I would get it if every so often–for personal, artistic reasons that weren’t foreseen–actors decided to leave, but there’s just so much turnover in successful series that I’m thinking there’s something going on that I’m not getting.
Take NYPD Blue: I understand it’s not every viewer’s dish of meat, but I would think for an actor to get a gig that’s regular, fairly well-paying, a nice line on the resume, that gets his face known, etc. that would be a sweet deal, something most actors would want to hold onto for as long as the gig lasts. But to judge from the turnover in the roles of Captain, Sipowicz’s partner, cute female cop, cute female DA, there was some mandatory arsenic-sipping in their contracts.
I get it, btw, why David Caruso left, or Rob Lowe left the West Wing (big egos who felt they deserved better contracts) or the occasional artistic difference that makes someone’s situation untenable; I’m wondering why actors leave roles so often for reasons other than money or artistic differences.
Desire not to be typecast might be another reason. Or, alternatively, a one-off better opportunity comes up that clashes with filming schedules.
I get the impression–nothing more than that–that much of the time cast changes are driven by a desire to spur ratings, or gain publicity, or to kick out unruly cast members too. “Decided to leave” may well be a nice way of saying “Jumped before being pushed”.
“Typecasting” is supposedly why Terry Farrell left Deep Space Nine although I’m confused how six years on a Star Trek show will typecast when six won’t. I mean, it worked so well for Denise Crosby and Wil Wheaton, didn’t it?
But so often the decision to replace them plays very awkwardly: that Sipowicz’s current wife gets killed, and then his ex-wife is eager to marry him but that doesn’t work out so he hooks up with and marries a cute female cop who makes a sudden decision to retire and so her presence is now limited to Sipowicz’s end of occasional phone conversations. They can’t show you his home life, for obvious reasons, now so his young son has necessarily been way limited in appearances, if he hasn’t dropped out of the story line altogether. It’s all so unlikely, and so awkward. If this were planning on the part of the producers you’d imagine they’d chart out an arc for his love-life story with a little more consistency. Or if they wanted that awkward inconsistency, for some reason (this one kind of makes Sipowicz into some kind of fifty-something stud muffin) they certainly wouldn’t intentionally duplicate it with so many other, equally awkward plot inconsistencies, would they?
My guess is that being part of the cast of a successful show produces offers for parts that didn’t exist before. Many actors decide to pursue those parts rather than stay with the original show. A new actor is brought into the show and, assuming the show remains successful, starts getting the same type of offers. The result is a high turnover in the cast.
I’m not sure I accept the premise that there’s “so much” turnover in successful TV shows. I can name dozens of examples of shows that ran for 5 years or more with their original casts intact.
Granted, when a lead actor in a successful series bolts after one or two seasons, it’s big news, but it really doesn’t happen that often.
When it DOES happen, though, let’s add two more reasons to the list:
Actor makes a demand or threatens to walk. Producers say goodbye.
Actor is actually being fired, but producers agree to go along with the fiction that it’s the actor’s idea.
There’s also the case where the network desires a certain “look.” On Law & Order, for example, TPTB wanted more females, so say good bye to Cragen and Robinette and say hello to Claire and Van Buren. I think L&O mirrors real life too, people retire, move on, get killed by drunk drivers after seeing their first execution, etc.