Unseen TV characters

[astorian]

How many TV characters can you think of who were heard or discussed, but never actually seen? I can think of...

1) Carlton the doorman on "Rhoda"
2) Robin Masters on "Magnum PI"
3) John Beresford Tipton on "The Millionaire"
4) Charles Townsend on "Charlie's Angels"
5) Wilson, on "Home Improvement"

ANy others come to mind?

[chique]

Norm's wife on Cheers.

[AxeElf]

God, on countless televangelists' programs every Sunday morning.

[SmackFu]

Orson, from "Mork & Mindy"

Wilson on Home Improvement is a special case, since only his face wasn't seen.

[King Rat]

Maris from Frasier

[aseymayo]

Mary Tyler Moore played a pair of legs on Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1959). Her character, Sam the answering service girl, was only seen from the waist down.

[BobT]

There was a surgeon on "St. Elsewhere" who has only heard, but never seen and was widely disliked by the other characters.

[peepthis]

Don't forget the greatest of them all!

The Gooch, Arnold's ever-present yet elusive tormentor from "Diff'rent Strokes".

Although, IIRC he actually -- and unfortunately -- did make an appearance in an episode in a later season.

[peepthis]

Originally posted by peepthis
Although, IIRC he actually -- and unfortunately -- did make an appearance in an episode in a later season.

It seems the best fan site confirms my first suspicion, that The Gooch was never seen in all 8 seasons.

[kawliga]

Sheridan, son of Hyacinth, on "Keeping Up Appearances."

[barstow]

Originally posted by chique
Norm's wife on Cheers.

Norm's wife actually appeared on the Thanksgiving feast at Carla's house. She was only shown from the rear until she got a faceful of mashed potatoes in the food fight.

[barstow]

There's Vinnie on Just Shoot Me, who's Nina Van Horn's drinking buddy.

[CnoteChris]

Originally posted by barstow

Norm's wife actually appeared on the Thanksgiving feast at Carla's house.[/b][/quote]

You might also be interested to know that the woman who played his wife in that episode was also his wife in real life.

[CnoteChris]

Ouch! That hurt.

[AWB]

Corrections

• Binnie, Nina's drinking buddy, on "Just Shoot Me", has appeared once, in episode The Mask
• Robin Masters was played by Orson Welles on "Magnum, P.I." from 1981 to 1985.
• One I thought of, but dismissed: Dr. Selar on "Star Trek: The Next Generation". She was played by Suzie Plakson in one episode, "The Schizoid Man".

.

[AWB]

Oops...

I thought Welles had appeared on-screen as Robin Masters. But according to an episode guide, he was only the voice. However, Magnum once mentioned that Masters looked like Orson Welles.

[Guy Propski]

George Steinbrenner on "Seinfeld" (you only saw the back of his head).
Mammy Two-Shoes from the old "Tom and Jerry" cartoons. You only saw her feet. Okay, so it's not a TV show, but I saw it on TV.
Sparky, the radio operator friend of Radar, on "M*A*S*H."

[SirRay]

Guy Propski:
For some reason, Sparky did appear briefly in one episode. IIRC, he was a slim guy (w/ glasses), with a 'farm-country' accent. He was reading a comic book when Radar called him (perhaps Radar had sent him the comic book, I don't remember).

[BiblioCat]

Originally posted by AWB
Corrections

• Binnie, Nina's drinking buddy, on "Just Shoot Me", has appeared once, in episode The Mask

IIRC, wasn't she in bandages, having had a face lift? Or we only saw her from the back? I don't think we've ever actually seen her face.

[Arken]

But there was another character on M*A*S*H you never saw... the guy on the P.A. system who announced incoming wounded.

[frolix8]

And of course, Jaunita down at the diner, Barney Fife's girl (sometimes).

[PRNYouth]

Ugly Naked Guy on "Friends"

Joe Mayo on "Seinfeld" (This character was repeatedly mentioned in a variety of contexts. I don't think he was ever shown, but I'm pretty sure he was named after someone on the crew of the show.)

Nanny on "Muppet Babies" Cheating - I know, since we see her fashionably-striped stockings, just never her face.

I know there are more -- just can't think of 'em.

[Telemark]

How about Serge (?), Edwina's son from Ab Fab.

[kid charlemagne]

Joe Mayo was seen at his apartment warming party, remember he had the same fur coat as David Puddy.

Anyway, sticking with Seinfeld. Kramer's two friends, Bob Sakimano and Lomez were never seen. Actually Lomez was probably in the bar when Kramer was telling his "real Peterman" stories but they never referred to him.

[PRNYouth]

Sakimano!! THAT'S who I was thinking of -- thanks for the correction. Joe Mayo was indeed in that episode, and was portrayed by Pat Finn.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Starr Jones's neck.

[Balance]

Originally posted by Arken
But there was another character on M*A*S*H you never saw... the guy on the P.A. system who announced incoming wounded.

Didn't the skinny corpsman with the beaky face do the announcements? I always thought that was his voice.

[Fiver]

Mjollnir

Star Jones's neck.

Star Jones has a neck?

Once we start talking about M*A*S*H there are many characters we learned a lot about but never saw:

Peg & Erin Hunnicutt
Honoria Winchester
Mrs. Blake
Mildred Potter
the elder Mr. Pierce
Mrs. O'Reilly and, err, her brother (wasn't Radar's uncle helping Radar's widowed mother with the farm?)?

And Arken, I'm glad you brought up the P.A. announcer...many people mistakenly think that was Radar, but of course, the voice continued even after Radar left the show.

[Sigene]

Any adult on a Peanuts cartoon.

[Zappo]

How about Peg's mother on "Married with Children?" She was unseen because the role was originally written for Divine, who passed away before (s)he was able to film an appearance on the show. Rather than get another actor the writers decided to leave the role unfilled and referred to her without showing her on camera.

Another good one is "Charlie" from "Charlie's Angels." While his voice (played by John Forsythe) was depicted as coming out of the phone speaker at the start and end of every episode, he was never seen on the show.

And since we're including BritComs in this thread, how about "Old Mr. Grace" from "Are You Being Served?" He was referred to on several occasions, usually when somebody was introduced to the doddering Young Mr. Grace:

Mr. Spooner: "THAT'S Young Mr. Grace?!?"
Mrs. Slocombe: "Yes. Old Mr. Grace doesn't get around very well any more."

Regards,

Zappo
who spends too damn much time in front of the television

[Arken]

Wasn't Old Mr. Grace the original Mr. Grace and Young Mr. Grace replaced him later on in the series or am I imagining things?

Oh, and with the listing of all of the family on M*A*S*H you never saw, you can't forget Klinger's extended family (including sneaky Uncle Abdul) and his ex-wife.

Mildred Potter made an appearance as a regular on the unfortunate After-M*A*S*H.

In a reversal of this sort of thing, the WB network cartoon Freakazoid! actually *DID* show "faceless" announcer Joe Leahy on several occasions AND called him by name.

Oh, and I just thought of one other character... Jim Dial's wife on Murphy Brown.

Wow, I watch way too much TV.

[cher3]

There was also Columbo's wife, if you don't count the "Mrs Columbo" series with Captain what's-her-name. And I don't.

[Arken]

Just thought of a few more:

Ralph and Potzie's parents on 'Happy Days'

Antonio's weird girlfriends (Pencil Patty who lives under the bridge, the big-faced girl, etc.), Lowell's jock pals and Roy's drinking buddies on 'Wings'

Suzanne's voodoo maid Consuela on 'Designing Women'

That guy who hosted 'Remote Control' on MTV's mom (she always called him up from the basement at commercial time)

Not exactly a character, but...

Northern Exposure made frequent references to the town of Sleetmute, especially if something seedy was being discussed (e.g. "If you want a prostitute, you can go to Sleetmute!")

[Steve Wright]

Quite a few British comedies have used this convention. Probably the best known (over here, and in my age group...) would be Captain Mainwaring's wife Elizabeth in "Dad's Army", and Arthur Daley's wife, "'Er Indoors" in "Minder".

IIRC, in "Are You Being Served?", Young Mr. Grace was the original proprietor, Old Mr. Grace put in an appearance in later seasons (I think the actor playing Young Mr. Grace either died or retired at some point). Come to think of it, the show included two other invisible characters, Mr Humphries' mother and (groan) Mrs. Slocombe's pussy...

I think. I am not an authority on "Are You Being Served?", I wish to make that absolutely clear.

[lolagranola]

Suzanne's voodoo maid Consuela on 'Designing Women'

I'm sure that she was seen. Anyone else remember her?

[urlnotfound]

Originally posted by Balance

Didn't the skinny corpsman with the beaky face do the announcements? I always thought that was his voice.

I read somewhere that the voice for the P.A. system wasn't a single person at all. It was whoever was around to do it at the time.

Bad TV time. How about "Voice" on Cleopatara 2525?

[BiblioCat]

Originally posted by Arken
Oh, and I just thought of one other character... Jim Dial's wife on Murphy Brown.

Wow, I watch way too much TV.

No, I know for sure we saw Jim's wife. (drawing a blank on her name...Doris?)
The reruns of "MB" are on Lifetime and I just saw one with her...she wanted to go out and get a job after years of being a housewife. I'm pretty sure she was in at least a couple of episodes.

Originally posted by Arken
Just thought of a few more:

Ralph and Potzie's parents on 'Happy Days'

Antonio's weird girlfriends (Pencil Patty who lives under the bridge, the big-faced girl, etc.), Lowell's jock pals and Roy's drinking buddies on 'Wings'

Suzanne's voodoo maid Consuela on 'Designing Women'

I'm quite sure we saw Ralph's father...he was an eye doctor, (right?) and Fonzie went to see him once. Didn't he and Ralph go to an opthamologist's convention once? He was a big practical joker? Wanted Ralph to be an eye doc, too?

Lowell's friends....I know we saw a couple of them once....he and Antonio went rat-shooting at the dump and we saw two of them....they liked Antonio better than Lowell because he shot better, so Antonio shot poorly the next time.

Suzanne's maid Consuela...I think we did see her at least once, but I'm not positive.

I watch way too much TV, too.

[Colibri]

Originally posted by Arken
But there was another character on M*A*S*H you never saw... the guy on the P.A. system who announced incoming wounded.

If we include recurring announcers, and going way back, there was the train announcer on the Jack Benny Show, voiced by Mel Blanc:

Train Announcer: Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc-a-monga ..(Pause Between Cuc and A-monga)

[Chronos]

Y'know, this is fun and all, but it's really better suited for IMHO. Catch, Veb!

Oh, and by the way, Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget (the animated show, not the live-action movie), and, of course, Cecil Adams, from the short-lived Straight Dope TV show.

[Fiver]

Arken:

Oh, and I just thought of one other character... Jim Dial's wife on Murphy Brown.

Wow, I watch way too much TV.

Not quite enough, apparently. Jim Dial's wife Doris appeared in many episodes from 1989-92. There was even an episode that focused on the two of them (she was leaving Jim because she felt unfulfilled, in a storyline perhaps deliberately derivative of the episode of Mary Tyler Moore where Lou Grant's wife left him for similar reasons).

urlnotfound: Pretty sure you're mainly mistaken re: the PA announcer; the voice was very distinctive, and IMDB only credits two voice actors (who were both uncredited in the show itself): Todd Susman and Sal Viscuso.

Todd Susman was the voice we all think of; he's the guy who sounded a little like Radar. He's not just a voice actor, either. He's one of those character actors who turns up in movies and guest roles on TV shows. His best known (to me) recent work was on Angel, as the wealthy father of a young woman who hired Angel to protect the daughter (but got Wesley instead).

[Show_Biz]

Wan't the M*A*S*H announcer Gary Burghoff .... Corporal Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reilly ?

I haven't seen the show in years, but I recall him in the movie stumbling over the movie announcements.

Yet, I suppose he can't be, because his famous nickname-making trademark was to say, "Choppers!" and Hawkeye would look around and say "I don't hear anything." "Wait for it." then the announcer, "Incoming!"

But the movie database DOES list Sal Viscuso .... P.A. Announcer (uncredited) (voice)

http://us.imdb.com/Credits?0066026 Movie
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0068098 TV show

[Fiver]

Kinsey:

I'm quite sure we saw Ralph's father...he was an eye doctor, (right?) and Fonzie went to see him once.

Yes! And he was played by the same guy who had played Howard Sprague on The Andy Griffith Show.

Hmm. I wonder if any other actors appeared on both The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days? Nahh, couldn't happen.

[Zarathustra]

Originally posted by AWB
Oops...

I thought Welles had appeared on-screen as Robin Masters. But according to an episode guide, he was only the voice. However, Magnum once mentioned that Masters looked like Orson Welles.

Later on in the season, wasn't it implied that Higgins and Robin Masters were one and the same? In that case, Robin Masters was on screen for almost every episode . . .

[Sauron]

Originally posted by Five

Once we start talking about M*A*S*H there are many characters we learned a lot about but never saw:

Peg & Erin Hunnicutt
Honoria Winchester
Mrs. Blake
Mildred Potter
the elder Mr. Pierce
Mrs. O'Reilly and, err, her brother (wasn't Radar's uncle helping Radar's widowed mother with the farm?)?

Not to be a party-pooper, but we did see Peg Hunnicutt (and Erin, too, I believe) in one episode. BJ was upset about spending his anniversary away from home; Hawkeye pumped BJ for information on what BJ and Peg would do on their anniversary, secretly taping him. Hawkeye then sent the tape to Peg, and she made an 8mm film showing her getting all dolled up for their big anniversary date. After seeing the movie, Margaret offered to dance with BJ to "fill in" for Peg (since going dancing was one of the things BJ had anticipated with Peg).

We also saw Radar's mom and uncle this same way; his family sent a home movie to him in another episode. Radar's mom looked amazingly like Radar in drag. We also saw his dog, Ranger (?), and some other family members.

Mildred Pierce's photo resided on Colonel Potter's desk, so we did see her a few times.

[Balance]

OK, I was wrong--according to the M*A*S*H FAQ, the PA voices were supplied by Sal Viscuso and Todd Susman. The guy I thought did it was Jeff Maxwell, who played Igor Straminsky. Todd Susman did appear on-screen in at least one episode ("Operation Noselift") as Private Danny Baker, who wanted a nose job. I haven't seen any connection between that role and the PA guy role--he's listed as a guest star for that episode.

[BiblioCat]

Originally posted by Five
Kinsey:

Yes! And he was played by the same guy who had played Howard Sprague on The Andy Griffith Show.

Yeah! That's him!

Hmm. I wonder if any other actors appeared on both The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days? Nahh, couldn't happen.

You know, I wonder what happened to that cute kid who played Opie? hee hee
There was a "Happy Days" episode where the parents went to see the movie "The Music Man" and Marian commented on how much the actor playing the little boy reminded her of Ritchie as a child! I definately watch too much TV!

[nineiron]

Just a guess, but how about the upstairs boss on "Taxi"? I haven't seen the show in a while, but I think I remember just his office being up there and him never being seen. I am probably wrong, but all the ones I was sure about have already been said.

[PRNYouth]

The Internet Movie DataBase lists at four appearances by Doris Dial on Murphy Brown -- played by two different actresses, Janet Carroll, and Concetta Tomei. There may have been more appearances.

Conversely, the Internet Movie DataBase lists no appearances for a character named Consuela in the "guest appearances" section of the Designing Women listing. (The IMDB has multiple omissions, though, so that should not be taken for absolute proof.) I have to add that I am of the opinion that Consuela was never shown. The episode some may remember as an appearance by Consuela actually features Anthony (Meshach Taylor) posing as Consuela in order to take her citizenship test.

[nineiron]

Here's a newer one (the show has only been on 1 or 2 years, but still): Margaret's husband on "Becker." She always talks about their marital problems, but I don't think he's been seen.

And didn't Phyllis Diller used to do a bit on "Fang," or some such thing, that we never saw?

[Sauron]

Originally posted by Sauron
Mildred Pierce's photo resided on Colonel Potter's desk, so we did see her a few times.

I meant, of course, that Mildred Potter's photo was on the desk. Sheesh.