Death and the sitcom

[Crossless2.0]

Though it didn't involve the death of a person, the Thanksgiving episode of "WKRP In Cincinnati" is a classic. The station manager arranges what he believes will be an unforgettable promotional gimmick on behalf of the station, involving letting loose a number of turkeys from a helicopter hovering over the city's Thanksgiving parade. Their witless weather man, Les Nessman, is reporting the event live on air, and as the doomed fowl rain down horribly on downtown Cincinnati, his broadcast becomes a parody of the famous Hindenburg broadcast. Later, the shell-shocked manager enters the station office and declares, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

[Faith No More]

On Seinfeld, George's fiance, Susan, is poisoned from the toxic glue on the cheap wedding invitation envelopes he bought.  Her death is off camera, but for a few more episodes, George has to deal with the consequences of her decease.  I seem to recall some controversy at the time that the Jerry, George and Elaine characters reaction to the death were not appropriate for a sitcom.

This was the first thing I thought of when I read the title of this thread.

Some people in the media went rabid over that. George was actually excited that the envelopes he bought killed the woman he was too chicken to back out of marrying, and none of the others gave a shit that she died, either. All they could think about was eating after leaving the hospital where she died. People were pissed that they reacted that way, but the point of the show was that the characters were self-absorbed and callous. It fit perfectly with their personalities.

I thought it was pretty funny, but I have a sense of humor.

[Faith No More]

Then, of course, there's Kenny that dies in every early episode of South Park.

[Homeless Nutter]