https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/17-series-whose-legacies-tarnished-200045189.html

Team TVLine
Sun, March 20, 2022, 1:00 PM

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As hard as it is to break up with a beloved TV series, we’ve had to do it over and over again in recent years — and not because the content of the shows in question had changed but because backstage (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TroubledProduction/LiveActionTV) scandals (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HostilityOnTheSet/LiveActionTV) had made it impossible (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/OvershadowedByControversy/LiveActionTV) to tune in any longer without feeling grossed out, guilty or both.

Will you ever again be able to watch Cliff Huxtable dispense fatherly advice on The Cosby Show without remembering (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HarsherInHindsight/LiveActionTV) that Bill Cosby was found guilty of sexual assault (https://tvline.com/2018/04/26/bill-cosby-guilty-sexual-assault-trial-andrea-constand/)? Has knowing the exact details of Joss Whedon’s “hostile and toxic work environments” (https://tvline.com/2021/02/10/charisma-carpenter-joss-whedon-toxic-hostile-abuse-allegations/) forever changed the way you watch Buffy and Angel? Where do you draw the line when it comes to separating art from artist?

Sometimes a series is able to distance itself (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/RoleEndingMisdemeanor/LiveActionTV) from its scandal and soldier on (a la Two and a Half Men, after it exchanged a “dangerously self-destructive” Charlie Sheen for Ashton Kutcher (https://tvline.com/2011/03/07/breaking-charlie-sheen-terminated-from-two-and-a-half-men/)). But, once cast, the shadow of wrongdoing never goes away, not completely. Take it from any of the series included in the list below. In the wake of behind-the-scenes scandals, their once-golden legacies have been forever tarnished.

The Cosby Show: After the NBC sitcom’s star was accused of sexual assault by more than 60 women, we couldn’t look at a Cosby sweater, much less a Cosby episode. Not that they were easy to find then, anyway, since reruns were yanked years before the disgraced TV legend was finally found guilty on three counts in 2018.

Two and a Half Men: After CBS shut down production on Season 8 in 2011 so that Charlie Sheen could go through at-home rehab, the troubled “warlock” turned up the heat on his very public meltdown and assured his subsequent firing by calling series creator Chuck Lorre “a contaminated little maggot” — for starters!

The Goldbergs: Actor Jeff Garlin abruptly left the long-running ABC sitcom (on which he’d starred since the pilot) at the end of 2021, following a human resources investigation stemming from several complaints about his on-set behavior, including alleged lewd language and unwarranted touching. The show has since employed a body double for the actor in order to film his incomplete scenes, but the shoddy post-production effects are just a reminder of his abrupt exit and the disappointing circumstances behind it.

Empire: In 2019, Empire actor Jussie Smollett claimed he had been beaten up by two men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him. He alleged that his attackers tied a rope around his neck, doused him with “unknown substance” and warned him that he was in “MAGA country.” The actor was later found guilty on five of six felony charges stemming from what turned out to be a totally false police report. Smollett, who played Lucious’ musician son Jamal on the series, was written out of the final episodes of Season 5 following the headline-grabbing brush with the law.

Roseanne: Though the ABC comedy’s revival was a hit, Roseanne Barr made its first season back its last by sending out a racist tweet in which she described former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett as a combination of the Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes. Afterwards, the show was cancelled (then rejiggered without its leading lady as The Conners), and even classic episodes were pulled from many schedules.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel: Buffyverse alumna Charisma Carpenter penned a series of Instagram posts in February 2021 elaborating on claims she had made over the years that creator and showrunner Joss Whedon had a “history of being casually cruel,” which fueled the creation of “hostile and toxic work environments.” It didn’t take long for other Buffy and Angel cast members like Amber Benson, Michelle Trachtenberg and Sarah Michelle Gellar to chime in and share their stories and support for their fellow costar.

Louie: The last thing we — or anybody — wanted once Louis C.K. confirmed in 2017 that he had indeed masturbated (and then some) in front of five unfortunate women was to see him play a version of himself. So FX axed his namesake series and, while it was at it, axed the comedian from the other shows that he’d co-created, too.

Smallville: Actress Allison Mack — who played one of Clark Kent’s best friends Chloe Sullivan — pleaded guilty in 2018 to manipulating women into becoming sex slaves via the “self-improvement” cult NXIVM. She was sentenced to three years in prison after being charged with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy.

Transparent: Accused of sexual harassment by former assistant Van Barnes and castmate Trace Lysette, Jeffrey Tambor wondered in 2017 how he could possibly return to the Amazon drama, “given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set.” He needn’t have wondered: He was let go ahead of a Maura-less Season 5.

Arrested Developement: Tambor’s star was already falling in the wake of accusations of sexual misconduct on the Transparent set when his Arrested Development wife Jessica Walter tearfully revealed to the New York Times that he’d (non-sexually) harassed her.

Gossip Girl: Gossip Girl alum Ed Westwick was accused of raping two women: actress Kristina Cohen, who in a 2017 Facebook post claimed that the actor forced himself on her while attending a house party at his residence in 2014, and former actress Aurélie Wynn, whose alleged assault is said to occur at Westwick’s home that same year. As a result, the BBC announced it wouldn’t air its adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel Ordeal by Innocence. However, the role was eventually recast and reshot.

That 70's Show: Danny Masterson, who played anti-establishment stoner Steven Hyde, was formally charged in 2020 with raping three women in separate incidents that occurred between 2001 and 2003. He awaits a criminal trial that has been set for August 29, 2022, and if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of 45 years to life in prison. Following the initial accusations, the actor was fired from Netflix’s The Ranch in Dec. 2017. His character, Rooster Bennett, was later killed off in a freak motorcycle accident.

Sex and the City: Big, Big, Big… we wanted to properly mourn Carrie Bradshaw’s dearly departed love, but after three women came forward with allegations of sexual assault against the Sex and the City star, we were more than happy his character had already bit the big one. Noth was then fired from The Equalizer, and his cameo in the And Just Like That… finale was scrapped.

7th Heaven: Nope. Without saying, “Ew, no, no, no!” there just wasn’t any way to sit through a scene in which Stephen Collins’ Reverend Eric Camden interacted with kids on the WB/CW’s formerly-feel-good family drama — not after a tape of the actor admitting to molesting several children was made public in 2014.

One Tree Hill: The WB/CW soap’s most disturbing storylines apparently took place off camera. In 2017, Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz and a host of female cast and crew members released a joint statement in support of staff writer Audrey Wauchope after she leveled accusations of sexual harassment against (unnamed) series creator Mark Schwahn.

House of Cards: In 2017, Star Trek: Discovery’s Anthony Rapp opened the floodgates on a series of accusations of sexual harassment and assault against the Netflix drama’s leading man, Kevin Spacey. By the time Season 6 dropped, Frank Underwood was as dead as the Oscar winner’s career.

Glee: There’s been no musical number peppy enough to make us want to rewatch Fox’s Glee since Mark Salling, who played Puck, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in 2017. And that was before the troubled actor committed suicide while awaiting sentencing.


Do you agree (https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/tv-line-article-17-tv-series-whose-legacies-have-been-tarnished-by-scandal.4846042/) with this list?

This will be controversial, but I don't think that Roseanne should have been fired for that tweet.
Not that I agree with what she said, but I don't think that she should have lost her job over it.

Empire: In 2019, Empire actor Jussie Smollett claimed he had been beaten up by two men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him. He alleged that his attackers tied a rope around his neck, doused him with “unknown substance” and warned him that he was in “MAGA country.” The actor was later found guilty on five of six felony charges stemming from what turned out to be a totally false police report. Smollett, who played Lucious’ musician son Jamal on the series, was written out of the final episodes of Season 5 following the headline-grabbing brush with the law.

You want to know what made Empire's legacy worse than it already had been? Empire was denied a proper sendoff because of the mass production shutdown during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. I will NEVER get into any series under these circumstances. :crying:

#NoClosureNoRewatch

Scandal TV show was full of scandal. :lol:

This will be controversial, but I don't think that Roseanne should have been fired for that tweet.
Not that I agree with what she said, but I don't think that she should have lost her job over it.

Well it was unanimous, so to speak. It was not just ABC or advertisers, but Roseanne’s cast mates, led by Sara Gilbert that didn’t want to support her. So Sara figured a way to make herself the star.

Sex and the City was not that affected by Big, Chris Noth. It’s spinoff was renewed another season by HBO Max as well.

Well it was unanimous, so to speak. It was not just ABC or advertisers, but Roseanne’s cast mates, led by Sara Gilbert that didn’t want to support her. So Sara figured a way to make herself the star.
Seriously, that is really sad.
I guess I can see why the network or the advertisers would get cold feet about Roseanne.
They would be afraid of backlash against them if they didn't fire her.
But I can't believe that her cast mates weren't more supportive...

This will be controversial, but I don't think that Roseanne should have been fired for that tweet.
Not that I agree with what she said, but I don't think that she should have lost her job over it.

I agree! Of course, if she had made a similar tweet about a Trump advisor, would she have been canned?

Transparent was a decent show but what I have read, the LGBTQ people didn’t like Jeffrey Tambor because he was a straight male or a “cis”. That’s “cultural appropriation” and they couldn’t have that! I don’t know Tambor from anybody but he was been a character actor since the 1970’s and only now he is tarnished as a “sexually harasser”. Ok.

I have never watched more than a moment or two of “Two and a Half Men”. Charlie Sheen is a drug addict, alcoholic and sex addict who partied so much that he went nuts. He also has HIV which means he was a crewing everything that moved without thinking of the consequences (or too intoxicated to care). He comes across as a Grade A a..hole. I like his father and his brother (who started strong but haven’t seen him in anything for a long time) but it is interesting Charlie is still alive and hasn’t lost his life through misadventure or being killed.

I love That 70’s Show and Hyde was my favorite character in the show. I still watch it occasionally. The sad thing is that Masterson will probably not be in the reboot of the show. Also Masterson is a Scientologist which means he’s an idiot.

I never watched Glee but have read about the guy who was caught with child pornography who killed himself. He actually had a promising career that was completely flushed away. He may not have survived prison and if he did, McDonalds would not have hired him much less getting back into TV and movie work. I probably would have killed myself also (I would have first tried to get out of the country under an assumed name but this is very difficult).

Well considering many of these shows are still easily available on nostalgia channels/streaming, I doubt they're really "forever tainted". I think the average viewer realizes actors are not the characters they play nor are they paragons of virtue. The reason Cosby's shows have been far more harshly treated is not only did he project a fatherly image, he roundly criticized people with a less family-friendy persona. Audiences can forgive and ignore you being a jerk, they can't overlook you being a total fraud.