10 TV Shows That Killed Off Their Biggest Stars

In hindsight, Breaking Bad could only ever have ended with the death of Walter White. His journey from cancer struck family man to meth cook and drug kingpin remains one of TV's greatest ever character developments, and as the seasons went on Walt became more and more corrupted by the world around him.

During the finale of the show, Walt launches a daring rescue of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and finds himself shot and bleeding during the raid. Jesse escapes, but Walt dies.

It was a fitting and necessary end to his character, played over five seasons to absolute perfection by Bryan Cranston. However, given the fact the show's rating were at an all-time high (the finale itself roped in a staggering 10.2 million viewers) and showrunner Vince Gilligan had been offered a ludicrous $75 million to keep Breaking Bad going a little longer, some fans may still be gutted that their time with Walt was so violently cut short.

Then again, it's a perfect example of a show that keeps things short and sweet, rather than sticking around for the cash and making the finished product go on for far too long.