Park, who shot to fame on Battlestar Galactica, left Hawaii Five-0 ahead of its eighth season. She and costar Daniel Dae Kim left after negotiations to reach pay parity with their co-stars failed.
Kim and his costar Grace Park left the CBS drama in between seasons seven and eight. In a Facebook post, Kim said the choice to leave was difficult, and that he made himself available to come back, but "CBS and I weren't able to agree to terms on a new contract."
Season four of the NBC drama ended with Bush's character entertaining a job offer in New York with the FBI, taking her out of the titular Windy City. In December 2018, the actress explained that she quit the series after "a consistent onslaught barrage of abusive behavior."
After four seasons on the HBO comedy, Miller departed, calling it an "organic ending." He told Entertainment Weekly, "Also, in a weird way, it's interesting to me to leave a show at its height. It's interesting to me to see how the show will grow and change with the exit of this character."
After just one season on the CBS comedy, there was quite a shakeup afoot. Hayes, who played wife to Kevin James, left as part of a creative shakeup. However, from the sounds of her tweet, it wasn't a mutual decision. "True, I've been let go from the show. Very sad, I had a great experience season 1," Hayes said on Twitter. "Thank you for all the support from our wonderful fans."
Kevin then moved on, in a way, with former King of Queens costar Leah Remini. CBS then moved on and canceled the show altogether.
Emma Swan left Storybrooke early. Jennifer Morrison announced her departure from Once Upon a Time, but then appeared in an episode of the rebooted series in season seven to help say goodbye to her character, who simply went off to have a happy ending in a different universe. She later returned for the series finale to help say goodbye to her show.
Y'all heard the rumors about Britton's potential exit from the series once it was revived by CMT, but Britton herself downplayed them...for a time. Britton's character Rayna died from injuries sustained in a car accident. She took to Instagram to pay tribute to the character and the show after the episode aired. "It has been an honor to be a part of that creation. And as I know she would want it, the show must, and will go on. Long live Rayna Jaymes," she wrote.
Castle without Beckett? You better believe it. After eight seasons of solving crimes and falling in love, Katic was let go from the long-running series by ABC (along with her co-star Tamala Jones) prior to a potential season nine renewal, leaving Nathan Fillion's titular character to handle things on his own, should the series return. Following the surprising announcement, Katic released a statement to E! News, saying, "Rather than distract from what was an amazing experience I would just like to say that I'm very grateful to ABC for giving me the opportunity to be a part of a much beloved show. Thank you to the fans."
The series did not end up returning.
Beharie confirmed following the show's season three finale that her character, Abbie Mills, was really dead. As in not supernaturally coming back somehow should the show be renewed for a fourth season. It lasted one more season without her before being canceled.
After 13 years with the show, Weatherly, who was with the series from the start, announced he would be leaving NCIS. "He is a valued part of the CBS family, and the immense charm and talent he brings to the screen as 'Very' Special Agent Tony DiNozzo has helped make NCIS what it is today—the No. 1 drama in the world," CBS said in a statement. "We thank Michael for all of his contributions to this successful franchise and look forward to continuing to develop projects with him as part of our ongoing development deal."
TVD's fandom was left speechless when its leading lady revealed she would be exiting the show after six seasons...and that the show was still going on without her. Delena and Stelena fans alike were devastated. "I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime," Dobrev wrote in an open letter. "I myself made some of the best friends I'll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever."
Dobrev returned for the series finale to give both Elena and Katherine a final ending.
What to do when you're on one of TV's hottest shows, but get a job at the White House? If you're Kal Penn on House, your character commits suicide and you go work for President Obama.
Law & Order: SVU was about Benson and Stabler for 12 years…until Meloni left the series after tense contract negotiations. Everyone assumed things would work out and the two would continue to bust perps, but life doesn't always work out and Benson was left Stabler-less. However, the show was reinvigorated and is heading into season 22. Meloni's also poised to return to the L&O universe, with Stabler announced as the lead character in the forthcoming Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Ziva left the building on her own accord. De Pablo has spoken out about leaving the hit CBS series after close to 200 episodes, saying it was a personal decision. "As far as my decision to leave, that's a personal thing, and I'd rather leave it at that," she said. "The idea of leaving was not something I toyed around with for a long time. It was an overwhelmingly hard thing—at times terrifying." Her exit shocked fans, especially those who shipped her character's relationship with Michael Weatherly's character. She later returned after six seasons away, in a recurring capacity, for season 17.
Marnie (Allison Williams) and Charlie (Abbott) were finally happy together…but then Abbott left the show between seasons two and three, citing he was unable to relate to the world Lena Dunham crafted. He made a brief reappearance in season five, giving Marnie and fans a glimpse into how far Charlie had fallen.
Whenever anybody left ER, the question came up: Why would you leave TV's hottest show? Well, Martin, whose character Lucy Knight was a bright up-and-coming med student, gave several reasons for her exit after two seasons, including having a personal tragedy mar her time on the series. Lucy was brutally stabbed by a patient during season six, her death forever haunting viewers.
Another "Did he really just leave one of TV's biggest shows?" moments—Caruso left NYPD Blue after one season due to contract issues. He wanted more money. He didn't get more money.
The official reason behind Vartan's late exit from the spy drama remains a mystery, but rumors have swirled it was due to his break-up with co-star Jennifer Garner. (He did return for the ultimate series ending, after it was revealed his character faked his own death.) Fans were NOT happy.
The HBO hit series shocked fans when Jimmy Darmody was offed in the season two finale. While there were rumors about Pitt's on-set behavior causing issues, producers maintained that the death was a creative decision.
TV's quintessential bad girl, Doherty left 90210 after four seasons amidst rumors of bad behavior. She reprised the character of Brenda Walsh for the first time in 2008 on The CW's 90210. Doherty exited her next big show, Charmed, after three seasons with—surprise—even more rumors of behind-the-scenes drama and feuds. 90210's Brenda went to acting school and Charmed's Prue was killed off.
Heigl's exit was less than shocking, due to her headline-making comments over not getting enough material to warrant nominations and complaints over lying in a hospital bed for long hours due to her film schedule. Knight's exit was a bit more shocking, highlighting his lack of storyline and character growth in an interview with EW. Shonda Rhimes, of course, has no time for actors not wanting to be an attraction at Shondaland, so Izzy and George both scrubbed out of the ABC hit drama.
After so many ups and downs, Stevens' Matthew Crawley finally landed the girl and had the baby…and then died. The actor's Downton exit riled viewers—where was the happy ending?!—and even pissed off his costar Michelle Dockery, but ultimately it did wonders for the show and Dockery's Lady Mary.
Charles' exit from The Good Wife is hands down one of TV's best kept secrets. Yes, his death was shocking, but the fact that producers were able to keep it a secret is what really stands out. Star Julianna Margulies convinced Charles to stay with the show for 15 episodes of season five to craft a fitting exit. The powers that be explained they needed to kill him so his character wasn't out there, always a possibility for Alicia.
After three seasons, Reed went to producers and asked to be written off the show in order to pursue other opportunities. With zero warning, the viewers were stunned when Allison died in her first love Scott's arms in the penultimate episode of season three. "It's an interesting thing when the actor says, 'Hey, I want to try something new,'" boss Jeff Davis told E! News of actors leaving the show. "You to have to decide whether you're going to say, 'Can we convince you to stay?' And as a producer, I don't want anyone to work on the show who feels like they want to move on."