Creating a successful television show takes a lot of time, effort and money. Apart from actors, many behind-the-scene contributors work hard to ensure a show’s success. The producers or showrunners or creators are one among the key players credited for this achievement. Although many producers manage to remain until the end of a show, some leave or are forced to leave midway. Various factors can contribute to this, like difficult personalities, creative or budget issues. In some cases, the reasons are mentioned, while in others, they remain unconfirmed, leaving the circumstances of their exit unclear.
Take a look at some of the producers/creators/showrunners who were forced to leave their own shows.
Scott Buck
Netflix and Marvel together had achieved success with several popular shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones. But Iron Fist didn’t receive the same engagement as it faced harsh criticism from both fans and critics. Marvel had hired Scott Buck as Iron Fist’s producer, which was a surprising choice, given his recent controversial run on the last three seasons of Dexter. After the first season of Iron Fist got poor reviews, Marvel replaced Scott with Raven Metzner for the second season. Although the second season showed improvement, it couldn’t save the show from cancellation. Unfortunately, Marvel had chosen Scott as the producer of Inhumans, which also turned out to be worse.
Donald P. Bellisario
The producer of the most successful and long-running crime drama NCIS was shown the door. Donald was known for his chaotic way of running things, which didn’t go down well with the star of the show Mark Harmon. Their clash was because of Donald’s long shooting schedules and last-minute production changes. Eventually, things went out of hand and CBS decided to give Donald’s duties to others and he soon retired. The producer was not happy with how things ended and sued CBS over the creation of NCIS: Los Angeles, arguing that he had the first right to produce the spin-offs and share of profits from the new show. The suit was settled for an undisclosed amount before trial in 2011.
Glenn Gordon Caron
ABC’s Moonlighting was known for introducing Bruce Willis, who played a detective alongside Cybill Shepherd, his partner and love interest on the show. Although the early seasons of the show were a hit, behind-the-scenes, things weren’t as good, as Cybill clashed constantly with the producer, whose intense way of running the show led to production delays, massive scripts and long shooting schedules. While some reports mentioned that Glenn left the show realizing he might be replaced, a few of them said that he requested his removal, which ABC agreed to before the fifth season. By then, the show’s popularity declined and it didn’t return for next season.
Chris Savino
Nickelodeon’s animated comedy The Loud House was produced by Chris Savino, who was known as a problematic creator. The show ran until 2017, when allegations of harassment from about a dozen women came to light, that existed for at least a decade. The channel fired Chris and the channel’s spokesperson said that the show would continue production without him.
Dan Harmon
The maker of Community, Dan Harmon was fired before the fourth season, because of late scripts, unpredictable behavior and a public feud with the actor Chevy Chase, who played the character of Pierce in the show. However, Season 4 wasn’t good and both fans and network noticed the drop in its quality. With the help of star Joel McHale, Dan returned to the show until the show wrapped up in 2015.
John Kricfalusi
John Kricfalusi produced one of the most mature children’s shows The Ren & Stimpy Show, which was one of Nickelodeon’s first original cartoons. Although kids liked the show, the channel clashed with the producer and his studio over how far they pushed boundaries. The infamous banned episode, Man’s Best Friend, was considered the last straw and John’s constant delays in meeting deadlines added to the tension. After two seasons, the channel fired him, which was best as in 2018, allegation surfaced accusing him of underage grooming and mistreating artists.
Andrew Kreisberg
Andrew Kreisberg co-created several popular superhero shows in the Arrowverse, including The Flash, Supergirl, Green Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. However, in 2017, amid Me Too movement, he was accused of harassment by four men and 15 women, because of which Warner Bros. fired him from all his projects. Despite his exit, the shows continued to thrive and expand with other co-creators.
Bryan Fuller
Bryan not only saw cancelation of critically acclaimed shows like Pushing Daisies and Hannibal, he was also fired from some high-profile projects. Bryan co-created American Gods, which was based on Neil Gaiman’s novel. However, he was fired midway during Season 2’s development due to budget and creative issues with Neil over the adaptation. Before this, Bryan, who worked on Star Trek: Discovery, exited from the show. Although the exit was officially mutual, CBS reportedly forced him to exit because of budget and deadline issues.
Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg
After Bryan Fuller left Discovery Aaron and Gretchen were promoted as showrunners of Star Trek: Discovery as the duo worked with Bryan on Pushing Daisies. Although they managed to run the first season of the show, they were fired in the middle of the second season. CBS didn’t provide any detail of their exit, but The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that there were several issues behind the scenes. Firstly, the premiere of the second season went over budget, which led to cuts later on. Secondly, Aaron especially, was accused of abusive behavior towards staff. Apparently, Aaron used harsh language and even threatened employees who reported issues to HR instead of handling things internally.
Jeff Franklin
Jeff Franklin was popular for creating the family-friendly TV show Full House and its sequel, Fuller House. However, in 2018, he was fired from Fuller House before its fourth season for making inappropriate comments and verbally mistreating staff, although it was not classified as sexual harassment. To this, he responded with a lawsuit in 2019 against Bryan Behar, who was hired as one of the new producers of the show. He mentioned in his lawsuit that Bryan lied and used the #MeToo movement against him, to get him removed and take over the show as a producer. In response, WB Studios issued a statement explaining that the investigation into Jeff’s behavior began in 2016. The statement also included more allegations against him such as discussing his s*x life at the workplace and being against hiring non-male directors.
Dan Schneider
Dan was the creator of several Nickelodeon shows like Drake & Josh, iCarly and All That, to name a few. However, in 2018, the channel decided to cut its profitable ties with him and his production, after several allegations came out accusing him of verbal abuse and behaving inappropriately towards child stars. At that time, his show Henry Danger continued without him. Dan denied all the allegations. However, in 2022, iCarly star Jennette McCurdy shared in her memoir a different story, in which she claimed the channel offered her $300,000, which she thought was offered to stay quiet about her experiences.
Terri Minsky
Terri Minsky was popular for creating Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire, which helped launch Hilary Duff’s career. Because of its success, the network brought back the show Disney+ with a sequel with Hilary and other cast members on board. However, in late February 2020, the network fired Terri with just two episodes into production. The show was put on hold as they searched for new creators.
The reason for firing Terri was mainly because of vision, as Disney wanted a family-friendly show, while Hilary and Terri wanted a more mature version that could potentially be shown on Hulu instead of Disney+. Since Disney was in charge, Terri was let go. Many of them in production crew supported Terri and Hilary’s idea, so it was challenging for the channel to find someone who could meet their vision and Disney’s expectations.
Frank Darabont
AMCs most profitable show The Walking Dead had high ratings and several spinoffs, with more planned for the future. However, the show moved on without the producer Frank Darabont, who was fired after the second season started because of his clash with the network over budget issues and allegations of using abusive language toward crew members. Frank responded by suing the network in separate lawsuits, and the legal battles lasted for nearly a decade.
Kurt Sutter
In 2019, Kurt Sutter was fired from Mayans M.C. due to multiple claims of bad behavior. Following his dismissal, Kurt admitted in an email to his staff apologizing for his actions and he mentioned in it that he might have crossed the line and that his decision to step back from production caused issues.
Bob Kushell
Bob often struggled to maintain long-lasting projects. In 2015, he co-created Muppets, which was canceled after just one season. His other show Way to Go also faced the same fate. In 2017, Me, Myself & I also lasted only one season. In 2019, he co-produced CBS sitcom Fam, but before the show could premiere in January, he was fired, reportedly due to inappropriate language in the workplace.
Edgar Rosenberg
Joan’s husband, Edgar Rosenberg was fired from The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers because of his harsh management style, which was compared to Captain Queeg from The Caine Mutiny. Staff members complained that he criticised many people over rival matters like allowing drinks in Joan’s dressing room and he frequently clashed with network management. The network eventually prohibited Edgar from being involved in show’s daily operations. Joan confronts the network over their treatment towards Edgar, which leads to both of them being fired from the show.
Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin left The West Wing after its fourth season due to personal and professional reasons. Reportedly, he experienced creative burnout, and missed script deadlines. Conflicts with NBC over creative control and demands for broader storylines, especially after Rob Lowe’s departure, also contributed for his exit.
Ken Sanzel, Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green
Mitchell and Robin were fired by CBS bosses at the end of Blue Bloods’ inaugural season. Although the show was popular, there were problems behind the scenes. The first showrunner, Ken Sanzel, left the show because he often disagreed with star Tom Selleck about show’s direction. Later other producers, Mitchell and Robin too were let go, as they had similar arguments with the network about show’s storyline.
The duo- Mitchell and Robin, who co-produced American Gods, exited due to budgetary constraints and creative disagreements.
Alan Ball
Alan stepped down as showrunner of HBO series True Blood after five seasons because of exhaustion. He felt that the series had tired in its last season. Also, the cost of producing the series contributed to his exit.
Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman
The Ellen DeGeneres Show fired executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman following allegations of workplace misconduct and creating a toxic work environment.
