The title explains the thread. I want this list to be about past shows who lost major characters and suffered so much that they would have been better off ending. But I'm also interested in shows that DIDN'T lose a main character, but WOULD have been doomed if they had.

For instance, you could say Happy Days would have been better off ending when Richie left. And you could also say, IF Hawkeye would have left M*A*S*H, it would have been better off ending.

Hope this isn't too confusing; to explain it all in the title took too many letters!!

For me, the list of characters who were irreplaceable would include:

Richie Cunningham
Fox Mulder
Shirley Feeney
Edith Bunker
Mike Stivic
Gloria Stivic
Barney Fife
Julie Cooper
Chico from Chico and the Man


Some who DIDN'T depart their show but WOULD have been irreplaceable include: (I've excluded some of the obvious ones, like shows where the main character's name is in the title. Obviously if the Mary Tyler Moore show lost Mary Richards, it would have been better off being canceled, etc.)

Hawkeye Pierce
Andy Taylor
George Jefferson
Fred Sanford
Emily Hartman