http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17895388&postco unt=50
In my opinion, there were two things that really killed Long's career: (1) Her reputation as a difficult performer (which was further enhanced by horror stories about her diva-ish demands on the set of Hello Again) and her subsequently getting fired from My Stepfather Is An Alien); and (2) The arrival of Meg Ryan. Ryan was cheaper, younger, and (at the time) more agreeable and could easily do the type of roles that Long had been considered for just a few years before.

She works all the time. Non-stop. So her career isn't dead or anything.
I just think part of what makes good actors good is picking the right scripts, and it seems like she's one of those actors that says yes to a lot of bad stuff, hence her diminished stature.
Nicolas Cage loves doing bad movies too, but at least he says yes to great ones every other year in-between the bad ones.

re: Her career failure is her fault.
At least she's still "working" but your assessment is basically correct. Like David Caruso, McLean Stevenson, and many others, she left a popular show to appear in lots of, in the words of Archie Bunker, crapola.

Shelley Long was never going to be a big star. She has a limited acting range, she's only modestly attractive and she seems to gravitate towards light comedy rather than drama or anything which might have made her into a "star."
Hollywood is full of better looking women who have and had more to offer.Had Ms. Long simply stayed with Cheers , she could have had a Judith Light/ Jon van Ark career progression. With that she could have had made films for Lifetime and Hallmark channels, maybe received guest spots on various shows and perhaps got roles in the odd low budget project.
Instead, she went for the "brass ring" and failed to reach it. Her career failure is her fault.
Bad films are a crime against humanity.

I don't know, she may not be in A-list projects but she's been working steadily for the last 30-some-odd-years. How many waiters oops, I mean actors can say that..

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I realize this discussion is from 2012, but I suppose I'll put in my two cents.
Shelley Long did 4 films while on Cheers. None of which did well, or at least give her any confidence that she was a profitable movie star.
What she had was Cheers and she squandered it due to ego. She can use the excuse of wanting to spend more time with her daughter but if she was able to co-star on a hit TV show and make 4 movies in 5 years, then she would have had more free time had she stayed on the show but didn't do any movies or fewer of them.

It would be hard to say that Danson made more bucks than Long. He's been the lead in a couple of moderately successful TV series after "Cheers", but only a couple big movies (e.g., "3 Men and a Baby"). Ms. Long starred in several major movies, which while they didn't pan out, each probably brought in more than "Cheers" did per season. She's had pretty steady work after her movie star career fizzled.
If Danson's made a lot more money than Long, much of it has to do with the years on "Cheers" after Long left. Ironically, he was probably able to get more money because he became the sole lead actor.

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She went for a film career and it did not pan out. At least she tried and made some major films.
Its that man again!!

long tried further tv work after cheers but it failed,she then resorted to tv guest spots

Well,then why not another sitcom, or Tv films?(her tv film list is short also)We keep talking about a film career.
David Caruso went back into TV. Isn't it possible that Long has a bad rep?
Maybe she isn't worried about the millions she lost, since her husband is rich, or she comes from wealth. We can't make assumptions for everything.

she was nearly 38 when she left,not 25,her best days already were behind her[career wise,yes sadly that is how it is for most women] thus she should have being delighted to have been top billing a huge globally succesful show whilst getting at least 2 films a year also.And she had already began her feature film career whenever she did her first film,all i can say is that it was a very silly move to make on her behalf career wise,she lost millions from it.It was also highly embarassing for her and she still remains the symbol for the bad career move in hollywood to this day and despite her declarations in 2007 that 'i never regretted it',i honestly would say she did very much when she seen the show continued well in the top spot after her demise shooting her costars like ted danson and kelsey grammar into the alist while her career went2000 into rapid decline and she turned into a b list cleleb and never really took off again.You can argue it all you want but the facts speak for themselves,career wise[maybe not personally] her departure from cheers was a big mistake.Any actor who is lucky enough[and believe me it's almost impossible to land a successful show never mind get acting work in a film] to land a lead in a big tv show should stay put as time and time again it has being shown that to jump shop leads to a drowning.

I understand what you mean, but there is no pattern or correlation in show biz. It's not like she left after one season
She also would had been 5 years older if she stayed for the full run; there is a better chance of beginning a feature film career when you're younger(for a woman)

but she still would have lasted longer career wise and have been earning the big bucks like danson for it by the end of the shows reign,by leaving she screwed everything up.Even if she's never worked again,her career would have been better if she'd stayed in a top rated show till the end as apart from the brady bunch everything after cheers was not what she was hoping for.ie. mediocre tv work,flop movies and tv movies.

She could had stayed on the show and had the same result when it ended. There is no certainity. Many sitcom stars stay the entire run ,then fade away.

cos when she was in cheers she was a leading lady in a global show that was high up in the ratings 238so she would always get offers in her time there,it even shows as her film career during the 82-87 era was resptable and she was budding.It was after she left cheers that it all went down for her.Danson has fared alot better than her career wise by staying on in the show.

why do you say that? How did Cheers affect her film career?

had long stayed on with cheers she would have continued to get good film work

Its not like today choices for good acting parts for women are that much better.'
That's a cliche that people fall back on when they are not wanted. What about actors who don't get work?

Aha.
How ?
And for the record, I simply think she didnt get the right parts to stay in business. Its a shame but oh well. Its not like today choices for good acting parts for women are that much better.
Always listen to your own advice.

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Never heard of either one of them. Matter of fact, since she makes movies every year pretty much since she left Cheers, I would say that her career is far from "destroyed." Hate to burst your bubble.

she destroyed it herself by leaving cheers