BJ Novak was just one of the many stars of the hit series The Office for its first eight seasons before bowing out alongside Mindy Kaling in its ninth season. But unlike Kaling, Novak didn’t leave for a different show but instead wanted to invest his time working on personal projects.
“For me, it was more [the worry of] seeming distracted from my main work by a side project I was oddly passionate about,” Novak said. “And side projects – especially from celebrities – don’t tend to be successful either, they tend to be distractions.”
Ashton Kutcher on That ’70s Show
Following Topher Grace’s leave from That 70’s Show, Ashton Kutcher also decided it was time to leave. He wanted to move on to other roles and keep his career moving forward. On the show, they wrote him off as getting a job and having to move to Chicago.
Kutcher did not think he was going to last on the show as long as he did. He really attributes his growth as an actor to his role on That 70s Show and ended up leaving when scheduling became an issue while filming The Guardian. He also replaced another disappeared actor, Charlie Sheen, on the show Two and a Half Men.
Christopher Jacob Abbott on Girls
Fans of Girls will remember Charlie as Marnie's on-and-off boyfriend slash inventor of some app. He was suddenly written off the show with little explanation to viewers. Later it was reported that he left the show due to "creative differences" with creator and star Lena Dunham.
According to sources Jacob started to clash with Dunham at the beginning of the third season.' He didn’t like the direction things are going in, which seems a bit odd since the show put him on the map.' What do you think?
Lisa Bonet on The Cosby Show
Denise was the oldest daughter in the famous Cosby Family. The role was actually based on Bill Cosby’s real-life daughter, named Erinn. Erinn and Denise were the same age. The character Denise was a major favorite among fans. She was a beautiful and smart character, so what happened? Why did she leave so abruptly?
Lisa Bonet played the role of Denise and got pregnant while filming. It was sad that Bill Cosby did not want her on the show while pregnant because he did not want to have a single teen mom on his show! She was offered a spin-off and even came back to The Cosby Show later on.
Bob Odenkirk on Saturday Night Live
Bob Odenkirk has been a well-respected comedian and actor before voicing a character in The Incredibles 2 movie franchise. He actually was part of the famous Saturday Night Live cast for quite some time. While he did make a few appearances on screen, most of his work on the show was behind the scenes as a writer.
"A big part of the challenge I had at Saturday Night Live was my own immaturity," Odenkirk later realized. "I brought a lot of challenge to the show just because I was a person who was confrontational and suspicious of the establishment." Well, at least he's mature enough now to realize.