10 TV Show Storylines Ruined By Actors’ Exits

Summary TV shows heavily rely on core actors to drive compelling storylines, creating a big impact.

Unexpected actor departures can lead to odd plot twists, with shows often declining afterward.

Lead characters' exits can disrupt narrative arcs, but other plots may keep the story moving.

TV shows rely on strong characters to carry the story and keep the audience engaged, but when the actors drop out, the stories suffer. Most TV shows revolve around a central star or core cast that moves the story along. Regardless of how big or small a series is, these actors have a huge impact on driving storylines, undergoing a character arc of change, and creating compelling narratives.

While acting is a job at the end of the day, and sometimes unexpected circumstances can cause actors to leave a project unexpectedly, departures like this can result in odd loose ends and unfinished narrative threads. Some shows do manage to survive for several years after a lead character exits, but often, the shows tend to decline from that point until their inevitable end. However, these departures can be unavoidable, and while the stories suffer, there are other plots to keep it moving forward.

10 House & Cuddy's Relationship

House is a compelling medical drama which is loosely based on the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories. House is an eccentric and difficult man who is as brilliant as he is difficult to work with. However, as the show progresses, House starts to see some of his rougher edges begin to smooth as he begins to build positive relationships with the people closest to him.

In the show's penultimate season, House and the chief of medicine, Cuddy, form a romantic relationship after openly flirting for years. House steps up to care for her child, and together, the pair make a good couple. Despite this appearing to mark the path for a happy ending for House, things sour quickly, and the pair have one of the most brutal breakups on TV, sending House back into his old habits and marking the moment Cuddy's actress, Lisa Edelstein, leaves the show for good.

Related 8 Things That Happen In Every House Episode House M.D. introduced Hugh Laurie as the rude genius doctor, but like any procedural, the show saw several things happen in almost every episode.

9 Roy Harper On Team Arrow

Oliver Queen is also an incredibly insular character who tends to prefer working alone. However, over the course of Arrow, he begins to invite others to join him in his mission to make Starling City a place free from corruption and crime. Roy Harper was one of the first people that Oliver let join him on missions, and though the pair frequently clashed, it was a huge moment of growth for Oliver.

Roy would don a suit and aid Oliver on missions under the alias, Arsenal. However, despite his central position in the team, his friendship with Oliver and his engagement to Thea Queen, Roy Harper left Arrow in season 3 when the actor behind the character was struggling with other personal issues. This meant the show had to turn to others to join Team Arrow and gain Oliver's trust, but it set his growth back to a degree.

8 Wally West As Kid Flash

In another corner of the Arrowverse, another sidekick was also shaping up to be a vital part of the story before disappearing part way through The Flash. Wally West is the younger brother to Iris West, and eventually, after gaining meta human powers, he becomes a part of Team Flash. Wally is young, and it's hard for his family and Barry to treat him as an adult despite his powers. However, over time, Wally proves his abilities, his maturity, and his capacity for heroism.

Despite this, when he gets to a point where he is more trusted and relied upon than ever before, helping to almost cut Barry's workload in half, he leaves to go and search for greater meaning in his life. The actor actually moved on to work with another Arrowverse show, Legends of Tomorrow, but his absence in The Flash was sorely felt.

Related 10 Most Disturbing Deaths Across The Arrowverse's Impressive 11-Year Run The Arrowverse featured many tragic death scenes, but some veered notably into the downright disgusting, depicting some stomach-churning deaths.

7 Rachel & Finn On Broadway

The early seasons of Glee made it abundantly clear that Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson were the stars at the heart of the show. Rachel is full of ambition and dreams of becoming a Broadway star, while Finn is a shy quarterback who struggles to reconcile his passion for music with his career as an athlete in high school. However, it looked like Finn and Rachel were preparing to lead an extraordinary life as young stars who could have lit up Broadway before tragedy altered the course of the show.

Cory Monteith tragically died at the age of 31, which resulted in the show needing to adjust its plans. The show paid tribute to the actor in one of the most touching episodes of TV of recent years, and then began to shine a light on many of the other talented actors. The show did end up highlighting some other incredible talents, but it will remain a tragedy that Finn's story was cut short.

6 Amy's Career Journey

In the hit comedy series, Superstore, the show features a talented and fun ensemble cast with incredible chemistry and a simple plot. However, despite the large cast, the core of the show was Amy, played by America Ferrera. Amy had a connection with everyone else on the show, and was often a catalyst for some of the most important storylines.

So, when Amy left the series to pursue other goals, it really left a gap in the group. Amy had been climbing the ranks and becoming a pivotal part of the Cloud 9 family. However, the departure put a stop to many of the most interesting and dynamic parts of the show where the cast would embark on fun and twisted adventures together. Ultimately, without Amy, the rest of the show lost it's sparked, and it was not renewed for any future seasons.

Related 8 TV Shows That Became Parodies Of Themselves When a show is on the air for too long or runs out of ideas too soon, it can fall back on tropes and become a caricature of what it once was.

5 Mike & Rachel Becoming Top New York Lawyers

Suits is a legal drama that thrives on the interpersonal relationships between the central characters. While Mike and Harvey were the most important figures in the story for seven seasons, the departure of Meghan Markle, and as a result, Patrick J. Adams shook up the show for good. Rachel Zane (Markle) and Mike Ross (Adams) were the young ambitious associates who worked tirelessly to achieve their goals of becoming successful New York lawyers.

While this is a dream that fell into Mike's lap, Rachel had a need to prove herself and her own talents due to her father's reputation. The pair were set to have it all. A solid relationship, and to work in one of the biggest and best cities in the world, but their story took a sudden turn when both actors departed and the characters were written out as they went to pursue a much less lavish dream in middle America. Not a bad ending for the couple, but it was a big change from what came before.

4 Charlie Becoming A Mature Responsible Man

Two and a Half Men was a popular sitcom which starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper for eight of the 12 total seasons. Charlie spends much of that time as a sleazy womanizer, a cruel and unfeeling brother, and a pretty selfish guy all round. However, coming up to his final episodes on the show, Charlie was beginning to shape up, and become a more positive and thoughtful character, who even began to settle into more serious and committed relationships.

Unfortunately, at the same time, the actor behind the character was spiraling out of control and was ultimately fired from the show. The fallout was very public, and despite the season 8 finale showing Charlie going on vacation with his girlfriend Rose, his story came to a screeching halt. The next episode quickly moved on from Charlie, suggesting he died in a tragic accident in Paris, and that was the end of his story.

Related 10 Popular TV Shows That Got Worse As They Continued Many shows decline in quality over time when the writers run out of good ideas or are never able to recover from one bad season that ruins the series.

3 Donna & Eric

That '70s Show became incredibly popular when it began airing in 1998, but it eventually hit a slump towards the last few seasons. While Eric and Donna were established as a couple from the very first episode, their relationship ended up going through a lot of ups and downs. The pair broke up on multiple occasions, and it took time to finally settle down together and put each other first.

However, just when it seemed like the couple was on firmer ground, and their future was safe, Eric chose to go to Africa. His decision was sudden, and did not account for his and Donna's relationship, which ultimately drove a huge wedge between them. The couple ultimately come back together, but after building it up for so long, only to stir things at the very end with no real purpose, it felt uncomfortable.

2 J.D. As A Father

Scrubs is a medical sitcom where a group of young doctors enter the real world of medicine as they begin working in a hospital and treating real patients. The series is heavily focused on comedy, and so many of the episodes revolve around funny and odd occurrences. However, as the show moved into the later seasons, the actors and the characters matured, and the plots reflected this.

One of the biggest shifts that came in the last seasons of the show was J.D. becoming a father. While his friends Turk and Carla had had a baby before him, J.D. was not in a long-term relationship when he became a father. However, he was committed to stepping up and being a father. Seeing the character mature and grow up was exciting and promising, but when the final season arrived and J.D. and the gang were slowly phased out to focus on a new younger generation of doctors, it felt like the recent storylines had been discarded.

Related 10 TV Shows That Got Better With Each Season Season after season, certain TV shows have remained on a path that consistently improves in quality, making each episode worth the watch.

1 Claire Vs. Frank Underwood

House of Cards is a brilliant political drama series which follows a corrupt and brutal main character, Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey. Throughout the first five seasons of the show, Frank proves how ruthless and monstrous he can be as he enacts his plans to acquire more powerful positions, before things take a turn in the season 5 finale. It's at this point that Frank's wife, Claire Underwood, steps up in a way that appears to challenge Frank, and pave the way for the following season to see the pair on opposite sides.

However, Spacey was dropped from the show and the remainder of the series continued without Frank. While the preceding finale did establish a trading off of power, and ultimately helped the show to navigate the change, it still felt as though the storyline for Frank was dropped abruptly. Despite his ambitions and the lengths he went to in previous seasons to get his way, he just disappears. This change due to an actor leaving the show made sense, but it also left a narrative thread lingering.