TV's Frink said:
If memory serves, killing Lando was a joke that people took seriously.
Well... that is debatable...
Frankly, I can go either way. I understand that it was originally intended to kill SOMEBODY off, to add an element of sacrifice (ala STAR TREK 2) that really hit home with the audience - as in, to sacrifice a character nobody wanted to see die, as opposed to Wedge (which nobody wants to see die, but he is kinda periphery) or R2 (who could be rebuilt) or a random Ewok. While I do like the "Yahoo!" from Lando, I could see it cut right when Lando rams/shoots out the reactor, flash of white light, DS2 blows up immediately, etc.
No doubt this will come up once the JEDI:REVISITED thread begins...