S*H" in the last episode of Season 3. In this episode, MASH 4077 commander Lt. Col. Henry Blake was given his orders to go home. When MacLean Stevenson, the actor who played Henry was leaving the show, the cast did not know that Henry was going to be killed off until just before filming.

This was a landmark moment in television history because nothing like this had ever happened before.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/E_RWAc1uvUQhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/g3Rh2EkQWhw

The second was Edith Bunker. In 1980, Jean Stapleton had already left "Archie Bunker's Place", but her death in the two-part Season 2 opener was profound.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/pz3lfQlf-wY

The third is less well-known, but it was prominent at the time: In 1991, on "thirtysomething", popular character Gary Shepherd was unexpectedly killed-off. The audience was mostly concerned about Nancy who was suffering from ovarian cancer throughout that season. So, we learn that Nancy's cancer is in remission which overjoys everyone (the characters and the audience), and then we learn that Gary died in a car accident.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/4QbTEQcXkoYhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/SWt1fjTtD_Y

The last is the death of Dr. Mark Greene on "E. R." in 2002. We all knew this was coming, but his death was, in a sense, the "jump the shark moment" on that show.

[abc3643]

Of course, another is the implied death (and later confirmed by writer David Chase) of Tony Soprano in the sudden black screen at the very end of "The Sopranos" in 2007.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x9YACdBUrU

[abc3643]

Oh, and then there's the blonde on "Game of Thrones". I didn't really watch that show to know much of what was going on except that the blonde gets killed by her brother at the end and the dragon melts the Iron Throne. That was newsworthy. I have to admit, I saw that along with everybody else.

[abc3643]

One death that is somewhat noteworthy is one that occurred about 30+ years earlier that "the present" and that's the death of Arnold Weber in "Westworld". We all know that Arnold is dead at the start of the series and that he was Dr. Robert Ford's partner in creating Westworld, but we don't know why Arnold died and how until the last two episodes of Season 1.

In the big reveal, it was doubly shocking.
First, we learn, as does Bernard Lowe, that he is a "host" (a robot) that Ford created to be his new partner and that he designed him to be a copy of Arnold Weber (Bernard Lowe is an anagram of Arnold Weber).

However, moments later, we learn another, even more shocking truth: Dolores, the park's first "host" and who was built by Arnold, killed Arnold (at his request).

This scene captures those two moments. I was blown away as were many fans of the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7lrjIKkMSQ

[exitseven]

I have been watching the MASH reruns on MeTV and saw the Henry Blake one. It was a real shocker for sure.

[zagor]

That move by McLean Stevenson was certainly a bad career move. What did his new show last, 4 episodes? I never see that on reruns...

[abc3643]

@zagor That's because there weren't enough episodes to make reruns worth it.
In Hollywood, there's a magic formula of something like 4 full seasons before you have enough to syndicate. If you think about it, 4 full seasons is about 88 episodes in broadcast TV (at least, it was), so, broadcasting 5 episodes/week gives you almost 19 weeks of shows - almost 5 months.

[lightbulb27]

I did especially Magnificent Seven and Saving Private Ryan. I can't even watch those scenes again.

War is awful. try to avoid it... In the words of Reginald Denny and Rodney King..."Can't we all just get along"?

I cried in Brian's song.

Sometimes they get eaten by sharks too... was sad when watched Jaws.

for some reason when I saw slasher movies and teens were killed by some psycho... and I was a teen... I kinda blamed them for being stupid. maybe I had a psych issue back then...

[exitseven]

Brians Song was a real tear jerker.

[Daniela1982]

I guess the lightbulb finally turned on.

[exitseven]

It was cool to see Capt Quint getting fed into thar sharks mouth. It seemed like a fitting end

[lightbulb27]

@Daniela1982 touche'

[SweetDripp]

Yes. I get emotionally invested in movies and tv series.

[TrueConfection]

Hmm... I've cried when movie characters have died.

[exitseven]

like who?

[TrueConfection]

I don't want to spoil any movies, so I'll name the movie and not the character. City of Angels
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Steel Magnolias
Top Gun
(to name just a few)

[QuickToAsk]

Nope. I often times get a smile on my face when my favorite character is in danger of being killed in a scene. It's part excitement & part nervousness I guess, hehe. I'm like "Whoa... Are they really about to do this for real?" To me it's similar to playing a video game & having a character die because I know it's just a game, they can come back & they're not a real person. In a TV show, I know that the archetype will return. I know that a very similar character will be put into another show that I like or even that same show. So, I sorta shrug it off, but it's kinda fun to see them have the guts to kill off my favorite person, though.

[OlderAndWiser]

I watch YT and college football on Sling. I OCCASIONALLY watch a movie on Netflix or Prime but I don't watch violent movies because I have a visceral reaction to violence on the screen.

[exitseven]

Yes, there is too much violence on TV

[Iron_Man]

Yes but I know it’s fake now if they did that to Rocky. I would have a fit that’s been running since 1976 that movie franchise

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

I was really sad when Apollo died. I wish they made one more movie between 3 and 4 to explore the friendship between Rocky and Apollo further.

Fan fiction dream: take a movie in between 3 and 4 where Rocky now has to train Apollo to be more of a brawler instead of an out-boxer. I think that would have been awesome.

[Iron_Man]

@GuyAnswersGirls123 I know he wanted to come back Carl Weathers and wanted Sylvester Stallone to fix it but he didn’t. I don’t like that stuff either. He killed to many people off in the movie.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

That's a shame. Something I really miss from 80s movies is that they didn't seem shy back then to make characters over-the-top and bigger-than-life. All these new movies always seem so focused on realism.

Take Antonio Tarver in Rocky Balboa. He's a real boxer but relatively boring to watch compared to Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, and Ivan Drago. If I want to watch a realistic boxing match, I can always turn on the sports channel. In a fictional movie, I want to see something epic and over-the-top.

[exitseven]

Did Rocky die in the last movie? I never saw it.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

Last one is Creed 2, yes? He's still alive although relegated to a coach of Adonis Creed.

[Iron_Man]

No..:

[Iron_Man]

The best movie ever is the Rocky movie s

[Iron_Man]

Movies

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

Definitely. Often I even feel bad when villains die unless they're complete monsters. It's nowhere near the same extent of emotion though as when someone in real life dies.

[RebelinSteel]

Not as much as when it’s a character in a book I have been reading / engrossed in. That really does hurt.

[The_Sexpert]

I only felt bad for Abraham Ford's death in The Walking dead..

[AManOnTheWeb]

SPOILER FOR DEXTER:

I was shocked and gutted when Rita was killed. Honestly, it was difficult to continue watching the series afterwards.

[KrakenAttackin]

As I get older I find myself rooting for the villains more than the heroes. I was sad when Tony Soprano bought it.

[LiamJHayden]

The only one that came close was when Joss Carter was offed on Person of Interest just as she and John were getting good. But it was a good move story-wise in that it reinforced that John would never get a happy ending.

[exitseven]

Yea, that was sad. That was a pretty good show when it first came out. Then they turned it into a conspiracy theory show

[sheikalana]

I cried when Jon Snow was stabbed.

[exitseven]

who is he?

[DryGermanGuy]

Yeah. The killings of informants in The Sopranos are often cold-blooded and brutal.

[KittyKat90210]

Yes, if it's a character I liked

[4ngelic]

yea if i get invested in the show

[Nikki1989]

lol, nope.

[AviatorTom]

Nope... it's not real.

[aceleon]

almost always.

[laly520]

used to but now, not really

[Becky316]

Yes, I get invested in TV characters

[Jennz6]

When it’s a person that I like

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

No. It's Hollywood fiction anyways..

[HouseMoat]

Depends on the character, right?

[Paris13]

Sometimes Or When An Animal is Killed. xxoo

[riverrat3]

I cheered when King Geoffry got killed on GOT

[Miah04]

Yup.

[LavLavLuv]

No not really

[Zestyassmf1997]

Sometimes.

[RedInnocent68]

Sometimes.

[Starrrboy]

Totally..

[msc545]

Nah...