Grave Mistake
A whacky mix-up causes a living character to be reported as dead, usually by the media, and everyone believes it.
The IT Crowd
Appearances
- Barney Miller: Season 2, episode 8, "Discovery" (1977). Fish doesn't receive his paycheck because the department has declared him dead.
- Night Court: Season 6, episode 8, "Night Court of the Living Dead" (1988). A court system computer error declares Christine dead, so the administration sends a replacement public defender, who refuses to leave when he sees that Christine is very much alive.
- The Golden Girls: Season 6, episode 26, "Henny Penny - Straight, No Chaser" (1991). A spiteful newspaper obituary writer publishes an obituary for Blanche, who is very much alive, saying she died at the age of 68 (the age bothers Blanche more than being reported dead).
- The Powers That Be: Season 2, episode 2, "Bill's Dead... Not" (1992). While on his way to visit his mother, Bill picks up an ex-con hitchhiker, who steals his car and crashes it. When the police find his car, they assume he's dead, and soon it's all over the news.
- Father Ted: Season 1, episode 6, "Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest" (1995). Ted and Dougal find Jack passed out drunk, and a visiting nun tells them he's dead. They spread the word and hold a funeral, and in accordance with his will, they sit up with his coffin all night to make sure he's really dead (he isn't).
- Frasier: Season 7, episode 8, "The Late Dr. Crane" (1999). Niles accidentally hits Frasier in the nose, and a mixup at the hospital leads to his being declared dead, and his death is reported on the local news and in the paper.