Post here examples of TV stars who gave up some of the greatest gigs

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

going for Hollywood careers that didn't turn out to be "all that".

David Caruso, from "NYPD Blue" (the modern poster child for this)
Julianna Margolis, from "E.R."

c'mon, it's easy and fun! Now you do one!

[fishnfla]

1. McLain Stevenson

I think thats his name, Henry Blake from MASH

[Tripper11]

56. He's the first person that came to mind...

...when I read this thread.

From M*A*S*H to Hello Larry..talk about crash and burn! (pun intended!)

[miss_kitty]

2. Shelly Long

Diane on Cheers

[miss_kitty]

3. ooh ooh another-McLean Stevenson

Lt. Col. Henry Blake on M*A*S*H

Edit: nevermind...

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

4. Yeah-I don't know about you, but I could see a mile away that she

didn't have the mojo to carry movies.

Caruso seemed like he MIGHT have possibilities, but ultimately just looking serious all the time was not going to get it done.

George Clooney is the ultimate poster child for the TV star who DID get it done in movies, in a huge way. Denzel Washington, also. I guess all these TV actors are hoping for that kind of result.

[miss_kitty]

20. Even though Long stayed on cheers the same amount of time

Clooney stayed on ER, I think his character was more developed than hers. and he'd done a variety of work before that. Washington stayed for the whole series (6 years) of St Elsewhere. Diane was pretty much a one note samba.
Also Clooney And Washington probaby did twice the work, since they were in hour long shows.

To tell you the truth I saw ALL of St. Elsewhere, ALL of Cheers and relatively little of ER, But I saw a lot of Clooney when I watched, and I liked him. But I saw Clooney on Roseanne.

But you're right-Long didn't have the presense that Clooney and Washington have to maintain a screen career. I think of her as being too thin-physically, vocally and most importantly, skill-wise.

[skygazer]

42. I loved St. Elsewhere

That was a neat show.

[PDittie]

5. Denise Crosby

Lt. Yar, Star Trek Next Gen

She actually had second thoughts and returned to the series in a few episodes, rewriting history and in one and playing a Romulan in another:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8822/denise.html

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

6. So, she must not even have made one movie. The problem with this gamble

is that to make even one picture I would think would take you out of commission for your TV series for at minimum a few months or at worst the better part of a year. So by the time the movie is released and tanks, your old show has already moved on...

[miss_kitty]

23. I think Crosby (Bing's granddaughter, BTW)

might have been disatisfied with her character on TNG and might have stepped on toes a bit-that's what I hear, I wasn't there, so I don't know. They did bring her back as Sela, but that did not last long.

I think the trick is to take time off your show and be welcomed back is to not be a pain in the ass. Dr Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), both left TNG for at least a season and were brought back. They weren't murdered off.
And the guy who plays Detective Green on Law & Order took a leave to do a film. They shot him, but not dead.

[PDittie]

30. Yes she was in

a few forgettable films, but one somewhat high-profile one; 'Pet Sematery' (sic).

But I'm certain she wishes she was cashing those residual checks now.

[CanuckAmok]

43. I have seen Crosby in one movie.

I forget what it was called, but it was one of those movies where the world is about to end...



FTR, each series has a hiatus between shooting seasons, Sometimes it can be as long as ten months. There's no reason why someone's management couldn't book that person for film shoots during the hiatus, and still have plenty of time to go back for the next season of whatever series they're on. Actors do that all the time.

Leaving a series to do "higher art" is just arrogance.

[hobo_baggins]

7. Dave Chappelle, walking away from the Chapelle show

wish i could turn down 50 million =(

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. Yeah but I don't think he did this in anticipation of greater fame and

riches from the movies, I could be wrong...

[Chovexani]

31. He didn't

There was a report in the media a while back that got buried underneath the racist "omg is Dave in rehab for crack?!" stories. Apparently Dave was shooting a skit for the third season lampooning the "magical negro" thing and was bothered by the reaction it got from some white folks in attendance.

In a nutshell, Dave started thinking about *why* people were laughing at his stuff...whether "they" (meaning his white fans) thought it was funny because they were in on the joke, or because they actually believed in the stereotypes, etc that he always laughs at. It's a subtle difference, and kind of hard to explain, but I think Dave was concerned that maybe his humor was going over some people's heads and contributing to the furthering of those stereotypes.

I think he needed to do some soul searching. I have no doubt that he'll be back, but DL Hughley seems to be the designated Funny Brother on Comedy Central now, so I'm not sure where he'll be back. Hopefully on HBO where he won't have to deal with network censorship. People may be less willing to give him another chance, but I think someone, somewhere will...Chappelle's Show was too popular with critics and the public for Dave to fade into obscurity.

[radwriter0555]

12. Chappelle isn't gone. He'll be back.

He's off getting humble. Besides, it's just money... all you can do is spend it. After you have a house, all the food you need, health care, decent car, nice clothes, all you can do is go shopping unless you have the intelligence to give it all away to charitable organizations... or more importantly, start and fund your own charitable organizations.

I see too many people just shopping, sadly.

[Democrats_win]

9. Rosie O'Donnell

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. What movies has she been in aside from "A League of Their Own"?

Wasn't she in that before her TV show?

[lizziegrace]

26. Sleepless in Seattle

But was that before or after A League of Their Own?

[tjdee]

44. I actually heard her say that she never wanted to work again.

I thought I heard that, anyway--that she talked to her accountant and investment guy and said to them something along the lines of "Look, since I have this show and am making a lot, can you see if you can make my portfolio so that I don't have to work ever again?"

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

55. That doesn't sound so strange to me. What I'd like is to have enough

money so that I only worked if I WANTED to. I'd still want to work, just not as much as I do.

I would think a lot of people, if they had millions, would like to figure out a way to not have to work anymore...

[radwriter0555]

11. caruso blew it by being a total asshole. Bruce Willis ALMOST blew it

by being an ass -- and a real, total, FUCKING asshole on the last season of Moonlighting. That fucker made everyone M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E. with his bitching and bellyaching about how much teevee acting SUCKED.

He got real humble after his sequels flopped, and started acting again for the sake of acting. I think Demi knocked some sense into him. He is a real stand-up guy now, who has the potential to make some major movies.

Caruso is all washed up. He never had star quality, but he was almost quirky and it doesn't pay. He's like a dime a dozen.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

14. Willis HAS been in MANY major movies. I don't like that he's a Repub, but

I think he's a pretty good actor. He's definitely been one of THE major male leads in recent times.

He's been very good in the M. Night Shyamalan films "Unbreakable" and "The Sixth Sense".

He was good in "12 Monkeys" and "Pulp Fiction"

I even liked him in the popcorn "Die Hard" movies, especially the first one.

He's made a lot of crap movies too, but that's generally true of any successful actor who works a lot.

[CanuckAmok]

45. He maybe a RWer, but he supports the arts.

He was responsible for many "long-shot" movies being produced, including Pulp Fiction and Sixth Sense.

He is a great force in promoting new directorial talent.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. Noah Wylie is one in the making, IMO.

:hi:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. I haven't been watching E.R., I heard he finally left. Did his character

quite medicine, or what?

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. I think he went to Africa to be with his girlfriend.

:hi:

[WCGreen]

17. The little guy from Fantasy Island....

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

19. Herve Villechaize? I don't think he left the show before it was cancelled

though... Died in 1993...

[WCGreen]

24. Yea, he left...... He demanded more money......

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

27. Wow, hope he didn't spend his "Man With the Golden Gun" check all in one

place, R.I.P.

[Left Is Write]

32. He was replaced in the last season by Christopher Hewett...

who also played Mr. Belvedere.

[Maestro]

21. He's dead now.

Did you know?

[mac56]

18. Helen Hunt.

Chevy Chase.
Greg Kinnear.
Molly Shannon.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

22. Did Helen Hunt actually leave "Mad About You"? Even if she did,

the fact that she won the Best Actress Oscar for "As Good as it Gets" I would think rules her out of this category.

Chevy Chase has at least, I think, made a lot of money in movies like the "Vacation" flicks and "Fletch" even if they weren't great movies.

Greg Kinnear--from "Talk Soup" host to Oscar nomination for "As Good as it Gets"? I think he'll take that.

I don't know that Molly Shannon was particularly great in either SNL or in any movie.

I'm talking more of actors who had really sweet gigs on extremely successful TV shows, who pissed those gigs away and came up snake eyes in Hollywood.

[Left Is Write]

34. I think Chevy Chase had a decent enough movie career after SNL...

Foul Play, the Fletch movies, the Vacation movies, Caddyshack...he'll never be an Academy Award winner, but he's made a pretty good living from the movies.

[lizziegrace]

25. Wayne Rogers

Like McLean Stevenson, his career went nowhere.

[AmyDeLune]

51. He made it big in financial investments though

and he's been very active in the Screen Actors Guild.

[Canadian Socialist]

28. As much as I hate to say this

(cause he's my pretend boyfriend)... David Duchovny.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

29. Ooh yeah good point. I also really like him, loved X-Files, and really

thought he might have possibilities for movies. I guess we have to include him because he left the show before it ended.

[Chovexani]

33. Kinda sad isn't it

All he's done lately is vanity projects with his wife and give TMI about their marriage. :(

[philosophie_en_rose]

37. What ever happened to David Duchovny?

I'd watch him in almost anything, but he doesn't seem to be in anything.

You know, I wonder if some people on this list just "walked away" Garbo-style, rather than going out to pursue something better. {Dave Chappelle comes to mind.}

[Canadian Socialist]

38. DD hasn't gone away

He is filming a movie right now. And has had several out in the past few years.

[cssmall]

39. Duchony really didn't like the idea of leaving from what I've read.

From what I understand, he did not want Mulder and Scully to go into a relationship because he said that killed TV shows.

[CanuckAmok]

46. No, he wanted X-Files production to move closer to his house.

And even when they did that, just for him, at the cost of hundreds of jobs in Vancouver, he still left.

Fuck David Duchovny...whiny SOB.

[Orrin_73]

49. I read a rumour that some fans of indiana jones

are starting a email campaign to get David Duchovny for the role of Indiana Jones in Indy 4, because DD has a great resemblance to Harrison ford.

[left hand man]

35. COME ON!! Don Knotts OF COURSE---a true waste of talent

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

36. Hey I resent that! I really LIKED "The Apple Dumpling Gang"!

[Jamastiene]

41. I liked Three's Company although I'm not sure if that fits

the topic of this thread completely. I love Don Knotts. Barney Fife lives. <pulls loose pants up, sticks thumbs in waistband and says, "Yep. Gotta nip it in the bud."> I love him. He's cool.

[The empressof all]

40. Don't forget the Incredible Mr. Limpett

Who could forget "Ladyfish"

[CanuckAmok]

47. Nobody who saw "The Reluctant Astronaut" would say that.

Them's feudin' words.

[Rabrrrrrr]

48. Wil Wheaton - left Star Trek too early, fucked his career

Rick "May He Rot In Eternal Hell" Berman never forgave Wheaton for leaving, and so never let him be in a movie; even though he was filmed for at least one of them, all his footage was removed.

And it's sad, cuz Wil is such a wonderfully nice person and a good actor; but he left too soon to try to make a career of movies, it didn't work, and thus the mighty end of his career.

[Orrin_73]

50. You are right about Wil

Rick "May He Rot In Eternal Hell" Berman did not allow him to make a movie with Rob Reiner which could have been the big break for Wil.

Rick "May He Rot In Eternal Hell" Berman also screwed the entire Star Trek franchise, again rot in eternal hell rick.

[Rabrrrrrr]

54. Oh, yeah! I forgot about that refusal by "May he Rot In Hell" to let

Wil start the season a week or two late so he could do a movie; and if memory serves, he told Wil that he coulnd't do the movie because he would be needed on the set, AND THEN had Wil written out of that episode so that when the time came to film, he wasn't needed, but it was far too late to go do the Reiner movie.

Seems I remember Wil mentioning that on one of the TNG DVDs, or on his blog.

Rick Berman absolutely deserves a special place in Hell for taking Roddenberry's pure vision and turning into the exact thing that Roddenberry was preaching against.

[AmyDeLune]

52. Linda Purl from "Matlock"

left the show in a snit, did some schlocky TV movies, haven't seen her in anything in years.

[DrZeeLit]

53. Dana Garvey. Wayne's World... then a couple movies. Then heart surgery.

Is he up and running again?
Cuz he was fun-ny!

Mike Myers has done well... most of the time.

And boy, that Bill Murray... maybe up for an Oscar again this year.
But, Dan Ackroyd... it's hit or miss with him, huh? How many t.v. shows did he try again?
And not much on the movie scene after Ghost Busters???