Actors Who Quit a Show/Appear and Disaappear (1 Viewer)

Originally Posted by Bob Hug ">[/url]

David Caruso on "NYPD Blue" after season 1 and a few eps. into season 2. Can't remember why he left, but I think it was either money issues or he wanted to do films.[/QUOTE]
Both. He was the hot guy on the hottest show of that season, and decided he was bigger than his series. Features beckoned, and he wanted out. (He was under contract, but no show wants a surly actor who is working under duress, so the producers made cut a deal under which he had to return for the early episodes of S2 so that they could write his character out in dramatic fashion.) His feature career went nowhere fast and he was lucky to get a second chance on television years later. Caruso's move was so dumb that "to pull a Caruso" entered the Hollywood lexicon.

Prior to Caruso that term would have been "to pull a Mac Stephenson", after the actor who created the part of Col. Henry Blake on [b]M*A*S*H[/b] before walking away from [i]that[/i] hit series and promptly falling off the face of the Earth. He, too, was convinced (probably by his agent) that he was meant for bigger things - in his case a sitcom of his own. The show, Hello Larry, became one of TV's legendary flops. Instead of delivering punch lines, Stephenson became one. His career never recovered.

More recently Bitty Schram quit her role as [b]Monk's[/b] nurse and assistant, Sharona after a few seasons in a salary dispute. I haven't checked the IMDB lately to see what she's been up to, but the last time I did her post-Monk credits were very thin and I know I've nver personally seen her in anything since she left the show. She does have on upcoming guest shot that I'm sure to watch though - on [b]Monk[/b], which is in its last season and is bringing Sharona back for a final bow.

Actor Tony Musante is probably unique in the annals of TV. A Broadway and soap opera veteran, Musante wasn't really interested in the long-term commitment required by series television. So when he was offered the chance to play real-life detective David [b]Toma[/b], a cop who used costumes, accents and disguises to create undercover characters, he insisted on a one year contract. The network and studio agreed, assuming that this was just a ploy to put him in a better negotiating position if the show became a hit. But it wasn't. Musante played the character for the contracted year, then walked away from the show because he thought that if it continued the network would turn it into a conventional shoot-out and chase scene cop show. No amount of money could change his mind.

The producers salvaged the situation by dropping the Toma character in favor of a fictional cop with the same M.O. and brought a veteran actor - Robert Blake - to play him. Thus was born [b]Barretta[/b], a conventional shoot-out nd chase scene cop show.

[b]Babylon 5 [/b]also famously switched leading men after its first year, while remaining the same show. In [b]B5's[/b] case it seems a combination of factors was involved. 1) The series creator had already realized that his original outline had a problem - the main character had too many plot lines centered on him. It wasn't plausible in telling the story from week to week that the same guy who had been the hero of the Line and the object of the Minbari's attention should also have the personal connection to the upcoming Shadow arc that drama required. So he decided to bring in a new character, an Aragorn to Sinclair's Frodo, dividing some of the quest elements from the war elements originally combined in Sinclair. 2) At around the same time Michael O'Hare, the New York stage actor who played Sinclair, was wearying of the series grind and homesick for the east. JMS has written that the two arrived at a solution: O'Hare would leave the show, but the Sinclair character would remain "alive" in the story and - when the time was right - would return to fulfill the destiny originally planned for him. (Albeit under somewhat altered circumstances.) Some fans insist that this was not or could not have been the case and believe that the studio and/or affiliates insisted on a "name" actor, or at least one with a higher "Q" score than O'Hare's.


While it is certainly true that Bruce Boxleitner brought more TV "star" power and a higher "Q" rating than Michael O'Hare (he had recently come off Scarecrow and Mrs. King and several highly-rated Gambler TV movies with Kenny Rogers), I don't think his casting is [i]prima facie [/i]evidence that Warner Bros. or PTEN was behind the change. Apart from Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues with David Carradine, few of PTEN's series had much star power, and none of them was pressured into recasting. And [b]B5[/b] had done well enough in the ratings to merit renewal for a second season with O'Hare as the lead - the change came during the hiatus after the pick up order had been given. Also they looked at a number of actors, including James Earl Jones, to play the new captain so there is no indication that the studio said, "Get us 'Scarecrow'."

In the end there were only three people in the room when the decision was made, and only one of them (JMS) has gone on the record in any detail about what was said there. And he says it was a mutual decision and an amicable parting. If Michael O'Hare had a different take he's had years to tell someone, and I'm not aware that he has. Certainly he continued to support and promote the show after he left, appearing at conventions and the like, and he did return in Season Three for the critical two parter, "War Without End".

Around the time of the DVD release there seems to have been some serious miscommunication which resulted in O'Hare not participating in the DVD extras and some hurt feeling, but that was years later and completely unrelated to his original departure.

Finally who can forget Farrah Fawcett jumping ship from [b]Charlie's Angels [/b]and then being brought back for a few guest shots as a result of a nasty lawsuit. I'd say Farrah did OK for herself after that, although she never became the break-out film star she probably could have.

On the other side of the ledger we have John Travolta and George Clooney, who really were bigger than the shows that made them stars, and proved it by moving on and becoming much bigger in movies. (And Tom Hanks who did the same, but loyally stayed with his show until it was thorugh with him, rather than [i]vice versa[/i].

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by whisperintherain

Yes, Scott, Mia Farrow left PEYTON PLACE right in the middle of the series. In her autobiography, Farrow revealed that she regretted having signed to play ingénue Allison MacKenzie almost immediately and pleaded with the producers to release her from her contract before the first scene was even shot, but they rejected her request. Rumor has it that her then-husband Frank Sinatra pulled some strings to get her out of the show in the summer of 1966.

Another case that springs to mind is Sherry Stringfield leaving her role as Dr. Susan Lewis on ER at the beginning of Season 3 in 1996 and coming back in Season 8, only to leave again at the beginning of Season 12.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Bob Hug

David Caruso on "NYPD Blue" after season 1 and a few eps. into season 2. Can't remember why he left, but I think it was either money issues or he wanted to do films.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Jeff Willis




Bob,

Welcome back! Hope you're feeling better lately. Ditto for Gary's "welcome" on the Robin Hood thread.

For a lesser known example back on topic: Combat! fans remember that the original "Doc" (Steven Rogers) left early in the series and was replaced by Conlan Carter who portrayed "Doc" for the majority of the show.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Luisito34

That's funny about Caruso. What was his biggest film role, then? I saw him in an indie horror flick (Session 9) but don't remember anything else. Just goes to show - if you have a strong character in a hit show, best stick with it cause u never know how things are going to turn out. I mean its ok to aspire to bigger and better things, just don't let your ego (or an overzealous agent) get in the way.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by chadHobbick

If I recall, and please correct me if i'm wrong anybody, but didn't Don Knotts not want to leave The Andy Griffifth Show? His contract renewal was coming up and his agent already had him signed for multi-picture deals for the cinema that would make him not available to work on the tv show anymore. I just remember hearing that somewhere that he was heartbroken he basically had to leave the show b/c of his movie career, and was so grateful when he was able to come back and play Barney again.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Elizabeth S





He had "Kiss of Death" and "Jade" and "Cold Around the Heart". I saw all of them, and Caruso wasn't the problem -- just not good films. Had he chosen different projects, he might have had that big film career. But as "C.S.I. Miami" is (or was) the #1 show in the world, I guess it all worked out for him.

Dick Wolf shows basically have the built-in revolving door. In most cases, it seems they like to bring in new actors to keep the show fresh.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Elizabeth S





He had "Kiss of Death" and "Jade" and "Cold Around the Heart". I saw all of them, and Caruso wasn't the problem -- just not good films. Had he chosen different projects, he might have had that big film career. But as "C.S.I. Miami" is (or was) the #1 show in the world, I guess it all worked out for him.

Dick Wolf shows basically have the built-in revolving door. In most cases, it seems they like to bring in new actors to keep the show fresh.

Click to expand...