History PutOnABus / LiveActionTV

** Series protagonist Jack Bauer won't be returning for ''Legacy'', though this may be justified considering [[spoiler: he turned himself in for the Russians at the end of ''Live Another Day''.]]

** [[spoiler: Jason Gideon leaves in the episode "In Name And Blood" (season 3), after leaving a note for Spencer Reid at his cabin. While he doesn't leave on a ''bus'' (he left in his car), it's basically the same.]]
** [[spoiler: AJ Cook was fired, so JJ was forced to leave the team to work at the Pentagon. The episode, appropriately titled "JJ," was a solid hour of the writers of the show bitterly saying "eff you" to the people who fired Cook.]] [[spoiler: She comes back.]]
** Later in that same season, [[spoiler: Emily Prentiss is killed. Later JJ is seen handing travel documents to a brunette woman with chewed fingernails. Earlier, Spencer had commented on Emily's chewing habit. Paget Brewster had been fired, but protests from fans brought both her and Cook back.]]

* Andie of ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' was written off the show by sending her to Italy. She returned only once, for the gang's high school graduation. [[spoiler: She also came back to say goodbye to Jen in the uncut DVD version of the series finale]]

** Rorge and Biter in Season 3, unlike in the books where they joined the Brave Companions and is present when Jaime is captured. [[spoiler: They are eventually brought BackForTheDead in an episode of season 4.]]

* In ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' Jess leaves on a bus, has a couple character centric episodes, and is for the most part written out of the show from that point on, with a few exceptions such as [[spoiler: his mother's wedding]].
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': [[spoiler: Matt and Ken, with one line of explanation. Matt transferred and Ken had a nervous breakdown.]]
** [[spoiler: Dave Karofsky was put on a bus immediately after Prom Queen. He waved to us in The First Time, and made few appearances in Heart and On My Way. He promptly boarded the bus again. And then he came back for season 6.]]

** In Chapter 6: “The Prisoner” [[spoiler: while Ran and Qin are killed by New Republic officers piloting X-Wings when Mando plants a tracking beacon on Qin (ironically just as they were planing to kill him) the other three criminals Mayfeld, Xi'an and Burg are thrown in a cell by Mando their fates left to the New Republic. Mayfeld returns in Season 2 and has a RedemptionQuest, but no word on Xi'an and Burg whether they’re imprisoned or executed]].

** Grogu aka The Child gets on a X-Wing ride with Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 after saying goodbye to Din Djarin aka Mando. [[spoiler: Grogu is seen later in ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'' training in the Force with Luke, he chooses to return to Mando by the end though.]]

* Played straight in ''Series/McLeodsDaughters'', many times. Becky's one true love, Brett, is sent off an a bus to go find a job—then [[spoiler: comes back to propose to her, but [[DroppedABridgeOnHim falls off a bridge and dies]] before ever seeing her.]] Becky later gets on a bus to go to college, and never comes back. Meg gets on a bus and goes off to the woods to write a book. Jodi's first love, Roberto, gets on a bus to get his visa straightened out in his home country, then comes back on the same bus [[spoiler: to marry her, until she gets cold feet]]. You'd think this was the only way to get out of Nowhereville, Australia. That or getting killed in a freak accident, which a lot of characters have also opted for.

* An ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' example is Gerald, Ducky's first assistant who is shot in the shoulder, requiring several months of rehab. And just as he is about to come back, [[spoiler: he is kidnapped by the same man who shot him. He never returns and we don't find out what happened to him.]]
** [[spoiler: The kidnapping is resolved by Ducky trading himself in for Gerard.]] It is later mentioned that Gerald left NCIS due to his shoulder injury and he is replaced by Jimmy Palmer.
** The writers, unfortunately, did this with the very annoying [[spoiler: Agent Barrett.]]

* ''Series/{{Primeval}}'': Jenny Lewis resigns from service partway through series three (being so far the only A.R.C. member not to leave the team [[AnyoneCanDie in a body bag]]). Emily Merchant returns to the 1800s at the end of series four, [[spoiler: but returns permanently only two episodes later, in 5x03]].

** Lister’s OldFlame Kristine Kochanski (who already changed actresses) disappeared completely after Season 8 and makes no return for the Revival Series. In ''Back to Earth'' she’s seemingly dead having been sucked out of an airlock according to Kryten and treated as TheLostLenore by Lister. This is later to revealed to be a lie and Kochanski actually just left the ship apparently feeling she was wasting her life with Lister, though this is [[UnreliableNarrator according to Kryten]] who’s always been jealous of her relationship with Lister. Kochanski at the end of ''Back to Earth'' makes one last physical appearance [[spoiler: in Lister’s fantasy]] but so far hasn’t shown up again, Doug Naylor [[WordOfGod claims]] there’s always a chance Kochanski can come back.

** Pete Ross was sent off this way. Interesting because he was the show's sole prominent [[TokenMinority black]] character, and because, despite being a main character, he hasn't been missed by the viewers. This may be because Website/TelevisionWithoutPity calls him "ProductPlacement Pete" for his annoying tendency to shill stuff. The episode in which he visits is an hour-long commercial for Stride gum. While still noticeable, not nearly as glaring on the [=DVDs=] when you don't have real commercials highlighting the in show placement.

*** This however was long overdue since Lana being [[CreatorsPet Lana]] was loved by the creators and hated by the fans. The creators kept making every excuse to bring her back until '''finally'' giving her the boot, by [[spoiler: giving her superpowers and absorbing a massive amount of Kryptonite radiation, making her permanently deadly to Clark.]].....Thank God....

* In ''Series/{{Spooks}}'', Zoe Reynolds is exiled to Chile. At the beginning of the next serious, a brief mention is made of Sam Buxton "being sedated" after the death of her love interest, [[spoiler: Danny]], and never reappears in the series. In the fifth season, Ruth is Put On A Boat when she's implicated in a murder.

** Riker's headstrong double Thomas from "Second Chances" was put on a bus, later to emerge in an episode of Deep Space Nine as a rebel, only to be once again placed on a bus. [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' decides to be evil and put Thomas in a BusCrash.]]

* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'': Apparently happened to [[spoiler: Tyler Lockwood]] mid-season 2. He comes back at the end of the season and stays until mid-season 3, where he once again leaves town for a few episodes. He comes back, and yet again leaves town in Season 4. But he always comes back, so this is really more of a "once a season" commute.

** Maggie [[spoiler:leaves with her son Hershel after the fifth episode of Season 9 to help build a distant community with a woman named Georgie.]] She returns in the sixteenth episode of Season 10 [[spoiler: saving Gabriel from a few Whisperers.]]

* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}''. Alberta seems to be the favored destination for the in-series bus.

** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zigzagged]] in ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' episode #38. [[spoiler:Date seemed to be dying, but in reality he faked his death to give Gotou the drive to become the new Kamen Rider Birth so that he can replace him. He takes the 50 million yen payment he received from Kougami and left Japan to get the shrapnel removed from his brain, returning near the end of the series and joining Gotou in battle with the Prototype version of the Birth suit.]]

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':

*** Tommy was depowered and sent off, as per the arc of his Japanese counterpart, Dragon Ranger, who actually died in the storyline of ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' and thus Saban exhausted their supply of Dragon Ranger footage to use for the Green Ranger. When FOX ordered an extra half-season of footage, Tommy came back, a change probably also required by the ratings - hence why he was suddenly a completely different ranger (they pulled the White Ranger footage from ''[[Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger Dairanger]]''.) It's particularly notable that Tommy didn't seem to actually go anywhere for the period he was depowered and it just seemed like in the dozen or so episodes between him losing and regaining his power Tommy just wasn't hanging out with the group that day barring a single guest appearance in what was supposed to be the original series finale. Once it's time to return him to the plot, in walks Tommy to meet up with the group like he never left. Tommy actually gets put on a bus AGAIN between the period where his Green powers finally give out and becoming the White Ranger but this period is much shorter, about 4 to 5 episodes and they actually do give a reason for his absence this time which is he went to his uncle's cabin for a much needed vacation.
*** Similarly the original Red, Yellow, and Black Rangers, Jason, Trini, and Zack, were sent to a peace conference and never appeared in the show again. The joke among the cast and crew of the show was that if you ever saw in a script that your character was going to a peace conference, you were never coming back. Jason did, however, becoming the SixthRanger of ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' and making a couple more guest appearances.

*** Rocky made his last appearance in the first episode of the graduation ceremony.
*** Zordon and Alpha 5 returned to Eltar and were replaced by Dimitria and [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Alpha 6]].
*** Ernie was given a write-off in the episode "Shadow Rangers".
*** Tommy, Kat, Tanya, and Adam left the team to live their adult lives.

* Jamal Lyon of ''Series/{{Empire}}'' was put on the proverbial bus by the end of the fifth season due to his actor Creator/JussieSmollet [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor getting arrested in winter 2019]] for staging a hate crime against himself because he was reportedly unhappy with his salary. The

** Halfway through Season 6, Ann (Creator/RashidaJones) and Chris (Creator/RobLowe) move to Michigan to start a family. Ann returns a few episodes later after giving birth and later, both come BackForTheFinale.

*** In the second episode of the 2-part episode ''Ranger of Two Worlds'', Billy is sent to Aquitar due to his rapid aging. This doubles as both HarsherInHindsight and RealLifeWritesThePlot because his actor David Yost had walked off during the filming of the ''King for a Day'' 2-parter due to what David Yost has said was due to hostility on set due to him being a gay man in the mid-90s. At the same time, the bus has come back twice for the character that hasn't been archive footage (like in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder''). The first was in the final episode of ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce's'' Legendary Battle episode, though Billy shows up only in morph. The second time is actually coming up: David Yost is currently filming ''something'' for the 30th anniversary of the franchise as Billy.

*** Also in that episode, Bulk and Skull left the country to work in a mystery but they were back as cops in the ''Turbo'' movie without any explanation to what became of the case.

*** Rocky made his last appearance in the first episode for the graduation ceremony.

* ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'''s Young Mr. Grace was said to have gone on a sabbatical to write a book when actor Harold Bennett became too infirm to continue in the role. However, he appeared once to say good-bye and made one cameo before Bennett died.

** After her actress' departure from the show at the end of the third series, they opted to explain why Maria had suddenly vanished when she was trapped in the prison camp for British soldiers with the majority of rest of the primary cast by explaining that she had attempted to escape by disguising herself as a package and getting mailed out. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough stamps and was as such "returned to Switzerland."
** The original Le Clerc visited his brother in prison and switched places with him because he preferred it to the café.

** Only the Italian Captain Bertorelli is given a serious explanation - the series skips forward to a time after Italy have surrendered.

** Mark (Creator/PaulSchneider), after the government shutdown and Ann dumping him, decides to leave his city planner job to take a new one in the private sector at the end of Season 2. Even though the writers left the door open for a return and planned to have Mark reappear every once in a while, those plans never came to fruition and it became a LongBusTrip due to Schneider having no desire or interest in coming back after feeling like the show left him and his character behind when it was clearly going in a new direction.
** Halfway through Season 6, Ann (Creator/RashidaJones) and Chris (Rob Lowe) move to Michigan to start a family. Ann returns a few episodes later after giving birth and later, both come BackForTheFinale.

** Mark (Creator/PaulSchneider), after the government shutdown and Ann dumping him, decides to leave his city planner job to take a private sector job at the end of Season 2. Although the writers left the door open for a return and planned to have Mark reappear every once in a while, those plans never came to fruition due to Schneider having no desire or interest in coming back after feeling like the show left him and his character behind when it was {{Retool}}ed in that season.

** Mark (Creator/PaulSchneider), after the government shutdown and Ann dumping him, decides to leave his city planner job to take a private sector job at the end of Season 2. Although the writers left the door open for a return and planned to have Mark reappear every once in a while, those plans never came to fruition due to Schneider having no desire or interest in coming back after feeling like the show left him and his character behind when it was {Retool}}ed in that season.

* Happens thrice (with a fourth time narrowly averted) on ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''.
** Mark (Paul Schneider) leaves to take a private sector job at the end of Season 2. Rumor has it that Paul Schneider was unhappy with the way the show went and decided to leave after two seasons.
** Halfway through season 6 Ann (Creator/RashidaJones) and Chris (Rob Lowe) move to Michigan to start a family.
** At the beginning of season 6 Andy (Creator/ChrisPratt) is taking a job in London for a time as Pratt was busy filming ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014''. TheBusCameBack, though.
** It was considered writing out April (Aubrey Plaza) at the beginning of season 6, with her planning to become a veterinarian. The writers did have her change her mind in the last moment though, as losing both April and Andy as well as the upcoming departure of Ann and Chris would have been too much for the show to handle.

* Chano Amenguale was put on a bus on ''Series/BarneyMiller'', but viewers weren't told for several seasons. Following his disappearance, no one mentioned him until a few years later when a new detective was transferred to the precinct to replace him, causing Barney to marvel at how long it took the department to send anyone.
** Also Barney's wife Liz, who had been [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen unseen]] on the show for several seasons after being played by Barbara Barrie in Seasons 1-2. (The producers actually came up with the separation storyline as a way of bringing Barrie, whose character had been deemed as not "working" in the context of the show, back before the viewers.)

* This is the fate of the Number Three Cylons in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. After a Number Three Cylon disobeys the consensus of the other Cylon models, it's decided that the Number Three models are inherently flawed. The Number Threes are then "boxed up" and their memories and consciousnesses downloaded into cold storage indefinitely. [[spoiler:At least one number three is "unboxed" later on in season 4.]]
* One of the most notorious and self-influential incidents in ''Series/BeverlyHills90210's'' narrative history was putting Brenda Walsh, the show's powerhouse, on a plane to London after actress Shannen Doherty was fired for repeated unprofessional behaviour. Brenda was only supposed to stay in London for a year, but never reappeared in the original show. ''Series/Charmed1998'', the next Aaron Spelling product that Doherty starred in, went one further when the actress was dismissed (again) and [[ActorLeavesCharacterDies killed off her character]].

** At the beginning of season 6 Andy (Creator/ChrisPratt) is taking a job in London for a time as Pratt was busy filming ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}''. TheBusCameBack though.

* On ''Series/{{Spooks}}'', Zoe Reynolds is exiled to Chile. At the beginning of the next serious, a brief mention is made of Sam Buxton "being sedated" after the death of her love interest, [[spoiler: Danny]], and never reappears in the series. In the fifth season, Ruth is Put On A Boat when she's implicated in a murder.
* ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'':

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' has, surprisingly, a lot of bus rides for a series where ''AnyoneCanDie''.

* In Season 7 of "Series/TheOfficeUS", [[spoiler:Michael Scott]] moves to Colorado with [[spoiler:his fiancee, Holly Flax]], and doesn't appear again until [[spoiler:the series finale.]]

* In Season 7 of "Series/TheOfficeUS", [[spoiler:Michael Scott]] moves to Colorado with [[spoiler:his fiancee, Holly Flax]], and doesn't appear again until [[spoiler:the series finale.]]

* ''Series/MenBehavingBadly'': Dermot (Gary's roommate in Series 1) is written out at the start of Series 2, with his absence being explained as having gone on an around the world motorcycle tour.

* Dr. Crusher from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' pulls an offscreen stint at Starfleet Academy for Season 2, [[ReplacementScrappy Dr. Pullaski]] filled her position during that time.

*** Tommy was depowered and sent off, as per the arc of his Japanese counterpart, Dragon Ranger, who actually died in the storyline of ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' and thus Saban exhausted their supply of Dragon Ranger footage to use for the Green Ranger. When FOX ordered an extra half-season of footage, Tommy came back, a change probably also required by the ratings - hence why he was suddenly a completely different ranger (they pulled the White Ranger footage from ''[[Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger Dairanger]]''.)