Character Departures
 

Thought this might make an interesting discussion on characters that left shows. Now, I'm not going to count deaths as, between "24" and "Lost:, there are so many (although if there's a unique death, that's different I guess) but characters who left for another job or whatever.

Show: Law & Order: SVU
Character: A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March)
Reason: Placed into witness protection though she returned later and is now on "Conviction".

Show: Las Vegas
Character: Nessa Holt
Reason: Can't remember the exact reason, but didn't she (as well as her family) get new identities and such?


Anyways, maybe this is dumb, but I'm bored and thought this would be an interesting way to go down memory lane about certain episodes and shows.

The entire cast of E.R.

Show: NYPD Blue
Character: Det. John Kelly (David Caruso)
Reason: Internal Affairs was going through his past job history looking for anything to stick on him. He simply got fed up with it and quit. In reality, Caruso thought he was going to be the next big movie star.

Show: NYPD Blue
Character: Det. Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits)
Reason: Kicked the bucket with a surprise heart condition. In reality, Smits got fed up with their coked-up head writer who was late with scripts, making up scripts the day of shooting, and in general was just all over the map.

Show: NYPD Blue
Character: Det. Diane Russell (Kim Delaney)
Reason: Took some leave time a few years after the death of her husband Bobby. Returned for some guest appearances as an SVU detective. In reality, Delaney took the lead role in Philly with the door open for her return to Blue if Philly got cancelled. It lasted a full year, but by then the show didn't really have any spot for her.

Elisabeth Rohm went from Angel to one of those Law & Order shows.

Dr. Crusher being replaced by Dr. Pulaski in ST:NG.

I always thought they did a surprisingly good job with Shelley Long's departure from Cheers, considering the will-they-or-won't-they, on and off romance between Sam & Diane was the central ongoing arc of the show. I didn't expect it to survive. Instead they barely missed a beat.

(It's not a show I love in reruns like I did at the time, but it sure set the pattern for string-you-along romance comedies for the next 10 or 15 years. Moonlighting did it first, but they majorly screwed it up...)

Show: Happy Days
Character: Chuck Cunningham (Gavan O'Herlihy)
Reason: Went to basketball practice.

Show: Family Matters
Character: youngest daughter Judy
Reason for leaving: none given.

To then be fired (both in real life and in the show) a few years later.

Show: Hill Street Blues
Character: "Captain" Ray Calletano
Reason for leaving: promoted from Lt to Captain and sent to a different precinct.

Show: The Simpsons
Character: Poochy
Reason for leaving: Had to return to home planet

Here's a few...

Happy Days: Richie and Ralph/Off to Army
Lavene and Shirley: Shirley/ Ran away with Man
Happy Days: Suzanne Sommers/ Went away to take care of Sick relative
Charlie's Angel's: Farrah Fawcett Majors, Kate Jackson, Shelly Hack/?
Mash, McClean Stevenson/ Went home and helicopter crashed. Wayne Rogers/ ? Radar O'Reily/?
Mary Tyler Moore Show: Rhoda/Moved to New York
Mary Tyler Moore Show:Phyllis/Moved to San Francisco
The Hogan Family: Valerie Hogan/Plane Crash

I love it when a character is gone and they don't bother explaining it at all... I mean, make SOMETHING up, lol.

The Torkelsons: like 4 of the 6 kids.
Reason: That's apparently what happens when you move to the suburbs so your mom can serve every whim of Brittany Murphy

Close, but it was a car accident. It would have been odd to make it a plane crash considering that the dad, Michael, was a pilot (unless they wanted to kill him off too).

Show: Good Times
Character: James Evans
Reason for leaving: Charcter died. In reality John Amos was upset over Jimmie Walker being made the centerpiece of a show that was supposed to be about an inner city black family.

Show: Mary Tyler Moore
Character: Lou Grant
Reason for leaving: WJM sold, Lou went west to be a newspaper editor for Mrs. Pynchon and Charlie Hume (Ed Asner still wanted to work?)

And also when Dr. Pulaski was replaced by Dr. Crusher in ST:TNG.

;)

I don't think we have had one of these yet, exactly:

Character: Miles O'Brien (and family)
Show: ST:TNG
Reason: Transfer from the Enterprise to Deep Space Nine

He didn't leave MTM though. He just continued the characterafter MTM ended.

An interesting subtopic might be what replacements for these departed characters have surpassed the original character. It's pretty easy to come up with replacements that were worse... who was better?

Monk: Monk's assistant, Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), left to lead her own life, or something. (in reality there was a contract dispute and they let her go) She was replaced by Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard) who has won me over and now is my favorite of the two.

I know Ron Howard and Suzanne Sommers were in something together but had no idea it was HDays ;)

in what may have been one of the dumbest Law & Orders ever...at least her firing...

"Is this because I am a lesbian?"

Totally out of left field and unnecessary.


CSI: Miami - I am still pissed that Tim Speadle (aka Slater from Dazed & Confused) was killed off and I never understood why.

Show: Married.. with Children
Character: Steve Rhoades
Reason: Left to be a park ranger, tired of materialism.

Law & Order: As much as I liked Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy) was a huge upgrade in terms of sex appeal (at least for me) and was overall a better fake ADA.