7 Huge TV Shows That Fired Stars (& What Happened Next)

Many actors have left successful or generally well-liked series or comedy variety shows early in their runs. And for a variety of reasons, at that. Paul Schneider left Parks and Recreation after Season 2 because his character, Mark Brendanawicz, wasn’t going anywhere interesting. Chevy Chase left Saturday Night Live at the beginning of its second season to pursue opportunities on the big screen. Christopher Eccleston left Doctor Who after playing the title character for one series because he “didn’t enjoy the environment and the culture on the set.” Then there are the actors who, still on their own terms, leave series well into their runs. For instance, Steve Carell left The Office and Topher Grace left That ’70s Show seven years in.

But what about the actors who were shown the door? We’ve just seen one of the main stars fired from a hit CBS show, so there is no better time than the present to go through some of the biggest firings (though the swiftly departed actors don’t always phrase it as such) in the history of major TV shows. Naturally, the reasons still vary for why this happened, but most of them have to do with bad behavior on the part of the actor themself.

7) David Del Rio — Matlock

CBS’ successful reboot of the classic Andy Griffith show Matlock is supposedly the swan song of another Hollywood legend, Kathy Bates. The reason comes down to a complaint lodged by co-star Leah Lewis on October 2nd regarding an alleged incident that took place on September 26th.

CBS Studios investigated the alleged incident, performed an internal investigation, and Del Rio was subsequently fired then escorted off set. Matlock is currently in the middle of its second season and Del Rio’s character, Billy Martinez, will be written out of the series going forward.

Stream Matlock on Paramount+.

6) Charlie Sheen — Two and a Half Men

One of the bigger smash successes under Chuck Lorre’s hit-filled belt, Two and a Half Men is a show that celebrates charming bad behavior. However, Charlie Sheen’s real-life behind-the-scenes bad behavior was simply too much for most involved.

Sheen was fired from the show in 2011 for what the network cited as “dangerously self-destructive conduct.” His frequent public outbursts against the show and Lorre certainly did not help. Sheen’s Charlie Harper lasted for eight seasons and was killed off in the premiere of Season 9, at which point he was replaced by Ashton Kutcher’s uber wealthy Walden Schmidt and, while Sheen’s presence was sorely missed in the dynamic, the show managed to last another four years.

Stream Two and a Half Men on Peacock.

5) Roseanne Barr — Roseanne

21 years after Roseanne concluded its initial nine-season run, it was brought back for a revival which was only in a way short-lived. It was only short-lived for Roseanne Barr, who released Tweets comparing Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett to a mix of the Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes. With that, the Roseanne revival was cancelled, as was Barr.

However, less than a month after Roseanne got the axe, it was re-tooled as The Conners, which was one part spin-off and one part continuation of Roseanne. The Conners then proceeded to show that Roseanne was never the most important part of Roseanne, as it lasted for seven successful seasons.

Stream Roseanne on Peacock & The Conners on Hulu.

4) Chevy Chase — Community

Community has had a very difficult time getting to that “Six Seasons and a Movie” goal. In fact, the movie still is more a pipe dream than a reality. In fact, that sixth season very nearly didn’t happen, as it only ran for five seasons on NBC, perpetually failing to grasp anything other than a fairly small but entirely devoted fanbase. It finished its run with a single season on Yahoo! Screen. What’s ironic is, when it first debuted, Chevy Chase was the only genuinely well-known star. Ken Jeong had achieved some success via supporting roles in The Hangover and Role Models and Joel McHale was known for hosting The Soup, but that was about it. It wasn’t meant to last for the big name, however, as Chase was shown the door at the end of Season 4. He only had a single episode cameo in Season 5, with his Pierce Hawthorne killed off for good.

Chase was fired towards the end of Season 4’s filming after he allegedly used a racial slur on set. He also made racist jokes directed at Donald Glover, which were only the final straw as Chase had been difficult to work with from moment one. He often complained about the long hours required of him and what he found to be inadequacy in the writing, making the production a tense one for cast and crew. Technically, Chase’s departure from the show was a mutual decision, but he also didn’t stick around long enough to film his final two episodes of Season 4 so suffice to say the racial slur was too grotesque a final straw to not get him out of the door as soon as possible. Ever since his time on Saturday Night Live Chase has been known to be difficult on set, so few found the exit of Pierce Hawthorne to be but so surprising.

Stream Community on Peacock.

3) Janet Hubert — The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Janet Hubert played Vivian Banks aka Aunt Viv on the first three seasons of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, creating an indelible impression on the show that, nonetheless, did not see her continue to with the remainder of the series’ run. And, while Hubert said in The Fresh Prince Reunion that she wasn’t “Fired” per se, she was most definitely pushed through the door.

At the time, Hubert was pregnant and in an abusive relationship, which started to lead to friction between herself, the cast, and the crew. When it came time to renegotiate the contract for Season 4, Hubert was offered a deal that would have provided her with less money and next to no ability to work on anything outside Bel-Air. This all led to a feud between Hubert and Will Smith (who she long claimed was instrumental in her excising) that wasn’t squashed until the aforementioned reunion. The show continued for three years, but it wasn’t the same without the true Aunt Viv.

Stream The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Hulu.

2) Jeff Garlin — The Goldbergs

Lasting for 10 years and 229 episodes, The Goldbergs was a hugely success for ABC. However, one of its leads, Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) wasn’t there throughout.

Garlin starred as Murray Moshe Goldberg throughout the first nine seasons but was let go after an HR investigation into several complaints of on-set misconduct. Season 9 debuted on September 22, 2021 and Garlin left two months after that point. CGI and stand-ins were used to finish Murray’s part in Season 9 and he was ultimately killed off between the penultimate year and Season 10. Garlin has claimed that he wasn’t technically fired, but he was certainly shown the door. As his co-star, Wendi McLendon-Covey, told Andy Cohen on Sirius XM’s Andy Cohen Live back in 2023, it “was a long time coming….“

Stream The Goldbergs on Hulu.

1) Robert Downey Jr. — Ally McBeal

Robert Downey Jr. joined Ally McBeal in its fifth year, and his Larry Paul immediately became a fan favorite, due in no small part to Downey’s chemistry with lead Calista Flockhart. Unfortunately, his character wouldn’t last.

This was in 2000, right in the middle of what amounted to his blacklisting from Hollywood (1996 to 2003) due to legal troubles, arrests, and problems with drugs. While the cast was on a filming break in November 2000, Downey was arrested in Palm Springs, California for drug possession. While on parole for that incident, he was then arrested once more in April 2001 for being under the influence of a stimulant. At this point Ally McBeal creator and network Fox fired Downey. Larry Paul would no longer appear in Season 5 (as was the plan) save for two guest appearances, which were done using stock footage from Season 4.

Stream Ally McBeal on Hulu.

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