10 TV Shows That Killed Off Their Biggest Stars

3. Chevy Chase - Community

Brody Homeland
Sony Pictures Television

One of the list's more infamous cases of a big name being killed off, the wonderfully meta sitcom Community found comedy legend Chevy Chase playing the opinionated, mean-spirited and wealthy Pierce Hawthorne throughout the show's first four seasons.

Following a behind-the-scenes feud with controversial showrunner Dan Harmon about Pierce's development and often crass, racist humour, Chase found himself at odds with the show's creator, and after a rant he is reported to have used a racial slur which saw him removed from the sitcom by the studio.

He appeared sparingly through season four, and cameoed in the premier of season five, only for season five to then reveal that Pierce had died off-camera.

The bad blood between Chase and Harmon hasn't died down over the years, but even with the tales of Chase's rude off-camera behaviour and how difficult his colleagues said he was to work with, it still sucks that fans had to say goodbye to Pierce in such anti-climactic fashion.

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