Leaving a TV show in order to pursue movie roles is not unusual; to give just one example, Claire Danes did this with My So Called-Life. (Although in that case the second season was hypothetical and, alas, not to be). Given how understandable this career move is, it's kind of amazing that Michael J. Fox didn't make it himself after Back to the Future was released in 1985.
Obviously I don't know the details of Fox's contract, but I do know that Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg initially had some concerns about Fox taking the part on Back to the Future because he was afraid he'd "lose him to film-stardom." Instead Fox filmed Family Ties during the day and Back to the Future at night and continued on Family Ties for four more years.
When I first read about this, I was surprised that he'd stay on a sitcom where he was frequently subjected to things like being crawled on by kittens…
…playing poker with babies…
…dressing himself and others like Abraham Lincoln...
…and having a photograph of himself eaten by a chimpanzee.
But it didn't take much reflection to see how obviously fun all of that would be. It's fun to be a mall Santa and promise little girls 100 shares of Aramco Petroleum...
…or talk to a dog in a vets' waiting room...
…or wear a bowler hat...
…or dress up as a molar.
In any one film, do actors often get such varied opportunities? There are many limitations to sitcoms, but within all the hijinks there's the gift of getting to inhabit a giddy range.
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