With so many high-profile series like Lost , Desperate Housewives , and Heroes proving themselves willing to kill off main characters over the last few seasons (and rumors swirling about many a death on upcoming series by the end of the season), it got me thinking about the role of death on television and whether it's still an important tool in the television writer's arsenal of plot devices or an over-hyped gimmick to force viewers to tune in. The most recent death on television was, of course, the shocking demise of Kal Penn's Dr. Lawrence Kutner on FOX's House earlier this week . In the April 6th episode, entitled "Simple Explanation," Penn's typically levelheaded character commits suicide very unexpectedly and his absence from work prompts two of the series' characters to investigate his whereabouts; they discover his body in his apartment with a gun by his side. Reactions to the episode have divided both critics and audience alike, with some prai