From Coy and Vance Duke to Bobby Ewing: A Brief History of Lead Actors Leaving Their Television Series

George Clooney on ER

It's strange now to think of ER as this cohesive machine with a stable cast considering that by the time the show ended, every single member of the original cast was long gone. Regardless, Clooney was the second major cast member to leave the show (after, once again, Sherry Stringfield, who seems to make a habit out of leaving early). Heeding the warnings that were laid out in front of him by the departure of Caruso from NYPD Blue, Clooney fulfilled his contact on ER, staying into the show's fifth season, despite some big screen success. Without Clooney, ER would continue for ten more seasons. As for Clooney -- whatever happened to that dude?

Dick York on Bewitched

This is still, to this day, one of the oddest casting situations to ever happen on a network television show. The Emmy-nominated York played the bungling Darrin Stephens for five seasons on Bewitched, but left the show to recover after experiencing a debilitating back injury. In the show's sixth season, Dick York was replaced by Dick Sargent in the lead roles with no explanation to the audience whatsoever. This was a show that focused on witchcraft and the supernatural, would it have been that hard to come up with a plot device that changed Darrin's appearance? Bewitched, with Sargent as the male lead, would continue on with some very confused viewers for three seasons. Below is a clip of Sargent's first appearance on Bewitched -- again, no explanation.

Patrick Duffy on Dallas

Today, when people think of Dallas, Larry Hagman's J.R. Ewing is the first character that comes to mind. But his brother, Bobby Ewing, was the heart and soul of the show. Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing, left Dallas after the seventh season. Pretty permanently, actually, with the character being killed off by being run over by a car. The next season, confronted with a fairly nefarious character now being the main lead, the show's ratings plummeted. So, yeah, they had to bring back a dead character. Duffy came back in the last episode of the eighth season with the now infamous "the entire eighth season was a dream and I'm safe and sound, taking a shower" explanation. (Note: Some consider season eight to be the ninth season because of a mini series that aired before the series started.) With Bobby back on the show, the series lasted for five more seasons.

Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live

OK, now it's commonplace for cast members to come and go on SNL; it's part of what makes the show work. But when the show first premiered, it was nowhere near the institution that it is today. The success came from the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, and not just the format. So, yes, it was shocking when the most notable of those players from SNL's first season, Chevy Chase, decided to quit and move to Los Angeles. The case has been made that the only reason that SNL still exists today is because Chase left, opening up the show to other cast members like Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi who were not getting the screen time they deserved. Chase was replaced with Bill Murray for the second season, and the show was never in any real jeopardy of cancellation until the rest of the remaining cast left, including Lorne Michaels, after the fifth season. Below is Chase, along with Richard Pryor, at his best and most controversial.

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