Death often becomes her on television. Or him. Or, on occasion, them.

Indeed, few events on one's favorite show can get viewers more riled up/feeling down than the death of a beloved character.

With that in mind, TV Fanatic is here with #TragicTuesday, a weekly reminder that although certain men and women of the small screen may be gone, they are never forgotten.

So break out the tissues, remember the good times and join us today in remembering... GEORGE O'MALLEY.

If we were go Grey's Anatomy, you figured we would go with Derek Shepherd, didn't you?

But that would have been too easy (plus, we're not really to fully accept the death of McDreamy just yet; give us a few hours days months...). Instead, we're here to pay tribute to first main character Shonda Rhimes decided to kill off.

George O'Malley was young and innocent. He got off to a difficult start in Seattle, earning a "license to kill" along with the nickname "007" after a particularly rough incident.

It took George awhile to earn the respect of his colleagues, especially Alex Karev, but once those around him bore witness to George's big heart... forget it. They were in. They were all about this caring, gentle, well-intentioned physician-in-training.

Folks learned to underestimate George and his puppy dog eyes at their own peril. But it turned out this was the man you wanted around when stuck on an elevator, going into labor.

Following an unrequited crush on Meredith, George got together with his best friend Izzie, and - it's we can just leave it there. It's best not to talk too much about that. The relationship didn't go very well. Neither did his marriage to Callie.

It was clear George (and T.R. Knight in real life) needed a change of scenery. And he was about to get one when, inspired by new co-worker Owen Hunt, George enlisted to become a U.S. Army doctor.

So, bam! Perfect! There you have it, Shonda. The ideal way to write Knight out. Except... no. You had to go ahead and pull every heartstring imaginable, didn't you?

Just as he was set to depart Seattle, George jumped in front of a bus to save a pedestrian's life. Except the bus hit him instead. And he was left so bruised and battered that his closest friends didn't recognize him as a patient, dubbing him a "John Doe."

Right until the very end. When this happened:

It didn't have to be this way, Shonda. You could have let George go and live a fulfilled life overseas. WHY DIDN'T YOU LET GEORGE GO LIVE A FULFILLED LIFE OVERSEAS?!?

That's why we honor George O'Malley today. Because for as sad as we are to see Derek go, the writing was somewhat on the surgical wall there for awhile.

But this? This death? The way it went down? The way it gobsmacked us in our George-loving face? This was the most shocking moment in Grey's Anatomy history.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.