Fame: You’re the gorgeous star of a top-five show that’s won you an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, along with the other three times you’ve been nominated—but you still want to leave. That’s what “Cheers” actress Shelley Long did in 1987, after five seasons of playing waitress Diane Chambers, for reasons still mostly unclear, although supposedly she constantly picked fights with the cast and crew.

Since Then: To quote Moe Szyslak, after Homer asks where his waitress went, “Oh, she left to pursue a movie career. Frankly, I think she was better off here.” You ain’t kidding, Moe: Long has never replicated the success she found on “Cheers.” She’s appeared in a bunch of largely forgettable movies—like Dr. T & the Women and the Brady Bunch films—and one spectacular bomb: the sperm-donor comedy Frozen Assets, which Roger Ebert once called “perhaps the worst comedy ever made.” But her most heinous offense: making Kirstie Alley a star.

http://warmingglow.uproxx.com/2011/04/ten-stars-who-left-hit-tv-shows-and-now-appear-in-made-for-tv-movies-about-the-amish

http://cdn.wg.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Shelley.jpg

Shelley Long's ego killed her career. She thought she was a big star (which she was...on TV) and that it would translate into a big movie career.

Obviously, it didn't.

She could have stayed on the show and done movies during the summer hiatuses, but I think she thought she was above TV and it was time to move on.

But in the long run, Cheers prospered with Kirstie Alley and they were probably glad to be rid of her. She was not well-liked on the set, which may have had an impact on her decision to leave.

Well, I guess you can't blame Shelley Long for trying. Sally Field, Ron Howard, John Travolta, Robin Williams, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase: all popular television actors who went on to have success in films (though obviously some had more success than others). I'm guessing she had agents, managers and assorted hangers-on constantly whispering in her ear and telling her that she was bigger than the show and destined for superstardom. So she took the gamble on Hollywood rather than following Ted Danson's example and doing films during the hiatuses. And, as noted, she also had issues on the set and probably didn't feel like "one of the gang" (and yet ironically, this probably helped her performance, since Diane was always supposed to be the "outsider" anyhow), making her departure that much easier.

Hindsight's always 20/20, but it's not like the "Unknown --> TV Star --> Movie Star" formula was completely unprecedented.

Shelley Long's ego killed her career. She thought she was a big star (which she was...on TV) and that it would translate into a big movie career.

Obviously, it didn't.

She could have stayed on the show and done movies during the summer hiatuses, but I think she thought she was above TV and it was time to move on.

But in the long run, Cheers prospered with Kirstie Alley and they were probably glad to be rid of her. She was not well-liked on the set, which may have had an impact on her decision to leave.

Shelley Long was also in hindsight, arguably a very one-note actress. In just about all of her movies, she basically played the same quirky blonde character and always had the same voice and demeanor. While that type of acting and on-screen persona maybe cute in your 20s and 30s, when you're pushing 40 (which she was at that time), there aren't going to be many roles of that kind coming your way.

I loved Outrageous Fortune and The Money Pit. She had Bette Midler and Tom Hanks with her. I thought The Brady Bunch movies were good. She nailed Carol Brady. After that forget it.

I recently read on a comment (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/pflcz9/who_is_an_actor_from_a_successful_tv_show_that/hb76b3h/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) that suggested that Shelley Long (https://lebeauleblog.com/2017/09/15/what-the-hell-happened-to-shelley-long/)'s stardom peaked in the wrong era. Had she started out while in her 20s/30s today, she would've likely had a successful career in comedic movies.

She was already kind of "old" for a leading lady she started on Cheers in 1982. I think that Shelley was about 32-33 at the time and she was pushing 40 when she left in 1987. Basically, by the time that she left, becoming a movie star was unrealistic for the late '80s and given her age.