Actors That Quit A TV Show After Shooting The Pilot

Television is like alchemy. The people who practice it have to constantly experiment, combining elements over and over in different permutations in an attempt to turn raw materials into something entirely new. They won't know what they've got until they try, but they're looking for something like magic — and for every miracle mixture, there's a dusty shelf full of discarded attempts that fell flat, came out toxic, or blew up in their faces. Sometimes these efforts are abandoned entirely, but sometimes swapping out one ingredient does the trick.

Networks greenlight new TV shows based on the strength of a pilot episode. Even with the most successful pilots, changes can be made for any number of reasons before the first season makes it to air. Network executives might demand adjustments to characters or stories. Often, creators gain new insight from seeing their script brought to life. And sometimes, cast members make the choice to bow out because of scheduling conflicts, contractual obligations, or the daunting prospect of committing to a performance for several years. Here's a look at some actors who walked away after shooting a pilot.

Harley Quinn's journey to pop culture domination was almost as strange and twisted as a supervillain's psyche. Debuting on Batman: The Animated Series as the Joker's henchperson and main squeeze, she quickly became a fan favorite once cartoons and comics started exploring her personality and complicated relationships. Countless convention cosplayers have brought her to life, and she finally hit the big screen in Suicide Squad in 2016.

An often overlooked phase of Harley's saga, though, is her brief foray into live-action television. Birds of Prey ran for 13 episodes during the 2002-03 season on the WB, and focused on a cast of women living in Gotham City, sans Batman. Harley Quinn, naturally, played a major role. In the original pilot, the psychiatrist-turned-psychopath was portrayed by Sherilyn Fenn, who was already famous for playing another '90s troublemaker, Twin Peaks' Audrey Horne.

When the WB picked up Birds of Prey as a series, Fenn declined to return. In an interview with the A.V. Club in 2014, she stated that she couldn't quite remember why she left, but that "it was probably money or something." In any case, Mia Sara took on the role of Harley, even replacing Fenn in a new version of the pilot. The original cut never aired, but eventually surfaced as a bonus feature when the complete series was released on DVD in 2008, just as The Dark Knight brought Gotham City back into the spotlight. 

The core six-member voice cast of The Simpsons is one of the most remarkable ensembles in television history. Not only have they brought life to a seemingly endless parade of Springfield citizens over 29 seasons, they've made industry headlines with multiple unified battles for their share of show's net worth. It might be strange to remember, then, that this lineup was still in flux when the series began.

Since debuting during one-minute bumpers on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family has always been voiced by Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, and Yeardly Smith. When Fox spun The Simpsons off into its own half-hour sitcom in 1989, fresh talent was needed to flesh out the cast. Christopher Collins (sometimes credited as Chris Latta) had already made his mark on the world of cartoons as Cobra Commander on G. I. Joe and Starscream on Transformers. In the very first Simpsons episode produced, "Some Enchanted Evening," Collins provided the voice of Moe the bartender.

Severe animation issues caused the episode to be reshuffled in the airdate order. When it finally ran as the first season finale, Collins was replaced by Hank Azaria, who had since joined the main cast. In a 2017 Howard Stern interview, Azaria recalled series creator Matt Groening's explanation that Collins quit The Simpsons after clashing with producers James L. Brooks and Sam Simon. Though he left before the show aired and his work as Moe is lost, Collins' voice does remain in some early episodes as Mr. Burns, a role that would soon be taken on by the sixth Simpsons regular, Harry Shearer. 

The unpredictability of the TV business means that actors sometimes have to hedge their bets to avoid being out of work. In 2011, ABC's Happy Endings seemed doomed by low ratings to not last beyond its first season. One of its stars, Damon Wayans, Jr., decided not to wait on an official cancellation, and accepted the role of Coach, one of lead character Jess' (Zooey Deschanel) three male roommates, in the pilot for New Girl. Fox picked up New Girl as a series, but before it could air, ABC announced that Happy Endings would indeed return for a second season. 

Wayans' contract with ABC didn't allow him to star on another network, and he was forced to bow out of New Girl. Rather than rework the pilot, however, showrunner Liz Meriwether chose to simply write Coach out of the series' first proper episode by having him move out to pursue a relationship, his place taken by Lamorne Morris as Winston. When ABC finally did cancel Happy Endings in 2013, Wayans rejoined New Girl and Coach moved back into the apartment for a further three seasons, making this the rare example of a character getting dropped after a pilot, only to return later.