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TV stars who quit hit shows too soon
By Andrea Morabito
March 6, 2016
THERE are few sure things in Hollywood, but one seems certain – an actor choosing to leave a hit TV show is never a good idea.
The New York Post reported earlier this week that Empire star Trai Byers wants out of the how, with a source claiming that “the character is beneath him.”
Don’t go … Trai Byers is said to be keen to leave hit series Empire.
Byers is now predictably pushing back against the rumour, and with good reason – the “I’m gonna quit this show to become a bigger star” move never works.
Television history is littered with egotistical actors who found themselves on a hot series, became stars overnight, and suddenly thought they were Hollywood’s Next Big Thing, only to watch their careers wallow for years or never recover after audiences rejected them in other roles.
Need proof? Just ask these guys.
It’s come to this … Did anyone actually see Katherine Heigl’s latest movie, Jenny’s Wedding? Â Box office hit … Katherine Heigl, with Seth Rogen, even dubbed her hit film Knocked Up as sexist.
Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy)
The actress made no secret of her dislike of Grey’s Anatomy. After winning an Emmy in 2007 she famously withdrew herself from awards consideration in 2008, saying, “I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination” for playing Dr. Izzie Stevens. The following season the writers gave her character melanoma, and she eventually left the show in the middle of Season 6. But while during her Grey’s Anatomy run, Heigl starred in big-screen hits like Knocked Up and 27 Dresses, post-Grey’s she has turned in forgettable lemons like Killers,Life as We Know It and One for the Money. Her attempted TV comeback, the 2015 drama State of Affairs, was cancelled after one low-rated season. Grey’s Anatomy, meanwhile, was just renewed for a whopping 13th season.
Replaced … Jimmy Smits came on as Dennis Franz’s partner on NYPD Blue and the ratings didn’t suffer.Â
Actor David Caruso with fellow screen detective Dennis Franz in a scene from NYPD Blue. p/ actors TV series
David Caruso (NYPD Blue)
Caruso became a huge TV star playing Detective John Kelly in the hit police drama NYPD Blue, but bolted from the series in 1994 after just one season when the big screen called, enraging viewers. Only problem? His leading-man movie career never came to fruition after box-office flops like Kiss of Death and Jade. NYPD Blue only went on to bigger and better things, replacing Caruso with Jimmy Smits. Caruso finally found a hit when he crawled back to TV in 2002 to star in another long-running police drama, CSI: Miami – where he played a lieutenant.
Tough time … Shelley Long and Bette Midler in Outrageous Fortune.Â
Left too soon … Shelley Long played Diane Chambers in Cheers.Â
Shelley Long (Cheers)
She was the star of a top-five rated show and won an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as being nominated a further three times. However after five seasons and some success in movies like Troop Beverly Hills, Outrageous Fortuneand The Money Pit, Long decided she wanted out of the beloved bar. Rumours suggested that she picked fights with the cast and crew. Bette Midler, her co-star onOutrageous Fortune, said working with her was “pretty rough”, reportedly due to arguments over who should have top billing.
Long however did prove sadly to have some mental health issues and tried to commit suicide in 2004.
She never quite found the same success as she did on Cheers, starring in forgettable movies like
Dr. T & the Women and the Brady Bunch films. However she has popped up from time to time as DeDe Pritchett, the largely absent mother of Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Claire (Julie Bowen) on Modern Family. Cheers, of course, went on to make Kirstie Alley a star after she took over in the bar from Long.
Where did she go? … Mischa Barton has fallen into obscurity.Â
World at her feet … Mischa Barton and Ben McKenzie from the television show OC.Â
Mischa Barton (The OC)
With small, but noteworthy roles as a child actress in blockbuster hits like Notting Hill and The Sixth Sense, Mischa Barton showed a lot of promise as an actress. She got her big break in the syndicated TV show, The OC, where she played Marissa Cooper, a wealthy, troubled teenager. She was catapulted into fame almost instantly and received several Teen Choice Awards. Although by the time the third season was filming, Barton had decided to end her contract to pursue movie roles. Her character died in a car accident in the third season finale and Barton has been almost obscure ever since, her latest movie roles include Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard and playing ”˜The Actress’ in a film called LA Slasher.
Well loved … Rob Lowe from The West Wing.Â
Great cast … Rob Low, front left, with his West Wing co-stars.Â
Rob Lowe (The West Wing)
After seeing his career as a Brat Pack teen idol sidelined by his hard-partying ways, Lowe returned to A-list status in 1999 in the prestige political drama The West Wing – which he quit after three seasons, claiming his character’s role had diminished and amid rumours of a salary dispute. Lowe had a few grim years before bouncing back in the series Brothers and Sisters. He has decided to stick to television and is getting rave reviews for his role opposite Fred Savage in The Grinder.
Flop … Dan Stevens as David in the forgettable movie The Guest. Picture:Â
Quit … Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley, left, and Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley, in Downton Abbey. Stevens left the show after three seasons to pursue a movie career.Â
Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey)
Stevens, who played romantic lead Matthew Crawley on the period drama, crushed Downton Abbey fans when he informed series creator Julian Fellowes that he wanted to leave the show after three seasons – necessitating his character being killed off just after marrying and having a child with Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery). His movie career since then has been, shall we say, underwhelming – he starred in the 2014 box-office flop The Guest, and had roles in the critically panned Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Adam Sandler’s The Cobbler. Stevens will get a shot to turn it around, however, in 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, playing the monstrous love interest opposite Emma Watson.
Bomb … McLean Stevenson in Hello, Larry, never had a hit show like M*A*S*H. Picture:Â
Hit … McLean Stevenson as Henry Blake in M*A*S*H.Â
McLean Stevenson (M*A*S*H)
More than 105 million people watched the “M*A*S*H” finale in 1983, but Stevenson wasn’t in that episode, having asked to be let out of his contract in 1975 after playing No. 2 to Alan Alda’s Hawkeye. His subsequent declining career became a cautionary tale for actors after his next four sitcom projects – The McLean Stevenson Show, (1976-77), In the Beginning (1978), Hello, Larry (1979-80) andCondo (1983) – were critically panned and short-lived. Stevenson later admitted he regretted leaving “M*A*S*H,” saying in 1991: “The mistake was that I thought everybody in America loved McLean Stevenson. That was not the case. Everybody loved Henry Blake.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Post
