Seems like a lot of TV shows have had a recurring character which is often mentioned but never seen. Seinfeld is obviously no exception, with at least three such characters (Bob Sacamano, Lomez, and cousin Jeffrey).
Makes me wonder what other shows had such characters...
Frasier: Niles' ex-wife Maris. Cheers: Norm's wife Vera (heard once, seen once with pie in face). Rhoda: Carlton the doorman (heard but not seen). Charlie's Angels: Charlie (heard, but face never shown I don't believe). Home Improvement: Wilson (half).
What about the muppet babies? hehe. They only showed her feet. Remember the nanny? (nanna). Or how about on Seinfeld, Steinbrenner (sorry if it's spelt wrong). We never saw his face there. This is not a person, but we ALWAYS heard about George's black hawks jacket, never saw that. Joe Dimagio and JFK was heard about but never seen. Um....Elaine's mom too. Who else....um...how about the cartoon Cow and Chicken? hehe. We only see the parents legs (I babysit a lot and I'm always around kids, hehe). Or how about Robin Masters from Magmun PI? hehe. Wait! I got a good one....The Claw! lol...Remember him from Inspector Gadget? I'll get you next time Gadget! Next time! (meow) (the cat, hehe). Ack, The teacher on Chalie Brown! (wa waa wa waa waaa) lol. Man, I can go on! Willy Wonka, the dad. They talk about him, but he's never seen. This kinda applies to this in a way, but have any of you ever wondered who really does the voice for Kevin (Fred Savage) on The Wonder Years? lol. I got another..how about from M.A.S.H? We never see sparky, the guy he always talks to. The guy on mission impossible, This IM will self destruct in 5 seconds. Um, how about Full House? I don't think they ever showed the mom, maybe once in a flash back. I could be wrong. But we always hear what a great mom she was. Oh, Spot, the dragon, on the Munster's. Hehe. If I think of anymore, I'll post 'em!
During the first seson of The Drew Carey Show, Kevin Pollack did the voice of his boss at the department store (always heard thru the intercom or shouting out his office door)....he was not seen until the last episode of that season, when he was fired.
Yep...we heard her voice a few times...saw her almost, then she got hit with a pie by Diane ("Thanksgiving Orphans"), saw her hand waving to Norm from a car in front of Cheers to say happy anniversary (forgot the episode title, sorry). Also, she was working up at the restaurant above Cheers once, got fired, and we saw her legs as she left. There could be more...Vera has to be the most seen-unseen charcter ever on television.
Didn't we get an arm once, from him?
Not sure if one would count this, but I'll say it anyway...Elizabeth from "Sanford and Son." Never seen (she had died, as we were told) but she left a long affect on the series. Without her, there would be no Lamont, and thus no "...And Son" Also, Aunt Ester was her sister...No Elizabeth, no Ester (Fred would have liked that.) And of course, no Elizabeth, no famous cry out "You hear that Elizabeth, I'm comin' to join you honey!"...
Another one many may not count, Captain Tuttle from the classic M*A*S*H episode "Tuttle"...we never did see him...we heard of him, pleanty of him. Of course, we the viewers knew he was an imaginary person, so we couldn't see him. But still...
Nope. For the first few episodes we did not see Pickles, nor did we ever see Alan Brady but Alan did appear and so did Pickles. I can remember Pickles was in the episode where Buddy was secretly meeting with a Rabbi to be barmitzvahed as he did not have one as a boy. Pickles came to Rob and Laura thinking Buddy was having an affair. Barbara Perry (1961) and Joan Shawlee (1962-1963) each played the character Pickles.
Very interesting and enjoyable (to me, anyway - don't know about anybody else!) Thanks for the response, NewsGuy. (I remember the bar mitzvah episode, but not the specific scenes with Pickles.)
An obvious one is MASH. The characters were constantly referring to
their families. As I remember it, the only ones we actually saw were
Margaret's father and BJ's wife/daughter (in a dream sequence and in a
home video)
I suppose that would be true technically (and BTW I'm a HUGE fan of M*A*S*H), but it definitely never had the same "feel" as the other examples given.
By that I mean, although we never saw their often-referred-to family members (e.g. Hawkeye's dad, Radar's mom, etc.) we all knew perfectly well that we probably never would, as they were pretty much all living on the other side of the planet.
This as opposed to shows like Frasier and Cheers where it was always, "Are we going to get to see Maris *this* time?" or "Is Vera *ever* going to come down to the bar to check up on Norm?" The writers of these shows would intentionally tantalize the audience while keeping the character's anonymity more-or-less intact.
To add to your list, occassionaly we'd see the photo of Mildred Potter on Sherm's desk, and then of course there was Frank's wedding film. ;)
Agreed...I say the only example from M*A*S*H would have to be Captian Tuttle...given, he was a made up person, but everyone (at the 4077th) wanted and believed they knew him...and we never did see him...
Not to be pedantic... Well ok, to be pedantic, I don't think Tuttle counts any more than Suzie from Seinfeld. Neither 'person' existed, so of course neither could ever be seen. I think in the world of unseen, but real, characters, Tuttle and Suze are outlyers.
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Mildred Potter
wedding film. ;)
<end snip>
Don't forget, Henry had a film thrown in there too... but he let it run too long, then Hawkeye, Trapper, and Radar saw the extra footage of Henry clowning around in the backyard with the neighbors.
Also, in Dad's Army we never saw Captain Mainwaring's wife.
And if I think back to my childhood, I use to watch a cartoon called the Muppet Babies. They had a nanny who looked after them. All that was shown of her was he purple and white striped legs :)