TVSquad

If you're a regular viewer of the BBC sci-fi series Torchwood, you're more than aware of the recent dust up between fans and writers over a major character death in this past season's finale. Angry fans immediately ran to message boards to express their displeasure with the direction the show has taken, but now, that angry fan reaction seems to have taken a sudden and serious turn for the worse.

Before we get too far into this, I'm putting a spoiler warning on this post, even though the episode in question has already aired in the U.S. For anyone still saving it on their DVR, beware. It's a biggie.

Wow. Busy day in celebrity deaths. First we hear that Farrah Fawcett finally lost her battle to cancer, then suddenly we hear that, after being rushed to a LA hospital in cardiac arrest, Michael Jackson also died. He was only 50, and he was about to embark on a comeback concert stint in London that he hoped would revive his career.

ABC News was already scrambling to move up the Farrah special they had planned to air on 20/20 this coming Friday. That special, where Barbara Walters interviews Ryan O'Neal, will be shown tonight at 10 PM ET. They also just announced that they will be airing an MJ retrospective at 9 PM ET.

Other networks are following suit with their own specials, according to THR.com.

It's interesting how most news outlets aside from Fox didn't confirm MJ's death even though our friends at TMZ had the news first. I guess it wasn't legitimate enough for them. Either way, it's a shockingly sad day in the entertainment biz, no matter what you may have thought of Farrah or Jackson.

Among the almost 3,000 people that died on September 11, 2001 was Frasier co-creator David Angell and his wife Lynn, who were on the plane that was flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Just like the deaths of everyone else that day, the Angells' demise was tragic. But also like many of the victims, the families of those who died are using the incident to better the world around them. This Hollywood Reporter article speaks to Kathy Fischer, the first recipient of the David and Lynn Angell Humanitas Comedy Fellowship in 2003. She was able to utilize the fellowship, awarded for a Bernie Mac Show spec script, and launch a TV comedy writing career that has landed her a job as a staff writer on the George Lopez. She's now writing scripts for new pilots.

The article goes on to talk about how the Angell Foundation was founded and funded, mostly coming from the Angells' estate. Its causes are varied, involving social justice, arts, education, and spiritual causes. It's good to know Angell and his wife are still helping people out, even if they are no longer around to see things through.

Richard de Angelis died of congestive heart failure on December 28th at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was also suffering from prostate cancer.

De Angelis played Baltimore police Col. Raymond Foerster on 13 episodes of HBO's The Wire. He also had roles in Homicide: The Movie, and the John Waters films A Dirty Shame, and Cecil B. Demented. Before he was an actor, he was a comedian who went by the name of Ricky Roach. Before that, he was an accountant who quit his job and went to acting school at the age of 38.

Looks like we need to add another one to Jonathan's list from earlier this week. Known primarily for his role as Blue in the recent comedy movie "Old School", Patrick Cranshaw has passed away at the ripe age of 86. Besides appearing in several other movies, Cranshaw also made recurring appearances in the television shows Alice, Mork & Mindy, The Ted Knight Show and Dukes of Hazzard. No obituary of Cranshaw's is complete without the phrase: "You're my boy, Blue!"

(Part 4 of 5)

It happens every year, and you hate to be the one who ends up writing about it (especially me because I'm a big cry-baby), but it's the right thing to do when it comes time to pay your respects to those we've lost over the last 365 days. So grab a box of tissues and join me along with the rest of my fellow TV Squadders as we remember some of the great actors, comedians, news anchors, producers, writers, and other television personalities who've moved on to what we can only hope is a better place.