20 Reasons You Didn’t Know Actors Were Written Off TV Shows

When an actor suddenly disappears from our favorite TV shows, we notice, and writers notice that we notice. As a result, they’re often more than happy to let us know why. It’s no secret, for example, that 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter became 8 Simple Rules because John Ritter died, Chef was killed off on South Park because the Church of Scientology forced Isaac Hayes to quit, and Charlie Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men for being, you know, Charlie Sheen.

Sometimes, though, we’re left completely in the dark. Did a side character leave to pursue a film career? Did they have an affair with the lead actor’s spouse? Did they die? Often, these stories don’t come out until far later, and not without a fair amount of digging. That’s why one Reddit user asked r/AskReddit, “What’s a reason an actor or actress has been written out of a TV show that I probably did not know about?”