Sorting out the mayhem

Blame it on “Who Shot J.R.?”

Ever since the CBS prime-time soap “Dallas” shocked its fans back in the spring of 1980 with a corker of a season finale, television producers have relied on murder, mayhem and other nasty behaviors to keep audiences buzzing with anticipation. When it was revealed in the fall that Kristen was the assailant who pulled the trigger on J.R. Ewing (the nefarious villain, of course, survived) on “Dallas,” 76% of the viewing audience that Friday night was tuned to CBS. But the television landscape has changed dramatically in 25 years. As cable shows chip away at their prime-time viewers, broadcast networks are always seeking new twists to keep people watching, or lure them back. These last several days, many drama series seem to be dealing the death card, as cast members, guest stars and anonymous victims meet a gruesome ending.It’s hard to keep up with the body count, but here’s a start:

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Susan King

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Desperate Housewives

(ABC)

Body Count: 2

Surprises abound as fans learn that it was Mary Alice -- not her husband, Paul -- who stabbed Zach’s birth mother, Deirdre, and stuffed her in the toy chest after Deirdre showed up at their house, demanding that they return her son. Bree’s “perfect” world, meanwhile, disintegrates with a phone call from the doctor saying that her husband, Rex, died from his heart condition. Bree is devastated, though not enough to keep her from finishing the task at hand: polishing the silver. The death count could turn out higher in Season 2. Paul is left tied up and stranded in an isolated canyon. Zach, with Susan as his hostage, lays wait with a gun in Mike’s house. Final scene: Mike walking through the door.

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Lost

(ABC)

Body Count: 1

Whining high school teacher and self-declared explosives expert Dr. Arzt blows up while handling old dynamite that the survivors found in the hull of a slave-trade ship. But the fate of the four people on the rescue raft is left uncertain after some mysterious people on a boat kidnap young Walt, shoot Sawyer and blow up the raft. At finale’s end, we see Jin dive into the water trying to save Sawyer, and Michael, treading water, screaming for his son. Back on the island, Jack and Locke open the mysterious hatch, leaving director/creator J.J. Abrams plenty of script options for next season.

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House

(Fox)

Body Count: 0

When his ex-lover, Stacy, turns up, asking him to help save her husband, House not only has trouble solving the puzzle (mood swings and abdominal pain), he realizes that there’s a part of him that wants Mark to die. But, he tells his buddy Wilson, does he want Mark to die so he can get Stacy back, or does he want him to die so she’ll suffer? The better part of him, of course, comes through -- and reaffirms House’s TV track record with dying patients. He diagnoses the disease and saves Mark’s life.

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The O.C.

(Fox)

Body Count: 1

With her drinking problem growing alarmingly worse (in one scene, she’s clutching a vodka bottle like a purse), Kirsten gets checked into a cushy treatment center. Brewing tension between Ryan and Trey turns into a fistfight after Ryan learns his half brother tried to force himself on his girlfriend. Ryan’s friends head to Trey’s apartment, knowing something bad is going down. Marissa walks in and sees Trey, with his hands gripped around Ryan’s neck on the floor. She spots his gun, and shoots him in the back.

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Alias

(ABC)

Body Count: A metropolis

Sydney and the APO team set out to disengage the Mueller Device (a giant red ball) hovering over a Russian city, Sovogda. Bodies and abandoned cars are strewn everywhere; remaining survivors stagger around, apparently poisoned and physiologically altered into zombie-like creatures. Brodien gets impaled with a rod by one of the water-infected people. Irina coolly shoots her own sister, Elena, who was responsible for putting the Rambaldi end game into motion. Sydney’s sister, Nadia, is injected with the bad water and becomes one of them, then is shot by her father as she tries to strangle Sydney. Still, she survives. Final scene: Sydney and her new fiance driving in Santa Barbara, having a worrisome conversation. Out of nowhere, a car slams into them.

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NCIS

(CBS)

Body Count: 7

Gibbs finds himself the target of Ari, a terrorist who’s been allowed back into the U.S. by the FBI. He also realizes that the convertible, where two naval officers were found shot to death, was rigged with a bomb that could have killed the NCIS crew. The team moves in on Ari and his terrorist cell at a warehouse, just before the terrorists launch a poor man’s cruise missile. NCIS quickly dispenses with four men, including one who takes a shot at Kate. Fortunately, she is wearing a bulletproof vest, but while brushing herself off and joking with Gibbs and Tony, takes one in the forehead -- from Ari, who is zeroing in on them through a scope from another building. The finale leaves viewers wondering whether Gibbs is next.

24

(Fox)

Body Count: 6

Within the first half hour, three people die as Jack tries to rescue Tony from the clutches of a femme-fatale assassin. She nonchalantly shoots a neighbor in the head (after carefully putting on lipstick) and sends his two roommates to a parked car, where they die in an explosion. Terrorist Habib Marwan falls to his death after Jack corners him on a helipad. But two CTU agents are eliminated when Chinese government officials kidnap Howard Bern. Even after Jack helps save a million Angelenos from a nuclear explosion, the president’s security chief conspires to have him murdered. Jack is declared dead after a Secret Service agent shoots him. But it was all a ruse. Tony, Michelle and Chloe revive him with a shot of epinephrine. Jack has just enough down time to make a cellphone call, put on his sunglasses and head for Mexico.

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

(CBS)

Body Count: 3 people (two dogs)

Blood and body parts flow in this Quentin Tarantino two-hour special, in which Nick is kidnapped and buried alive by a revenge-seeking father. The father blows himself up. And in one of the more memorable scenes, Nick has a dream about his own autopsy. Meanwhile, a voracious army of ants invades Nick’s coffin. Grissom and Co. save him just as he is about to shoot himself in the head because his air is running out. Almost as a side note, two women (identical twins) are seen killed by a single shot -- a reference early in the episode to a murder case the CSI crew was investigating.

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CSI: Miami

(CBS)

Body Count: 1

Horatio’s brother, Ray, returns, having worked undercover with the feds on drug cases. He looks dead after taking several bullets in the chest during a shootout but miraculously reappears in the final scenes (he had a bulletproof vest) as Horatio reunites him with his police-detective wife, Yelina (Horatio’s unrequited love), and son, Ray Jr. During an investigation, Calleigh gets spooked when she hears a gun cocked against her head. Later, the triggerman is revealed to be troubled Det. John Hagen. He commits suicide, with her in the same room, which sends her on an even bigger emotional bender.

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Deadwood

(HBO)

Body Count: 6

George Hearst, the new tycoon in town, seems to have folks tied up in knots. But Swearengen makes it clear to Hearst that he’s not bowing to anyone. He has Wu lead a band of men to kill Lee. At least four other men die there during the power struggle, including one who gets an ax in the back. Wolcott -- who is confronted by Hearst about his penchant for killing prostitutes -- is shown swinging in a noose, having apparently committed suicide. And in a nod to the cliffhanger genre, the town’s new minister, Andy, stabs Tolliver in the middle of a wedding celebration. We have to wait until till next season to learn if he lives or dies.

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Medium

(NBC)

Body Count: 4

Capt. Kenneth Push, the Texas Ranger who gave Allison guff in the pilot, returns as he and the psychic mother try to stop a killer who’s been surgically removing the hearts of victims, all redheads. Allison begins having visions, in which Push gives her clues. As his heart condition worsens, Push lands in the hospital, in need of a pacemaker. The closing scene: the Ranger lying on his hospital bed, snipping the wires attached to his chest, hoping that his hastened death will allow him to tell Allison the name of the killer.

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ER

(NBC)

Body Count: Several partygoers

Noah Wyle’s (Dr. Carter’s) departure from the hospital drama after 11 seasons made news. But in the finale, his decision to move to Africa is overshadowed by a freak accident. At a party attended by Drs. Barnett and Morris, several balconies collapse, leading to numerous casualties, including a good friend of Dr. Barnett.