TV Tuesday: Sad Goodbyes

[yourlibrarian]

News of Michelle Trachtenberg’s recent death saddened and surprised many Buffy fans given she was the youngest member of the cast. Have any of your favorite shows had sudden cast departures? How well did the show move past them? And which deceased actors or other creatives do you miss the most?

Comments

[shadowkat]

I watch long-running serial dramas - so it's always happening. General Hospital had six in 2024 alone. And that's not including recasts. After a while I hand-wave it. But it's always an adjustment.
Also they had at least five actors die between 2022-2024. One by suicide (40), one by alcoholism (45), one by heart disease (50), one by an injury that hadn't healed (90).

Whedon's shows were notorious for it. Early in Angel's run, Glenn Quinn who played Doyle died. Then about five years after? Andy Hallet who played Lorne died. Quinn was harder - they had to write the character out completely, and bring in Wesley - it worked very well, actually.

Buffy - lost actors to other things? Seth Green wanted out - so they had to write him out halfway through S4, and rewrite the entire plot arc they'd planned. Plus side? We got the Tara/Willow romance - that would never have happened if Seth Green didn't want out. Lindsey Crouse also wanted out - and they had to shift the entire focus of S4, and the plot arc.

Then there's Star Wars - which had to deal with the sudden death of Carrie Fisher halfway through the making of Last Jedi. That was painful. Rise of Skywalker was supposed to be Leia's film. I miss Fisher possibly the most. She died suddenly. There was so much more story there - and there was no real way of doing it effectively without her.

[yourlibrarian]

Soap operas definitely raise the recasting issue. It seems that nighttime shows have generally dealt with departures by writing out the character. Of course, Due South may be the most entertaining example of dealing with it by not dealing with it. But I do wonder why more shows don't do it.

The most recent example I can think of is on All Creatures where Diana Rigg's death meant a recast. I think they made a splendid choice and the character lives on.