7 TV Characters Who Were Written Out Of Shows Because Everyone Hated The Actor
Sometimes, enough is enough. This is especially true on the set of television shows when an actor just can’t seem to get along with their co-stars and, in many cases, their bosses. Personality quirks can be forgiven – actors are well known for their eccentricities – but it is when these quirks become set issues that the trouble begins.
The only solution is to let these troublemaking actors go, even if it is a detriment to a hit series.
The following is a list of 7 actors whose TV characters were written out (aka fired) of hit shows because of personality clashes. They are not the only ones and they are definitely not the last.
TV Characters Written Out of Series Because They Couldn’t Play Nicely
Charlie Sheen – Two and a Half Men
When Charlie Sheen was approached to play Charlie Harper in 2003, they wanted to model his TV character after his own real-life persona. He brought that bad boy figure to the set and for a while, it all seemed to work. In fact, given all of his off-set drama, it was amazing that Sheen lasted eight seasons and 178 episodes on the hit sitcom.
Eventually, though, his off-set antics cost him along with the numerous battles he had with the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre, and Sheen was fired. Ashton Kutcher took over for Sheen and the series lasted another 4 seasons.
Isaiah Washington – Grey’s Anatomy
Actor Isaiah Washington was one of the original doctors on the Shonda Rhimes-created hit series, Grey’s Anatomy. For the first three seasons, Washington played the TV character cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Preston Blake, until an unfortunate backstage controversy eventually led to his dismissal from the series.
Washington got into a heated exchange with castmate Patrick Dempsey, where Washington used a homophobic slur directed at another castmate, T. R. Knight, who was not on set at the time.
Apparently, the use of the slur became public knowledge, forcing Knight to come out to the public as gay. Although Washington went to “executive counseling” and offered a public apology, he was released from the series.
Lisa Bonet – The Cosby Show
You can take your pick of reasons why Lisa Bonet was written out of The Cosby Show and the spin-off, A Different World. When The Cosby Show first aired, Bonet’s TV character Denise Huxtable was immediately popular.
On-screen she was delightful, fun, and funny, but apparently behind the scenes, things had a tendency to get tense between her and her onscreen father, Bill Cosby.
Creative differences and numerous clashes began to be the norm between the two, but it was Bonet’s decision to pose topless in Interview Magazine that truly set things in motion.
Then she decided to appear in the R-rated Angel Heart feature film where Bonet filmed a graphic sex scene with Mickey Rourke. As we said, enough is enough.
David Caruso – NYPD Blue
Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Sometimes actors just can’t understand this and they let ego take over. Unfortunately, this is what happened with David Caruso and his time on the hit police series, NYPD Blue (excellent series, by the way).
The Steven Bochco series was a hit from the start, catapulting Caruso to heights he had not experienced before. Sadly, Caruso started reading his own press and after the first season, he asked for a raise to $100,000 an episode for playing the TV character John Kelly (he made $20,000 an episode in the first season).
Producers balked at that fee, saying they wouldn’t go north of $80,000. When a compromise was struck, Caruso was allowed to exit after four episodes of the second season. But it wasn’t just his salary demands that prove his eventual exit, Caruso was notorious for his conflicts with the show’s production team.
Shannen Doherty – Beverly Hills, 90210
With Shannen Doherty’s current battle with cancer, it is easy to feel sorry for the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star. But back in the day, this was not the case. Doherty gained the unflattering difficult behavior moniker early on and it was a title she would carry with her for the remainder of her career.
Her off-screen battles, one that led to an infamous fight in which co-star Jennie Garth and Doherty “took it outside” to settle their differences.
Thankfully punches were not thrown, but the incident was told to series creator Aaron Spelling by his daughter Tori, who was on the show, prompting Spelling to relieve Doherty of her duties as TV character Brenda Walsh.
Chevy Chase – Community
Difficulty on set has been a career-defining issue for former Saturday Night Live star, Chevy Chase. It began with SNL and has followed him around like a bad penny.
Although Community series creator, Dan Harmon, had always been a huge fan of Chase’s work, their eventual clashes became too much for Harmon. Not only that, but Chase had a really tough time getting along with his other cast members as well.
Chase made it through the fourth season, but it was then determined his TV character was no longer important to the series and he was killed off, much to the relief of his co-stars.
Katherine Heigl – Grey’s Anatomy
If you ask Grey’s Anatomy lead, Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl was “fucking ballsy” for speaking up for the working conditions the cast was forced to endure during Heigl’s time on the hit series. Needless to say, Heigl had a “turbulent-at-best” relationship with series creator, Shonda Rhimes.
It was back in 2009 that Heigl decided to open her mouth (via Today) and claim, “Our first day back was Wednesday, and I’m going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them; it was a 17-hour day, which I think is cruel and mean.”
Of course, this complaint came after Heigl took the series’ writing staff to task saying that although she received an Emmy for her portrayal of Izzy Stevens, she didn’t believe the writers gave her much to work with.
Heigl’s superiority complex and poor relationship with Rhimes eventually caught up with her and her TV character was dropped from the show.
