They're on your TV week after week, and then they're gone forever. After the season finales aired, where did these sitcom stars go?
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00:00They're on your TV week after week, and then they're gone forever.
00:04After the season finale's aired, where did these sitcom stars go?
00:08Actress Kat Dennings has charmed audiences on the small screen and big screen since she
00:12was a teen, but she's best known for her six-year run in a role on CBS' Two Broke Girls.
00:17Why isn't she around as much as she used to be?
00:20A steady gig means a steady paycheck, and the equivalent for actors is a lead role on
00:24a network sitcom.
00:26Not only did Dennings get a hefty paycheck each week for delivering withering putdowns
00:30and saucy innuendo on Two Broke Girls, she'll also reap the financial benefits of starring
00:34on that hit sitcom forever.
00:36Two Broke Girls was so successful during its initial season that in 2012, producers sold
00:41the show's rerun package into syndication in what was, at the time, the most lucrative
00:46deal ever.
00:47For the right to air Two Broke Girls reruns, TBS paid $1.7 million per episode.
00:53With 138 episodes in all, that's hundreds of millions of dollars, and Dennings gets
00:58a cut as both a star and a producer.
01:00Basically, if Kat Dennings hasn't worked much lately, it's because she hasn't had to.
01:05In 2014, Beth Behrs set up her Two Broke Girls co-star with the deep-voiced pop opera singer
01:11Josh Groban.
01:12She's always talked about how great he is, and they've been friends for years, and she
01:16thought we were both, you know, nerds, so she was right."
01:20Shortly thereafter, they made the relationship official by appearing together at a charity
01:24event.
01:25Dennings and Groban were together until 2016, when, just before the final season of Two
01:29Broke Girls hit the air, the duo split.
01:32A source told E! News that the breakup was mutual and that they are still friends and
01:36all that other stuff couples say when they call it quits.
01:39It may seem like she's M.I.A., but listen closely and you'll spot Dennings' unique voice
01:43in lots of stuff.
01:44In a futuristic sequence on a December 2017 episode of The Simpsons, Dennings played Valerie,
01:50Lisa's Harvard roommate and fellow jazz aficionado.
01:53She also voices Leah on Netflix's puberty comedy Big Mouth.
01:57Along with John Cena, Dennings also stars as Dallas in the YouTube Red animated series
02:01Dallas & Robo, which is about a space trucker and her warrior-poet companion, Robo.
02:07Melissa Joan Hart was the queen of the 90s, starring in Clarissa Explains It All, Sabrina
02:12the Teenage Witch, and Drive Me Crazy.
02:15She was fun, talented, and charming.
02:17Where'd she go?
02:18Here's why Hollywood won't cast Melissa Joan Hart anymore.
02:22As much as she loves acting, Hart enjoys behind-the-camera work even more.
02:27She told Rare that,
02:28"...my fondest memories really came from what happened behind the scenes.
02:32Just having the privilege of working with some amazing people in front of and behind
02:36the camera."
02:37That explains why she's been spending so much of her time producing rather than acting.
02:42Besides executive producing dozens of episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and the entire
02:47run of Melissa & Joey, she has also executive produced four TV movies as well.
02:53In 2011, Hart's former talent manager, Kieran Maguire, filed a lawsuit against the actress
02:58for alleged unpaid commissions.
03:00Maguire claimed that Hart hired him in 2006 when her acting career was dwindling, and
03:05that she made an oral agreement to pay him 10 percent commission for her work.
03:10But according to Maguire, once he helped her get the Melissa & Joey gig in 2010, she fired
03:14him and refused to pay him commissions beyond the first season.
03:18They settled the lawsuit in 2012, but that's certainly not the kind of rep that makes you
03:22popular in Hollywood.
03:24Hart's efforts to find new opportunities may be held back by the fact that everyone is
03:28constantly trying to get her to relive her glory days.
03:32She told E! News,
03:33"...there's a lot of talk about a Sabrina reboot.
03:36I feel like almost every day somebody's calling me about it.
03:39Would we do it?
03:40Should we do it?
03:41How do we do it?
03:42I think the thing about reboots is they're really hard to do.
03:45They're hard to do right.
03:46I think sometimes it's better to just leave it in the past unless you do it really, really
03:50great."
03:51Still, she hasn't ruled out the possibility of returning to Clarissa Explains It All,
03:55telling Entertainment Weekly,
03:56"...I'd be open to it.
03:57I don't want to say no, but at the same time I'm not too thrilled about the idea.
04:02As with any reboot, it has to really be done right.
04:04I think with Fuller House, they've taken a great approach with it."
04:07So she's the one who thought Fuller House was good.
04:10That explains it.
04:12In her 2013 tell-all book, Melissa Explains It All, Hart explained that she got burnout
04:17on the Hollywood lifestyle a long time ago.
04:20She wrote that she, quote, "...experimented with weed, ecstasy, mushrooms, and mescaline
04:25for about a year and a half," but eventually decided it just wasn't who she wanted to be.
04:30She wrote,
04:31"...I was kind of running with a bad crowd.
04:33I just didn't enjoy taking drugs.
04:35I don't like the loss of control."
04:37Once Hart became a mom, work took a backseat to parenthood.
04:40The mother of three boys told Us Weekly in November 2016,
04:44"...I have mom guilt that I'm here right now and I didn't put my kids on the school bus.
04:49I didn't spend enough time with this one, didn't pack a healthy enough lunch.
04:52I threw away some toys that they love.
04:54You really have this guilt every single day and it eats away at you that you're not a
04:58good person and you can't do it right."
05:00She also told People that working in Los Angeles was tough when her family was back home in
05:05Connecticut.
05:06"...I just had the last six weeks off and I got to be home.
05:09Now I'm going to go back to the West Coast for the next five months.
05:12My kids are in school so they have to be here.
05:14It is really hard.
05:15We're just taking it a month at a time.
05:17I see them every other week.
05:19It's difficult, but at least I can also focus on work and then go home and be a mom."
05:24Hollywood stars often use their celebrity as a platform to discuss political issues
05:28important to them, and Hart is no different.
05:31What is a little different is the fact that Hart has supported more conservative candidates
05:35and issues than most Hollywood folks.
05:37Backing Republican candidate Mitt Romney for president in 2012 and Libertarian candidate
05:42Gary Johnson in 2016.
05:44Even chairing Johnson's Connecticut campaign.
05:46"...We have a chance to make a difference, but only if we get out and vote.
05:50I'm supporting Gary Johnson and Bill Weld."
05:53And she's also been outspoken about her religious views.
05:56She told the Chicago Sun-Times,
05:57"...today, there are a lot of Christians being persecuted for their faith, far beyond the
06:02freedoms this country was founded on.
06:04In the past, mainstream Christians were members of what we could call the big powerhouse religion
06:08at the time, and may have been doing a fair amount of persecuting minority religions.
06:13But now those Christians feel their faith is something that is trampled on or ignored.
06:17Now the tables have turned."
06:19Those opinions have made her a lightning rod for controversy, something the studios and
06:23networks might rather avoid.
06:25As the success of Fuller House demonstrates, there's a huge market for 90s nostalgia.
06:30Reprising her iconic roles of Sabrina or Clarissa, even just for a reunion show, could
06:34be hugely bankable for Hart.
06:37And help her set up for another run of television dominance.
06:40Sounds like it could be magic.
06:42Lori Loughlin is best known for one big role, Aunt Becky on the 80s and 90s comedy hit Full
06:47House and the Netflix follow-up Fuller House, but her career never really took off.
06:52It's not like mainstream Hollywood and network TV turned their collective backs on the cast
06:56of Full House once that show went off the air.
06:59On the contrary, the goodwill and familiarity garnered by that show has propelled cast members'
07:04TV careers over the years.
07:06TV's Aunt Becky also earned Lori Loughlin a shot at broadcast television glory several,
07:11in fact.
07:12They just didn't work out.
07:13Immediately after Full House ended in 1995, Loughlin starred in Hudson Street, an ABC
07:19sitcom about a New Jersey detective, played by Tony Danza, who falls in love with a plucky
07:24crime reporter, played by Loughlin.
07:26Hudson Street lasted just one season.
07:28In 2004, Loughlin starred as a woman who takes in her orphan niece and nephews on the
07:33WB's Summerland.
07:35Loughlin co-created the series, but alas, it endured for just two short seasons.
07:40Shortly thereafter, Loughlin starred with Jonathan Silverman and David Arquette on In
07:44Case of Emergency, a single-camera comedy about a group of friends who try not to be
07:48losers anymore.
07:49That one spawned just 13 episodes.
07:52Lori Loughlin's last major network TV role to date was as Debbie Wilson on 90210, the
07:57CW's late-2000s revival of the 90s teen classic.
08:01It began in 2008 as a show about the Wilsons, who moved from Kansas to Beverly Hills.
08:07The Wilson parents, played by Rob Estes and Loughlin, got less screen time as the show
08:11evolved, much like the parents in the original.
08:14Estes left the show in 2010.
08:16An insider told Radar Online at the time, there just wasn't enough for Rob to do because
08:20the show is more about the kids.
08:22Loughlin followed suit a year later, telling Entertainment Weekly,
08:25There's just not much for me to do.
08:27It is a very big cast and it is hard to service all of us.
08:30The focus of the show is the kids.
08:32We get it, but leaving a show in the middle of its run may not be the best career move.
08:37It's been a long time since Lori Loughlin starred on a prominent, top-30 hit show that
08:41aired on a big three TV network.
08:43Full House went off the air in 1995.
08:46In the 2010s, she landed a big role in a long-running series.
08:49It's just a little less noticeable because it airs on a couple of basic cable channels,
08:53Like fellow 90s TV refugee Jason Priestley, who also starred on a string of hit shows
08:58in Canada, Loughlin successfully pursued her fortunes north of the border.
09:03There's a lot of work up in Vancouver right now, much more so than Los Angeles.
09:08Since 2014, she's been one of the leads on When Calls the Heart, a light drama about
09:13life in a tiny coal-mining town in western Canada, circa 1910.
09:17If you're guessing that Loughlin plays a matriarch named Abigail who wears some beautiful, if
09:21uncomfortable-looking period garb, you are correct when Calls the Heart airs on Super
09:26Channel in Canada and on the squeaky-clean Hallmark Channel in the United States.
09:31Speaking of Hallmark, since 2013, Loughlin has starred in a whopping 15 entries in the
09:36garage sale mystery series of Hallmark TV movies.
09:39The actress plays Fenn Shannon, proprietor of an antique shop called Rags to Riches,
09:44who also just keeps stumbling across unsolved crimes, which she then solves.
09:49Loughlin also serves as an executive producer for the series.
09:53After her arrest, the Hallmark Channel promptly severed all its connection to the actress.
09:57In a statement, the network said it was saddened by the allegations, adding,
10:00"...we are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions
10:05that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin."
10:10You might remember Alicia Cuthbert from movies like The Girl Next Door and House of Wax,
10:15but for most, that's about it.
10:17Cuthbert was predicted to be one of Hollywood's hottest up-and-coming actresses.
10:21So why won't Hollywood cast Alicia Cuthbert anymore?
10:25Cuthbert's acting career began at the age of 14 with her breakout role as Megan on Nickelodeon's
10:30Are You Afraid of the Dark?
10:31She played the same character steadily from 1996 to 2000, which resulted in her earning
10:36lead roles in small movies like Dancing on the Moon and Time at the Top.
10:40While none of these films were received very well by audiences or critics, the added experience
10:45helped pave the way for her to grab her most recognizable role as Kim Bauer on the hit
10:49television show 24.
10:51Cuthbert probably couldn't have foreseen it would still be her most recognizable role
10:55years later, especially once she ditched the series after three seasons to focus on her
11:00film career and was met with middling results.
11:03In 2004, Cuthbert played Danielle in The Girl Next Door, a young, retired porn star who
11:08moves in next door to an average high school senior, ultimately changing his life forever.
11:13The studio hoped it would be a huge hit, somewhere in the vein of Pretty Woman and
11:17American Pie, but that wasn't the case.
11:20The movie didn't exactly flop, but it wasn't the breakout hit Cuthbert might've hoped for
11:24to catapult her into big-screen relevance.
11:26Then, House of Wax happened.
11:28In the humdrum horror movie, Cuthbert starred as one of a half-dozen teens trapped in a
11:32wax museum that turns real people into statues.
11:35The film wasn't a flop, but like Girl Next Door, it wasn't anything to write home about
11:39and didn't help to establish Cuthbert as a must-have for movie roles.
11:44Paris Hilton, who also starred in House of Wax, was the very definition of famous for
11:48being famous and hobnobbed with a host of celebs whose reputation she'd sully with her
11:53notorious nightlife antics, and that included Alicia Cuthbert.
11:57The two bonded on the set of their movie, and Cuthbert joined Hilton's party entourage,
12:01even appearing in the music video for Paris Hilton's song, Nothing in This World.
12:05Given Hilton's reputation for raking tabloid presence above her resume, though, that wasn't
12:09the kind of kinship that would help Cuthbert advance in the biz.
12:13Soon after House of Wax was released, Cuthbert's next film, The Quiet, hit theaters.
12:18In this dramatic thriller, she played a cheerleader whose social life was ruined by her parents'
12:22decision to adopt her deaf cousin, bringing to light some dark family secrets.
12:26While the role was certainly far from the typical hot girl persona she was used to playing,
12:31critics and audiences dismissed the pick, and it made back just one-third of its low
12:35production budget upon release.
12:37Her next film, Captivity, received even worse reviews.
12:40In the little scene pick, Cuthbert played a model, stalked and kidnapped by a sadistic
12:44psychopath.
12:45The movie tanked at the box office, was labeled torture porn by critics, and was nominated
12:50for a Razzie in three categories that year, including Worst Horror Movie and Worst Director.
12:55And Cuthbert was nominated for Worst Actress.
12:57Thanks for the lesson.
13:00Cuthbert eventually went back to taking roles on television and found that the small-screen
13:03scene wasn't as welcoming to her as it was in The 24 Days.
13:08In 2011, Cuthbert was cast as a ditzy runaway bride on ABC's Happy Endings.
13:13With several similar comedies premiering on other networks around the same time, the show
13:17wasn't exactly a star-maker.
13:19While it did earn a cult following, the show was canceled after just three seasons.
13:23She was then cast as a young lesbian who decided to have a baby with her male best friend in
13:28NBC's One Big Happy.
13:30But the show was panned as a Three's Company rip-off that delivered too many damaging stereotypes
13:35to survive.
13:36The program was canceled after only six episodes were aired.
13:40After Cuthbert spent time frequenting the club scene with Paris Hilton, she expressed
13:43her feelings toward being young in Hollywood in an interview with Women's Health magazine
13:47and said she didn't feel like she quite fit in.
13:50She told the magazine,
13:51"...For a long time, I was naive about who I was surrounded by.
13:54I got caught up in the L.A. scene.
13:56Not that they were bad people, I just couldn't ask any of them to drive me to the airport."
14:00She notably started focusing on her personal life, spending more time with her then-boyfriend,
14:05Canadian hockey player Dion Phaneuf.
14:07The two married in 2013 and now choose to split their time between L.A. and Toronto.
14:12While being away from the spotlight has its health benefits, it's also had a negative
14:16effect on her exposure.
14:18She has done a couple of Canadian films, including Goon, Last of the Enforcers, the sequel to
14:23the well-received 2012 hockey comedy Goon, and she stars as Ashton Kutcher's adorable
14:28ex on Netflix's The Ranch.
14:30She's hardly earning placement on producers' speed dials these days, thanks to her series
14:34of letdowns and separation from the limelight.
14:36But these new developments might just mark the start of a new direction for the girl
14:40next door.
14:41Here's hoping she can turn it around soon.
14:44Being a child star isn't easy.
14:46While some end up with lifelong fame, others get lost along the way and never find their
14:50way back.
14:52After Family Matters wrapped in 1998, Jaleel White's career faltered.
14:56Although he returned to television just a year later for UPN's comedy series Grown Ups,
15:00the show received poor reviews and was canceled just a year later.
15:03Fans presumably just didn't want to see White star as anyone other than Steve Urkel, the
15:07googly-eyed nerd that pretty much stole every scene in Family Matters.
15:11Even so, White made it clear that he wouldn't be picking up another role that was similar
15:14to the one that made him famous, telling a reporter when the show wrapped,
15:17If you ever see me do that character again, take me out and put a bullet in my head and
15:21put me out of my misery."
15:22White once again attempted a television comeback with 2017's Me, Myself, and I, but that series
15:27was also canceled after just one season.
15:30Knock Him in the Middle star Frankie Muniz was forced to take a hiatus from Hollywood
15:33after suffering from an unexplainable string of strokes.
15:36In a 2017 interview with People, the actor described his health struggles,
15:40First, I lose my peripheral vision, and I can see people, but I can't recognize them.
15:44I can see words, but I can't tell what they say.
15:47Then I start going numb.
15:48It's a gross feeling, but I know now when it's going to come.
15:51I usually go lay down and wait for it to be over."
15:53Noting that he'd had nearly every test performed by neurologists, he continued,
15:56I have no answers as to why it happens.
15:59I got so tired of trying to find an answer that I don't think I'll search for an answer
16:02anymore.
16:03I've accepted it."
16:04The former child star hasn't let it damper his dreams of getting back to work, though,
16:08And with such a positive outlook, who knows?
16:10He could be back on the big screen in no time.
16:13Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, you couldn't turn on a family film without seeing
16:17Jonathan Lipnicki on your screen.
16:19His roles in blockbuster hits like Jerry Maguire and Stuart Little catapulted him into superstardom.
16:24And don't even get us started on the little vampire.
16:26But not everything was going well for the star.
16:28There was a lot of, you know, bullying I dealt with, and I was definitely dealing with a
16:32lot of, and I still to this day, it's a battle, you know, anxiety and depression."
16:36In 2017, Lipnicki revealed on Instagram how bullying led to him ultimately leaving the
16:41spotlight.
16:42"'I was told I was a has-been and would never book a job again.
16:44I was made to feel like garbage every day of middle school to the point where I had
16:47a panic attack every night before school because I wondered how I would get through the next
16:51day.
16:52It was humiliating."
16:53But the actor told E! News that same year that he's managed to quell his attacks with
16:56the help of extracurricular activities and therapy, so there's still a chance his career
17:00could get back on track in the near future.
17:02Fingers crossed!
17:04When she was cast as a nerdy preteen in Dr. Dolittle, Kyla Pratt got her big break.
17:08The movie was a commercial success and helped springboard her into starring roles in The
17:12Proud Family and One on One, but she just couldn't manage to build on top of her success.
17:16After the Dr. Dolittle sequels weren't exactly successful, she decided to take a break from
17:20the spotlight to focus on building a family, but did so entirely in private.
17:24"'I was doing everything huge, it's just that I just asked people to respect my privacy
17:28and not post pictures, and then I'd tell the public when I felt like it."
17:33She opened up about her decision to focus on family life in a 2014 interview with Ebony,
17:37telling the publication,
17:38"'I'm all about your mindset, being focused, staying positive, being optimistic, and knowing
17:42that these are all aspects of my life that I love and enjoy.
17:45I have to nurture each of those relationships and give those relationships a great amount
17:49of time.'"
17:50Andrew Keegan
17:51Teen heartthrob Andrew Keegan was everyone's man-crush Monday before it was even a thing.
17:55But these days, instead of attracting fans, he's attracting converts.
17:58Keegan leads a spiritual movement called Full Circle, based in Venice Beach, California.
18:03Their reported goal is to promote individuality rather than societal standards.
18:07He explained to Vice,
18:08"'I very much speak what comes through while in the collective.
18:10We create a resonance of balance and equality of the crew.
18:13When you feel those chakras aligned, there's guided messaging coming in.
18:16If there is something of spiritual ego within that, it must not exist.'"
18:19He isn't afraid to poke fun at his new life, however, as evidenced by his 2017 appearance
18:24in Hollywood Darlings.
18:25Tatiana Ali
18:26Thanks to her role as Ashley Banks in the hit TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Tatiana
18:30Ali was poised for superstardom back in the 90s.
18:33Her time on the show even launched her into a successful singing career.
18:36But when the show finished, the demand for Ali dwindled, so she opted to pursue education
18:40instead.
18:41She graduated from Harvard University in 2002 with a degree in Afro-American History and
18:45Government.
18:46After taking an interest in politics, Ali went on to travel the United States for Barack
18:50Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
18:52Ali also re-emerged for BET's series Second Generation Wayans in 2013, but her comeback
18:57was cut short, as the show was canceled after the first season.
19:00However, she appears to be doing just fine without the spotlight these days.
19:04She married Stanford University English professor Von Rasberry in 2016, and the pair welcomed
19:09their first child that same year.