Michael Rapaport, Mary Elizabeth Ellis Exit CBS Series ‘The Millers’

Michael Rapaport and Mary Elizabeth Ellis have exited CBS’ series, The Millers.

The multi-camera comedy from Greg Garcia (Raising Hope, My Name Is Earl) stars Will Arnett as Nathan Miller, a recently divorced news reporter who is looking forward to enjoying his newfound singleness. But when Nathan tells his parents, Carol (Margo Martindale) and Tom (Beau Bridges) about his divorce, his father follows suit and leaves his wife of 43 years. Carol then moves in with Will, and Tom moves in with his daughter Debbie and her husband. The two roles were supposed to be played by Ellis and Rapaport, but will now have to be recast.

Arnett, who was being courted for several pilots once it appeared Up All Night was heading for cancellation, joined the series in February because it was similar to his real-life experiences of going through a divorce. Arnett and Amy Poehler decided to divorce after nine years of marriage in September 2012. It was the second divorce for Arnett, who was married to actress Penelope Ann Miller for a year in 1995.

Exactly why Rapaport and Ellis left The Millers is unknown at the moment, but recasting tends to happen early in the pilot process after table reads. In fact, multiple comedies have had actors leave after table reads in the past three months: Giovanni Ribisi replaced Tommy Dewey in the Fox series Dads (Vanessa Lachey also replaced Erin Pineda in the series), Christina Ricci left Girlfriend in a Coma (and NBC pushed the series back due to difficulty finding a replacement), and Jane Adams exited the untitled Craig Robinson pilot. Similarly, NBC’s The Family Guide and Sean Saves the World have also had recastings, as well as Fox’s Surviving Jack.

The Millers will air Thursdays at 8:30, after The Big Bang Theory.

Who do you think should replace Michael Rapaport and Mary Elizabeth Ellis?

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