Jessica Lee Rose left Lonelygirl15 (probably one of the first remotely popular web series) to go do… according to Wikipedia, a bunch of TV Series and Movies I’ve never heard of and I don’t think were very popular.
Don got screwed. Andy Griffith had told him privately that he was tired of the show and was quitting, so Knotts didn’t renew his contract but wouldn’t say why. When Griffith tried to quit later the network threw bags of money at him and he agreed to stay, but Knotts was left out in the cold. They’ve both said it put a huge strain on their friendship at the time, and it’s pretty much why Griffith made sure Knotts got a job anytime he was working.
Outsiders have speculated that Griffith had a problem with Knotts winning awards as Fife while he got nothing, a tradition that’s continued with comedian-led shows to this day.
Morrow pushed for more money because “Quiz Show” was a critical and box office success. He liked NE and wanted to stay while making movies during the show’s breaks, but felt the producers should make it worthwhile for him to do that. They saw the show as more of an ensemble, so while he was a main character he didn’t deserve leading man money like Kelsey Grammer or Tim Allen (who’d hit the $1m/ep mark around then). He left, his career tanked for a bit, the show tanked as well, and he returned to tv with “Numb3rs” years later.
Sweet and merciful Og. I had managed to forget the original Commander Cain, such was the magnificence of Michelle Forbes’ reimagined Admiral Cain.
Pamela Anderson left Home Improvement so she could star in Baywatch. Good career move I think. I know she wasn’t the star of Home Improvement but she left a hit show for a better opportunity.
There’s a lot of ER people who basically disappeared. Anthony Edwards occasionally pops up, but is mostly doing regular things. Noah Wiley just can’t seem to get a break into much more than TNT films. Laura Innes has disappeared. Goran Visnjic has disappeared. Eriq Lasalle has done some directing I think, but nothing high profile.
I don’t know if they (except Stringfield, who I heard also had some boyfriend drama at the time) expected big things, but I think it’s just a case of them being so totally identified with the roles, along with that show being so good, they just can’t shake it. Plus they have a zillion dollars, so many of them are doing things like opening theaters and race car driving.
It’s too bad - with some exceptions, it was a wonderfully talented cast. I’d like to see them do something else.
Chevy Chase? He came back in later years for a parody skit, Jeopardy 1999, and answered the question, “Comedian whose career fizzled after leaving NBC’s Saturday Night?” with “Who is Chevy Chase”.
Actually I did see it in syndication in the late 80s. Sometimes syndicators would package a bunch of short run sitcoms into a single strip run.
Nah. Chase had a number of hit movies: Foul Play, Fletch, Fletch Lives, the Vacation movies, Spies Like Us, Funny Farm, Three Amigos…
For small values of ‘hit’.
Those all had solid box office returns. You’d have a hard time looking at that run and calling Chase a failure as a movie actor.
Belushi’s big hit was The Blues Brothers, with a box office of $57M.
By way of comparison, Vacation had a box office of $61M, and Fletch had a box office of $50M.
It’s worth noting, though, that:
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E.R. was an ensemble show, not a show built around one character. His departure hurt the show a bit, but everyone knew the show could carry on without too big a dip in quality or viewership.
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George Clooney stayed on good terms with the show’s producers- when he did leave, there were no hard feelings, and he was even willing to come back for a few episodes. He didn’t burn bridges, as many of the aforementioned actors did.
Fittingly enough for this thread, Redgrave left “House Calls” in the middle of its run. However, rather than quitting to be a movie star, she claimed her decision was due to the producers’ failure to give her breaks to breast-feed her child.
[QUOTE=Spoke]
Nah. Chase had a number of hit movies: Foul Play, Fletch, Fletch Lives, the Vacation movies, Spies Like Us, Funny Farm, Three Amigos…
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True. In fact, if anything, the downturn in Chase’s fortunes were caused when he came* back* to TV to do his disasterous late night talkshow on Fox.
Lisa Bonet left The Cosby Show to do the horror film Angel Heart, which included a pretty racy sex scene with her and Mickey Rourke. As I heard it, Cosby was horrified that anyone who played his young daughter would do such a thing, and she was cut from the show. She’d hoped for more of a movie career but it never quite took off.
I thought they realized they only needed one host and went with Seacrest.
Jon Provost left “Lassie” when he was 14, feeling his character wasn’t developing and he was sick of falling into wells (actually Timmy never fell into a well. Mines, crevices, etc yes,but no wells). The producers also felt they could save money on four main actors with one adult forest ranger so they dispatched the Martins to Australia as farm experts after six years of crop failures. Lassie had to stay behind because of quarantine rules.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timmy_Martin#Leaving_the_show
Gabe Kaplan, kinda.
He gave up starring in Welcome Back Kotter to become a full-time professional jerk.
Yeah, outside of Clooney and Edwards–who already had established careers–I expected Wyle to be the one from ER to go on to a bigger career.
The TNT series he’s on now (Falling Skies) is watchable, but not great.
And that sketch was done while he was still on the show, shortly after he announced he was leaving.
David Duchovny? I’m not sure if he left The X Files in search of greener pastures, or because he was tired of it. Either way he mostly vanished for a few years.