You'll Never Recover from These Seriously Devastating TV Character Deaths

Claire Kincaid from Law & Order

Law & Order so rarely offered a glimpse into the interior lives of its main characters that people learned when they needed to pay attention. When caustic detective and recovering alcoholic Lennie Briscoe (Joe Orbach) fell off the wagon and called upon beloved ADA Claire (Jill Hennessy), viewers believed he would be the one meeting his demise. However, they were shocked to instead watch Claire become the victim of a drunk driving accident while Lennie, inebriated, walked away without a scratch.

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The More You Know

  • Mad Men: It was the first basic-cable show to be nominated for Best Drama, alongside Damages.
  • Phil Harris of Deadliest Catch was the first person to die on a reality TV show; he suffered a stroke on his crab-fishing boat while filming.
  • Crusader Rabbit' was the first TV cartoon
  • The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a trailblazer in bringing feminist issues onto the small screen, depicting Moore as a single female striving to make it in a male-dominated workplace.
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