In Hollywood, timing can be everything.
Leave a hit show too early, and you risk being seen as ungrateful or disloyal—but stick
around too long, and you could end up being typecast forever.
These actors saw high ratings and pursued their biggest showbiz dreams, only to discover
just how fickle the spotlight can truly be.
Mischa Barton
Early in her acting career, Mischa Barton was best known as the puking ghost in The
Sixth Sense.
But becoming Marissa Cooper for the teen dramedy series The O.C. made her a household name.
By the time the show's third season started filming, Barton decided she'd had enough fun
in the sun and ended her contract, which meant her character was killed off the show.
"I was, like, very much ready for closure on the character and on the series."
Unfortunately for Barton, she later became a regular in box office bombs, direct-to-video
films, mugshots, and small TV cameos.
She was even voted off Dancing With The Stars.
Moral of the story?
Don't look a gift horse — especially one as cute as Captain Oats — in the mouth.
Katherine Heigl
Her run as Dr. Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy put Katherine Heigl on top of the A-list.
But that was before she publicly dissed and dismissed the series.
In 2008, she withdrew herself from the year's Emmy nominations and told the press that she
didn't deserve to be considered because the season's writing material was unworthy.
"Big mistake.
Big.
Huge."
She ended up leaving the series in Season 6 and tried her best to become a big screen
siren with films like Knocked Up and 27 Dresses.
But box office bombs like One for the Money and The Ugly Truth proved that she wasn't
as hot to trot as she obviously thought.
Even her attempt to jump back into television failed to impress, as her 2015 show State
of Affairs was cancelled after just one season.
She probably should've abided by the doctor rule to "do no harm" to her own career, huh?
David Caruso
After he bailed on NYPD Blue after just one season in 1994, actor David Caruso pursued
a movie career — which might have been great if he'd actually picked good movies.
Instead, Caruso's star status quickly faded after he appeared in the twin 1995 bombs Jade
and the aptly named Kiss Of Death.
“Oh, I’ll give you a kiss alright.
A kiss of death!”
After enduring a dry spell, he returned to TV and rebounded with a starring role in CSI:
Miami.
Sherry Stringfield
In the '90s, one of TV's top actresses was Sherry Stringfield.
In 1993, she landed a role on the critically acclaimed cop drama NYPD Blue, and she followed
David Caruso's own exit.
But instead of heading for the movies, Stringfield joined the hit medical drama ER.
After playing Dr. Susan Lewis on the show for a little over two seasons, she walked
away from that show, too, due to complaints about the rigorous filming schedule.
Leaving ER was difficult, though, and she had to sign an agreement barring herself from
working on TV for years to get out of her contract.
Stringfield found work in New York teaching acting classes, later returned to ER for a
spell, and starred in a few made-for-TV movies, but she certainly hasn't had the same high-profile
career as some of the series' other stars.
Topher Grace
After seven seasons of playing the lead role of Eric Forman in That '70s Show, Topher Grace
stepped away from the hit sitcom in 2005 to pursue other options.
"Hahaha!"
At the time, it might've seemed like a good idea because he'd scored a few leading film
roles.
But after he left, Grace had trouble finding his footing.
Even though he snagged roles in Spider-Man 3 and other films, he hasn't exactly enjoyed
post-70s Show fame the way some of his other co-stars have.
“Right?”
Lisa Bonet
The Cosby Show was so popular in the late '80s that Lisa Bonet's character Denise was
given her own spinoff called A Different World, which followed her on to college.
The sitcom was a smash, finishing second in the ratings in its first season — behind
only The Cosby Show.
But in 1988, Bonet surprisingly left her popular show after becoming pregnant with her daughter
Zoe Kravitz.
Producers on the show were willing to write her pregnancy into the show, but Bill Cosby
rejected the idea.
Rumor has it, Bonet and Cosby weren't on the greatest terms after she starred in the sexually
explicit movie Angel Heart and did a topless photoshoot for Interview Magazine — so she
walked away.
Bonet has only worked sporadically afterward, and has never quite been the marquee name
she once was.
Michael Moriarty
After then-U.S. Attorney Janet Reno met with him and producer Dick Wolf in an effort to
limit television violence, actor Michael Moriarty quit Law & Order in 1994.
Moriarty felt that Reno's efforts were nothing short of censorship and, when his co-stars
refused to join his anti-legislation crusade, he left the series and moved to Canada in
protest.
He has been able to snag some work as a Canuck — including a role in Courage Under Fire
and some made-for-TV movies, but he says the big jobs are off-limits to him now because
he's been blacklisted for speaking out against the government.
Joe Piscopo
New Jersey native Joe Piscopo joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1980 and became
one of its biggest stars thanks to his uncanny celebrity impersonations.
“Should Frank sing a song?
What do you think?”
“Saw her dancing there, by the record machine.
She could not have been more than 17.”
Piscopo enjoyed major success at SNL but quit in 1984 alongside co-star Eddie Murphy, who
went on to flourish in the film industry.
Piscopo, however, had no such luck.
After a major role in the cult classic Johnny Dangerously, Piscopo appeared in forgettable
films such as Wise Guys, The House of God, and Huck and the King of Hearts.
Piscopo also followed in Murphy's footsteps by releasing a music album and touring as
a stand-up comedian, but he hardly enjoyed the same good fortune as his former co-star.
He only really returned to headlines when he stepped into the political arena in 2016.
Jeff Conaway
You might remember Jeff Conaway as the greased lightning ringleader Kenickie in Grease, but
he also enjoyed success on the small screen with Taxi.
In what would prove to be a sadly ironic turn, Conaway played struggling actor Bobby Wheeler
and left the show in 1981 partly because he thought his character made actors look bad.
In the years after he left Taxi, Conaway couldn't land a single movie role and his fantasy TV
series Wizards and Warriors was canceled after just three episodes.
Conaway's career went downhill after that and the actor, who struggled with addiction,
died in 2011 at the age of 60.
McLean Stevenson
After playing Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake for two seasons, McLean Stevenson quit M*A*S*H
in 1975, winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for his efforts.
Lured by the promise of bigger paydays, Stevenson left to pursue starring ventures outside the
show's ensemble cast…but it didn't work out so well.
His next four sitcoms, including The McLean Stevenson Show, fizzled out and were generally
panned by critics.
Stevenson later admitted he regretted leaving M*A*S*H, telling the Los Angeles Times in
1991: "The mistake was that I thought everybody in America loved McLean Stevenson.
That was not the case.
Everybody loved Henry Blake."
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