Shows canceled by the star of the show

[Jude The Obscure]

i can think of at least two off the top of my head--

The New Dick Van Dyke Show--CBS wanted a 4th season, but Dick was tired and also dealing with his alcoholism so he said no, even though a 4th season would have made this series an easier sell for syndication.

Soul Man--ABC wanted a third season, but Dan Ackroyd put the kibosh. I think he too was not satisfied with how the series was progressing and just wanted to end it.

Others you can think of?

[benjamoon]

Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, and Bob Newhart all had major roles in their eponymous shows ending when they did. Some sources say Lucille Ball ended "Here's Lucy" though others claim it was CBS.

[MikeL]

wasnt Honeymooners cancelled by late great icon legond great one himself jackie gleason. wanted to leave his show way it was or something like that

[Schmoopie]

Seinfeld was one of them because Jerry wanted to leave "on top" rather than have the show get old. Also I think Monk was canceled by Tony Shaloub. I know that these two shows weren't canceled by the networks at any rate.

[MickeyMac]

Sanford and Son was in the top ten ratings, but Redd Foxx didnt want to do it anymore, so they cancelled the show.

[treky]

wasnt Honeymooners cancelled by late great icon legond great one himself jackie gleason. wanted to leave his show way it was or something like that
no, the sponsor-Buick-canncelled it. Back then, sponsors could do that.

[JamesG]

One was recently with Kyra Sedgwick deciding to end "The Closer".

She won an Emmy for her role last year and decided that the next season (7) will be the last.

[treky]

"THREE'S COMPANY" went off because John Ritter thought it was time to end it. He said in an interview once that he saw "the handwriting on the wall" when they were taping a show once where they were trying to hide a kitten from Mr. Furley and he remembered them doing an episode wher they were trying to hide a puppy from Mr. Roper.

[noveel]

Tim Allen- Home Improvent, ABC wanted another season

[MikeL]

cheers ted danson cancelled that after 11 seasons rumor whoppi goldburg was going replace ted danson .

Roseanne didnt she cancel her own show as well or was it the network

[comedyfreak]

Lost In Space was cancelled by its creator Irwin Allen after the Network which wanted a 4th season, but were going to cut the effects budget. Irwin Allen got mad and cancelled the show after not wanting a smaller budget.

Miley Cyrus doesn't want to do Hannah Montana anymore it's leaving the air.

[cocytus]

Let's see:

1) The Rockford Files - James Garner
2) Everybody Loves Raymond - Ray Romano

[RockyF]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended when Sarah Michelle Gellar's contract ended at the end of the seventh season, and she decided not to renew.

[noveel]

Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Will Smith was too busy with movies

[McGillicuddy]

I think Penny Marshall had the last word with Laverne & Shirley not continuing on as just Laverne or Laverne & Co.

[comedyfreak]

Lucille Ball chose to end The Lucy Show in 1968 and her show was #2 in the Nielsens at the time. The Friends cast chose to end the show too after 10 seasons.

[McGillicuddy]

Lucille Ball chose to end The Lucy Show in 1968 and her show was #2 in the Nielsens at the time. The Friends cast chose to end the show too after 10 seasons.
Although Lucy made the decision, The Lucy Show really didn't end, entirely. It was re-incarnated into Here's Lucy, the following season.

[Jude The Obscure]

Bewitched--Elizabeth Montgomery was tired of the role and she was also going through a breakup with William Asher, despite ABC wanting the series back for a 9th season.

[noveel]

The Cosby Show, Bill Cosby decided the 8th season would be the final one

[spunkygirl]

Didn't Will Smith kind of end Fresh Prince? He didn't want to do anymore seasons to focus on his movie career instead

[comedyfreak]

Bewitched--Elizabeth Montgomery was tired of the role and she was also going through a breakup with William Asher, despite ABC wanting the series back for a 9th season.
Had she had things her way their wouldn't have been an 8th season and the Network talked her into an 8th season.

[James28]

Of, Bewitched, there shouldn't have been a 7th (that was somebody else's opinion). How would you like it when Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie were future endeavored (cancelled) in the same year?

[mstewart]

Bonnie Franklin after the third episode of season 9 of One Day At A Time went in wanted to end it after that season

Bea Arthur for both Maude and Golden Girls

Bob Newhart for The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart

Carol Burnett - The Carol Burnett Show which should had ended when Harvey Korman was ready to move on after season 10.

[CommonTater]

The latest to be canceled by the Star is The Closer on TNT with Kyra Sedgwick. :( :( :( :( :(



Sad news for fans of basic cable’s No. 1 show: Star Kyra Sedgwick has decided the seventh season of TNT’s “The Closer”- set to air in late 2011 - will be the series’ last.

In a statement, Sedgwick said, “I cannot fathom how difficult it will be to say goodbye to the incredible family we’ve created here on ‘The Closer’ … I want to thank TNT and Warner Bros. Television, as well as the incredible fans of ‘The Closer,’ for all of their unwavering support over the last seven years.”

“The Closer” averaged 8 million viewers last season. With numbers like that, you know TNT executives must be heartbroken over losing the show. Sedgwick, who recently won an Emmy for the part, has wanted to spread her wings in other projects and probably wants to exit the crime drama while it is still on top.

[megamanj2004]

The Steve Harvey Show - Steve Harvey mutally decided that he wanted to end his show on his terms.

Garfield and Friends - The creators and producers couldn't reach an agreement w/ CBS, plus CBS was wanting to expand their Saturday news coverage around this time and that meant the reduction of Garfield and Friends's budget. Creators and producers mutually ended the show on their terms as a result, in spite of the fact that Garfield and Friends's ratings were still going strong.

The Monkees - Didn't this show end not b/c of the ratings but because of problems between The Monkees themselves and/or the producers or something?

[TMC]

Lost In Space was cancelled by its creator Irwin Allen after the Network which wanted a 4th season, but were going to cut the effects budget. Irwin Allen got mad and cancelled the show after not wanting a smaller budget.

Miley Cyrus doesn't want to do Hannah Montana anymore it's leaving the air.

I don't think that Disney Channel shows are a fair argument because normally, they don't have a normal shelf life anyway. For instance, That's So Raven ended after about 100 episodes. In the past, it was common practice for a Disney show to end after only 65 episodes (I think that Kim Possible being uncanceled changed that mandate).

[Heidi Dawn]

The Monkees - Didn't this show end not b/c of the ratings but because of problems between The Monkees themselves and/or the producers or something?

It's true, the Monkees wanted a different format for the show while the producers wanted to keep the show the way it was. It got cancelled while they were filming 'Head'. It's too bad, I would have like to have seen the Monkees in the new format.

[megamanj2004]

What's Happening!! - There was potential plans for a 4th season (in spite of declining ratings from S3), but b/c Fred "Rerun" Berry caused so many problems by demanding more money and pay, which in turn led to both Ernest Thomas and Haywood Nelson joining on the strike. Those problems forced the EP's to hang it up after S3.

[Silly Lily]

I don't think that Disney Channel shows are a fair argument because normally, they don't have a normal shelf life anyway. For instance, That's So Raven ended after about 100 episodes. In the past, it was common practice for a Disney show to end after only 65 episodes (I think that Kim Possible being uncanceled changed that mandate).
True, but Disney Channel shows from today aren't the same quality of their shows from 10 years ago. Now everything is based on how much merchandise they can crank out from the shows. If they can stretch out a 4th or 5th season they are now more than willing to. I think the last Disney kid to pass on a 4th season was Hilary Duff with Lizzie McGuire. Selena Gomez has said she will wait and see if she wants to continue beyond a 4th season of Wizards of Waverly Place. The surprising exception to Disney's new attitude was the cancellation of the Jonas Brothers show after just 2 seasons.

[Ihavealife2uknow]

John Stamos leaving Full House. ABC cancelled it but the WB was willing to pick it up for a ninth season but John Stamos called it quits, causing the cancellation of the show.

[catlover79]

Bonnie Franklin after the third episode of season 9 of One Day At A Time went in wanted to end it after that season

I think Valerie Bertinelli also announced her intentions to leave at the end of that season - and there would have been no point to keep going without the two of them, especially since Mackenzie Phillips was off the show again - for good this time. Despite having a backdoor pilot, a spinoff for Schneider just wasn't going to work. Pat Harrington was/is a terrific and talented actor/comedian, but Schneider wasn't a strong enough character to build a whole show around.

[Vahan]

I wonder if this is a good example:

Paul Reubens wanted to end Pee-Wee's Playhouse after 5 seasons and 45 episodes. He wasn't interested in doing 2 more seasons and 20 episodes, just so that he could sell them to back-end syndication. At the time, he only thought of his Pee-Wee character as just that, a character. He didn't want to make a long-term career out of it.

BTW, check out this interview with Steve Binder, who worked with Reubens on seasons 2 and 3 of the show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaYSTsBkK64

[megamanj2004]

Webster - Emmanuel Lewis felt that the time was right to end the series after 6 seasons, especially since by the time the series went into 1st-run syndication, Lewis was clearly outgrowing his role. Even Alex Karras and Susan Clark also felt the time was right to end the series after 6 seasons.

[Regulus]

I read somewhere that Chuck Norris wanted to spend more time with his family, CBS wanted to continue Walker, Texas Ranger for at least another two seasons.

[Nyan]

I think the loss of the original cast is what has driven the finale of House. The show has suddenly turned into Scooby Doo on Vicodin lately.

[EmoJoe]

Speaking of House, I'm pretty sure Hugh Laurie said he didn't want to do it to past this year, right?

It seems like these days, shows don't end after a major star leaves unless its absolutely unavoidable. There's a bunch of shows in the past few seasons that have gone on after losing a lead cast member.

[catlover79]

^ I agree. There's been the successful turnover from Mandy Patinkin to Joe Mantegna on Criminal Minds, CSI has soldiered on despite the departures of William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger and Laurence Fishburne, and of course Law & Order lasted 20 years where cast turnover was the rule and not the exception.

[noveel]

I wonder if this is a good example:

Paul Reubens wanted to end Pee-Wee's Playhouse after 5 seasons and 45 episodes. He wasn't interested in doing 2 more seasons and 20 episodes, just so that he could sell them to back-end syndication. At the time, he only thought of his Pee-Wee character as just that, a character. He didn't want to make a long-term career out of it.

BTW, check out this interview with Steve Binder, who worked with Reubens on seasons 2 and 3 of the show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaYSTsBkK64

Pee-wee's Big Mis-adventure killed the syndication value of the show

[GQ28]

Pee-wee's Big Mis-adventure killed the syndication value of the show
lol.....:lol: :happyface :crazy:

[loaferman]

Let's see:

1) The Rockford Files - James Garner
2) Everybody Loves Raymond - Ray Romano
I have read that Garner intended to return to "Rockford" after knee and back injuries and an ulcer, it may have been in his biography. He considered the crew family and did not want them to lose their jobs. My understanding is that the studio took it as a power play by Garner and took the set down as he was recovering with intention to return. I recall reading that Garner had doctor's orders to take a hiatus for his health. I know for sure that Garner did not make the call to cancel the show.