Alumnus (sing.)
IIRC, he left Northern Exposure after a series of salary disputes, not necessarily just to pursue a movie career (though I imagine he wouldn’t have pushed for more money if he didn’t think he could get work elsewhere).
Even when it doesn’t work-out, there are pretty good arguments for actors getting out while the getting is good, rather then ride a show till its ratings drop and their looks start to go. If they leave while their popularity is high, they may not end up in any good projects and end up fizziling, but at least they’ll be offered a few projects and have the chance. If they wait till the show they were associated with dies a slow death, there’s a much smaller chance they’ll even have a chance to get on a second successful project.
Sherry Stringfield left ER during its third season, breaking her contract and getting headlines for the sudden departure. She was been nominated for Best Actress Emmys each of those three seasons. She said the filming schedule was grueling and she wanted a more normal life, so perhaps she doesn’t fit the description of looking for “better opportunities.” She came back as a regular on the show five years later in 2001, then left again in 2005. Looks like she works steadily, though not abundantly, in relatively low-profile gigs.
My recollection was a win against Lorimar but a loss against the network.Still proving the point that she wasn’t all to blame by any means.
I didn’t know this. I remember the first season of MI, and the dim memories of the guy before Peter Graves. Looking this up now I see there were a number of cast changes later in the series, after I’d stopped watching.
They were constantly filming around Hill’s absences, to the point where he simply didn’t go on missions (Rollin would usually take over) or was the guy who “ìmpersonated” (i.e., was replaced by) the guest star. Several times the opening sequence was a repeat (albeit with different tape recordings and photographs) or had another member of the team (probably Rollin or Cinnamon) accepting their new mission.
Chuck Cunningham left *Happy Days *after only a couple of episodes to pursue a professional basketball career, but he never made a team.
Exactly. MASH was actually costing Wayne Rogers money. As I understand it, he had asked for more screen time, as he wasn’t enjoying being little more than a side kick. The producers told him no, and he gave them the one fingered salute.
I can’t really blame him. Why stick with something you don’t enjoy,and is costing you money?
Brian Dunkleman left as co-host of American Idol after the first season to concentrate on acting. I his words, “I’m not saying it was a good decision.”
Nothing against de Boer, but I always thought it was *huge *mistake to make the new Dax host female. Having Dax return to DS9 as a male would’ve been far more interesting.
It seems like most Star Trek actors “disappear” after their show ends. Shatner, Stewart, and Bakula being the major exceptions. Oh, and Koenig had a recurring role on B5 and was in that movie with ancient aliens on the Moon. I know alot of them have ended up working behind the camera though.
:dubious: How was he losing money being on a hit show?
Presumably opportunity cost. Being on the show was time consuming when he could have been getting more clients. They weren’t willing to enhance his role (and I’m guessing his salary) so he left.
Jophiel-I thought he started consulting after leaving MASH. Hence my confusion. (I was 5 when the show ended)
A bunch of them have gone on to write, produce and direct. Ryker, B’Lanna Torres, Wesley Crusher, probably others. Spend seven years watching people create one of the more popular shows on television and you learn a few things. What you might NOT learn is how to act.
Exactly - In those pre-intenet days, he wouldn’t have been able to work from his trailer.
He began investing on the side shortly before MASH. Business really took off during MASH.
I swear I heard somewhere that he was up for the role of Radar O’Reilly in the movie version of MASH and turned it down. I can’t find any cite for this though…
Rogers didn’t quit acting immediately after leaving MAS*H, though. As Laggard pointed out, he did some other television work, most notably “House Calls” with Lynn Redgrave and later Sharon Gless. It only ran for 57 episodes though, not even enough to be worth syndicating , but I thought Redgrave was pretty scrumptious in that show. He also appeared in the television movie “I Dream of Jeannie - 15 Years Later” replacing Larry Hagman as Tony Nelson, although I could forgive people for forgetting that one.
Both “House Calls” and the “I Dream of Jeannie” TV special are very prominent memories for me. In fact, I knew Wayne Rogers from “House Calls” before I ever saw the older episodes of “Mash” in which he appeared as Trapper.
It might also be the genre. William Shatner says in one of his books that Lloyd Bridges turned down Star Trek, saying that once you leave the earth, you lose credibility as an actor. I guess Harrison Ford is the exception but he did have another franchise to rely on.
Yeah, Lloyd Bridges waiting until Battlestar Galactica to give up his credibility.