I guess I'm dating myself - but what about when Gary died on thirtysomething? TOTALLY out of left field...

I'll go one even old - Col. Blake on MASH.

I'm with ako712 on the Whedon deaths, and I'd also toss in Joyce on 'Buffy' and Fred on 'Angel'.

This would be a reasonable list if it were Most Shocking TV Deaths of the Decade, but there was no such qualifier. Therefore some thought should be given to the deaths of characters from prior decades.

With that in mind, nothing was more shocking than the death of Lt. Colonel Henry Blake in M*A*S*H. Hell, even the actors didn't know:

"The script pages with the scene were handed over by the producers, Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds, only a few minutes before filming, so none of the cast knew about that development until a few minutes before Gary Burghoff was told to go in and report that Blake had died. Up until then, as far as anyone knew, they were going to get a message that Blake had arrived safely home. This was deliberately planned so that the emotions shown by the actors during that scene would be as real as possible, and it worked well, so much so that during the second take of the scene one of the extras accidentally dropped a surgical instrument on the floor which made a loud clank." Click Here

Even thought I wasn't super crazy about the show I thought the murder of Bonnie, the deaf sister, on Jericho was extremely surprising and quite heart wrenching.

Yeah, I'd have to go with Dee's death on BSG as more shocking than Cally's. We saw Cally's death coming for at least two minutes before it happened. Dee's was just out of the blue.

I have to agree. Dee's suicide was totally unexpected and shocking, and I didn't stop trembling for the rest of the episode.

I'll have to agree with everyone that Dee's death was way more shocking. One minute she's happy and the next she's dead.

Regarding your opening paragraph, JR Ewing did not die from being shot. There was a reunion movie where he is alive and well and regains control of the oil company.

Sheriff Lamb on Veronica Mars! That was definitely out of left field.

Most Shocking TV Deaths of the last 3 years, more like....

The most shocking TV deaths for me would either have to be Nath on Six Feet Under or Lucy in season 6 of ER. Both completely floored me in the way they were handled. The end of the original Life on Mars was a good one, too.

Gant on ER....I still get chills everytime that beeper goes off!

Good Call with Col. Blake....I remember when the old man who owned the grocery store on sesame street died...

What about Keith on One Tree Hill? I did not see that coming at all and was left gaping open mouthed at my TV screen!!

Wash in Serenity. This was especially shocking if you were a Firefly fan from the get-go (as opposed to seeing the movie first).

I think Joyce's death on Buffy was already listed before.

Notice that this a "list of the most shocking deaths of the LAST FEW seasons"

But, yeah, Joyce's death is the most traumatic thing on TV ever.

"I'll go one even old - Col. Blake on MASH."

You beat me to it.

Also, Mr. Hooper from Sesame Street. It was very sad and the cast and crew handled it beautifully.

I have to agree with David that Wash on Serenity was a total shocker.

Also, Melissa (Scully's sister) on the X-Files. For a show that killed off several great recurring characters (yes, I'm still mad about Krycek), Melissa's death was the one that stunned me the most.

If we include older deaths, what about Romano on "E.R."? I still remember sitting on the couch with my mouth open when I saw that helicopter.

Maude Flanders from "The Simpsons". So random and so unexpected.

David Palmer on "24". No way I expected the former President to be killed.

I completely agree and was shocked that it was not shown in the clip show before the finale. I will never forget that scene!

Roslyn Shays absolutely! Can still remember the gathering around the water cooler the following day!

Dee's death was heartbreaking, shocking, and yet made perfect sense. Poor Dee, if she only held out a little bit longer, she could be frolicking with Lee at the dawn of history on Earth.

Another shocking one was Jack's wife on the first season of 24. I was floored when she wound up dead, I couldn't believe that they would do that after the horrible day she had. And she was pregnant too!

emphasis on "most shocking recent deaths that had you staring at your TV in disbelief?"
I would have say Dualla on BSG as for most recent. But one that enraged and deeply moved me was Amber aka Bitch (HOUSE) top honors for sure!

Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing was very unexpected for me.

The entire cast (well, almost) of Blake's 7.

I gotta throw Ryan Chappelle out there for the 24 list. . Jack executes his own boss? That's pretty shocking.

Glad to see that other people remember Gant and Lucy on ER. Kowalski on Stargate SG1 really surprised me. Also, if I remember correctly, there was a show "Forever Knight" about 15 years ago that wiped out almost the whole cast in the last couple of episodes. No happy endings there.

omg...bonnie on Jericho for sure, how awful was that, and by awful I mean it was great, but awful at the same time...you know what i'm saying...

Anya on Buffy.

I still think of tosh and owen- mostly tosh though, as being on the show. My brain just can't comprehend that she's gone. Too fucking sad.

I'd have to put Dee from Galactica on there. Her suicide was probably one of the most unexpected and shocking deaths on television, but it was one that made perfect sense. Kutner's suicide, on the other hand, was random, poorly handled, and only put on so that they could get Kal Penn out of the show. And Amber at Number One? Surprising, yes, but her death was definitely not worthy of the Number One slot.

Judith on Joan of Arcadia. Didn't see that coming at all. Even though she often annoyed me as a character, her death was sudden and excruciating, and Sprague Graydon acted the hell out of it.

"We're not talking J.R. Ewing (who lived, anyway) back in the day..."

Not completely surprising, considering the storyline that proceeded it for several episodes, but I remember being very affected when Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits) died on NYPD Blue.

Yes! Rosalyn Shays was the most shocking thing ever---and before the internets and spoilers and all that, so just totally out of left field. Down an elevator shaft, just like that!

Co sign the Buffy and Angel deaths. Especially Joyce and Tara.

absotively posilutley THE most unseen death in ages. kutner's & the MASH death also surprised the crap out of audiences.

Nobody mentions Kareem Said from OZ?

Did anyone see that coming?

As embarrassing as this is to admit, I found Billy's death on Ally McBeal shocking as there was no big deal made about the episode and suddenly he is dead. I was not expecting him to die. I'm also hoping that somehow Boone can come back to life on Lost. His death really was the start of the end of my fascination with the show.

I have a very poor memory for names. But remember Miami Vice? There was a pair of sort of goofy cops who put together bugs and other gadgets. One of them ended up dead, overdoesed by some of the bad guys. It ruined part of the dynamic of the whole show. I figure the writers thought that it would be a growth experience for the surviving buddy, but instead that character sort of stagnated.

I totally agree with Lucy's death on ER--that scene with her on the floor haunts me to this day. I think it was made even worse because Alex was trying to save her, but Lucy was conscious and knew she was going to die. If that ep was ever in a rerun, I would not be able to watch it again.

I'm also really glad someone mentioned Ben on Scrubs. I've never been so shocked by a TV character's death--I'm talking about instantaneous sobbing when the twist is revealed at the end. I seriously cried again the next day just thinking about it! That's good writing.

I'd add Fred from Angel to the list. That one was a total shocker for me and true, she stuck around as Illuria (or whatever her name was) for a few episodes, but Fred was effectively dead and as far as I could tell, that was totally out of left field.

Joyce on Buffy: Buffy and Dawn reaction. Ana-Lucia on Lost: Michael why? Nikki an Paulo on Lost - couple buried alive: They are still alive!!

Speed from CSI Miami. Never saw it coming. Also Richard the DA on The Practice.

Ray Fiske from Damages. It even shocked Patty Hewes.

And Lucy's death on ER. That image of her lying on the floor as Carter looks over still sticks in my mind.

Santos from Ugly Betty. Watching Hilda delude herself for so long with her visions of him, and then to learn the truth... weeping! I was!

And how about most shocking un-deaths? (potential spoiler) I had pretty much convinced myself that on Lost, Ben had killed Penny, and possibly the son, and to have that not be true...SHOCKER! Glad, of course, but still shocked. I thought that was how they were going to get Desmond back to the island. Phew.

Adding my two cents to lucy on er. It still haunts me as well ...that weird techno music playing.ugh still shocking after all these years

Adding my two cents to lucy on er. It still haunts me as well ...that weird techno music playing.so well done and a great use of music to add to the creepiness factor...ugh still shocking after all these years

I can't believe no one has mentioned Omar in "The Wire."

"Alex on Third Watch. Girl was severed in half and still alive for a few minutes."
Thank you for Third Watch. Such a sad death. I loved that show.

Veronica on Prison Break. I thought she was going to be Linc's happy ending and was shocked to see how they killed her!

I know! She's not supposed to die, Marian and Robin are supposed to live happily ever after...

Hello?! Marissa Cooper on the OC was the biggest shocker ever!

hello what about denny on greys anatomy!!!! saddest thing ever!!!

I'd still have to go with Col. Blake for most shocking, mainly because no one knew until Radar came in.

As for more recent, both Dr. Frasier in SG-1 and Dr. Becket in Atlantis were pretty out of left field.

I'd also say Dee's was pretty shocking on Galactica. Early in the episode I remember thinking that they'd want to watch her because she wasn't taking it well. After her date with Lee though I thought she'd be ok. Then to pull her pistol like that, that was shocking.

As a self-proclaimed, obsessed House fan, I must say that, for those of us who cracked and read the spoilers (just about everyone!), Kutner's death was not a shocker as much as an event that left us sitting on the sofa, crying our eyes out. Don't deny it. You were sobbing too. I know that I considered not going to school the next day. I continue to fangirl Kutner (almost as much as I fangirl Chase!), and he shall always live on in our hearts.

Amber ultimately deserves the top spot. Her death, too, had me bawling, partially because I miss her cutthroat attitude and partially because she made Wilson happy, and Wilson seriously needs some happiness. Now.

Also, if this list were to add cover-up deaths, then I would totally add Booth (from FOX's Bones) to the list in the top three, for his cover-up death in the season three finale. That was such a sad episode.

Re: Joyce on Buffy. Actually, it was a shock. She had recovered from her illness and had just gone on a very successful date before Buffy found her.

My first thought when I saw the title was Gary on 30 Something and then Col. Blake on MASH.

As for BGS, I'd have to say Dee's was the most shocking, but I have to say almost as shocking (and the most upsetting) was Tigh killing Ellen.

People keep mentioning Tosh and Owen, but nobody's mentioned Owen's first death. I found that much more shocking than his second death, because how long can you really keep a walking corpse around, even on a show like Torchwood?

To go along with the Whedon deaths, what about Lawrence Dominic on Dollhouse this week? He's not dead as such, but he's pretty darn close.

And was I the only one shocked by Tasha Yar's death back in the day?

As Veronica Mars-loving as TWOP is (and rightly so) I can't believe that they missed Lamb. Cassidy's big shock was that he was the killer, not really that he died. It was bound to happen the second Logan got on the roof.
Also Meg wasn't that much of a shock. I was kinda shocked that they woke her up first, but there is no way they were going to keep her alive.
Other than the VM-world, ALEX FROM ROSWELL?!? Out of absolute nowhere. And Quentin from One Tree Hill season six? And I'll add my vote to Abby from Dawson's Creek.

Doyle on Angel. Doyle. DOYLE.

Kenny - the first time.

Those bastards!

As long as some of us are dipping into the mists of the past: Catherine on Beauty and the Beast, and Tasha Yar on STTNG. When Derek died on TSCC, I was all, "They Tasha Yar'ed him?"

The Kutner death is #1 in my books. And thats just because I'm addicted to House :p

Mrs. Landingham was unbelievable.
"No, she is dead."
Dule Hill's performance was amazing.

Everyone's talking about Lucy and Romano from ER, have they forgotten Mark Greene. It's too bad he went out that way, he couldn't come back for the finale.

There's no shortage of surprsing deaths on 24. Jack's wife Teri who was also pregnant. Jack's friends like Robert Ellis, Edgar Stiles, Curtis Manning whom he had to kill, Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida, whom we thought was dead. Jack's bosses like Walsh, George Mason, Ryan Chappelle who died at Jack's hands, and now Bill Buchanan. But no doubt the biggest death, David Palmer, although I was not completely surprised cause we knew Dennis Haysbert was going to star in the new show The Unit.

How about Prue from Charmed? The show centers around the three characters, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe and with one of them gone how would the show continue. It was fortunate that in an earlier episode, it was revealed that their mother had an affair with someone else. And when the new season began, it was revealed she had a daughter whom she put up for adoption. But nevertheless, Prue's death was very shocking.

I'm a bit chagrined to say I've only seen two of these deaths (from Lost and Heroes), so I'm mostly going to echo some others I agree with from above and add a couple more.

Definitely for me Lucy from ER, completely shocking and heartbreaking. Also Roslyn Shays from L.A. Law. That was so unexpected, it took me a moment to figure out what had happened. "Did she just... she did. What the hell?" I was expecting it to be only a floor or two, but nope. Also agree with Dr. Frasier on Stargate SG-1. One moment saving a badly wounded soldier, then zap! - dead.

Yes to Tasha Yar. Also Jadsia Dax on Deep Space 9, because ouch, that one hurt.

Also agree with some of the Whedon deaths, but that would be a long discussion.

Definitely to Joe Coffee from Hill Street Blues and Cherry from China Beach (such awesome shows).

Maybe more emotional than shocking, but still affecting: Catherine from Beauty and the Beast (agree Yvaugh). I'd also mention Elliot Burch here - didn't see his death coming.

Captain Freedom from Hill Street - for such a minor character, I was affected.

And to totally cement my nerdiness - Joxar on Xena: Warrior Princess, because he was Joxar the Mighty! He wasn't supposed to die!

This has been done before. Better. http://www.translucentfish.com/TFP/list_tvd/tvd_01.html

Kate from NCIS will always top my list...it would have been more shocking if we hadn't been spoiled that [i]somebody[/i] would die, but the rooftop scene was intense enough, and the moment of relaxation afterward was brief enough, that it still floored me.

Although the reveal of 'mystery-woman-is-CTB' was more shocking than her actual [i]death[/i], I still agree that she belongs on the list.

Bonnie from Jericho [i]was[/i] heartbreaking, although I'm less surprised now that they Went There given that the show was running on fumes anyhow.

So far as ER goes - I'd only just started watching before Lucy's death, Mark's was too dragged-out to really make an impact, Romano's was too ridiculous to make an impact, and I never cared about Pratt, so I'll have to go with Gallant. (Unless we're counting fake deaths, in which case, Luka.)

Ohh good call on Helen! I had completely forgotten but didn't see that one coming at all.

I'm sorry but I hated Amber, and wasn't in the least bit upset when she died. I wanted her gone long before her tragic death. The one that made me cry was losing Kutner. Of all House's new fellows, he was the one I cared about.
Tosh and Owen on Torchwood would be second on the list for me. The rest, well I didn't even watch those shows so I can't comment.

We all knew that McLean Stevenson was leaving MASH but when Radar walked into the room and announced that Col. Blake's plane went down and there were no survivors I started crying. That episode still gets to me.

I think Cassie from Hex deserves a shout out for most shocking, simply because it's not often you see the fricking main character offed and replaced with someone else.

Ooooh, for a funny shocking one, Larry from Garth Merenghi's Darkplace.
Dr Rick Douglass: *walks into room* Larry?
*Larry explodes*
Dr Rick Douglass:...Are you all right?

Then he has to kill Larry's severed head with a shovel. It was strange and amusing.

I was the most shocked ever when three of the five main characters died in Space: Above and Beyond. I hadn't known that it was supposed to be the last episode, so it really blew me over.

I remember way back when when Dr. Greene died on ER...I cried that day.

re: doyle on angel; i don't think the death of the character as actually planned, i think the writers had to work with the fact that the actor died