Top 10 Funniest Deaths in TV Shows
These characters kicked the bucket and tickled our funny bones. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we'll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Funniest Deaths in TV Shows.
For this list, we'll be looking at the character deaths that managed to be funny despite, or because of, how naturally morbid they were. Because there are character deaths ahead, there will be spoilers aplenty.
These characters kicked the bucket and tickled our funny bones. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Funniest Deaths in TV Shows.
For this list, we’ll be looking at the character deaths that managed to be funny despite, or because of, how naturally morbid they were. Because there are character deaths ahead, there will be spoilers aplenty.
#10: Trevor Collins-Newsworthy
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (1990-96)
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One of Hilary’s more prominent boyfriends, Trevor Collins-Newsworthy worked as a news anchor, taking advantage of his “newsworthy” name. Trevor was so in love with the eldest Banks daughter that he proposed to her during a news segment on bungee jumping, while Hilary and her family watched. Unfortunately, he also tried jumping himself. His on-air death was so abrupt that it was funny, and the family’s varied reactions, particularly Hilary’s initial cluelessness, are fantastic too. Trevor had the right idea about going big, but he should have made sure he could go home too.
#9: Lewis Ha
“The Last Man on Earth” (2015-)
A new character in the show’s third season, Lewis Ha was a former arborist and an aspiring pilot; a hobby which he takes up with the hope of being reunited with his boyfriend Mark, who may be overseas. After training for several episodes in a flight simulator, protagonist Phil gifts him with a real plane to take out for his first real flight. Although reluctant, Lewis ultimately agrees, lifting the group’s spirits. However, shortly after takeoff, Lewis crashes and apparently dies. The buildup over the season that ultimately lead to such a fiery and depressing demise is amusing, albeit rather dark.
#8: Francis Griffin
“Family Guy” (1999-2003; 2005-)
The vigorously Catholic stepfather of “Family Guy”’s main character Peter Griffin, Francis is very cantankerous character, who’s critical of nearly everyone he meets. While attending his granddaughter Meg’s birthday party, Francis is crushed by Peter, who had dressed as a clown in a bizarre attempt to entertain for the party. While dying in the hospital, Francis’ last words are to tell his son that he's a fat stinking drunk. Peter then buries him in a pet cemetery only for him to come back as a zombie, prompting him to decide to bury him in a regular cemetery. Any one of these individuals moments is funny, but strung together, they’re hilarious.
#7: Captain Seth Dozerman
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (2013-)
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The new captain of the 99th New York Police Precinct, Captain Dozerman is obsessed with productivity. His first day gets off to a less than auspicious start however, after he passes out due to a heart condition. In an effort to get on his good side, Detective Jake Peralta feigns interest in efficiency. He and his co-worker Amy Santiago are also in a relationship and trying to keep it a secret. Unfortunately, Dozerman walks in on them and feels betrayed that Jake lied to him, vowing to break them apart. However, he then has a fortuitous heart attack and dies. It’s an uncomfortable laugh, but one that Bill Hader helps facilitate.
#6: Arnold J. Rimmer
“Red Dwarf” (1988-99; 2009; 2012-)
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The resident stick-in-the-mud on the show’s titular vessel, Arnold Rimmer has had some bad luck with death. He spends a good chunk of the series as a hologram after his first death, which is the result of his own incompetence. However, during an episode with a complicated time travel plot, Rimmer tries to alter the past to make himself rich. While it fails to make him any money, he does end up alive once more, which he celebrates enthusiastically; a little too much, in fact, as he strikes several containers full of explosives, killing him once again.
#5: Denholm Reynholm
“The IT Crowd” (2006-13)
The founder and owner of Reynholm industries, the enormously successful, monolithic corporation that employs the main characters who work in its IT department, Denholm Reynholm is a tremendously arrogant, daffy and bombastic businessman. That pride carries through to his final scene, which features his employees telling him about the company’s absurd profits and Denholm boasting about himself in a “splendidly” amusing fashion. However, upon being informed that the police are downstairs to talk to him about anomalies in the company’s pension account, he immediately jumps out the window, in a hilarious contrast to his previous confidence.
#4: Frank Grimes
“The Simpsons” (1989-)
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Hardworking Frank Grimes gets a job at the Springfield nuclear power plant and immediately takes a dislike to Homer Simpson, especially his constant buffoonery and inability to do his job. As he is exposed more and more to Homer’s life, Grimes becomes outraged and astonished that Homer is able to coast through life with such apparent success, while his own life has been so difficult, with little to show for it. It eventually gets to the point where Grimes snaps, emulating Homer’s reckless, stupid behavior in a warped, bitter attempt to emulate Homer’s way of living - only to electrocute himself in one of the show’s darkest, funniest, and most divisive endings.
#3: Bernice Forman
“That ‘70s Show” (1998-2006)
The paternal grandmother of series protagonist Eric Forman, Bernice is a thoroughly unpleasant and critical woman, being especially cruel to her daughter-in-law Kitty. While driving Bernice to the airport after a visit, Eric remarks to her that it wouldn’t kill her to be nice for a day… at which point she immediately slumps over dead. The death itself is hysterical for how ironic and immediate it is, but it sets in motion a lot of great humor later in the episode, like Kelso’s overreaction to touching the body or the excellent open casket scene.
#2: Susan Ross
“Seinfeld” (1989-98)
George Costanza’s recurring love interest, Susan Ross, was ready to finally settle down with the neurotic man after years of their on-again/off-again relationship, despite his apparent desire to back out of it. While assembling their wedding invitations, Susan suddenly passes out. At the hospital, a doctor informs George that she died, while also revealing that it was likely the adhesives used in the cheap invitations George insisted on getting that resulted in her death. George’s non-reaction, and that of the rest of the gang, took the show into hilariously dark territory - making it nearly the funniest death on TV.
#1: Kenny
“South Park” (1997-)
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The perpetually mumbling, hoodie sporting member of the South Park boys’ group of friends, Kenny is among the most death prone characters in fiction, having died in almost every episode for the first few seasons and many times thereafter in a wide variety of ways, and nearly all of them are funny. While there have been several other riotous deaths in the series, like Chef’s over-the-top demise, Kenny just had to be number one. Although quality is important in our entries, sometimes quantity just wins out.
