Dorian Gregory’s Darryl Morris was a regular character on the original Charmed series, but he left the show before its eighth and final season. Up until the season 7 finale, Gregory had a significant role on the fantasy series since he often aided the protagonists in their magical exploits, providing an ordinary person's perspective in a show filled with magic and demons.
Charmed had an eight-season run on the now-defunct The WB channel with its final season airing in 2005. The show revolved around the Halliway sisters, a trio of powerful witches in San Francisco who used the Power of Three to vanquish demons. The series was recently rebooted on the CW, with the new Charmed following the Vera Sisters. In the original series, Morris was an investigator with the San Francisco Police Department who helped the sisters cover up their magical exploits so the department didn’t learn they were witches.
Despite being such an important part of the show, as well as a fan-favorite character, Morris left at the end of the penultimate season after the Halliway sisters faked their deaths. His character got some closure rather than simply disappearing, however. During season 7, Morris’s wife, Shelia, wanted him to stop helping the Halliways with their cases; Darryl helped in the season's final battle before moving to New York with his family. Although Gregory’s character had found a conclusive end to his arc, this wasn't the reason why he was cut: Darryl wasn't in the final season because it had strict budget cuts imposed on it.
Other characters such as Cole left Charmed for less tangible reasons, but Gregory’s absence from the final season is directly attributed to a slashed budget. The Book of Three by Diana G. Gallagher is an official companion guide to the show, and its section on the final season confirms that the budget cuts were responsible for Gregory’s character getting written off the show.
The Book of Three expands on the loss of Gregory, noting that he didn’t just portray a recurring character but was also “a close friend to the production.” While other actors have left shows due to working poorly with others – including Shannon Doherty, one of the original Halliway sisters – Gregory’s exit from Charmed was entirely due to budget cuts. Notably, Gregory was not alone in being impacted here. Brian Krause played another major, fan-favorite character in Leo, and the budget cuts also impacted his appearances in the final season, though instead of cutting him entirely, he only appeared in a limited number of episodes.
