Worst Way To Write Off A Character?

[Draevyn]

In long running televison shows, they often times have to write off characters for whatever reasons, and incorporate them into storylines. What is the worst write off you've ever seen? Or the cheapest, so to speak.

For me, I'm sitting here going back through my Angel DVD's (I own them all) and I'm on the third season, twenty second episode, in which they write off Gru, The Gruselog. Throughout this season, it was subtely portraying Cordelia's love for Angel, by her making Gru look and act exactly like Angel. So in this episode, they write him off by showing that he feels neglected by Cordelia, and his final lines are "If my princess asks, tell her I've gone for a walk" He starts to leave, and turns back around once more to say "If she asks" and then he's gone. Nobody ever mentions him again. As much as I love Joss, it seemed like he just went "Shit, what are we going to do now?" and then there was nothing.

And suddenly I feel like an idiot, because he does show up again, with Cordelia thinking it's Angel. So there goes my rant for the topic, but damn it, there's got to be some dumb write offs out there.

Edited August 26, 2006 by The Original Outsider

[ClaRK! Kent]

The Hands of Blue in Firefly are never mentioned in Serenity. Sure, they get killed in the comic book, but I can't get that book so it felt a bit like they'd ignored it to me.

Similarly, Riley's exit from BtVS was well wank. Joss is great at characters when they're there, but he's not so good at exits to be honest.

him though.

[Draevyn]

The Hands of Blue in Firefly are never mentioned in Serenity. Sure, they get killed in the comic book, but I can't get that book so it felt a bit like they'd ignored it to me.

Similarly, Riley's exit from BtVS was well wank. Joss is great at characters when they're there, but he's not so good at exits to be honest.

him though.

Riley's exit was one of those overdone endings. But one thing I can say about Joss, is he has that ability to make fun of himself through his writing. Something a lot of other writers would never attempt to do.

[Toe]

I can't think of one in particular, but I can think of the dumbest way to do it.

Have the character get dumped by a new character, and then off himself while listening to Rush.

[Mick]

For me, it was when Sherry Stringfield left ER for the second time. She was in the Season 12 opener, then after that, her character wasn't mentioned again, save for some "She moved to ____". That was just totally sorry.

I mean, come on, some characters on the show had good reason sendoffs. Mark, Good send off. Doug, Good Send off. Then they had shit, like Romano

So...the way they had Susan Lewis disappear the second time really sucked

[The Chief]

Joe Scully on Neighbours.

[Draevyn]

Joe Scully on Neighbours.

For people who have never seen the show, be more specific...

[The Chief]

Ok it was kind of a joke. One minute he's there, next thing he's moved to the other side of australia to live on a farm leaving all his family.

Now he appears in sheila's wheels adverts.

(the real reason he left was he got fired for sleeping or something lol)

[Ananas]

Not necessarily the worst write off ever, but I hated the way they cut off the "TCW" storyline on "Scrubs". They left off Amy Smart's last episode insinuating that TCW and JD had worked through the drama issue, then she was never mentioned again. "Norm" also had an idiotic write-off for one of Norm's romantic interests Jenny. They had gotten together then she was never mentioned again. And she left her fiance for him. Seems rather anticlimactic.

[Vamp]

(the real reason he left was he got fired for sleeping or something lol)

[Guest Small Red]

Joe Scully was fired for constantly coming to the set off his face on drugs, and his on-screen family refused to work with him anymore. I posted this in the Neighbours thread, after I went on the tour of the set. Also when he did show up, the tour guide says he was constantly swearing and agressive to people.

[GhostMachine]

What I hate is, when they have a character disappear and either never explain why, or pretend that the character never existed.

Chuck Cunningham, from Happy Days

The younger daughter from Family Matters

For examples.

Now, I'm pretty sure that Richie and Joanie were referred to as the Cunningham's only children a time or two, and its quite possible that Chuck could very well have died or something (meaning Richie and Joanie were only two children alive), but whatever happened to him was never mentioned at all.

And I understand why sometimes characters don't get a final scene (actor decides not to come back or gets fired between seasons), but it sucks when they pull stuff like saying they moved away.

(For the record, I wish Sherry Stringfield hadn't come back to ER, because I never liked her character to begin with, but I do think the way her character left the show was crap.....because its pretty much the same way she left in the first place, except I believe she had a final scene the first time)

I also hate when they have character development that either isn't needed or should have been revealed beforehand in a character's last appearance. (ie, Elizabeth Rohm's character revealing she's a lesbian in her last scene on Law & Order)

[YI]

Kurt and Brian on Teachers...fucking gay. WORST WAY EVER to kill off characters. I was a little annoyed that Susan and Jenny (Well mostly Susan) went between season 2 and 3 without any explaination. But killing off Brian, Kurt and Matt was fucking stupid. Brian and Kurt were the only major characters who had been on every series (There were Carol, Claire, Liz, Bob and Mr Chong...but they don't count ) and then they get killed off. Why? I could have probably lived with Matt being killed off (Though it's still not great). They should have made up some wacky story about them leaving the school. As all they got out of it was 1 cheap gag. The "I'm not pissing on Kurt"..."Go on. He'd love that". I did like the IT and PE teachers that looked like Brian and Kurt though.

[Skummy]

Kurt and Brian on Teachers...fucking gay. WORST WAY EVER to kill off characters. I was a little annoyed that Susan and Jenny (Well mostly Susan) went between season 2 and 3 without any explaination. But killing off Brian, Kurt and Matt was fucking stupid. Brian and Kurt were the only major characters who had been on every series (There were Carol, Claire, Liz, Bob and Mr Chong...but they don't count ) and then they get killed off. Why? I could have probably lived with Matt being killed off (Though it's still not great). They should have made up some wacky story about them leaving the school. As all they got out of it was 1 cheap gag. The "I'm not pissing on Kurt"..."Go on. He'd love that". I did like the IT and PE teachers that looked like Brian and Kurt though.

We have a winner.

I shed a tear every time we lost a Teachers character

[Number of the Breast]

The way they did that made me sad for quite a few weeks of the show. It was still good, but it was never the same again.

Also, no more badmouthing of Joss. He is God. Think about it, most of the characters from the examples you've mentioned, he didn't write the episode, so when you think about it, he's actually blameless

[ClaRK! Kent]

Conversations and interviews from basically every BtVS/AtS/Firely DVD commentary show that when an episode is credited as written by, say, Steven S. DeKnight, what that actually means is that they all sit around in a room, Joss tells them the entire plot, they come up with lines and the pop culture references, the jokes, etc, the writer does a draft which gets picked over by the team and then they go off and draft again until Joss is happy.

When Joss himself writes an episode, it's basically him in a room by himself 'til it's done, as Drew Goddard and Tim Minear have stated.

He's entirely accountable for the sucky ends some of his characters have received, understandable as some of them were.

[whiskers]

Even though you're primarily talking about movie TV series, what I've just heard about what happens in the latest Star Wars novel seems to fit.

Aliyn Vel: the daughter of Boba Fett, makes her official novel debut (she had appeared in one short comic story, had some information about her printed in an article, and was retconned to have appeared in one of the teen YJK books) and is promptly killed off in said novel...

[TMM]

Conversations and interviews from basically every BtVS/AtS/Firely DVD commentary show that when an episode is credited as written by, say, Steven S. DeKnight, what that actually means is that they all sit around in a room, Joss tells them the entire plot, they come up with lines and the pop culture references, the jokes, etc, the writer does a draft which gets picked over by the team and then they go off and draft again until Joss is happy.

When Joss himself writes an episode, it's basically him in a room by himself 'til it's done, as Drew Goddard and Tim Minear have stated.

He's entirely accountable for the sucky ends some of his characters have received, understandable as some of them were.

Personally I don't think any of the exits of main-ish characters have sucked, I think they've all been good-to-great.

[fineintent]

Dream Team would kill off loads of the first team each season, that was pretty gay.

[GhostMachine]

Even though you're primarily talking about movie TV series, what I've just heard about what happens in the latest Star Wars novel seems to fit.

Aliyn Vel: the daughter of Boba Fett, makes her official novel debut (she had appeared in one short comic story, had some information about her printed in an article, and was retconned to have appeared in one of the teen YJK books) and is promptly killed off in said novel...

Sometimes, I really am tempted to fall in with the virulently anti-Karen Traviss crowd...

PS: And didn't a character on L.A. Law fall down an empty elevator shaft?