Killing off TV Characters

So I was over at Parislemon today and reading that Starbuck on the new Battlestar Galactica was apparently killed. I don't watch this program, but I have heard a ton of good things about and really should watch it, but that is another story. I was always a fan of the old Battlestar Galactica with Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and of course Dirk Benedict as the original Starbuck. many other people will remember him as FaceMan from the A-Team. Either way the idea of killing off a major character on television series is a rather novel idea, and one that is not often used to further a story line.

Their only a few instances of actually killing a character that readily come to mind, Henry Blake on M*A*S*H, Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation are the first two I can think of and I am sure in 50-60 of TV that other major characters have died a most unfortunate and tragic deaths. Why am I thinking about this now? Recently two shows I do watch have had their main characters go through the death throes for the purposes of boosting ratings during the February Sweeps. One show did it well, the other had a chance to do it well, but really missed the mark and has left me questioning the credibility of the show for the duration of its hiatus. So what shows am I talking about? Heroes and Grey's Anatomy

At the end of the last Heroes episode the bad guy Syler had captured super hero Peter Petrelli and was in the process of dissected his brain in order to absorb Peter's powers, which is the ability to emulate the powers of other genetically altered heroes. It is implied by the NBC promotional machine that Peter is going to die, but since he had contact with Claire the cheerleader he should be able to regenerate. The point is although it was a great cliff hanger you kind of have to figure that Peter is not going to die, since he is the central character to the show and is going to be responsible for either causing or preventing the explosion which have been bringing the characters together for the entire season. Somehow killing him would seem like a bad move, since there are still too many questions and not enough answers.

On the flip side on Grey's Anatomy, the writers and producers could have done something unique, groundbreaking and original that would have driven the viewership through the roof, something that to the best of my recollection has never been done before on TV; kill off the title character, Meredith. Long story short they went through a 3 episode arc where she was thrown in the water, practically drown and then resuscitated after numerous attempts where the entire senior medical staff is about to give up on her and let her die.

In the end she lived and that could be a tragic mistake. Grey's has an abnormally large cast, and ridding themselves of the most annoying and least likable characters would have been a step in the right direction. Having the rest of the cast dealing with the loss of their lover, student and colleague would have kept viewers compelled through May sweeps and would draw additional interest in the proposed spin-off show next season.

The other thing that bothered me about this story is that if she was so close to death for so long then she should have suffered some brain damage or other long term effect that would have prevented her from continuing her medical career. But since this is TV and all problems are solved in 60 minutes (or 180 for this 3 hour arc), it seems that even after this experience that Mer is all fine and dandy. It just seemed very fake and contrived after the episode concluded, leaving a very bad taste in my mouth.

Lets face the fact that in spite of the show being named for her, I have never particularly cared for this character and honestly I would not have missed her. And can anyone think of another show where the title character was killed off? That would have been truly unique.