10 TV Characters Killed In Desperate Attempts To Boost Ratings

Ever the charismatic ladies' man, Will Gardner was one of the most important characters in The Good Wife's first five seasons, with actor Josh Charles even being nominated for a Golden Globe for bringing this business hotshot to life.

It was always a franchise that had received warm enough reviews, however there was a noticeable drop in quality between seasons three and four, with some fans claiming that the show just didn't have the same pull as it once had. In order to raise the stakes, the show runners decided to have Will shot in the courtroom and establish a 'Whodunnit' storyline over who his killer was.

The results in the ratings were pretty striking too. According to IMDB, episodes fifteen and sixteen of season five (the episode of Will's death and the one immediately following it) hold a 9.4 and a 9.2 rating against the 8.2 and 8.4 on the episodes before it, showing off just how desperate the clamour was to know what had happened to this intriguing character.

However, this shock can only jolt a show for so long and the loss of arguably the most interesting male character led to a serious decline once Will's death was resolved. By the time season seven rolled around, the show had dropped to its worst-ever viewership tally and, with the absence of the complex and engrossing plotlines that come from characters like Will, the show was shelved in 2016.