15 Actors Who Left TV Shows At Exactly The Right Time – TVLine

Creating a hit television show is hard, and maintaining that consistent quality is a huge challenge in itself. Similarly, shows’ main casts evolve over the course of their run, with actors leaving and joining the ensemble as it progresses. In many cases, a fan-favorite actor’s departure from a beloved series signals a noticeable decrease in quality, or their departure is brought on by the diminished quality itself. Actors’ departures can be informed by behind-the-scenes conflicts, actors looking to change up their careers, or their characters simply running their narrative course.

Like a tower of Jenga blocks, one key actor’s absence can cause an entire television show to collapse in on itself. These series might continue on for several more seasons, but the audience’s affinity for the show is never quite at the same level again. Here are 15 actors who left their TV shows at exactly the right time before a widely perceived downturn in quality.

Running for 11 seasons, “M*A*S*H” was an American television staple for more than a decade, but its lengthy run also saw several major cast changes. This includes Radar O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff), the only actor from the acclaimed 1970 movie to reprise his role for the series. Burghoff left early in the show’s eighth season, in a two-parter that was originally filmed as the seventh season finale. Burghoff attributed his decision to leave as one fueled by burnout from starring in a hit sitcom for seven seasons, which kept him away from his family.

Some viewers attest that “M*A*S*H” had been on the decline since the simultaneous departures of Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) and Trapper John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) at the end of Season 3. But with Radar’s exit, “M*A*S*H” got progressively more self-serious. The balance between drama and comedy was better maintained during Burghoff’s seven-season tenure with the show, evident as it grew steadily darker once he left. Five years later, Burghoff returned to his beloved character for the “M*A*S*H” spin-off “AfterM*A*S*H,” but the less said about those appearances, the better.

A bona fide cult classic on The WB was “Charmed,” a supernaturally tinged family drama that ran for eight seasons. The show initially focused on sisters Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), Prue (Shannen Doherty), and Piper (Holly Marie Combs) living together in their family home in San Francisco. The three sisters each developed their own unique magical powers as they battled monsters and other paranormal threats in each episode. Throughout the show’s third season, the trio faced the Source of All Evil, with Prue killed by the Source’s assassin Shax (Michael Bailey Smith) in the season finale.

Though the void left by Prue was filled by Phoebe and Piper’s long-lost half-sister, Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), the show never felt the same without Doherty. In a podcast conversation with Combs, Doherty claimed that she was fired from “Charmed” due to an ultimatum issued by Milano. Combs corroborated this account, recalling that a producer felt backed into a corner to find a replacement for Doherty. Whatever messy behind-the-scenes drama existed on “Charmed,” Prue’s absence loomed heavily over the show, even as it continued for an additional five seasons.

Decades after its premiere, “The West Wing” is still arguably the best television series created by prolific screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin. The show explored the daily lives of White House staffers for fictional President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen), facing a steady stream of national crises that came with the job. This included deputy communications director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe), who left the administration for a failed congressional bid halfway through the fourth season.

Lowe left “The West Wing” during its creative peak, later explaining his decision as one informed by feeling undervalued by the production. Underscoring that observation is the fact that Seaborn gradually moved more to the ensemble’s periphery as it progressed, with Bartlet quickly becoming its primary focus. Sorkin left shortly afterward, at the conclusion of “The West Wing” Season 4, following an unfavorable contract renewal offer, and the landscape for a political show was changed dramatically by 9/11. The series’ quality plummeted immediately following Sorkin’s departure, though he and Lowe would return in a very limited capacity in the show’s final season, with Sorkin as a silent cameo.

Topher Grace’s first major acting role was starring as Eric Forman, the teenage protagonist of the Fox period sitcom “That ’70s Show.” Halfway through the series, Eric delayed his plans to attend college to care for his family after his father, Red (Kurtwood Smith), suffered a heart attack. After two seasons of this prolonged post-high school transition, Eric finally left home to take a teaching gig in Africa, though he returned in the series finale. For the show’s eighth and final season, Eric was replaced by a new character — Randy Pearson (Josh Meyers), a co-worker and friend of Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson).

With his career on the rise after the success of “That ’70s Show,” Grace began receiving offers for other projects. Grace reportedly left the sitcom to focus on a burgeoning movie career, signing on to play Venom in 2007’s “Spider-Man 3” shortly thereafter. Looking back, “That ’70s Show” was already in a visible slump prior to Grace’s exit, which only got worse without him; the sitcom was canceled the following season. Grace returned as Eric on Netflix’s short-lived “That ’90s Show” to pass the sitcom baton one last time.

Teen dramas saw a network television resurgence in the early 2000s, led by Fox’s “The O.C.” Premiering in 2003, the show followed rough-and-tumble teenager Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie), who was taken in by the Cohen family after he was thrown out of his home by his mother. Ryan fell for the girl next door, Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton), though their turbulent romance came to an end when Marissa was killed in a car accident in the third season finale.

Years later, Barton shared the reason why she left “The O.C.,” citing a loss of privacy from her sudden fame and lack of protection from the show’s cast and crew. Barton elaborated that the show’s producers offered her the chance to leave the door open for a potential return, but she preferred bringing Marissa to a definitive end. Reportedly, the executive producers immediately regretted killing off Marissa, with their decision to heighten the drama being met poorly by audiences. “The O.C.” only lasted one additional season after Marissa’s demise, never recovering from the character’s lethal departure.

Other teen-drama heartthrobs in the 2000s included Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, who starred in the first six seasons of “One Tree Hill.” Set in the fictional North Carolina town of Tree Hill, Murray played high schooler Lucas Scott while Burton played his classmate Peyton Sawyer. Though Peyton dated Lucas’ half-brother Nathan (James Lafferty) at the start of the show, she eventually left him for Lucas. The sixth season saw the couple getting married and having a baby, with Lucas and Peyton driving off into the sunset together.

By multiple accounts, the production of “One Tree Hill” was a toxic experience for its cast and crew, with creator Mark Schwahn accused of sexual harassment in a joint statement. Burton recalled an incident during the show’s fourth season where Murray defended her from an unspecified individual who assaulted her. The two actors left after completing their contracts following the sixth season, and though the show continued for three more seasons, the prolonged run felt forced. Lucas was the show’s original protagonist, with Peyton as his principal love interest, and with the characters given their happy ending, everything else felt tacked-on.

One of the most controversial exits in television history was Charlie Sheen’s very public meltdown during his run on “Two and a Half Men.” The series initially starred Sheen and Jon Cryer as brothers Charlie and Alan Harper, living together despite their clashing sensibilities. During production on the show’s eighth season, Sheen entered drug rehabilitation programs multiple times and publicly trashed both series creator Chuck Lorre and CBS. Filming on the eighth season was officially wrapped earlier than expected, with CBS and Warner Bros. Television announcing in a joint statement that Sheen’s contract was effectively terminated.

Sheen’s character was killed off between seasons in what was described as a freak accident, with his funeral taking place in the ninth season premiere. Alan gained a new companion in Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), an internet billionaire who moved into the beach house while undergoing a messy divorce. Though Kutcher certainly had polished comedic chops for the sitcom format, his dynamic with Cryer was never what the show had with Sheen. “Two and a Half Men” concluded with its 12th season, lasting four seasons beyond Sheen’s tenure.

While the original British version of “The Office,” created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, voluntarily ended after two seasons, its American remake ran for nine. Steve Carell starred in this version as socially inept paper company middle manager Michael Scott, overseeing a Scranton branch office. Michael’s departure was telegraphed throughout the seventh season, and he ultimately decided to follow his fiancée, Holly Flax (Amy Ryan), to Colorado. In the episode “Goodbye, Michael,” Michael bid farewell to his longtime co-workers with a tear and a smile as he flew away to his new life.

There have been conflicting reports on why Carell left “The Office” after seven seasons; the 2020 oral history “The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s” alleges that Carell wanted to remain with the show, but NBC didn’t make the effort to renegotiate his contract when it expired. For his part, Carell has reflected that the time was right for him to move on and let the rest of the ensemble shine on without him. What isn’t a matter of contention is that the show’s quality without Carell dropped immediately, with its final two seasons among its weakest and most directionless. There are some gems from “The Office” without Carell, but the series’ decline in his absence revealed how much it relied on Michael Scott.

Premiering in 2011, “Homeland” was a tautly staged political thriller featuring compromised soldier Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) sent back to the United States as a terrorist double agent. Suspecting that Brody was turned by al-Qaeda, CIA operative Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) set out to stop him from carrying out the planned attack. Though Brody tried to defer from his deadly plans, his al-Qaeda handler carried them out anyway, with a released tape blaming Brody for a bombing. Despite Carrie’s efforts to clear his name, Brody submitted himself to justice in the third season and was publicly executed after returning to the Middle East.

On the one hand, Brody’s story on “Homeland” was pretty well played out by the third season, with some understandably arguing that it had already overstayed its welcome. The cat-and-mouse and eventual romantic dynamic between Carrie and Brody had formed the core of the show’s story. Though “Homeland” found its second wind in its later seasons, it still never had the urgency and chemistry that it did with Lewis in the cast. Brody’s loss was felt in more ways than one on the series, though it lasted an additional five seasons.

One of the most popular shows in the history of The CW was “The Vampire Diaries,” based on the novels by L.J. Smith. Set in the fictional Virginia town of Mystic Falls, the show had recently orphaned teenager Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) fall in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). This was complicated by Stefan’s older brother and fellow vampire Damon (Ian Somerhalder), who also fell for Elena. Over the course of the series, it’s revealed that Elena strongly resembled Damon’s lost love, Katherine Pierce, also played by Dobrev, who resurfaced as a particularly evil vampire herself.

Dobrev announced that she was leaving “The Vampire Diaries” after its sixth season to pursue other acting opportunities elsewhere. She later elaborated that she felt she had outgrown playing a television teenager after six seasons, wanting to take on more mature roles instead. However, Elena was the heart and soul of the show, and though it continued for two additional seasons without her, the series didn’t fire on all cylinders. Dobrev returned in a limited capacity in the show’s final season, but “The Vampire Diaries” struggled without having her center stage.

CBS’ successful 2010 reboot of “Hawaii Five-0” ran for a full decade and produced more than 200 episodes as it reimagined the classic tropical police procedural. Joining Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Danny Williams (Scott Caan) on their special police task force were Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) and Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park). Kelly and Kalakaua quickly proved invaluable to the team, both with their policing skills and their deep insight into Hawaii. After the seventh season, Kelly and Kalakaua both left Hawaii, with Kelly joining a similar task force in San Francisco and Kalakaua taking down human traffickers in Nevada.

After seven seasons, Kim and Park were both up for a contract renewal to continue with “Hawaii Five-0,” with both actors leaving when their respective salary expectations were not met. Kim elaborated that he was requesting equal pay with O’Loughlin and Caan, reasoning that, as an ensemble show, the ensemble should be paid equally. Park had similar pay equity concerns that were not satisfactorily met during contract negotiations, and she left. Though “Hawaii Five-0” went on for two additional seasons, the reconfigured ensemble never quite gelled as effectively.

Of all the memorable characters on “Game of Thrones,” there was just a certain caddish charm to Littlefinger, Westeros’ chief schemer. Played to the deliciously wicked hilt by Aidan Gillen, it was Petyr Baelish, as the character was more formally known, whose deceptive manipulations steered many of the series’ conflicts. By the end of the show’s seventh season, Littlefinger’s efforts to turn sisters Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) against each other backfired. With his ploy exposed, Arya swiftly slit Littlefinger’s throat, with both sisters impassively watching him die, bringing his machinations with him.

For Gillen, his character’s death was one more motivated by story rather than any behind-the-scenes decisions from the production or the actor. This proved to be excellent timing, given how divisive the show’s eighth and final season turned out to be. From rushed storytelling to questionable narrative choices, fans still debate each other on the merits of the series’ conclusion. Littlefinger’s effective villainous reputation remained intact and avoided this mixed reception, perhaps to Gillen’s relief.

The longest-running original series on Showtime to date is “Shameless,” a dramedy about the low-income Gallagher family living in Chicago. With patriarch Frank (William H. Macy) perpetually drunk and unemployed, the family unit’s de facto parent was Frank’s oldest child, Fiona (Emmy Rossum). However, Fiona had her own issues with addiction and financial well-being that plagued her throughout the series as she tried to hold her family together. After relapsing into alcoholism, Fiona decided to make the radical change that her father never did and left Chicago at the end of the ninth season.

Fiona’s departure mirrored that of Rossum, who reportedly left to pursue other creative opportunities. By the time Fiona was written out of the show, her siblings had grown up considerably since its start and had begun fending for themselves anyway. That said, without the cohesive quality that Rossum brought to the series, none of the subsequent stories or attempts to put other characters in the spotlight worked out. “Shameless” continued on for two more seasons without Rossum, but there was never enough to keep it particularly interesting in her absence.

There was a time when “The Flash” was the best superhero show on television or, at the very least, the best show in The CW’s shared Arrowverse. The show provided its own twist on the iconic DC Comics speedster Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) as he defended Central City from a growing number of supervillains. Barry was aided by a group of scientists in the high-tech S.T.A.R. Labs, including his close friend Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes). During the seventh season, Cisco left Central City, following his girlfriend, Kamilla Hwang (Victoria Park).

In an interview with TVLine, Valdes said he had been considering leaving “The Flash” since its fourth season to find different creative opportunities. Valdes’ exit coincided with that of co-star Tom Cavanagh as a series regular, though Cavanagh returned for the final two seasons in a recurring capacity. However, Valdes may have made the wiser decision as “The Flash” was already in a noticeable decline by the time he left. Upon leaving, the show only got considerably worse as it weakly crossed the finish line, taking the Arrowverse with it.

Some would argue that “Criminal Minds” never recovered from the departure of Mandy Patinkin’s Jason Gideon in its third season, but the show ran for another 12 seasons without him. The real point of no return for CBS’ long-running procedural was after the exit of longtime star Matthew Gray Gubler in Season 15. Gubler played Spencer Reid, the youngest member of the criminal profiling team and its resident savant. After Season 15, Reid was assigned to an undercover mission as part of another FBI initiative, though he returned for a guest-starring appearance in the final season.

With the loss of Gubler, “Criminal Minds” rebranded itself after a two-year hiatus under the title “Criminal Minds: Evolution.” As the relaunch was being retooled, Gubler’s participation was impacted by scheduling conflicts, including his subsequent CBS project, the delayed series “Einstein” — though Gubler did make a surprise cameo on “Evolution” in May 2025.