The 10 Weirdest Ways Actors Were Written Off of TV Shows

We love watching TV because we love watching a story evolve over a long period of time, building and altering character relationships, introducing new plot elements, and even sometimes changing the setting. Characters are rarely the same going out as they were coming in, and by the end of a show, especially a very long one, we know that things likely won’t look the same in the finale as they did in the premiere.

Sometimes, the inevitability of change means the loss of certain characters. Whether it’s for story reasons, or contract obligations, or because of set drama, or creative differences, or even death, star actors leave their shows all the time to focus on other pursuits. That often leaves the writers in a bit of a pickle, especially if an actor’s departure is abrupt. There has to be some reason for their character’s absence — usually a sudden death — and the more absurd, the better.

There are plenty of actors who departed TV shows whose characters got a relatively normal farewell, usually moving to another city or just quietly disappearing and never being spoken of again. These actors, however, whether it was written into the show from the start or because someone in the creative department had a bone to pick with them, saw their characters get written off of shows in extraordinary ways, sometimes without even being on set to act them out. Whether these departures were tragic, shocking, or just funny, their shows made sure they were unforgettable.