# Name some "invisible" TV characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916 "2005-04-18T16:58:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/81 "2005-04-19T15:53:00Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > The adults in Peanuts, with the added bonus of the “whaw waw whah wha wa wa” speech patterns. I was reading the IIRC second gorgeous volume of The Complete Peanuts ([Go buy it!](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1560976322/qid=1113925552/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl14/102-2368264-9411334?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)) and there’s a story that runs across three or four Sunday strips about Lucy entering a golf tounament. You see the bottom half of several adults and in one panel an aerial view showing people with heads and everything! Also, Charlie Brown’s mother has a couple lines in even earlier strips, although they come from off-panel. Quite different than the standard set later in the series, where adults were absolutely never seen. BTW, **Scott** , the Little Red-Haired Girl never appeared in the strip, so I don’t know where you think you saw her, but it wasn’t in Peanuts. –Cliffy P.S. **kunilou** is right; Chuckles did appear once in the first season of MTM. Also, Karen’s step-son Mason (from **Will & Grace** ) appeared in at least one episode when Karen went to his swim meet. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/82 "2005-04-19T15:59:15Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Which way is lengthwise on a human face? Starting around his hairline, down across his eyes and mouth to his chin. I should definitely have clarified better. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/83 "2005-04-19T16:01:03Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > BTW, **Scott** , the Little Red-Haired Girl never appeared in the strip, so I don’t know where you think you saw her, but it wasn’t in Peanuts. > > –Cliffy Damn, I really won’t allow the possibility that I am wrong about anything, will I? 😃 As I posted back on page one, she appears in [Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=0375420975&itm=2), to the best of my recollection. Please, read it. It’s fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/84 "2005-04-19T16:01:20Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > He wasn’t normally snake-like, he was only like that because he was given a dose of the mutagenic spores. > > As bad as the movie was, though, it has some good moments, especially the opening scene. I recall he didn’t look human even before the spores started mutating him (growing extra eyes and whatnot). But that opening scene was classic. The movie was originally meant to be released in theaters, but they showed it on TV instead after Transformers and My Little Pony movies brought in disappointing box office grosses. I can only imagine how awesome the opening sequence would have been on the big screen, with full movie theater sound. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/85 "2005-04-19T17:34:51Z")
**Mork and Mindy** had Orson, who received Mork’s weekly reports. (_“Nanoo Nanoo, Mork.”_) His voice was supplied by Ralph Burns. I suspect Ralph Burns was the unseen character in my other sumbission as well, but imdb doesn’t even list the character at all. In the one-season **The Smothers Brothers Show** (1965) Tommy played an apprentice angel. His assignment was to assist his still-living brother Dick in navigating the treacherous moral shoals that threaten a rising young business exeutive. Tommy’s mentor was the voice of a fully-fledged angel by the name of Ralph. As I say, I can’t swear to the accuracy of Ralph Burns as the voice of Ralph, but I formed an unshakeable impression that that was the case when I first heard Orson speak. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/86 "2005-04-19T18:42:27Z")
How about Ziggy from Quantum Leap? I don’t recall seeing him. And Thing from the Addams Family. You only saw the hand, of course that’s all there was so it hardly counts. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/87 "2005-04-19T18:46:51Z")
Didn’t Soupy Sales have an invisible character on his kids show? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/88 "2005-04-19T18:51:34Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > But that opening scene was classic. The movie was originally meant to be released in theaters, but they showed it on TV instead after Transformers and My Little Pony movies brought in disappointing box office grosses. What’s even funnier is how the _G.I. Joe_ movie and the _Transformers_ movie shot each other in the feet… See, the two movies were developed more or less in parallel, and the original premise in the _Joe_ movie was that Duke was going to get killed in battle (from Serpentor’s snake bite attack). The _Transformers_ writers, catching wind of this, decided to kill off Optimus Prime as a parallel idea. Unfortunately, since the _Transformers_ audience tended to be 3-5 years younger than the _Joe_ audience at the time, that meant thousands of theatergoers got traumatized at seeing Op get tossed on the scrap pile on the big screen, and required subsequent TV screenings of the movie to include “But Optimus Prime will ultimately return!” endcaps. The ensuing backlash prompted the _Joe_ team to do a last-minute rewrite, resuing in the movie’s cheap-ass “Hey, Duke isn’t dead!” voiceover near the end. And IIRC, I believe that _Joe_ and _Transformers_ writer Flint Dille suggested, in retrospect, that the movies should have been released in the reverse order – _Joe_ first, then _Transformers,_ then _MLP._ \ ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/89 "2005-04-19T19:13:33Z")
**Star Trek: Deep Space Nine** had a twist on this theme. There was this character, Morn, who was just a pudgy alien who sat at Quark’s bar. Never said or did anything but drink. On camera, that is. The other characters were always talking about how he was such a funny, charming, and generally stand-up guy. There was even an episodes were Morn (apparently) died, the whole station went into mouring, and Quark had to deal with the loose ends from Morn’s rather exciting private life, including an estranged femme fatale wife and lots and lots of stolen latinum. Enterprise had Chef, who I always thought they should have gotten Isaac Hayes to do the voice over an intercom. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/90 "2005-04-19T19:31:05Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > **Star Trek: Deep Space Nine** had a twist on this theme. There was this character, Morn, who was just a pudgy alien who sat at Quark’s bar. Never said or did anything but drink. The enduring image I have of this character is a scene of him opening his mouth, _about_ to answer a question, but being interrupted before he can speak. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/91 "2005-04-19T19:44:06Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > How about Ziggy from Quantum Leap? I don’t recall seeing him. Ziggy was the computer, Gooshy was the engineer who ran it. In the final season of Quantum Leap, they actually showed us Sam and Al’s future, including the lab where the experiment was conducted, Gooshy, Ziggy, and the rest of the staff. In one episode, Sam leapt into a criminal who escaped from the lab to go on a rampage in the future. Then there was the whole recurring “Evil Leaper” character, who leapt into people’s lives similar to Sam, only she tried to ruin them rather than help them. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/92 "2005-04-19T19:46:41Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > Act_ually_, I had an action figure of him wearing a clear plexiglass mask. Also, he and Destro went in disguise in the comics, once, and [spoiler]From: David Williams \<[asr@mindless.com](mailto:asr@mindless.com)\> > Oops. I forgot to describe Cobra Commander’s face for all those without the > issue. Sorry about that. My first impression of Cobra Commander is that he > looks like an older hippie. He has long, about shoulder-length medium brown > hair that is pulled back into a ponytail and long sideburns. He wears large, > circular glasses that obscure his eyes and he also has a very long, fu-manchu > style moustache. He also has a prominent chin and cheekbones. > > 'til next time, > > David Williams[/spoiler] > > [YoJoe.com Forums](http://www.yojoe.com/list/digests/digest376-400.txt) Which Cobra Commander figure are you referring to? Can you pick it out from this list? [http://www.yojoe.com/action/alpha/c/](http://www.yojoe.com/action/alpha/c/) I’m a pretty big Joe toy collector and dealer, and I can’t think of one with a clear mask. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/93 "2005-04-19T19:59:57Z")
:smack: My mind plays trick on me. I recalled him as having a semi-transparent orange mask, and a hang-glider. Instead, it was read, and not very transparent. Nevertheless, it was not that hard for me to remove the faceplate, and see what he really looked like. I was disappointed at how average he looked. Still, what could I expect from a used car salesman? [![](https://www.yojoe.com/action/91/91card/cobracommander4.jpg) ](https://www.yojoe.com/action/91/91card/cobracommander4.jpg) [http://www.yojoe.com/action/91/cobracommander4.shtml](http://www.yojoe.com/action/91/cobracommander4.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/94 "2005-04-19T20:23:02Z")
Has no one mentioned Carlton the Doorman from the Mary Tyler Moore Spin Off _Rhoda_? Boy, did I just date myself. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/95 "2005-04-19T20:29:56Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Ziggy was the computer, Gooshy was the engineer who ran it. In the final season of Quantum Leap, they actually showed us Sam and Al’s future, including the lab where the experiment was conducted, Gooshy, Ziggy, and the rest of the staff. In one episode, Sam leapt into a criminal who escaped from the lab to go on a rampage in the future. Then there was the whole recurring “Evil Leaper” character, who leapt into people’s lives similar to Sam, only she tried to ruin them rather than help them. Gooshy actually appeared in six episodes, played by the brilliant comedian, Dennis Wolfberg (though he had nothing to do, and unfortunately, it’s hard to find Wolfberg’s material anywhere – he was one of the unknown greats of comedy). ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/96 "2005-04-19T20:43:25Z")
On **Happy Days** Joanie’s friend Jenny Piccalo went unseen for years until Cathy Silvers started playing her late in the show’s run. And I know it doesn’t count but in the same vein, on **Sesame Street** , Mr. Snufalufagus was only seen by Big Bird and the viewers. He’d disappear whenever the other characters showed up. I remember flipping around a few years ago and I though I saw Snufalufagus singing with a group of people. I guess he was finally sighted. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/97 "2005-04-19T21:36:08Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Gooshy actually appeared in six episodes, played by the brilliant comedian, Dennis Wolfberg (though he had nothing to do, and unfortunately, it’s hard to find Wolfberg’s material anywhere – he was one of the unknown greats of comedy). I still use a line of his from an appearance on Night At the Improv – “I’m in my late thirties. Actually, my latest possible thirties – I’m 42.” (Well, I’m in my latest possible 20’s, but it’s still a useful line.) Wolfberg passed away in 1994 at the ripe old age of 48. Ugh. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/98 "2005-04-19T21:49:26Z")
> [@F. U. Shakespeare](#): > > One of the earliest invisible TV characters, Barney Fife’s mysterious friend **Juanita** on _The Andy Griffith Show_, was as close as you could get to phone sex in those days. Also from _ **The Andy Griffith Show** _ there was **Sarah** the telephone operator. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/99 "2005-04-19T21:52:43Z")
Has anyone mentioned Captain Mainwaring’s wife Elizabeth in _Dad’s Army_? Or Hyacinth Bucket’s son Sheridan in (yechhh) _Keeping Up Appearances_? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916/100 "2005-04-19T22:21:15Z")
Did Radar’s friend Sparky ever make an appearance? Radar was always calling him and asking him for things the 4077th was out of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-invisible-tv-characters/299916.md?page=6)