100% Yes! What the hell are those writers think? Since when you are supposed to like a show without your favourite characters? And mostly MAIN characters?! This is like having House,without Dr. House and having Bones without BONES. Can someone tell me 1 show which is better off without it's main characters? Well I actually think of one-One Tree Hill. Though it's sad that Hilarie B. and CMM left,now the show has more new dramas and maybe it's for better. But what about CSI? Grissom,Sara and Warrick left the show *were written off* How did the show became better without those 3 MAIN characters? Well it didn't.. as a matter in fact the show sux so much right now that I have no idea why are they even keeping it up! Or when Zach *Eric Millegan* left Bones! And they put up all of that "Intern Squints" .. seriously if it wasn't for Booth and Brennan .. And not just that,recently we found out that even HOUSE - the most popular show on Earth is writting off a main character! I'm really pissed off.. why the best shows are always been screwed up!

If it's done well it can be dramatically satisfying and effective.

it depends on the tv show and what character....but i think that in Houses case that wont be a problem

You gotta have change for the show to continue being a success...and the best epsiodes tend to be the ones when a character dies or leaves the show. Plus sometimes that is the best for them because they can come back as a halluciantion, ghost, or visions which in some cases makes them bigger than when they were on the show the first time around/when they were alive.Some character are just meant to be in the front lines very long, example Cameron from House....she was good in the first three seasons but ever since season 4 and on I just haven't liked her being around anymore no matter who she is working with it's just like she is there but if you took her out of the scene you wouldn't really miss her (which means it is time to kill the person off or have them leave).

In some cases yes, because usually the show loses a lot when a main character gets written off. But there are exceptions, of course when the show carries on in a nice and creative way.

Yes as in One Tree Hill! The show is just dying now and needs to stop. Yeah the same thing happened with CSI, so sad.

It really depends on the show and characters....

Yes!!!
Season eight of That 70's Show completely sucked after Eric and Kelso left.
And The OC only lasted sixteen episodes after Marissa was killed off.

Depends on the show and the characters. I mean, take NCIS for instance. They killed off two main characters, and the show is more popular than ever! It's not that I didn't like those characters because I LOVED them, but sometimes it's just what the show needs to evolve.