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Top Ways to Die in TV Hospitals

Death by heroism, redemption kill scores on doctor shows

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 2, 2009 3:00 PM CDT
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(Newser) – In honor of ER meeting its end tonight, NPR looks at the lesson-giving, plot-driven ways most guest characters meet theirs on such medical TV dramas. A few of the most common:

  • Death by heroism. Saving a dog, old person, or otherwise vulnerable individual can drastically increase a character’s chances of death by heroism.
  • A terrible secret. Characters commonly die from terrible secrets—usually the secrets themselves are not deadly but actions to conceal the secret—by, say, withholding information from Dr. House, usually are.

  • Redemption. A crotchety character who hates mankind but, in the course of his hospitalization, meets a sunny-side-up type who changes his whole outlook is in terrible danger of dying of redemption.
  • A physician who does not love life. The deadliest mistake a TV hospital patient can make is choosing a physician who does not appreciate something in his life, especially a loved one. Such a patient will likely die to teach said physician a lesson, and die alone or in otherwise wretched circumstances, to make the lesson more poignant.
Click the link for more ways to kick the bucket on TV.

In this 1998 file photo, the cast of ER is shown.
In this 1998 file photo, the cast of ER is shown.   (AP Photo)
In this undated image released by NBC, Anthony Edwards is shown in character as Dr. Mark Greene from the NBC series, ER.
In this undated image released by NBC, Anthony Edwards is shown in character as Dr. Mark Greene from the NBC series, "ER."   (NBC)
A scene from NBC's ER.
A scene from NBC's ER.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
riffran
Apr 3, 2009 7:08 AM CDT
not even close...lol.....my favorite gag bit is the ole "SHOCK HIM HE'S FLAT LINED"......and the jump start the ticker after a few jolts and the doc yelling "come on".....total BS....if your heart is flat lined, that means ther is no ATP left in it to make it beat, and all the power plants in the world wont "jump start " it...but it makes for good hollywood
Mad
Apr 3, 2009 4:20 AM CDT
Yeah, if the heart has completely flat-lined, the heart is in asystole, a sure sign of death, yet, in the excitement of the moment one must be careful not to miss fine ventricular fibrillation, instead. (Sheesh, how many people know that ATP means Adenosine triphosphate? This is BCLS stuff)

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television • death • hospital • actor • character • characters

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