10 Actors Who Left Hit TV Shows And Then Came Back
3. Topher Grace/Ashton Kutcher (That 70's Show)
After eight full seasons of keeping the gang together, That 70's Show began to fall apart.
The finale of season eight saw long-time lead character, Topher Grace's Eric Foreman, leave on a trip to Africa. In reality, Grace had recently met with director Sam Raimi and been offered the part of Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3, and jumped at the chance.
Along with Grace, Ashton Kutcher more-or-less departed the show around the same time. His character of Kelso was written off as having a new job in Chicago, which would keep him apart from the rest of the gang. In truth, Kutcher was far-and-away the biggest name on the show at the time, having found success with several other projects and was looking to pursue other options.
The show spent the bulk of its ninth season attempting to replace the two, in vain. The ninth season wound up being the show's last. Both Grace and Kutcher returned for the final episode, ringing in the new decade with the original gang.