EEW! That must have hurt!: Another one
bites the dust in the mythical land of
television (Jerome A. Holst © 2005)
To add a little excitement to November sweeps,
the NBC show LAS VEGAS decided to kill off one
of its characters. The character was Monica
Mancuso (played by Lara Flynn Boyle), a
beautiful women who recently purchased the
Montecito Casino. Now, I don't know why NBC
chose to kill her off. Possible reasons: Boyle
wanted too much money, Boyle was tired of the
role, or scriptwriters were just in the mood to
kill someone. Who knows? But die, Monica did, on
Monday night.
If you didn't see the program, Monica's demise
was sort of weird. Basically, she did a Flying
Nun off the roof of the Montecito Casino when a
gust of wind caught her billowing dress and
swished her to her doom. Well, that's Las Vegas.
Sometimes you win, and sometime you lose, BIG
TIME.
In honor of Monica's death, I decided to put
together a DEATH LIST of other characters who
have died in strange or unexpected ways. To be
fair, I have not included overly referenced
deaths like Colonel Blake on M*A*S*H or the
alleged deaths of Bobby & JR Ewing on DALLAS.
So, for better or worse, here's are my top ten
picks (in alphabetical order) of TV's most
sudden, shocking and weird ways to go.
- Ballykissangel - Pub owner Assumpta
Fitzgerald was electrocuted by a faulty fuse.
She and the local priest were getting a bit
too chummy and let's just say the powers that
be "Nipped that in the bud!"
- Cheers - Hockey player turned
professional ice skater was killed by a
Zamboni ice machine while on tour. Tragic, yes
but funny as all get out!
- ER - Dr. Robert Romano was killed
by a falling helicopter that squashed him flat
as a pancake outside the Emergency Room in
Chicago. To paraphrase a classic movie quote
"Ding! Dong! the creep is DEAD!"
- Friends - Mr. Heckles, died of a
heart attack while pounding on the ceiling
with his broom in an attempt to tell his
fellow tenants above that they were making too
much noise. He dropped to his death in mid
pound. Chandler Bing later feared he would
share a similar fate and die alone. Luckily,
Chandler married Monica Geller. As Chandler
left Mr. Heckles apartment for the last time,
he turned and said "Goodbye, Mr. Heckles,
we'll try to keep it down."
- Hill Street Blues - Sgt. Phil
Esterhaus died from a heart attack during sex.
He used to tell all of his officers "Let's be
careful out there" when they left the station.
A runner up for dying while having sex is
Vicki Groener Rubenstein's rabbi husband, Ben
on Suddenly Susan
- L.A. LAW - Attorney Rosalind Shays
fell down an elevator shaft. When the elevator
arrived, she was talking to a fellow lawyer
and simply stepped into the elevator not
noticing that the elevator had failed to
arrive. Her death came suddenly and was much
appreciated by many fans of the show.
- Mary Hartman - Garth Gimble was
impaled on an aluminum Christmas tree. The
perfect gift for such a surly character. Tis'
the season to be jolly.
- St. Elsewhere - Mrs. Hufnagle was
crushed by faulty hospital bed. Her recurring
role brought only misery to all the attending
nurses and interns. Her death although tragic
was in a sick way, soothing to viewers.
- Seinfeld - Susan, George's fiancée
died from toxic glue on flap of wedding
invitation envelopes. Frankly, given the
choice of a life with George Costanza and
death, I think the scriptwriters were
merciful.
- Thirtysomething - Gary Shepherd
died unexpectedly in a tractor-trailer auto
accident. His character was loved by both the
viewers and the characters on the show. His
death was like a punch in the stomach that
leaves a person doubled over with pain, and
struggling for air to breath. A very sad
moment, that to this day bring sadness at its
thought.
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