5 TV Characters Killed Off In The Dumbest Way Possible
Two electrocuted, one helicopter crushed, one fallen to death, one eaten alive.
If you watched Friends, you must remember how Joey's character Dr. Drake Ramoray from Days of Our Lives was written off by the screenwriter who didn't appreciate Joey's interview. Ramoray fell down an elevator shaft, hurt his head, and the only person genius enough to save him was... himself.
Although this over-the-top storyline was a satire aimed at the melodrama genre, the Friends creators didn't pull it out of thin air. From time to time, the real TV show throws in character deaths that are even more ridiculous than Dr. Drake Ramoray's.
Here are five of the silliest ways a character has died on television. Of course, there are major spoilers ahead, so consider this your warning.
Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur)
L.A. Law (1986-94)
Of course, we couldn't help but start our 'dumbest way to kill off a character' chart with the death of Rosalind Shays, as it seems to be the direct inspiration for Dr. Drake Ramoray's fall. Rosalind was an antagonistic character hated by many viewers, but her death was a shock to everyone.
One minute she is talking to Leland McKenzie, the next she is falling down an elevator shaft. The elevator turned out to be broken, and she just walked into the empty void. The weird sound effect made the accident even more cartoonish.
Robert Romano (Paul McCrane)
ER (1994-2009)
Dr. Rocket Romano from ER certainly takes the cake on this list. In Season 10, a hospital helicopter malfunctions and falls off the roof, hitting a nurse with a piece of shrapnel and exploding the whole floor in the process. Finally, it lands right on Romano, crashing him.
The irony here is that this ridiculous death was preceded by another helicopter severing Romano's arm just one season earlier. Looks like the helicopter race has a serious vendetta against this man.
Donna Troy (Conor Leslie)
Titans (2018-2023)
The death of Donna Troy, aka Wonder Girl, in the Titans Season 2 finale was surprising and stupid to say the least. The team stops the big bad and with two minutes left in the season, a power pole falls on civilians. She steps in and gets electrocuted while the rest of the team just stands there and watches.
Before that, we had no reason to believe that electrocution would kill any of the superheroes. But here we are. And what's worse, they just brought Donna back next season. Like, why?
Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan)
Desperate Housewives (2004-2012)
Desperate Housewives has had all kinds of crazy situations, but the death of Edie Britt screams bizarre. Nearly strangled by her murderous husband, she flees in her car, not looking at the road as she desperately tries to make a 911 call while driving, narrowly avoids running over Orson who is running from a house he just burgled, hits a power pole, severing a wire that falls next to her car, gets stunned by the collision, and finally gets electrocuted while walking in a puddle next to the car.
Honestly, it's so hilarious we wouldn't change a thing.
Olivia Barnett-Gatling (Cynthia Carle)
Benson (1979-1986)
This death happened behind the scenes, before the show even started, but we couldn't ignore it. If you watched Benson, you know that Governor Gene Gatling is a widower. But how did his wife die? That's a real mind-bender.
She is told to be killed by horses. Trampled, you ask? Not at all. She was on her way to a country club costume party dressed as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Her costume was made of real sugar cubes, which turned out to be a grave mistake. After Olivia ran into a herd of horses, they ate her. Yep, she was literally eaten alive.