# Unseen TV characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646 "2001-01-18T05:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/81 "2001-01-20T19:33:26Z")
Mr. Bell (Drew’s first boss) on _The Drew Carey Show_ was unseen until his character was fired. ---
**Author:** ![Serendipity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Serendipity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serendipity)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/82 "2001-01-20T21:37:28Z")
I don’t think Chandler’s dad is ever seen on “Friends,” although we might have caught a glimpse of him in the worst-Thanksgiving-flashback episode. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/83 "2001-01-21T06:19:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TV time \* > \*\* > I believe that one of the first uses of this on television was in the mid-1950’s comedy series “December Bride.” Next door neighbor Pete, Harry (Henry) Morgan, was constantly refering to his wife, expecting her to come over, taking phone calls from her, etc, but she was never seen. Her name was Gladys. > \*\* –Hey! Please read the correspondance between me and Caircair in this same thread. And Caircair, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![zub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a6a055/32.png) [@zub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zub)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/84 "2001-01-24T15:53:43Z")
are we all forgetting al borlan’s mother in home improvement? ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/85 "2001-01-24T18:26:28Z")
Fez’s Host Family on \*\*That 70’s Show \*\* Did we ever get to see Phoebe’s grandmother on \*\*Friends \*\*before she (the grandmother) died? I don’t think we’ve ever seen any of John Carter’s family except his grandmother and his cousin Chase, on **ER**. We may have seen his grandfather but I don’t think we did. We haven’t seen Jackie’s husband on **ER** in quite some time although he is still mentioned occasionally. I believe this is because Vig Rhames has gone on to bigger and better things. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@Me\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Joe)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/86 "2001-01-24T18:39:44Z")
I don’t know if this counts, but what about Don Pardo, the announcer for “Price Is Right” (ex: “Cecil Adams! Come On Down !!!”) and the early years of “Saturday Night Live”, among other shows (I don’t know if he’s still the announcer for SNL). SNL News Update even did a gag about him once in which Pardo was held hostage by terrorists. Lorraine Newman interviewed him, holding a microphone up to a door that led offstage. From beyond the doorway, Pardo read the terrorists demands in his “gameshow voice” as if he was showing off gameshow prizes. ("the terrorists want an all-expense paid flight for four to fabulous Cuba!!!) ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/87 "2001-01-24T18:48:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tevya \* > \*\*Did we ever get to see Phoebe’s grandmother on \*\*Friends \*\*before she (the grandmother) died? Yes. She was played by Audra Lindley, of _Three’s COmpany_ fame. > [@](#): > > I don’t think we’ve ever seen any of John Carter’s family except his grandmother and his cousin Chase, on **ER**. We may have seen his grandfather but I don’t think we did. We saw the grandfather once, when Chase OD’ed and they were talking about where he should go (what type of nursing home or rehab place) \*\* [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/88 "2001-01-24T18:50:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tevya \* > \*\*Did we ever get to see Phoebe’s grandmother on \*\*Friends \*\*before she (the grandmother) died? \*\* Yes. She was played by Audra Lindley, of _Three’s Company_ fame. > [@](#): > > \*\*I don’t think we’ve ever seen any of John Carter’s family except his grandmother and his cousin Chase, on **ER**. We may have seen his grandfather but I don’t think we did. \*\* We saw the grandfather once, when Chase OD’ed and they were talking about where he should go (what type of nursing home or rehab place). Carter and his grandparents were arguing about it. \*\* [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/89 "2001-01-24T19:17:22Z")
Les Nesmond’s dog on WKRP in Cincinnati. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/90 "2001-01-24T19:49:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tevya \* > Fez’s Host Family on \*\*That 70’s Show \*\* Yeah we did. Remember the episode where Fez’s host family had a talk with him about listening to “satanic music”, and Hyde taught Fez to conceal his heavy metal records in soft-rock album covers? > [@](#): > > I don’t think we’ve ever seen any of John Carter’s family except his grandmother and his cousin Chase, on **ER**. We may have seen his grandfather but I don’t think we did. Some of John’s relatives came to the hospital when Chase ODed and suffered massive brain damage; don’t remember which relatives precisely, though. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/91 "2001-01-24T19:58:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Me!! Joe!!! \* > **I don’t know if this counts, but what about Don Pardo, the announcer for “Price Is Right” (ex: “Cecil Adams! Come On Down !!!”) and the early years of “Saturday Night Live”, among other shows (I don’t know if he’s still the announcer for SNL). SNL News Update even did a gag about him once in which Pardo was held hostage by terrorists. Lorraine Newman interviewed him, holding a microphone up to a door that led offstage. From beyond the doorway, Pardo read the terrorists demands in his “gameshow voice” as if he was showing off gameshow prizes. ("the terrorists want an all-expense paid flight for four to fabulous Cuba!!!)** While they might have made a gag of Pardo’s disembodied voice early on, we’ve seen Pardo on SNL since then. And an announcer isn’t really a “character”, anyway… ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/92 "2001-01-24T20:45:09Z")
I don’t think Don Pardo ever did the announcing on _TPIR_. It’s Rod Roddy now, but who did it before him? ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@Me\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Joe)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/93 "2001-01-24T21:16:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > > \*\*While they might have made a gag of Pardo’s disembodied voice early on, we’ve seen Pardo on SNL since then. And an announcer isn’t really a “character”, anyway… \*\* Okay, I know it’s stretching the point a bit, but I think a character is someone who adds an identifiable personality to a show, and not necesarily a fictional person. SNL has always made a point of showing the actual performers playing themselves as “characters” on the show (Chevy Chase doing his stumbling bit, or Lorne Michael showing up on camera to act like an “S.O.B. producer” for example). In that regard, Mr. Pardo would count as a character since his announcements were a readily recognizable part of SNL. But I’ll concede that maybe being announcer for a game show doesn’t make the cut. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/94 "2001-01-24T22:20:17Z")
Johnny Olsen was THE “Come on, down!” guy. I won’t say “original,” because I thing TPIR had an earlier incarnation in the 1950s or 1960s. I don’t know what kind of format it had (if indeed that is the case). But Johnny Olsen is da man who established the phrase, whether or not he was the first to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/95 "2001-01-24T22:20:50Z")
Hot l Baltimore had a character named Butch. Who else remembers that show? ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/96 "2001-01-24T22:29:56Z")
I vaguely remember Hot L Baltimore, but I only remember Conchata Ferrell being in it, and it being funny. I think it’s a TV trivia factoid that it was the first show to have regular characters who were gay. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/97 "2001-01-25T00:28:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 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? \*\* There was an episode where Wilson was seen in full face. It was in an epsiode where IIRC there was a Halloween Party and his face was covered in black greasepaint but you could easily see his entire face. ---
**Author:** ![Davidbw1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7993a0/32.png) [@Davidbw1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davidbw1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/98 "2001-01-25T01:28:20Z")
THE BIG GIANT HEAD ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/99 "2001-01-25T01:31:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Davidbw1 \* > \*\*THE BIG GIANT HEAD \*\* Isn’t the Big Giant Head played by William Shatner? We saw him! ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646/100 "2001-01-25T09:23:53Z")
Well, Cambot from MST3K almost qualifies, ('cause it’s filming the show) but it’s in the intro. _Black Adder_ had a few characters who were repetedly refered too but either never actually show up, or show up in later series. Most of those are Bob Sakamato-esqe in jokes for repeated viewers, though. The only one I can think of offhand is Ms. Miggins, the offscreen pie-shop owner from Black Adder 2, is an on-screen coffee shop owner in BA3. Well, and Baldrick’s mother, but that’s pushing. In _Slayers_, Lina Inverse’s sister is frequently refered to, but only apears for a few frames in the opening of the third season. And Xellos’ boss demon, Beastmaster, is only shown in a _The Graduate_-like leg-and-stocking shot at the very end of the series. – “I AM the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unseen-tv-characters/50646.md?page=6)