Random TV Shows That Tried To Keep Going After Major Characters Took Off (15 items)

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  (#9) Three's Company

  • John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers, Richard Kline, Don Knotts, Priscilla Barnes, Norman Fell, Jenilee Harrison, Audra Lindley, Ann Wedgeworth

  From 1976-1984, Three's Company delighted ABC viewers with the farcical adventures of Jack (John Ritter), Janet (Joyce DeWitt), and Chrissy (Suzanne Somers). The three characters live together in an apartment, and hijinx naturally ensue.

  Somers quickly became a fan favorite and international sex symbol shortly after Three's Company premiered. When contract negotiations for the fifth season stalled – Somers asked to be paid the same as Ritter, $150,000 per episode, up from her paltry $30,000 – she went on strike. Then she was fired. Somers's career took a hit before she reinvented herself as an entrepreneur. The rotating Chrissy replacements on Three's Company didn't work out so well either, and the show wrapped a few seasons later.
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  (#15) Cheers

  • Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt, Shelley Long, Kirstie Alley, Kelsey Grammer, Woody Harrelson, John Ratzenberger, Nicholas Colasanto, Bebe Neuwirth, Al Rosen

  Cheers, the game-changing NBC comedy set in a bar in Boston, had a deep bench of talent. There was Sam Malone (Ted Danson), Coach (Nicholas Colasanto), Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman), Norm Peterson (George Wendt), and Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger). Much of the show's charm came from the will they/won't they between Sam and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), the prim and proper waitress.

  Long left Cheers to pursue a film career at the end of the fifth season. While her career floundered, the bar kept its doors open for another six seasons, and added some significant characters like Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), who would go onto enjoy his own spin-off. While the show was arguably best during the Diane years, it continued to win awards long after she left.
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  (#6) The Office

  • Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Paul Lieberstein, Creed Bratton, Craig Robinson, Ellie Kemper, Catherine Tate, Clark Duke, Jake Lacy, B.J. Novak, Mindy Kaling, Zach Woods, James Spader, Melora Hardin

  The American version of The Office was a huge hit for NBC. Over nine seasons, the mockumentary-style show followed the daily life of the employees of the Dunder Mifflin paper company. It was a true ensemble, but the heart of the sitcom was definitely Regional Manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell).

  Carell left The Office after Season 7, and it nearly killed the show. They gave Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) the manager's job, but immediately lost track of what made him unique. New characters were non-starters, and the writing devolved into zany gags and absurd caricatures. By the time The Office limped to its finale, even diehard fans were glad to see it go.
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  (#13) ER

  • Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Sherry Stringfield, Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle, Laura Innes, Maura Tierney, Parminder Nagra, Linda Cardellini, Gloria Reuben, John Stamos, Goran Visnjic, Alex Kingston, Maria Bello, Angela Bassett, Mekhi Phifer, David Lyons, Scott Grimes, Kellie Martin, Sally Field, Paul McCrane, Ming-Na Wen, Michael Michele, Erik Palladino

  ER was a groundbreaking drama that ran for an impressive 15 seasons on NBC; it's the longest-running primetime medical drama in TV history. Critics and audiences alike loved the cast, characters, and minute-to-minute emergency thrill ride ER offered in spades. George Clooney became the heartthrob star of a fantastic ensemble cast as the dreamy Dr. Doug Ross.

  Clooney left the show in 1999 to pursue a film career, and the world wasn't sure he made the right decision at that time. He did pretty well, of course, but so did ER, which continued on for another decade. Cast members came and went, but the showrunners always found a way to bring in new talent and keep the storylines fresh.
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  (#11) A Different World

  • Lisa Bonet, Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, Sinbad, Charnele Brown, Cree Summer

  A Different World was a Cosby Show spin-off that ran for six seasons on NBC. The show was set on the campus of Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college in Virginia. The show followed the adventures of Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet, reprising her role from The Cosby Show), her roommate Maggie (Marisa Tomei), the snobby Whitley (Jasmine Guy), and Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison). The show addressed more challenging topics than The Cosby Show, including racial inequality and the AIDS epidemic, and was lauded by critics for doing so.

  But then Bonet and husband Lenny Kravitz told the network they were having a baby, and Bill Cosby decided Denise Huxtable should be written off the show because she would never be an unwed mother. A Different World continued on for another five seasons, with the storyline shifted to focus on Whitley and Dwayne Wayne's romance.
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  (#1) That '70s Show

  • Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama, Josh Meyers, Kurtwood Smith, Debra Jo Rupp, Don Stark, Tommy Chong

  That '70s Show ran on Fox for eight seasons, focusing on the lives of a group of high school friends in the 1970s. The cast was impressive, featuring Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Laura Prepon, and more. The show started out covering important social topics of the 1970s, including the recession, changing sexual attitudes, and underage drinking and drug abuse. Ultimately, the showrunners moved the narrative more towards the dynamics of the group itself and away from the time period in which it was set.

  Grace, the face of That '70s Show, left after Season 7 to pursue a film career; rumors suggest he didn't get along with his castmates either. Kutcher scaled back his involvement around the same time. The show was completely reworked around the remaining cast members, but only survived one more season before Fox decided it was time to pull the plug.

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