I'm not sure anyone else created a discussion like this. I don't recall making one exactly like this one.

When Dan Blocker (Hoss on "Bonanza") died, it was the first time that a TV show had an episode in which the actor's character also died.

The only other TV show in which a character "died" because the actor who played that character, died, was in "Chico And The Man" after Freddie Prinze committed suicide. In the episode, there was a young boy who was no older than about 14 who just came into the life of Ed Brown very much like "Chico" did years back. The young boy is illegally in the country and somehow encounters Ed Brown, and Ed Brown does develop grandfatherly feelings toward the boy though it is hard for him to admit it out rightly, but eventually Ed tells the boy about "Chico" who also was like his grandson, and Ed tells the boy that "Chico" died, but the boy tells Ed that it is best that he not explain how, partially because the boy understands that it is sad for Ed to talk about it.

I guess there are other TV shows in which an actor's death meant the death of the character that he or she played. I cannot think of any other.
Anyone know?


But also there have been other plots that incorporated what happened to an actor though it was not death. In "Family Affair" since Anissa Jones broke her leg in real life and had to walk on crutches, the writers had her character also break her leg.

Any other examples?

Agent Scully was kidnapped and missing for about three episodes due to Gillian Anderson's pregnancy; this also ignited the "mythology" arc in the X-Files.

You did start a similar post, because I remember posting in it:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=357552

You did start a similar post, because I remember posting in it:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=357552

OK. Thanks for letting me know. It is a bit embarrassing when that happens but also, they are still not exactly alike and sometimes one topic can branch off in different ways that maybe should be a different discussions..
Anyway I guess it won't be the last time it happens , not just to me.

At this time I will just leave the two topics to be separate.

On Lassie they had Gramps die after the actor died. They decided it was the best way to handle it, and it makes sense, but it is a rough episode to watch. I think I read that was the first time a series did it that way. Grandpa Walton died after Will Geer passed. Grandma Walton was shown with a stroke after Ellen Corby had one, and they worked it in a way that was well done and touching.

Lucy broke her leg and they fit it well into Here's Lucy. Andy Griffith broke his hand during TAGS and they worked it into the show. I don't know what the time line was but the first episode was where Andy explains it as happening during a tussle with some prisoners in the episode and it fit in perfectly. I can't figure out if they had the episode ready and just added the broken hand or wrote the episode to explain the broken hand.

OH YES!!!!!!!! I should have instantly remembered this one!

A real biggie even though it is mostly forgotten now.

In "Sesame Street" when the actor who played Mr Hooper died, the show's writers wrote up a scene in which the cast members of the show , Gordon, Susan, Bob, Luis and Maria and maybe some others, explain to Big Bird that Mr Hooper died and is not coming back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Hooper

While working on Dennis the Menace, Joseph Kearns as "Mr. Wilson" died and had to be written out, replaced by a character done by Gale Gordon.

Petticoat Junction: Both Bea Benadaret as "Kate Bradley" and Smiley Burnette as "Charley Pratt" died while working on the series; Kate's death was later acknowledged by the characters.

(Blocker's death affected Bonanza a few years later than these deaths.)

While working on Dennis the Menace, Joseph Kearns as "Mr. Wilson" died and had to be written out, replaced by a character done by Gale Gordon.

Petticoat Junction: Both Bea Benadaret as "Kate Bradley" and Smiley Burnette as "Charley Pratt" died while working on the series; Kate's death was later acknowledged by the characters.

(Blocker's death affected Bonanza a few years later than these deaths.)

That was what I was about to ask. It seems to me that Dennis The Menace was on TV well before Bonanza. I am not sure about Petticoat Junction.
However I have read that Dan Blocker's death was the first time an actor's death was written into an episode.

BTW it seems you are saying that "Mr Wilson" in the TV version of "Dennis The Menace" was written out when the actor who played him died, and a different actor was hired to play a different character to take the place of Mr Wilson, but that new actor did not play "Mr Wilson." Is that what you mean? If so, it is as if the writers thought no one else could play Mr Wilson as convincingly or perhaps should not play Mr Wilson, so a different character was written in for Dennis to be a thorn-in-the-side of.

Sometimes if an actor dies or perhaps does not want to play the role any more, a different actor will play the same role. But with a very well-known character such as "Mr Wilson" of Dennis The Menace, it would be very unusual and odd for the TV show to then just replace him with a character that may never have been in the original comic strip.
With a made-for-TV series, sometimes a character can be "killed off" if the actor dies, and a completely different character written in. Sometimes a different actor will go on to play the part of a character when the original actor died.
But writing Mr Wilson out because the actor died, would be like writing out "Perry White" of the "Adventures of Superman" had the actor who played him, John Hamilton, died during the series' run.

When Phil Hartman was murdered, his character - Bill McNeal - died on NewsRadio.

When Nicholas Colasanto passed away, his character - Coach - died on Cheers.

When John Ritter died, his character - Paul Hennessey - passed away on 8 Simple Rules...

When Ross Martin suffered a heart attack, he missed several (I believe 8) episodes in the fourth season of The Wild Wild West. Fortunately, he was able to return just before the show was cancelled.

When Katey Sagal announced she was pregnant, Married..with Children writers made Peggy pregnant as well. But when she miscarried, they had the whole pregnancy plot (which was around 10 or 11 episodes) turn out to be a dream.

I saw some Partridge Family episodes on YouTube that I never saw originally. "Danny Converts" is one of them and also "Each Dawn I diet."

In "Danny Converts," at the beginning of the episode, Danny asks his mom what is for lunch and she tells him "Tuna sandwiches" to which Danny replies that he will need more than one sandwich as well as snacks to take on a camping trip. Then Lori asks Danny who he is going to feed with all that food? Danny says "I'm growing up" and Keith says "Not to mention 'out.'"

In "Each Dawn I Diet" the entire episode was about Danny trying to diet.

In "Pin It On Danny" Keith made a remark that Danny's fingers were "too fat."

It seems that after Danny turned about 12 years old, he was noticeably gaining weight and instead of replacing him with a different red-haired but thinner actor, the writers put in some dialogue or scenes in which Danny's pubescent growth spurt was addressed in a jokey way.

I'm not sure this one was mentioned already, but in Diff'rent Strokes, Arnold's short size was addressed in an episode.
It is well known that actor, Gary Coleman was short in stature because he had two kidney transplants, and when he was from about 9 to about 12 years old his short size was OK for the show but as the seasons and episodes went on and Gary Coleman did not grow in size (and of course neither did his character), an episode was written up in which Arnold has to face the fact that he just is not going to grow taller than he already is. I don't think that the character "Arnold," was made to have kidney problems like the actor who played "Arnold" but the episode had Mr Drumond taking Arnold to the doctor and finding out that Arnold will never grow taller than about 5 feet.

On Lassie they had Gramps die after the actor died. They decided it was the best way to handle it, and it makes sense, but it is a rough episode to watch. I think I read that was the first time a series did it that way. Grandpa Walton died after Will Geer passed. Grandma Walton was shown with a stroke after Ellen Corby had one, and they worked it in a way that was well done and touching.

Lucy broke her leg and they fit it well into Here's Lucy. Andy Griffith broke his hand during TAGS and they worked it into the show. I don't know what the time line was but the first episode was where Andy explains it as happening during a tussle with some prisoners in the episode and it fit in perfectly. I can't figure out if they had the episode ready and just added the broken hand or wrote the episode to explain the broken hand.
Yea I think Lassie was the first series to address an actual actor's death on a show. Afterwards for most of the 50's and 60's if an actor or actress died they just went away.

On Dallas Jim Davis died and his death was worked into the show although they kept his character alive for over 3 months.

Yea I think Lassie was the first series to address an actual actor's death on a show. Afterwards for most of the 50's and 60's if an actor or actress died they just went away.

On Dallas Jim Davis died and his death was worked into the show although they kept his character alive for over 3 months.

Yep and there was that scary period of time where it seemed like they were going to say that Steve Forrest was Jock back from the dead. Whew, dodged a bullet there (nothing against Steve Forrest, that was just a lame plot IMO).

On Night Court, Selma Diamond died the summer between the series second and third season; her death was addressed in the series third season, by having her character Selma, the bailiff die as well.

Ironically, her successor Florence Halop died a year later. Her death was also written into the show.

When Susan Saint James was pregnant in real life, the writers of the show spent season four going to great lengths to hide her pregnancy; having her film behind giant desks, carry oversized bags and spending several episodes hospitalized and bed-ridden. The one exception was a flashback episode featuring Kate & Allie in the 1970's, very pregnant.

When Meredith Baxter Birney was pregnant in real life her character, Elyse Keaton, also became pregnant and later gave birth to baby Andrew. In real life Meredith gave birth to twins!

From what I've heard regarding Bonanza, the death of Hoss was only mentioned once in the series, in passing, (I'm not sure of the episode) but it was barely acknowledged otherwise, and how he died was never mentioned in the original series. Probably because Dan Blocker's death was too painful to even begin to deal with on the show.

Yeah lots of actresses on sitcoms (and dramas) have had their pregnancies written into the show.

One from Home Improvement. After the boys had gotten older, Zachery Ty Bryan (Brad) got this haircut where he left the hair on the top of his head longer but the sides were shaved, you couldn't tell though because of the longer hair on the top covered that. They actually did an episode concerning it. Tim is complaining Brad's hair is too long and he wants him to get a haircut and Brad does, and it's that haircut. He comes back and he's got the longer hair pulled back in sort of a ponytail and you can see the shaved sides of his scalp. Then Tim spends the rest of that episode complaining how much he hates Brad's new haircut.

Ed.

When Meredith Baxter Birney was pregnant in real life her character, Elyse Keaton, also became pregnant and later gave birth to baby Andrew. In real life Meredith gave birth to twins!

Interesting. That sort-of forces the show to "Jump-The-Shark."
However the same goes if an actor dies. There is a need to change characters or introduce new ones or change the dynamics of the regular characters' interactions with each other.

I'm not sure yet if anyone mentioned this one, but another time when a sitcom plot was written according to what took place with the actors in the sitcom, is when Caroll O'Connor did not want to play Archie Bunker any more and there was some kind of contract dispute or whatever and there were some immediate tapeings to be done and therefore "All In The Family" had a "special" two-part (maybe three-part) episode in which Archie Bunker was missing for days and his wife and daughter and son-in-law were all wondering what happened to him and the episodes had to overplay the characters' waiting, and passing time, and having long talks about what could have happened, and trying to carry on in spite of not knowing what happened.
I think that the writers were fairly good at writing up a story in which Edith tried to carry on a Tupperware party and Mike and Gloria tried to go to a Marx Brothers festival (which in reality was going on in NYC at that time) but Edith got word from police that Archie had not been found yet and she got really worried , and the episode was to be continued , and of course, after O'Connor was enticed to come back to the series, the final part of the episode had Archie Bunker being found drunk somewhere, he was not kidnapped or killed.
Somehow that was a "quick explanation" and predictable "solution" to the plot and it seemed that that was in store all along. What else?

When Meredith Baxter Birney was pregnant in real life her character, Elyse Keaton, also became pregnant and later gave birth to baby Andrew. In real life Meredith gave birth to twins!

Interesting. That sort-of forces the show to "Jump-The-Shark."
However the same goes if an actor dies. There is a need to change characters or introduce new ones or change the dynamics of the regular characters' interactions with each other.

I'm not sure yet if anyone mentioned this one, but another time when a sitcom plot was written according to what took place with the actors in the sitcom, is when Caroll O'Connor did not want to play Archie Bunker any more and there was some kind of contract dispute or whatever and there were some immediate tapeings to be done and therefore "All In The Family" had a "special" two-part (maybe three-part) episode in which Archie Bunker was missing for days and his wife and daughter and son-in-law were all wondering what happened to him and the episodes had to overplay the characters' waiting, and passing time, and having long talks about what could have happened, and trying to carry on in spite of not knowing what happened.
I think that the writers were fairly good at writing up a story in which Edith tried to carry on a Tupperware party and Mike and Gloria tried to go to a Marx Brothers festival (which in reality was going on in NYC at that time) but Edith got word from police that Archie had not been found yet and she got really worried , and the episode was to be continued , and of course, after O'Connor was enticed to come back to the series, the final part of the episode had Archie Bunker being found drunk somewhere, he was not kidnapped or killed.
Somehow that was a "quick explanation" and predictable "solution" to the plot and it seemed that that was in store all along. What else?

I'm not sure yet if anyone mentioned this one, but another time when a sitcom plot was written according to what took place with the actors in the sitcom, is when Carroll O'Connor did not want to play Archie Bunker any more and there was some kind of contract dispute or whatever and there were some immediate tapings to be done and therefore "All In The Family" had a "special" two-part (maybe three-part) episode in which Archie Bunker was missing for days and his wife and daughter and son-in-law were all wondering what happened to him and the episodes had to overplay the characters' waiting, and passing time, and having long talks about what could have happened, and trying to carry on in spite of not knowing what happened.

It was a four -- part episode . For three episodes, Edith, Mike, and Gloria were worried about Archie, and they tried to carry on and figure out what might have happened to him . At the beginning of the fourth episode, Edith found out that Archie got drunk, took a wrong turn, and dropped out of sight . Edith, Mike, and Gloria pursued their normal activities for most of the episode, and Archie walked in at the last minute .

BTW it seems you are saying that "Mr Wilson" in the TV version of "Dennis The Menace" was written out when the actor who played him died, and a different actor was hired to play a different character to take the place of Mr Wilson, but that new actor did not play "Mr Wilson." Is that what you mean? If so, it is as if the writers thought no one else could play Mr Wilson as convincingly or perhaps should not play Mr Wilson, so a different character was written in for Dennis to be a thorn-in-the-side of.

Sometimes if an actor dies or perhaps does not want to play the role any more, a different actor will play the same role. But with a very well-known character such as "Mr Wilson" of Dennis The Menace, it would be very unusual and odd for the TV show to then just replace him with a character that may never have been in the original comic strip. With a made-for-TV series, sometimes a character can be "killed off" if the actor dies, and a completely different character written in. Sometimes a different actor will go on to play the part of a character when the original actor died.

On the Dennis the Menace TV show, Joseph Kearns played George Wilson and Sylvia Field played Martha Wilson for its first three seasons .Toward the end of the third season, Joseph Kearns died, and Gale Gordon joined the cast as Mr. Wilson's brother, John . It was explained that John was staying as a guest while George was settling somebody's estate back east . Sylvia Field was let go at the end of the season . In the fourth and final season, John Wilson purchased the house from his brother, although where George and Martha had moved was never explained . He was joined by his wife, Eloise, played by Sara Seegar .

Diana Hyland, who played the mother Joan on Eight is Enough, died after only filming 4 episodes. So, when season 2 began, the mother Joan had died. Tom started dating and eventually married Abby. Abby became the stepmother in and it changed the entire dynamic of the show.