Actually, I'll give a TV example: L.A. Law's Rosalind Shays (the fantastic Diana Muldaur) falling down an elevator shaft in 1991. Days later, in a Washington Post article titled "Last of the Red-Hot Lawyers," show runner David E. Kelley spoke to Tom Shales about the character's death and said "I know, I'm sorry." Kelley feared the character would peter out and lose her edge -- being in love with Richard Dysart's Leland McKenzie had softened her to an extent -- and as Kelley was all about the dramatic stuff that season (Rollins getting attacked by cops, Becker finally getting really caught for his affairs, C.J. Lamb's sexuality, the near-takeover of the law firm, lawyers bolting, Dann Freakin' Florek coming back which actually made me laugh out loud), he'd decided to end the character dramatically.
Come to think of it, it might be easier to do the big dramatic plot twist in a TV show than in a movie. You're more likely to see a movie multiple times than see a TV episode many times, so the revelation that, say, Harry Lime is alive eventually doesn't have as much impact. I'm a veteran of watching soaps, both daytime and prime-time, and those can be all about the shocking twists -- sometimes ridiculous, but that's the risk with twists. The stories on serialized TV shows flow, and you don't necessarily go back and re-watch them -- though that's easier to do now thanks to DVD sets and streaming video -- and if the shows go on a while, it could be a little bit like how you experienced a major event in your own life, and you don't usually revisit your own life's major plot twists except in therapy.
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Again, going the "current favorite" route. Lost being sometimes very uneven. because many episodes are so overstuffed with Stuff, that there might be bad stuff but it's balanced by cool and worthy stuff -- and, of course, important-to-later stuff. The one episode of Lost I thought was almost completely disposable was a standalone about one of the Others who died. Third season, if I remember correctly (I was burning through the show fast at the time, I'm not going to remember episode numbers). And I'd rather not remember too much of it. That episode probably won't get mentioned in tonight's pre-finale recap.