5 Actors Who've Left Hit TV Shows

Though many Girls fans heard wedding bells for Marnie (Allison Williams) and Charlie (Christopher Abbott) during the season 2 finale, that won't be the case in season 3. HBO confirmed (via The New York Times) that Abbott will not be returning to the Golden Globe-winning show. The New York Post is claiming this was an abrupt exit as the actor has been "butting heads" with the show's star and creator Lena Dunham.

Abbott wouldn't be the first actor to leave a wildly popular TV series. From Charlie Sheen to Katherine Heigl, check out five other actors who've left their hit shows when they were just getting good.

David Caruso notoriously quit the hit show NYPD Blue after the first season in 1994 to pursue a film career. That didn't pan out but he did, however, resurface in 2002 with a CSI spinoff in Miami.

Katherine Heigl left Grey's Anatomy in 2010 but has managed a rather successful career as a leading lady in romantic comedies. However, her co-stars that left the show at similar times, T.R. Knight and Isaiah Washington, were not so fortunate.

In March 2011, Charlie Sheen was fired from his show Two and a Half Men. "After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen's services on Two and a Half Men effective immediately," Warner Bros. Television said in a statement. The actor was replaced by Ashton Kutcher.

Shelley Long's departure from Cheers is a cautionary tale told within the TV industry. Playing bartender Sam's (Ted Danson) love interest Diane Chambers, the actress left the show to pursue a movie career. She was replaced by Kirstie Alley.

In Jan. 2000, Michael J. Fox announced that he would be leaving his hit show Spin City to spend time with "my family and working toward a cure for Parkinson's disease." The actor, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, was replaced by Charlie Sheen.