11 TV Shows That Handled Death Perfectly (Or Hilariously Badly)

A Wildflower Funeral Concepts Blog Post

Television has always been a mirror of how we live, love, and yes—how we die. Sometimes, shows handle death with profound beauty. Other times, they miss the mark so wildly that it becomes unintentionally funny. Either way, these moments reflect our culture’s ongoing attempt to wrestle with the universal truth: everyone dies, even our favorite characters.

Here are 11 TV shows that tackled death—some perfectly, some hilariously badly.

1. Six Feet Under (HBO) It would be impossible to make this list without Six Feet Under. Every episode begins with a death, and the finale remains one of the most moving portrayals of mortality ever filmed. No gimmicks. Just an honest reminder that we all have a last scene.

2. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) The show has killed off more doctors than most hospitals have on staff. Some of the deaths (McDreamy, anyone?) were devastatingly poignant. Others felt like the writers pulled names out of a hat.

3. The Simpsons (FOX) Leave it to The Simpsons to make death funny, surreal, and somehow comforting. Characters come and go (RIP Maude Flanders), but the show reminds us that laughter really is one of the best coping mechanisms.

4. Game of Thrones (HBO) Did anyone have a favorite character that survived all eight seasons? The sheer frequency of death made loss feel less like grief and more like a weekly drinking game. Still, the Red Wedding remains one of TV’s most gut-wrenching portrayals of mass loss.

5. The Good Place (NBC) This comedy about the afterlife somehow managed to make dying funny, thoughtful, and even hopeful. By the finale, it had people around the world thinking deeply about what makes a life meaningful.

6. This Is Us (NBC) Few shows have made people cry as consistently as this one. Jack’s death and its ripple effects felt painfully real, showing how grief can become part of a family’s DNA.

7. MAS*H (CBS) The death of Henry Blake shocked audiences in the 1970s and changed TV forever. No laugh track, no build-up, just sudden loss—much like real life.

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB) For all its supernatural plots, one of the most haunting episodes was painfully ordinary. “The Body” dealt with Buffy finding her mother dead on the couch. No music. No monsters. Just raw, human grief.

9. Friends (NBC) Most deaths were played for laughs (poor Mrs. Waltham’s funeral, anyone?). But it goes to show—sometimes sitcoms can lighten the heaviest topic, even if it’s a little clumsy.

10. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS) “Chuckles Bites the Dust” is still considered one of the funniest sitcom episodes of all time. Mary struggles to suppress her laughter at a clown’s funeral, only to end up weeping uncontrollably when she finally lets go. It’s a perfect reminder of how humor and grief often blur together.

11. All in the Family (CBS)

One of the saddest and most groundbreaking TV deaths came in “Edith’s Crisis of Faith.” Beverly LaSalle, a drag performer and friend of the Bunker family, is brutally killed in a hate crime. Edith’s devastation—and her wrestling with faith in the aftermath—brought rarely acknowledged realities of violence, grief, and identity into America’s living rooms in 1977.

So Why Does This Matter?

Whether death is written with reverence or played for comedy, TV reminds us of something important: grief is messy, unpredictable, and deeply human. At Wildflower, we believe that honoring death can hold both laughter and tears, sometimes even in the same breath. That balance—the light and the heavy—is part of what makes life meaningful.

11 TV Shows That Handled Death Perfectly (Or Hilariously Badly)