10 Most Shockingly Sudden Exits From TV Shows

It's extremely rare for a sitcom of all things to kill a significant character totally out of nowhere, but that's exactly what Seinfeld did with George Constanza's (Jason Alexander) fiancée Susan (Heidi Swedberg) in its legendary season seven finale "The Invitations."

Susan dies suddenly at the end of the episode after it's revealed that the low-quality envelope adhesive she had licked 200 times while preparing wedding invitations was toxic. By cheaping out on envelopes, George had inadvertently caused her demise.

Even accepting the show's notable streak of nihilism, this was a daring tonal shift, all the more so given the central characters' own unmoved reactions to Susan's death and George very quickly trying (in vain) to rekindle a romance with Marisa Tomei.

In a 2015 interview, Alexander stated that Susan was killed so abruptly because the cast struggled to maintain chemistry with Swedberg during shooting, Alexander even calling it "f**king impossible," while adding he had nothing against the actress on a personal level.

For his part, Alexander later apologised to Swedberg and insisted that he intended no judgment against her acting abilities nor her personal merits.