- 5 months ago
Sometimes the loss of a cast member leaves TV shows in a tough spot, leading to awkward or uncomfortable ways of handling their absence. From ignoring key characters to unsettling plot twists, this video explores moments when shows struggled to pay fitting tribute or continue gracefully after an actor’s death. Join us as we look at some of the most difficult and questionable responses in television history.
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00:00Oh my god. There it is.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the most uncomfortable ways that TV shows
00:10addressed the death of a cast member, or failed to address it.
00:15He's probably just having a weird reaction. I'm sure we all had weird reactions when we found out.
00:20I know I did.
00:23Lisa Robin Kelly as Laurie Foreman. That 90s show.
00:27Multiple tragedies loomed over the That 70s Show franchise when this sequel series arrived.
00:34Among them was the death of Lisa Robin Kelly,
00:37who played Eric's sister Laurie throughout the first few seasons.
00:41Well, I'm glad we're all eating dinner together as a family.
00:45Yeah, it's nice, especially since Laurie could make it from all the way across town.
00:48Kelly suddenly left the sitcom due to personal issues, including substance use.
00:54Christina Moore replaced her in season 6, until Laurie was written out altogether.
00:59Hey, little brother.
01:00Hey, hubby.
01:02Don't hubby me. I'm mad at you.
01:04Aw, but I brought you a souvenir.
01:06Kelly died in 2013, a decade before that 90s show premiered.
01:11While we give the producers credit for not recasting the role again,
01:15Laurie is awkwardly only mentioned a couple of times.
01:18The last we hear of her is when Katie reflects on Laurie's criminal tendencies.
01:24When I had a teenage daughter, I did a lot of yelling,
01:27but I wish I could take all those moments back.
01:30Kids don't steal trucks or, in my daughter's case,
01:35rob a Kmart with her pastor for no apparent reason.
01:40It's supposed to be funny, but it just reminds us of Kelly's legal troubles.
01:44Joseph Kearns as George Wilson, Dennis the Menace
01:48When we think of Dennis the Menace, two things come to mind.
01:52His trusty slingshot and his long-suffering neighbor, good old Mr. Wilson.
01:57Despite his best intentions, Dennis had a way of getting into trouble,
02:01with Mr. Wilson often enduring the consequences.
02:04Sheepers, what's the matter, Mr. Wilson?
02:07Oh, it's nothing, nothing. It's just a little crick in my back.
02:10Uh-oh.
02:10Their dynamic was at the core of the show,
02:13which suffered a curveball when Joseph Kearns died in 1962.
02:18Ironically, the last episode to air before Kearns' death
02:21centered on Mr. Wilson making a will,
02:24concerned his days are numbered.
02:26Your father is trying to say that the watch goes to you after I die, Dennis.
02:31But, jeepers, aren't you feeling well, Mr. Wilson?
02:35Dennis, I feel wonderful.
02:37In fact, if I felt any better, I'd be worried.
02:40The final episode featuring Kearns aired toward the end of season three.
02:44By the fourth and final season, George and Martha had moved away.
02:49John and Eloise Wilson served as replacements,
02:51but it wasn't the same without the old Mr. Wilson.
02:55Eloise, do you realize that that food Dennis is spilling all over our carpet cost me $3.65?
03:02Yes, dear. Plus tax.
03:06Leslie Dwyer as Mr. William Partridge.
03:09Heidi High.
03:10When a cast member passes away,
03:12some shows choose to have their characters die as well.
03:15This British sitcom took that approach when actor Leslie Dwyer died.
03:20Kind of.
03:20It's a dummy. It's a Taylor's dummy. It isn't Partridge at all.
03:25Dwyer, who played bitter children's performer Mr. Partridge,
03:29succumbed to respiratory failure in 1986.
03:33Toward the beginning of the seventh series,
03:35Mr. Partridge is seemingly discovered in the pool with a knife in his back.
03:39I'll go and tell 999.
03:40Hang on a minute.
03:41We're not doing anything till we've rung Joe Maplin.
03:44If this gets out, it could ruin him.
03:45I don't care about Joe Maplin.
03:47There's been a murder.
03:48A poor old man's been done to death.
03:49Stop catching hysterical, Spike.
03:51Come with me and keep your mouth shut.
03:52The episode mixes quirky farce, murder mystery, and dark comedy.
03:57But it feels a little too dark and tasteless,
04:00knowing that the actor who played Mr. Partridge died in real life.
04:04In the end, it's revealed that Mr. Partridge faked his murder and ran off with a woman.
04:09It would be a funny twist if Dwyer weren't actually dead.
04:13How could he have gone to so much trouble just to have revenge on us?
04:16I mean, what did we ever do to him?
04:17To his bitch a spike, and the bitch a man will go to any lens.
04:20Pete Duell as Hannibal Hayes, Joshua Smith, alias Smith and Jones.
04:26This western centered on a couple of cousins on the run,
04:29trying to leave their criminal past behind.
04:31Pete Duell played one half of the reformed outlaws as Hannibal Hayes,
04:36who also goes by Joshua Smith.
04:38We're not going to deny that we're carrying Hayes.
04:40There's no use in doing that.
04:41Because you heard everything we said back there.
04:44But what you didn't hear was that we haven't done any outlawing in almost a year.
04:48That's right.
04:50If we can just stay out of trouble, and out of jail,
04:53the governor of the Wyoming Territory is going to cancel those warrants for our arrest.
04:56As the second season aired, Duell took his own life,
05:00having been dealing with depression, substance use, and legal issues.
05:04With Duell being integral, executive producer Joe Swirling Jr.
05:08felt the most logical and respectful decision would be to end the show.
05:13ABC didn't agree, reportedly telling Swirling that they'd sue if he didn't fulfill his contract.
05:19Woo-wee, that's a lot of money.
05:22Yep, and I think there's the same one on the other one.
05:25Oh, I'll be darned at the rate.
05:27Roger Davis, the show's narrator, thus filled in as the new Hannibal Hayes.
05:32It wasn't long after that Alias Smith & Jones was canceled,
05:36with many feeling the show died with Duell.
05:38Yeah, that's kind of funny.
05:40Because I've been thinking the same thing.
05:43I guess it's being way up here all alone.
05:45From one classic Western to another,
05:52the long-running Bonanza ended the same month as Alias Smith & Jones.
05:56A scheduling change and the declining popularity of Westerns contributed to this.
06:01Another reason was the death of Dan Blocker a year earlier.
06:04He ate some of this.
06:05He sent us a wire and he wants us to get out from under this place.
06:08Joseph, that was before he knew about the fortune.
06:10Oh, the fortune.
06:11Now, that's fairytale talk.
06:12There's no fortune in this.
06:13Well, you know Dolly Ripple comes in and you ask him yourself.
06:15Playing gentle giant Haas Cartwright,
06:18Blocker had been with the show from the beginning,
06:20appearing in 415 of its 431 episodes.
06:25After all this time, Haas deserved a proper send-off.
06:29At the start of the final season, though, Haas is just gone.
06:32For your information, I'm not even nervous.
06:34Oh, yeah?
06:35Then how come you're nailing your fingers to the roof?
06:39You keep your mind on your work and never mind the jokes, little brother.
06:42While not outright ignored, Haas' death is such an elephant in the room.
06:47Co-star Michael Landon said, quote,
06:49It might not please everybody.
06:51I'm sure that some people would rather have a whole hour memorial to Dan,
06:54but we just couldn't do that.
06:57Joe?
06:58I said we better get going.
07:03Yeah.
07:04Phil Hartman as Bill McNeil, Newsradio.
07:07We're really sinking.
07:09Right, right. You got me.
07:12Bill, he's not joking. The ship is sinking.
07:16We're sinking?
07:17Yes.
07:19Huh.
07:20Well,
07:22more cognac, anyone?
07:24Weeks after Newsradio aired its season 4 finale,
07:27Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife, Bryn,
07:30who subsequently turned the gun on herself.
07:33When the sitcom returned,
07:34it was revealed that Hartman's character, Bill McNeil, died from a heart attack.
07:39Well, as far as memorial services go, I thought that was very nice.
07:44Yes, it was.
07:44Very nice.
07:45The flowers sure were beautiful.
07:48This explanation is somewhat uncomfortable, knowing that Hartman's death was much darker.
07:53Still, the episode is respectfully done, with everyone's love for Hartman and grief over his death on display.
08:00After this touching tribute, though, Newsradio just couldn't move on.
08:05John Levitz tried to fill his late friend's shoes.
08:08Of course, this casting choice also carried an uneasy sentiment,
08:12as Levitz blamed co-star Andy Dick for allegedly giving Bryn cocaine not long before the murder.
08:18For all these reasons, the final season is almost unwatchable.
08:22Even if it was the most eloquent and moving eulogy ever delivered, Bill Stillwood told me it sucked.
08:28And you enjoyed that?
08:30No, not particularly, you know, but I kind of got used to it.
08:32And, you know, now that he's, you know, not here to do it anymore.
08:36Just, uh, makes you miss him more.
08:39Yeah, it really does.
08:40Red Foxx as Alexander Alfonso Royal, the Royal Family.
08:45Where's Al? Out the car, eating his bowling ball?
08:48Mrs. Royal, it's about Al.
08:50We got some awful news.
08:53Best known for Sanford and Son, Red Foxx staged a TV comeback with the Royal Family,
08:59which Eddie Murphy created.
09:01The sitcom centered on Foxx's Alexander Royal and his wife Victoria, played by Della Reese.
09:07After barely a month on the air, Foxx endured chest issues on set.
09:12At first, some thought Foxx was recycling one of Fred Sanford's classic bits.
09:16This heart attack was real, though, and Foxx didn't recover.
09:21The doctor comes out and says,
09:23Mrs. Foxx, we've done all that we can do.
09:27And your husband is gone.
09:30And standing this close were two of the producers.
09:37And they said, well, we're going to do it with the script.
09:40With the star gone, it didn't make sense for the show to continue.
09:44The producers tried anyway, bringing in Jackay Harry as Victoria's half-sister,
09:49who was later retconned as her daughter.
09:51The writers scrambled to figure out how the show could function without Foxx.
09:56Short answer, it couldn't, ending with two episodes unaired.
09:59Can't you just accept that I want to be here in a time of need?
10:03Oh, I accept it.
10:05I just want to know what it is you need.
10:07Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano.
10:10The Sopranos.
10:11HBO was aware that Nancy Marchand was living with lung cancer
10:15when she landed the role of Tony Soprano's mother.
10:18Although Livia was supposed to die in season one,
10:21Marchand reportedly convinced David Chase to keep her around.
10:24I just worry about you.
10:26And don't start with that nursing home business again.
10:29It's not a nursing home.
10:30How many times have I got to say this?
10:31It's a retirement community.
10:33You're an active senior your own age.
10:35You go places.
10:36You do things.
10:37I've seen these women in these nursing homes,
10:40in these wheelchairs, baffling like idiots.
10:43They're each of your eggplants.
10:44Heading into season three, Chase had big plans for Livia Soprano,
10:48who was going to testify against her son.
10:51Chase had to change course when Marchand's cancer took its toll.
10:54Svetlana's waiting for us over there.
10:56She's dead.
10:59I'm sorry, dad.
11:03That your mom died.
11:05Although Livia dies from a stroke off screen,
11:08she was given a final scene with Tony using old sound clips and CGI.
11:12It's awkwardly apparent to the audience that this scene was devised after Marchand died.
11:18Not only is it distracting, but it adds little to Livia's character arc,
11:22making us question why it even exists.
11:24Now look here.
11:26I don't like that kind of talk.
11:29Now just stop it.
11:30It upsets me.
11:31Willie Garson as Stanford Blatch.
11:34And just like that.
11:35When Sex and the City returned with this sequel series,
11:39everyone mourned the loss of a beloved character.
11:42No, not Mr. Big.
11:43Obviously, we mean Stanford.
11:46What a chic place for a funeral.
11:48Trust me, it's the only chic place for a funeral.
11:51Thank God for these lesbians.
11:53Willie Garson was on board to reprise his role as one of Carrie's best friends.
11:58Garson even shot three episodes, but he died from pancreatic cancer during production.
12:03And just like that, Stanford left his husband, moved to Japan to manage a TikToker,
12:09and then somehow wound up as a Shinto monk who doesn't care about possessions anymore.
12:14All of which occurs off screen.
12:16Good Photoshop.
12:17What's the bit?
12:18No, no, no.
12:18There's no bit.
12:19He had a big, ugly fight with his TikTok client.
12:23She fired him and ran off to Berlin.
12:25He wandered around Kyoto for days crying, eventually found his way into a temple where
12:33I guess he stopped crying.
12:37We get that there wasn't an easy way to explain Stanford's sudden absence,
12:41and they weren't going to have another funeral right after Biggs.
12:45Still, this has the carelessness of I'm sorry, I can't, don't hate me.
12:50By the time you read this, I'll be in Tokyo.
12:53I mean, who is he, the lost Bronte sister?
12:56He said he couldn't bring himself to tell you he was leaving face-to-face after Bigg died.
13:00Right, and a note is so much more compassionate.
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13:18Freddy prints as Francisco Chico Rodriguez.
13:21Chico and the Man.
13:23If you're looking for a job, forget it.
13:25I told you, I don't want a job.
13:27Good.
13:27I want to be part of something.
13:28I want to be long.
13:29I want my place in the sun.
13:30Go to the beach.
13:33It's never easy for a show to proceed after a cast member dies, especially when it's a lead.
13:39The world was shocked and devastated when Freddy Prince took his life at the height of his
13:43comedy career, which seemed like it was just getting started.
13:46Prince reached another level of popularity as one half of Chico and the Man.
13:52Oh, I wish I could talk to you in Spanish.
13:55Why?
13:55What do you want to say?
13:56Get out of my garage.
13:58Well, do you want to say that in a friendly form or for strangers?
14:00Although many felt the show should have ended after Prince's death, the final episodes of
14:05season three moved forward without Chico.
14:08At the beginning of season four, Ed takes a kid named Raul under his wing, nicknaming him
14:14Chico.
14:15It's later revealed that the real Chico died.
14:18Despite Ed's comment that you're all Chico's, there was truly only one, and the show didn't
14:23last without him.
14:25Man, I won't need an extra half hour for lunch today, tomorrow, or any other day.
14:29I'm leaving the garage and I'm leaving you.
14:31Which show do you think mishandled the death of an actor?
14:34Let us know in the comments.
14:36They never did treat him with the respect that he should have had.
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