20 Times Actors Left Their Roles And Ruined The Whole Series

    "The Office absolutely tanked without Steve Carell in Season 8."

    Evelina Zaragoza Medina
    by Evelina Zaragoza Medina

    BuzzFeed Staff

    It happens all the time: You fall in love with a show, you watch it obsessively, and then one of the cast members announces that they're not coming back the following season.

    NBC

    So when user meyckme asked the good people of Reddit, "What series got ruined because an actor quit the role?" we knew there would be a lot of opinions. Here's what they said:

    1. When Topher Grace left That '70s Show

    Fox

    "The show was focused on him. He was the main character and when he left it was like being stuck hanging out with friends of friends."

    —Pencil-Sketches

    2. When Sandra Oh left Grey's Anatomy

    ABC

    —WaterruDoing

    3. When Charlie Sheen left Two and a Half Men

    CBS

    "TBH, they should have just ended the show after that."

    — Dustythanos2

    4. When Yvette Nicole Brown and Donald Glover left Community

    NBC

    "It wasn't bad, the vibes were just never the same."

    — Frontsaladfrontblunt

    5. When Mischa Barton left The O.C.

    The CW

    — BadAdviceHarry

    6. When David Duchovny left The X-Files

    Fox

    "Even when they brought him back, it wasn't the same."

    — billbapapa

    7. When Andrew Lincoln left The Walking Dead

    AMC

    "I was already going off the show when Carl died. Then Rick left and I just stopped watching it."

    —FalseSeriousness

    8. When Robert Sheehan left Misfits

    E4

    "He made the show for me. He was hilarious."

    — Wackydetective

    9. When Emmy Rossum left Shameless

    Showtime

    —jennkaa

    10. When Dan Stevens left Downton Abbey

    PBS

    "With him gone, I had nowhere to focus my attention and got really bored with the show."

    — LilyKnightMcClellan

    11. When Patrick J. Adams left Suits

    USA

    "I thought the show was already in decline since the fourth season, but Patrick J. Adams leaving basically buried it all."

    — JuanDGO

    12. When Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton left One Tree Hill

    The CW

    "I thought everything was wrapped up well in the Season 6 finale and the show just dragged out the storylines after that."

    — pinkmermaid23

    13. When Nina Dobrev left Vampire Diaries

    The CW

    "I tried to keep watching, but the show just felt kinda 'meh' afterwards."

    — well_thatslife

    14. When John Francis Daley left Bones

    Fox

    — giobbistar21

    15. When Chelsea Peretti left Brooklyn Nine-Nine

    NBC

    "I didn't follow the show as much after Gina left to become an influencer. I loved Gina."

    —MrEggsBenedicr

    16. When Erinn Hayes left Kevin Can Wait

    CBS

    "They got rid of his original wife to replace her with Leah Remini, essentially making the show a King of Queens reboot...and I loved King of Queens, but this just didn't work.

    — BenWallace04

    17. When basically everyone left Once Upon a Time

    ABC

    "The last season started with only three of the original cast members, and both lead actresses left! Had they stayed, even though the rest of the cast was gone, it could have had a much better final season."

    — Ask_Aspie_

    18. When Pauley Perrette left NCIS

    CBS

    "NCIS just isn't NCIS without Abby. I've tried to give the new episodes a chance and I just...can't."

    — FartasticFox

    19. When Janet Hubert left The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

    NBC

    "The show wasn't ruined, but the entire role of Aunt Viv changed after she left."

    — ObviouslyNoBot

    20. And finally, when Steve Carell left The Office

    NBC

    "The Office absolutely tanked without Steve Carell in Season 8."

    — tidyberry