TV Shows are nothing without their lead characters. So when one decides to leave, the show we all loved and adored is never the same again.
Charlie Sheen – Two & A Half Men
Sheen is notorious for being an actor very difficult to work with. Despite the off-screen concerns, the actor was the one that kept the show running. A series of cases of misconduct on set led the Network to eventually fire the actor. Ashton Kutcher was hired in his stead. Sheen later got a new deal where he starred in Ange Management. Two & A Half Men was never the same again.
Steve Carrell – The Office
The humor that Michael Scott brought to each and every episode of The Office was unparalleled. So when the episode came where Carrell’s character finally parted ways with the series, fans couldn’t stop tearing up. Carrell leaving the show left a void that was never filled. The Office saw a decline in content quality post his departure.
George Clooney – ER
With devastating good looks and eerily disarming charm, Doctor Doug Ross soon became the heart and soul of this iconic TV series. In Season 6, Clooney‘s character was given a pretty amazing send-off. But the network wanted to milk Doug Ross’ legacy even more so they introduced Goran Visnjic as Doctor Luka Kovac. Kovac was a carbon copy of Doug Ross but the show could never bring back the same magic Clooney brought to the screens.
Travis Fimmel – Vikings
Vikings would have never been this successful had it not been for Travis Fimmel’s incredible take on the legendary Viking King. The show eventually stuck to historical accuracy and killed the character off. The plot then followed Ragnar’s sons as things soon took a turn for the worse. Civil War erupted and Vikings just wasn’t the same anymore. New characters like Bishop Heahmund looked interesting but the show just forgot about them altogether.
Sandra Oh – Grey’s Anatomy
Sandra Oh’s Cristina Yang was not even the lead character of the show. That honor went to Meredith Grey. But her character’s intricate relationships with all the other major characters made for good plot content. So when Sandra Oh left the show in season 10, Grey’s Anatomy took a hit it never managed to recover form.
Topher Grace & Ashton Kutcher – That 70’s Show
That ’70s Show will forever be remembered as one of the greatest sitcoms ever made. But its latter seasons did live a bitter after-taste in our mouths. Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher, who played Eric Foreman and Michael Kelso in the show, left the series later on. A new character called Randy was introduced but the fans loathed him because he tried to singlehandedly fill the void left by Eric and Kelso.
David Duchovny – X-Files
Duchovny garnered international acclaim for his role as Fox Mulder in X-Files. But by the time season 8 came, Duchovny wanted out. He believed the role of Fox Mulder was restricting him form getting more roles. After the actor left, Robert Patrick was roped in as Agent John Doggett. But the fact that the show folded just 3 seasons later shows that X-Files was nothing without Fox Mulder.
