Cast Outs & Write Outs: TV's Fallen Heroes Quiz

Answer: Charlie Sheen

It's probably fair to say that Charlie Sheen for a long time had his own personal demons: problems that were widely shared by the media.

He was a leading star of 'Two and A Half Men' from its inception in 2002, then, in 2011, Sheen turned on the show's creator Chuck Lorre in Tweets and interviews. He was also unhappy about how little he was being paid. Lorre stopped production in the eighth season.

The ninth opened with Sheen's character being hit by a train. The train won.

Answer: Shannen Doherty

Shannen Doherty played the eldest of the three Halliwell sisters who fought evil magic and demons in San Francisco.

The show opened in 1998, but in 2001 Doherty's character, Prue, was written out. Rumours soon began to circulate that she could not get on with co-star Alyssa Milano.

In an interview with 'Entertainment Tonight' Doherty said: "There was too much drama on the set and not enough passion for the work". Rather pointedly, she said she had no problems with her other co-star, Holly Marie Combs.

According to the 'New York Times', Doherty had "never been famous for being easy to get along with. Her character was written out in the final episode of season three.

Doherty had been sacked from another show, 'Beverly Hills 90210'.

Answer: Dominic Monaghan

When the producers of 'Lost' killed off his character, Dominic Monaghan said that he had been "bored" with the part anyway.

He was also reportedly bitter about his break up with co-star girlfriend Evangeline Lilly, whom he dated from 2004 to 2009.

He also spoke of disliking co-star Matthew Fox.

Monaghan's character died a hero saving other survivors of a plane crash on a deserted island. Or was it...

Answer: John Amos

John Amos was the main man in the 1970s sitcom "Good Times".

However he felt the show was being dumbed down by the "Dy-no-mite!"catchphrase of another character.

After expressing differences with the creator, Norman Lear, Amos was written out.

During an episode, viewers saw his screen wife read out a letter informing her that he had been killed in an automobile crash.

Answer: Nicolette Sheridan

'Desperate Housewives' became a ratings smash after it first aired in 2004.

The lives of a group of women in a New England town produced plenty of drama on screen, and almost as much off.

Nicolette Sheridan allegedly did not get along with show creator Marc Cherry.

In April 2009, her character was killed off and she sued. Among her claims was that Cherry had hit her on the head and she was fired after complaining to the broadcasters.

Cherry insisted that axing the charterer had been planned long before the actual sacking. He said it was primarily a creative and economic decision, but claimed she had shown "unprofessional" behaviour, including being rude to cast and crew.

Sheridan's wrongful termination suit ended in a mistrial. Subsequent appeals were rejected.

Answer: Patrick Dempsey

Dr Derek Shepherd was one of the best loved character on "Grey's Anatomy", by viewers at least.
The character earned the nickname "McDreamy".

McDreamy was written out in a car crash during the season 11 finale in 2015.

Dempsey and the show's creator Shonda Rhimes denied there was any bad blood between them.

Rumours to the contrary started to circulate. Radar Online claimed Dempsey was cheating on his wife with a crew member on the show and had also been complaining about the storyline.

(To be fair, Dempsey's friends said the claims were absurd.)

Dempsey did say, though, that his work had potentially played a part in his marriage unravelling

In an interview on 'The Nightly Show', Rhimes was asked if she'd ever killed off a character because she did not like the actor. She said: "Yes. And I'm not naming names."

Answer: Mandy Patinkin

'Criminal Minds' was a ratings smash and had more than its share of murder, mayhem and dismembered corpses.

Mandy Patinkin took on the role of a criminal behaviouralist whose job was to catch the killers. The trouble was Patinkin did not like violence.

After failing to turn up for rehearsals, the official version is that Patinkin was allowed to walk away from the show. His character was allowed to leave as a result of emotional issues due to the murder of his girlfriend and was later found shot dead.

Patinkin said of the show: "The biggest public mistake I ever made was that I chose to do 'Criminal Minds' in the first place.

"I thought it was something very different. I never thought they were going to kill and rape all these women every night, every day, week after week, year after year. It was very destructive to my soul and my personality. After that, I didn't think I would get to work in television again."

He also later admitted: "I behaved abominably."

Answer: Mischa Barton

This is one that could probably be filed under the heading "producers and writers have the last laugh".

'The O.C.' was aimed at teenagers and first aired in 2003. The title was an abbreviation of Orange County, where it was set.

By season three, those behind the camera had had enough of Mischa Barton, who played Marissa Copper.

Her bad temper was blamed, and even Barton admitted she could get hot-headed. and it "spiraled out of control".

Co-star Tate Donovan commented on Barton's "terrible reputation" and said she was the biggest diva on the show.

Answer: Thomas Gibson

Thomas Gibson was the lead agent in the ratings-topping 'Criminal Minds' in 256 episodes from 2005.

In 2016, though, he was sacked after his temper allegedly got out of hand on set. Gibson had been ordered to attend anger management classes after he allegedly pushed an assistant director during a disagreement in 2010. Reports came out that he had been "aggressive and verbally abusive for years" on set.

In July 2016, he was accused of kicking co-executive producer and writer of the series, Virgil Williams, after an argument over the script and sacked two months later.

Answer: Jay Thomas

Jay Thomas played French-Canadian hockey star Eddie LeBec on 'Cheers' as the husband of Rhea Perlman's character, Carla Tortelli.

At the time, Thomas was also a morning DJ for a Los Angeles radio station.

In one phone-in show he was asked what it was like to be on 'Cheers'. According to television blogger Ken Levine, Thomas complained "It's brutal. I have to kiss Rhea Perlman". Perlman, allegedly, was listening to the show and Thomas was never seen on 'Cheers' again.

To write him out, Eddie, who was working as a penguin in an ice show, was killed in an accident with an ice rink smoothing machine.

At the funeral Carla discovered her beloved was a bigamist, and had a second wife who looked just like her.