Touching Departures

[Slappy]

There are always characters that we like and when they leave a TV series they are
1. Recast Later (John Boy Walton)
2. Written out without mention (Judy Winslow of family Matters) 4 seasons and then she was retconned out of existance.
3.  Lastly a few get a touching farewell episode.  Some of these have become overly melodramatic to hype ratings, but others are done very well and fly under the radar.

Some of my favorites are:
1.  Susan Foreman- When the Doctor left her, he believed it was in her best interest to stay with the man she loved on a planet that needed to be rebuilt.
2.  Jo Grant- Doctor Who:  Also left to stay with a man she loved and cared for while infected with the Green Death.  When she departed, the Doctor was heartbroken as if he was dumped by the love of his life.
3. Lt. Col. Henry Blake of the 4077 M*A*S*H*: After finally being discharged from the Army and ready to be with his family, he died after his plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan.  This was announced by a tearful Radar.
What are some other touching departures in your memory from TV?

[Navarre]

Didn't Archie Bunker come into his bedroom one morning to find Edith dead? That was the first major character death I remember watching.

I remember significant character deaths but I'm not sure if they got what one would call a farewell episode. Notable deaths to me:

Buffy (Season 5) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Fred from Angel
Tasha Yar from Star Trek the Next Generation

[Slappy]

As I recall, Edith died of a stroke offscreen and the new season of the show began some time after she died.
While it wasn't a departure per se, it was a touching episode dealing with Archies denial of her death.

[Alisha Mynx]

Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Fred from Angel

At the time of Tara's death, I didn't have internet access and was unaware it would be happening.  So when it happened, I remember shedding a few tears because she had been my favorite character for a while at that point.

Fred's death also made me quite sad, but it was made all the more depressing by the fact Illyria was wearing her face.  Her death came only a few months after I had lost my partner, so I could relate a bit more to Wes and I felt that I understood why he chose to remain close to Illyria.

As for departures I remember, I remember the death of Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street.  I don't remember if it was on Sesame Street itself or another special, but I remember that the humans were explaining death to Big Bird because he couldn't quite grasp why Mr. Hooper wasn't coming back.  I was only 4 years old at the time, but I've remembered it for most of my life.

David Tennant's final episode as The Doctor still gets to me after all this time.  His goodbye tour at the end combined with the heartbreaking utterance of "I don't want to go" before he explodes into a regeneration still evoke a lot of emotions inside.  Most episodes of a series where someone leaves I will eventually get used to, but this one still hits just about as much as it did the first time.  

[CatHalo]

The two that come to mind for me are incredibly personal. Joyce Summers and Mitch Leery, or Buffy's Mom, and Dawson's Dad. Both of these parents, SPOILERS, died rather unexpectedly, and both of these deaths happened the new TV season after my own mother died. For obvious reasons these were quite emotional tele events for me.
Particularly Buffy's Mom. I hope nobody here has been through the death of a parent, but The Body (Buffy S5, Ep 16, which actually aired a week after my birthday) perfectly captures the feeling of loss, and of being lost. Even thinking about the episode makes me feel quite emotional.

[GeorgeDubya]

This wasn't a character, but it fits with someone Navarre mentioned. One of my early memories of TV was Jim Henson's death. The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson was probably one of the most touching things I've ever seen. Even to this day watching it and videos from Jim Henson's memorial bring tears to my eyes. In fact, I watched the finale of the Muppets Celebrate and yeah, it's like someone is cutting onions in here. *Sings* And maybe even you can believe in you too!

When it comes to characters from TV shows, Joyce Summers was a big death. Back when I was watching House, I quite enjoyed Cameron's departure (of course, it was shortly after she left that the show completed its nosedive).

[Navarre]

This wasn't a character, but it fits with someone Navarre mentioned.

Actually, I think it might have been Alisha who mentioned that.

[GeorgeDubya]

It was. I confused myself by also having a tab open to the birthday thread where I was being annoyed at you for referring to A Christmas Story.

[Gaumer]

http://youtu.be/33AA6IGulJk

I remember this choking me up.

'blink-blink blink-blink'

So sad

[GeorgeDubya]

http://youtu.be/33AA6IGulJk

I remember this choking me up.

'blink-blink blink-blink'

So sad

What!? No! Feeny! Feeny!

[Alisha Mynx]

No! Feeny! Feeny!

Why is it my mind went straight to this?

[GeorgeDubya]

No! Feeny! Feeny!

Why is it my mind went straight to this?

Because Feeny is the voice of KITT. That's precisely why I said Feeny.

[Alisha Mynx]

No! Feeny! Feeny!

Why is it my mind went straight to this?

Because Feeny is the voice of KITT. That's precisely why I said Feeny.

A)  Ah, I did not know that.
B)  I was more referring to the "Feeny" part itself.  I can't read the word anymore without reading it in the Feeny call in my head much in the same way that anytime I read "Good News" it is in the voice of Prof. Farnsworth.

[GeorgeDubya]

Those are two that have lodged in my brain as well. Others include Ted and Robin's military rank joke from HIMYM (yeah, my girlfriend and I do it), hearing "Girl look at that body" whenever someone lets out a heavy sigh, and counting things in The Count's voice.