15 Actors Who Were So Much Drama They Got Written Off Their TV Shows

Actors seem like they have a pretty cushy job. They get paid tons of money to show up and pretend to be other people. They often get to wear awesome clothes, make out with other good looking actors and eat all the Kraft catering they want. Sounds like the good life, right? I mean, we wouldn't want to pass that up. And actors on a successful TV show have it even better! They don't have to go out on auditions and look for new work every couple of months. They don't have to leave their families and do a big press tour for a movie. They have a regular job and a steady paycheck. Life seems pretty good, no? So then why do some actors go and mess it up? Can't handle too much of a good thing? Apparently. Some actors can't keep the drama on screen - they have to bring it off screen. And when things get too dramatic, these actors get asked to leave. Or they get kicked off their TV show without a warning.

15 The Infamous Double Winning Charlie Sheen

The most well-known example of an actor being a full diva and getting kicked off their TV show has got to be Charlie Sheen. This guy is the very definition of an acting career imploding. If he was looking for notoriety, he got it. Charlie Sheen was one of the stars of the hit show Two and a Half Men. On the show, he played a bit of a washed up bad boy - which also turned out to be his personality in real life. A few years ago, Charlie had a huge public meltdown and released videos where he said he was double winning and something about tiger blood. He publicly called out the show's creator, Chuck Lorre. And then there was his temper, his drug problems, and his legal issues. Suffice to say, it was enough to get Charlie written off the show. And Chuck Lorre wasn't going to do it quietly. He had Charlie's character killed by falling off a metro platform in Paris and exploding like a balloon full of meat. He then replaced Sheen with Ashton Kutcher - an upgrade, if we say so ourselves.

14 Dominic Monaghan Love Drama

You know Dominic Monaghan as one of the hobbits concerned with second breakfast in Lord of The Rings and as one of the stars of the hit TV show, Lost. Dominic's death on that show was tragic and many fans still tear up just thinking about that episode. Lost killed off a lot of good people but none so sadly as Dominic Monaghan. Turns out, Dominic had his own dramatic reason for wanting off the show. At the time, he was dating his co-star, Evangeline Lily. But it wasn't smooth sailing for the lost lovebirds. Evangeline dumped Dominic and rumor has it that he couldn't handle working with her after their break-up. He asked the writers to kill his character so he could be free of his heartbreaking ex. Of course, he told the media that he left to pursue other projects… which is technically true. He wanted to pursue projects that didn't involve his ex and his co-star.

13 Tommy Chong Living Up To His Character

Tommy Chong played Leo on That 70's Show - the old hippie who owned the Foto Hut where Steven worked. Leo was known as a cool older dude who didn't care much for hard work. He preferred to just chill. But it seems like the actor took his chill character type a bit too far into his real life. Tommy was arrested and went to jail for nine months for selling bongs. Tsk tsk, Tommy! So Tommy was written off the show since he couldn't exactly film scenes from his jail cell. But it wasn't all bad news for Tommy. He did get to reprise his role as Leo in a later season once he was released from jail. And while he was in jail, Tommy was cell mates with Jordan Belfort, the man that Leonardo DiCaprio portrays in The Wolf of Wall Street.

12 Mandy Patinkin Was Creeped Out

So this isn't exactly a story of an actor getting too dramatic. But it was drama that sent Mandy Patinkin running from the set of Criminal Minds. Mandy Patinkin of The Princess Bride fame played Agent Jason Gideon. He was one of the founding members of the BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) whose job it is to hunt serial killers as an elite task force of the FBI. On screen, Mandy's character was steely and able to get through to the craziest of serial killers. But apparently, Mandy didn't feel quite the same in real life. In fact, he asked the writers if he could be written off the show because the subject matter was getting too dark and morbid for him. I mean, fair enough! Criminal Minds certainly is a dark show. The writers obliged, but they didn't kill Patinkin's character off completely. He has been able to come back for guest appearances from time to time when he can stomach the content.

11 RIP Maude Flanders

Remember Blue's Clues? There was an animated dog named Blue and he lived in an animated world where everything was fake except one thing: his human pal, Steve. Sure, it was kind of strange to see a grown man hanging out with a bunch of cartoons but the kids seemed to love it. Well, part way through the run of Blue's Clues his best friend Steve was written off of the show. The show explained that Steve was going off to college but that wasn't the real case behind the scenes. It turns out, something else was going off - Steve's hair was going off his head! When asked why he was leaving the show, the actor said something about wanting to explore his musical interests. Don't all actors have to say this? But then he admitted, "Mostly because I refused to lose my hair on a kid's TV show, and it was happening fast." We feel for you, Steve!

9 Cosby Controversy

And no, we're not talking Bill Cosby's trial or numerous assault allegations. But given what we know about Bill's sketchy past, it's even more infuriating that this went down. So back in the day, Lisa Bonet played Denise Huxtable, one of the Huxtable children and easily one of the most famous people on The Cosby Show. She got lots of fan mail and people loved her awesome fashion sense. In fact, she was so popular that she was given her own spinoff A Different World. But it wasn't all cheery behind the scenes. Lisa had posed for Angel Heart, a magazine in which she appeared topless. Bill Cosby, who apparently was a pillar for moral righteousness at the time, decided that didn't fit with his wholesome vision and had her fired. She continued with A Different World but when Cosby found out she was pregnant and would be a single mother, he had her fired from that show too. You've got to be kidding us, right Bill?

8 Chef Killed Over Religious Differences

There's something about being killed off a cartoon program that seems so much worse than a regular TV show. Maybe it's because the writers can get really creative with how they kill off an actor. For example, Chef definitely had a dramatic exit when he was killed off of South Park. He was dropped off a bridge, landed on rocks, got impaled by a tree branch and was then mauled by wild animals. Gross. Many assumed this was just another one of South Park's gags - they often kill characters just to bring them right back. It's a long running joke that the character Kenny dies in every episode. But this time, Chef's death was for real. The actor who voiced Chef, Isaac Hayes, had called out the show. After an episode they did on Scientology, Isaac said South Park was being intolerant of religious beliefs. You'd think a guy who appears on South Park would get that it's all about being offensive. But Isaac didn't get it and so the writers simply killed him off.

7 A Scandal Indeed

Scandal is known to leave fans gasping and wondering with its twists and cliff hangers. But one scene that really surprised fans was when Harrison Wright died suddenly after appearing on the show for the first three seasons. What gives? We all know Shonda isn't afraid to kill off a favorite - her and George RR Martin are pretty much tied for breaking our hearts by killing our favorite characters off. But why Harrison? Well, it turns out there was some off-set drama with actor Columbus Short who portrayed Harrison Wright. Columbus was involved in a bar fight where things got really out of hand. While drunk, Columbus threatened to kill himself and his wife. Scary stuff! Naturally, the show wanted to get themselves as far away from Short as possible, especially after he received criminal charges for his bar fight involvement.

6 Bye Pierce

On Community Pierce Hawthorne is the loveable old grouch who doesn't quite understand modern PC culture. But he tries! Despite being much older than his classmates, he finds friends and a great group at Greendale Community College. But it turns out that actor Chevy Chase wasn't fitting in quite as well behind the scenes. For the four seasons that Chase was on Community, he had a rocky relationship with the show. He publicly called out the show's creator, Dan Harmon, to the point that Harmon was actually removed from the show. And he revealed to the press that he didn't even think Community was funny. Well, it seems like the execs had finally had enough. Pierce Hawthorne was killed off the show at the beginning of Season 5. And once Chevy Chase was off the show, creator Dan Harmon came back for Season 5. Sounds like good riddance! Don't bite the hand that feeds you, Chase!

5 Before Iron Man Cleaned Up His Act

Before Robert Downey Jr was the model citizen and superhero Iron Man that we all know him as now, he was a bit of a Hollywood bad boy. He had trouble with the law, with drugs, and with keeping jobs. The 90's were a tough time for RDJ. But it got real bad when Rob lost one of his most steady gigs as Larry on hit TV show Ally McBeal. Larry was Ally's love interest, a big part for RDJ. Unfortunately, his arrest for drug possession put a damper on Larry and Ally's love story. Writers had to scramble to write Larry off of the final episode of the season so RDJ could deal with his legal and drug problems. Their original script had Larry marrying Ally McBeal, so this was a big change! But luckily, Robert Downey Jr. has really cleaned up his act since then.

4 Don't Lick The Envelope!

Ever hear that old wives' tale about the bride who dies because she licks too many wedding invitation envelopes? Well, turns out that all started because of a Seinfeld episode. In the episode, Susan Ross, George Constanza's fiancee, dies because she licks the poisonous glue on the inside of an envelope for their wedding invitation. The idea of someone dying from licking envelopes is absurd! Remember Seinfeld is a fictional show. And it turns out that the writers just needed a way to get rid of Susan Ross as quick as possible. Instead of going with something plausible like a car accident, they went comedic with an envelope accident. But their strange choice in death for Susan might be because of the behind the scenes drama with actress Heidi Swedberg and Jason Alexander. Despite playing love interests and spouses to be on screen, Jason later told reporters that Heidi was very difficult to work with. See ya, Susan!

3 Don't Mess With Lorne

Lorne Michaels is the god amongst men who created Saturday Night Live and gave us awesome comedic talents like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell and so many more. If you're in with Lorne, you pretty much have a fast track to comedy success. So why would anyone want to get on Lorne's bad side? We're not quite sure but it seems like Damon Wayans wasn't too concerned with getting black balled by Lorne Michaels. Back in the day, Damon Wayans was a regular on SNL. But he was quickly fired when he did a sketch as a flamboyantly gay cop instead of as the character in the script. Wayans explained that he was tired of his ideas not being considered so decided to just do it his way on the live show. Talk about diva behavior! Lorne was having none of it and fired Damon Wayans immediately.

2 Shannen Doherty - Twice!

There might be a reason that Hollywood has cooled on 80s/90s it girl, Shannen Doherty. The TV actress has been written off a hit show not once, but twice! That's got to be some real diva behavior to get written off two shows. Doherty played Brenda on Beverly Hills: 90210 too much fanfare. But as time went on, her co-stars began asking the writers for fewer scenes with Doherty so they didn't have to deal with her behavior. And then when she showed up with a drastic haircut without telling anyone, producers had had enough. Her haircut would ruin filming continuity and so they fired Shannen. Next up was Shannen Doherty's run on the witchy sister drama, Charmed. The rumor is that Doherty was also asked to leave this show because of behind the scenes drama. She was replaced by Rose McGowan and the show continued.

1 All the Grey's Drama

If any show is known for its behind the scenes drama and dramatic writing off/killing of characters, it has to be Grey's Anatomy. Shonda Rhimes does not mess around! Here are a few of the dramatic exits we know about: Infamously, Isaiah Washington, who played Dr. Preston Burke, was asked to leave when he used a homophobic slur against a co-star. Controversially, he was invited back to guest star in a later season. Katherine Heigl (Dr. Izzie Stevens) left Grey's amidst rumors that she was slighting the crew and was very difficult to work with. The rumors of her on-set temperament drove Heigl to enroll in therapy. T.R. Knight (Dr. George O'Malley) left the show saying, "My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given [about his character, George]. No other series regular's character had ever disappeared like mine did this past season." Like fans, Knight couldn't understand some of George's choices and disapproved of his lack of screen time. Patrick Dempsey (Dr. Derek Shephard) left after what he called private conversations with Shonda, but the rumor mill says the two were feuding and Dempsey had an affair with an intern. So much drama for Grey's both on and off the screen!