The longer a show is on TV, the more predictable it gets. For some of TV's darker programs, that means an astonishing number of people die from suicide. These sad deaths start to become expected after a while, which lessens their dramatic impact. From crime dramas to sci-fi, these beloved TV shows developed a startling trend of killing off major characters via suicide, year after year.
"Dexter"
If a character doesn't end up getting murdered on Dexter's slab, then it's a safe bet that they will end up killing themselves. The first character to kill himself was Harry, Dexter's father. Harry couldn't handle what his son had become, despite the fact that it was Harry who guided Dexter's training.
In later seasons, at least five other characters commit suicide. Christine kills herself after Lundy's death, and Arthur Mitchell's mother committed suicide (which resulted in dozens of other women to jumping to their deaths against their will). In Season 7, Wayne Randall kills himself so that he doesn't have to return to prison. And in one of Dexter's very earliest investigations, he uncovers a shrink who psychologically manipulated his female patients into committing suicide with a gun.
The early 2000s saw a reboot of this cult hit, but with a gritty, dark tone. How dark, you ask? The series starts with the genocide of all but 50,000 members of the human race, and things get bleaker from there. No wonder so many characters ended up committing suicide. Boomer tried to kill herself, gravely wounding herself in the process. Later in the series, Dualla and Brother Cavil both off themselves. And D'Anna Biers kept on killing herself and being reborn in a twisted quest for knowledge.
"Lost"
Granted, most of the suicide attempts in "Lost" don't result in death, but good golly, there are a lot of people who try to kill themselves over the course of the show. Locke and Jack were both set to kill themselves but got interrupted. Michael tried three times but never succeeded. Richard tried, as well…but of course, he's immortal. In flashbacks, viewers saw Sawyer's father commit a murder-suicide.
Over the decade and a half "South Park" has been on the air, multiple suicides have been shown. These include the father of a kid who loses the Pinewood Derby, the owner of Wal-Mart, Britney Spears, the home shopping network "Cash for Gold" host, and even the Queen of England.
