Bad Career Move No. 1: Leaving A Hit TV Series

You can bet at least one thought was racing through George Clooney's mind as he walked off the set of "ER" for the last time:

"Please, don't let me be another McLean Stevenson."

Poor Stevenson. He's destined to go down in history as the poster boy for bad career moves. There he was in 1975, with a co-starring role on a hit series ("M # A # S # H") and the TV world pretty much at his feet, and he decided to strike out on his own.

The result: A series of numbingly bad sitcoms and instant obscurity. Leaving "M # A # S # H" was the mistake of his career, a cautionary note to all those who would abandon a TV series before their appointed time.

Clooney, whose last episode of "ER" aired Thursday night on NBC, is only the latest in a long line of men and women who think they'll succeed where Stevenson failed. Not surprisingly, most have been proved wrong.

Not that Clooney is predestined to fail. He's already got a promising movie career ("Batman & Robin" notwithstanding), as well as the opportunity to write his own ticket to wherever he wants to go in TV land.

Clooney has signed a deal with HBO to co-write and be the executive director of a quirky comedy called "Kilroy," for which he is expected to tap his big-name friends to guest-star and write the series. HBO has ordered the production of the pilot and six scripts.

Here are a handful of actors who left their series in mid-run, and a brief look at their subsequent careers.

-- McLean Stevenson: On "M # A # S # H," he had some of the best writers in television providing him with material, he was working with an extraordinary cast and as the well-meaning, if befuddled, Henry Blake, he was provided a role perfectly suited to his light-comic talents.

And he ditched all that for "Hello, Larry" and a stint as a coach on "Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes." Ouch.

-- Farrah Fawcett: After making quite an impression on TV commercials, Fawcett got cast as one of "Charlie's Angels" (Jill, the one with the hair) in 1976 and promptly won a place in pop-culture history. The show, about three stunningly attractive police officers plucked off the force by a mysterious private investigator who needed others to do his legwork, was one of the first to suggest sex appeal alone could sell a series.

Fawcett's leonine sexuality, amply displayed on a poster that was required decor in college frat houses during the late '70s, convinced her she was destined for bigger things. So she ditched the show after one season, later agreeing to return for occasional episodes.

The result: some bad theatrical films ("Sunburn," "Saturn 3"), a few interesting ones ("Extremities," "The Apostle"), a steady career in made-for-TV movies (such as "The Burning Bed") and a much-publicized romance with Ryan O'Neal. Of late, she's most famous for zoning out on David Letterman and using her naked body as a paint brush for Playboy.

-- Abe Vigoda: A veteran career actor previously best-known for playing in "The Godfather," Vigoda achieved his greatest fame as the eternally downtrodden, soon-to-retire Detective Fish on "Barney Miller." But when he was spun off to his own series, "Fish," the result was embarrassing and quickly forgotten. Since then, he's appeared as a guest star on occasion, generally playing a variation on his Fish character (that is, old and crotchety), and should rue the day he ever left the cast of one of television's gentlest pleasures.

-- Shelley Long: Long's career can be divided into three phases: her career leading up to "Cheers," which included playing a cave girl opposite Ringo Starr in "Caveman" and a hooker in "Night Shift"; her five "Cheers" seasons as Diane Chambers, a role that won her an Emmy and critical kudos; and her post-"Cheers" years, a series of bad movies and failed sitcoms (anyone remember "Kelly Kelly"?) that have left millions wondering, "What on Earth was she thinking?"

At least she's proved a good sport, returning for the "Cheers" finale and a hilarious cameo on "Frasier."

-- David Caruso: Another cautionary tale from the land of hyperinflated egos. After a single season on "NYPD Blue," Caruso bolted the show for a big-screen career that promptly went nowhere (Did you see "Jade"? Didn't think so).

Last season, he slunk back to TV as a U.S. attorney in New York on the CBS drama "Michael Hayes." It got canceled, and few people are breathlessly awaiting his next move. Meanwhile, his successor on "NYPD Blue," Jimmy Smits, leaves the show under far more amicable circumstances, is given a sendoff that doesn't leave a dry eye anywhere and is proclaimed a hero.