Which Major Star is Getting Killed Off?

Holy cats, you guys: according to Michael Ausiello, a popular TV series is losing its very popular star in a very shocking death that will ultimately lead to said star maybe getting his own pilot series. It's the sort of blind item that makes TV nerds such as me, my editor, and anyone else reading this story, very, very excited. In that competitive, must-complete-the-puzzle-before-the-others kind of way.

Which only means one (very good) thing: it's time for our speculative talents to go into hyperdrive! Yessssss.

What we do know is this:

• It's "a big-time actor"
• Who is "currently starring on a popular hour-long drama series."
• He will have an "onscreen death"
• But apparently "he won’t have to keep his trap shut for much longer."

Which we can infer means the death is probably imminent. With that in mind, we scoured the Internet and our minds to come up with some plausible, hypothetical possibilities: Chris Noth, Patrick Dempsey, and Damian Lewis.

A governor, a doctor, or a terrorist: three very prime targets for death.

When you look at it logically, the three men make sense. Dempsey has been dogged by rumors of his own departure from Grey's Anatomy. And it's no secret that many a cast member has left in recent years. Plus, the hospital that Shonda Rhimes built has hardly had an easy go of it: killing off McDreamy would just be yet another day in the life of his wife/the series' star, Meredith Grey. It would be cruel, no doubt, but not surprising.

Chris Noth, who plays the newly-elected governor of Illinois Peter Florrick on The Good Wife, is not the best dude. His relationship with wife Alicia is complicated, to say the least. His assassination would open the floodgates for character-building possibilities in the face of Alicia's current, uh, situation at work. Trying to save your family and start up a new firm and cope with the loss of your governor-elect husband? She's be more than just a good wife, she'd be the SuperHuman Wife.

And well, as for the last (and our personal choice) option? Everybody and their mother is just waiting for Damian Lewis' Nicholas Brody to die already on Homeland. (Since last season, no big deal, cough cough, just make it happen already.) So!

There is always the possibility that we're wrong (what a terrible thought to think), but if we were forced to go all-in on the matter, our bet would be on Brody. Plus he seems the most-poised to take a chance on an "up-and-coming producer/writer," and the most logical to take the step into full-blown, shouldering-an-entire-show status. So it's bye, bye, bye (if we had our way) Damian Lewis.

Of course, it could be one of our honorable mention potential dead dudes, too. Like, Craig T. Nelson from Parenthood, David Boreanaz from Bones, Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead, Ted Danson on CSI, or Ron Perlmann from Sons of Anarchy, or Scott Foley from Scandal (which would be the worst thing ever, please don't do it to us, Shonda!). Mostly, we're just dying to find out, pun 1,000 percent groanworthy and intended.

[Photo Credit: CBS, ABC, Showtime]