When it comes to hit TV shows, only fools rush out

David Caruso, back in the "NYPD" day

By Tom Comi

It’s been well documented that television can be serve as a great platform for actors who want to move on to movies, including Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies), John Travolta (Welcome Back, Kotter), George Clooney (ER), Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere), Sally Field (The Flying Nun), Danny DeVito (Taxi), Bruce Willis (Moonlighting) and Robin Williams (Mork & Mindy).

But there is also a huge gamble in leaving a hit show for greener pastures, and TV is littered with actors who ended up on the losing end of that bet. So, with April Fool’s Day being tomorrow, we decided to look at some of the most ill-advised career decisions over the years.

David Caruso: If ever there was a poster child for early departures, this is the guy. Caruso got a little too big for his britches and bolted from the hit ABC show NYPD Blue after the first season in 1994. After several horrible movies (Kiss of Death, Jade), he was given a rare opportunity for TV redemption with CSI: Miami. Nine years later, the show is still going strong.

Shelley Long: Things never quite panned out for Long after she left the hit NBC show Cheers after five seasons. She went on to appear in a couple of TV shows (Frasier, Kelly Novak, Modern Family) and star in the Brady Bunch movies, but her star was never brighter than when she played waitress Diane Chambers.

Jeff Conaway: Nobody can claim that the former Taxi star didn’t find work after he left the classic sitcom in 1982, but Conaway bounced around from gig to gig before finally landing a recurring role on Babylon 5 a dozen years later. One wonders what might have been had he driven a fictional cab a little longer.

Pernell Roberts: Many people who loved him as a doctor on Trapper John, M.D. from 1979 to 1986 probably don’t recall that Roberts in 1965 left one of the best shows in TV history in Bonanza. The veteran actor was able to stay gainfully employed during that 14-year gap, but he, like Caruso, was very fortunate to land a starring role on a second hit show after abandoning the first.

Suzanne Somers: When ABC called her bluff on a contract holdout, Somers was out of a job on Three’s Company three years before the hit comedy shut down. She went on to star for two years in the forgettable She’s the Sheriff before finally landing at Step by Step for seven years (1991-98).

McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville and Gary Burghoff: We put these three men together, because all three of them made the unwise decision to leave M*A*S*H. Burghoff ended up in TV purgatory (Fantasy Island, The Love Boat); Linville found consistent work but never landed a recurring role again; and Stevenson (who jumped ship after only three seasons), bounced from one failed show to another, including The McLean Stevenson Show, In the Beginning, Condo and Hello, Larry.