Top 10 Sitcom Stars Who Fell Off the Map

When Frasier Crane left Boston behind to recover from his divorce from Lilith, he found himself reconnecting with family back home in Seattle. That included his younger brother and fellow psychiatrist, Niles. He was somehow more fastidious, arrogant and elitist than Frasier. That being said, Niles didn’t spend years drinking at Cheers with Norm and Cliff - which would ground anyone. David Hyde Pierce played Niles, and has popped up sporadically in various movies and TV shows since “Frasier” ended. That includes an uncredited part voicing Abe Sapien in the 2004 “Hellboy” movie and supporting roles in other productions. While he’s also done some Broadway work, he has never found another on-screen role as career defining or memorable as Niles Crane.

When Frank Lambert and Carol Foster met and fell in love on a Jamaican vacation, they made the impulsive decision to get married. Each one of them already had three kids. This meant they were suddenly a blended family with six children. That essentially made “Step by Step” a 1990s version of “The Brady Bunch.” Staci Keanan starred as Dana Foster, Carol’s oldest child. She pretty much disappeared from TV after the end of the series, other than some bit parts, and mostly found work in a few movies. Keanan eventually left acting behind, and is now a Deputy District Attorney under her birth name in Los Angeles County.

Not everyone loved the crass adventures of the Bundys on “Married... with Children.” But this series was still incredibly popular and helped build Fox into a mainstream network. It also turned Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal and Christina Applegate into superstars. But David Faustino has had a much lower profile career than his former castmates. While there haven’t been a lot of big roles, he has consistently worked in movies and on TV. Faustino was even the voice of Mako on the critically acclaimed animated series, “The Legend of Korra.” That’s a far cry from the mostly degenerate Bud Bundy he used to play on “Married... with Children.”

Being a “Cosby Kid” in the 1980s was a big deal. Several younger actors made a name for themselves on the seminal sitcom, “The Cosby Show.” Lisa Bonet played Denise, the second oldest of the Huxtable children. She was a popular enough character that she got her own spinoff, “A Different World,” about her going to college. Bonet, who was married to Lenny Kravitz at the time, got pregnant and she briefly left both series behind. Bonet would briefly return to “The Cosby Show,” but it was never the same. She continues to act, but her career just never reached the heights of her days on the situation comedy. But she and her current husband Jason Momoa are doing just fine.

Like most fish out of water stories, “Perfect Strangers” needed a zany character and a normal guy. And Larry Appleton was not the zany character. After moving to Chicago, Larry’s distant cousin Balki appeared on his doorstep. Balki was from a small Mediterranean island, which led to a lot of crazy shenanigans, mishaps and misunderstandings about American culture. But every wacky character needs a straight man to play off, and that’s where Larry shined. Larry was portrayed wonderfully by Mark Linn-Baker, but “Perfect Strangers” was ultimately his only major role post-’90s. His acting career has continued, but primarily in one-off guest roles on other series and some stage work.

After Blossom’s mother left the family, her father took the responsibility of caring for her and her two brothers. But the focus was primarily on Blossom, and the trials and tribulations of growing up After a while, every episode of “Blossom” started to seem like a very special episode of the sitcom” Fortunately, she had her friend Six around to help. An extremely fast talker, Six was a good friend to Blossom’s entire family. Jenna von Oÿ, who played Six, would go on to have a moderately successful career in both film and TV. She starred in the “Moesha” spinoff “The Parkers” for five seasons, though things quieted quite a bit after that ended in 2004.

“Family Matters” was originally conceived as a spinoff of “Perfect Strangers” focused on the family of Harriette and Carl Winslow. But the dynamic changed at warp speed when an uber nerdy Season 1 side character named Steve Urkel appeared, and quickly became a legit cultural phenomenon. For much of the series, Steve was obsessed with the Winslow’s oldest daughter, Laura. Kellie Shanygne Williams played Laura throughout the series, but her career mostly stalled after that. 2020 did see her return in the holiday movie, “Christmas in Carolina” alongside Darius McCrary, who played her older brother Eddie on “Family Matters.”

Raven-Symoné has easily been the most successful of all the Cosby Kids, and has had the longest lasting career. “That’s So Raven” was a series about Raven Baxter who received visions of the future. As is often the case with such visions, Raven’s led to non-stop kooky and madcap happenings. By the time Orlando Brown was cast as Raven’s best friend Eddie Thomas, he had already been on several TV shows, including “Family Matters.” But his career after “That’s So Raven” has been much different. Roles in any media form have been few and far between. Unfortunately, issues with the law as well as substance abuse have played a part in that.

Few people turned on their own shows harder than Angus T. Jones did. “Two and a Half Men” was about a jingle writer named Charlie Harper who loved the bachelor life a little too much. When his brother’s wife threw him out, Alan and his son Jake moved in. The whole series descended into chaos when lead actor Charlie Sheen had a very public meltdown. Adding to the problems, Angus, who played Jake, famously declared that “Two and a Half Men” was “filth” after finding a new religious direction in life. He eventually disappeared from the series, and after a small role in other productions, left acting behind entirely.

“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” came out at a time when Will Smith reputedly really needed the money. But it also helped him transition into being one of the biggest movie stars in the last few decades. The show saw his character move from Philadelphia to Bel-Air to live with his wealthy aunt and uncle. About half way through the series, the original actress to play Aunt Viv disappeared. This was reportedly due to Janet Hubert and Will Smith not getting along, though they ultimately patched things up for the reunion show in 2020. Hubert continued to work in TV, including a run as Yvonne Godfrey on the classic daytime soap opera, “General Hospital” starting in 2018.