15 TV Characters That Disappeared Without Explanation
<< Return to Blog

It is not common for a television character to mysteriously disappear, never to be heard from again. We're not talking about characters being written out of shows like 87 cast members from "ER" or even when Jonathan Taylor Thomas left "Home Improvement" to travel abroad. What we are talking about are the mysterious disappearances that are never really referenced again. Additionally there are situations where actors are swapped as if the viewers wouldn't notice that the character has a different face. The following is a list of some of the more memorable television disappearances by characters or the actors playing them:

Happy Days

Source

In the first season of happy days the lovable and adorable Ritchie had a brother named Chuck. He wasn't really a part of the integral cast like the "Fonz" or Ralph Malph, but hey he was definitely there. One episode he went to his room and apparently never came out. Interestingly enough this phenomenon of disappearing cast members has come to be known as "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome".

Family Matters

Source

Judy Winslow on "Family Matters" was the adorable little sister who's departure from this prime time show was never mentioned by its cast. The writers could have at least told us that she got hit by a car, or that she joined a traveling circus, but her mysterious disappearance has always left viewers dumbfounded. This is perhaps exacerbated by the fact that her father (Carl) was a cop, and should have had the resources available to find a missing adolescent. By the way, Jaime Foxworth (Judy) has since went into making adult films under the stage name CRAVE.

Boy Meets World

Source

"Boy Meets World" is another show with more than one disappearance. Most notable is the not-so-lovable nerd, Minkus. He was an integral part of the first seasons of the show, but once Cory got to high school he simply vanished into thin air. Also disappearing was Morgan who was Cory's little sister. She left sometime in season 2 and mysteriously reappeared in season 3 played by a different actress. The writers did give her a nod by her saying, "...that's the longest time out I ever had". Slow clap, brilliant explanation.

Saved By The Bell

Source

"Saved by the Bell" might have been one of the worst offenders for this sort of thing. Apparently the turnover rate at Bayside was so fast that they were only able to hang onto students and teachers for several days at a time. But, somehow the same six were the only regulars. Notable is Max from The Max, the gang's local hang out. Early on he gave advice and performed magic tricks for the kids, but suddenly Max was gone (insert making himself disappear joke). Additionally, Tori Spelling showed up a few times as a nerdy character only to vanish without explanation.

That 70's Show

Source

On "That 70's Show", you may remember Eric Foreman had a sister named "Laurie" who was originally on the show quite a bit. Eventually she was re-cast with a different actress and slowly lost all of her camera time. This is too bad, because her ditzy character really was Fez's only chance at getting a dumb girl drunk enough to get laid.

Lost

Source

In season 3 of "LOST" a character only known as "The Sheriff" is brought onto the show. She is only on one episode, and is never heard from or seen again. LOST is notorious for creating characters out of thin air, but she should at least be given some type of gory death, before excusing her from the show without explanation. Damon Lindeloff, one of the show's creators was asked about her, he simply said "she died". Oh okay, thanks.

The Simpsons

Source

Waylon Smithers on "The Simpsons" hasn't disappeared, but on the first incantation of the show he appears to be black, or brown, or something - at least not yellow like most of the characters. Who knows why they changed it, maybe the nation just wasn't ready for a black, closeted homosexual character. But with the recent election proving the US to be more progressive than the world thought, maybe Smithers can un-Michael Jackson himself and go back to his true ROOTS.

Step By Step

Source

While this examples is one everyone can be thankful for, but whatever happened to Cody on "Step By Step"? One day he was a fun-loving adorable goofy character who was dumber than a brick. Basically he was Joey Lawrence's character from "Blossom", but with a flat top. Eventually Sasha Mitchell beat up some girl in real life, and was unceremoniously kicked off the show. The show then replaced him with a campy hairdresser played by Brosnan Pinchot (Balki), for no apparent reason.

Friends

Source

"Friends" is unashamedly guilty of trying to pull the wool over the viewers eyes. You may remember Giovanni Ribisi as Phoebe's crazy half-stupid brother - not that far of a stretch really. Well, the crazy thing was that he was on the show a few seasons earlier, and played a weird teenager that left a condom in her guitar case. Wouldn't she recognize her own brother, I guess not. Also what is Foreman's mom doing there?

Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Source Source

Another move that shows are guilty of is replacing actors without any explanation. "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" had aunt Vivian's character replaced after only the second season. Apparently the original actress violated her contract by getting pregnant in real life. To whoever she is, "it's the only paying acting job you'll probably ever have, and it's in YOUR CONTRACT. Have the dude slip on a rubber or get on the pill. Whoops, now you're in the unemployment line. Congrats." In the end, uncle Phil got the good end of that deal, the old Vivian kind of looked like Scottie Pippen.

Rosanne

Source

Becky on the white trash sitcom "Rosanne" also went through an interesting switch, which in a way was referred to on the show. The family is sitting around watching "Bewitched" and Rosanne makes a comment about it being crappy when shows change actors. They then zoom out to reveal a new Becky. But wow what an upgrade, the old one was beat up from the feet up, but the new one was at least an 8.5. Later in the series, the old Becky would return for the rest of the show's run. And when she first appears on-screen, Rosanne simply says, "Where the hell have you been?"

Arrested Development

Source

It was always a mystery how GOB got Marta. This actress was absolutely beautiful, and many were happy the have this Latin beautyas part of the show. Then all of the sudden, they replace her with two different actresses who were - while not ugly by any means - not as attractive as that first Marta. What did ever happen to her. Cue daydream...

Seinfeld

Source

It is not commonly known that Jerry Stiller was not the original Frank Costanza. But the episode with the original actor aired only once. Interestingly, the character that played Morty Seinfeld was different in the show's second episode than from rest of the shows where this character was featured, played by Barney Martin.

Ghostwriter

Source

Now most will not remember the very forgettable show Ghostwriter on PBS. But they pulled the old actor swap in a very strange way. Gabby's little sister Alex originally was very pesky and annoying, but as the actress went through a growth spurtthey made her character more mature and a bigger part of the cast. She was then recast with a younger actress at which point the character became the pesky younger sister again. This example is only used as a vehicle for some people to remember this show. If you were poor and didn't have cable this was the only thing to watch on Sunday afternoons. It was terrible (kids solving crimes with the help of a ghost and a library card), but at least it was better than watching golf.

Back To The Future

Source

This last one is just plain weird, and proves a suitable end to the list. Eric Stoltz was originally cast for the role of Marty McFly in "Back to The Future". In fact they shot for several weeks and with Stoltz before deciding that he was miscast. Director Robert Zemeckis finally was able to convince Michael J. Fox into doing the movie, and they worked on the film at nights and during the weekends, because of Fox's obligations to "Family Ties". Interestingly, you can see Eric driving the car in a few scenes if you keep your eyes peeled.

Tags: actors, actresses, celebrities, tv shows, list

rtcrooks June 2, 2009 at 2:52pm

Beer Belly Hall of Fame, How To Brew Pumpkin Beer in a Pumpkin, in 20 Easy Steps, The 25 Weirdest Looking People in Hollywood, The Demystification of Purple Drank

Share: Facebook | Digg | del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Reddit | Twit This! | Subscribe

• 

  codedp June 7, 2009 at 7:49pm

  Actually in boy meets world.. Minkus makes a final appearance in episode 113, its pretty much kind of a joke like the long time out thing. Though he does not return that I know of.
• 

  duffboy700 June 7, 2009 at 10:15pm

  The girl on Lost's name was Isabel: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Isabel But if you wanna talk about a mysterious disappearance for that show, well we shouldn't forget about the ENTIRE F%@KING TAIL SECTION OF THE PLANE. They have not been seen in forever! Some of them died, some of then got dragged of and turned into Others. Those that got turned have not been seen since Jack was held in the bear cage! The only other tail section person to be seen recently is Bernard. (I really want to know what happened to these people. lol!)
• 

  ryan_mclean41 June 7, 2009 at 10:40pm

  i thought for back to the future you may want to mention that the father is replaced after the first movie and is played by a different actor for the reset of the trilogy. this article is gold by the way, lots of fun.
• 

  loshunter June 8, 2009 at 2:16am

  This article is awesome! Rosanne handled it in such a funny manner! There is a clip on youtube showing all their in-jokes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B10IUzsOR6g
• 

  jbelkin800 June 8, 2009 at 2:32am

  Couple mistakes. On FRIENDS - Phoebe did not know she had a half brother until she found her father in Albany - meeting his half brother then so while implausible, it is possible that they first met without knowing each other. On THAT 70'S SHOW - Donna's SISTER disappeared after one scene and one mention in SEASON ONE and is never seen or referred to again. So, while the character of Laurie disappeared and was re-casted, Donna' disappearing sister is more fitting of this post.
• 

  sassynurse1 June 8, 2009 at 7:58am

  Do you remember on Fresh Prince after Vivian has the baby, on the next season Jazz says "Wow Mrs. Banks you sure did change a lot after having a baby." And Minkus is now a character on One Tree Hill
• 

  sean.cronin June 8, 2009 at 11:02am

  Also on the 70s show. Donna had a little sister. On the first season, she was in one episode. A cute jailbait redhead with Dorothy Hammil haircut. The show was about Fez hitting on her, and realizing she was only 14.
• 

  gnrjosh June 8, 2009 at 11:34am

  Adding to some on this list: Saved by the Bell - Tori was added to the cast while Kelly and Jessie disappeared without mention. Roseanne - Old Becky didn't return for the rest of the show after her year+ absence. She came back and did a handful of shows before disappearing again at the end of Season 8. There were also several episodes during her time back where she wasn't there and new Becky seemingly filled in for her (the Disney World episodes are the best example of this -- Roseanne actually quipped "Aren't you glad you're here this week" when telling the clan they were going to Disney World. Back to the Future - The original actress portraying Jennifer decided not to reprise her role as her mother was dying of cancer at the time. Also, a dispute between the producers and Crispin Glover resulted in Crispin dropping out of the movie and was replaced with another actor who was seen mainly from the side or back or from a distance when the scenes from the first movie were reshot. And some you didn't mention that are obvious classics: The Brady Bunch - Tiger, the Brady Boy's dog. While they had numerous other pets that came and went, Tiger was an integral part of the first season -- from causing chaos at Mike and Carol's backyard wedding to the "heartbreaking" episode where it appeared that Jan was allergic to Tiger and they were going to have to get rid of him only for it to turn out to be the new brand of detergent Alice was using on their clothes. Soon thereafter, the dog disappeared, but the dog house remained. Married...with Children - Seven. Seven, much like Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch, was added to try to boost the show by giving it some fresh blood. Seven dragged down the show and, eventually, disappeared altogether, only being mentioned once or twice in later seasons in quips about him not being there.
• 

  eleo June 8, 2009 at 8:17pm

  I used to love Ghost Writer. And it's true, we didn't have cable. But I always thought it was a decent show. I mean it's PBS after all.
• 

  ironflange June 10, 2009 at 12:04am

  Funny how the list morphed from "disappearing characters" to "roles that changed actors." Anyway, let's not forget Seven from Married. . . With Children. An obnoxious little twerp abandoned at the Bundy house (by none other than Linda Blair), he suddenly vanished after a few episodes. Though he was never mentioned again, his picture was clearly visible on a milk carton some time later. Come on, Al, you didn't. . . did you?
• 

  Tim Crawford June 11, 2009 at 12:54am

  Few people know that, in the first season of Seinfeld, Newman's character was orginally voiced by a different actor. We never see his face in the episode, and they dubbed it for syndication. But you still get the original actor's voice on the DVD.
• 

  martinhaas79 June 11, 2009 at 3:46am

  King Of Queens....Carrie's sister, Sara Spooner, lived with them early in the first season. Her sudden departure was never explained in show. She simply vanished, never to be seen, or even mentioned, again. It has since been explained that writers simply had a tough time creating stories for her, so she was a victim of first-season retooling.
• 

  Stephan Sokolow June 11, 2009 at 12:49pm

  Heh. Anime fans have their own synonym for "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome": Takahashi Character Death. (So named because Rumiko Takahashi, creator of several early favorites, has done it several times and at least one of the characters wasn't very minor)
• 

  tylersalt June 11, 2009 at 3:33pm

  Another one that sticks in my head is Mandy from the first season of The West Wing. Moira Kelly (the actress) decided that the show wasn't going anywhere and was unhappy with a lack of screen time and left most of the way through the first season. Boy was she wrong.
• 

  cassandraloney June 11, 2009 at 11:10pm

  All of the others in Lost are hiding out in the temple. I assumed "The Sheriff" included, but apparently she died.
• 

  gmd32 June 13, 2009 at 10:35am

  Actually, it's Alex's little sister Gabby.
• 

  beautiful_fallen_angel095 September 12, 2009 at 9:57am

  Funny cause I was just reading an article earlier about Smithers in that first Simpsons episode he was ever in. The article also says that he was clearly black but was given no explanation when he was suddenly yellow like all the other characters in the next episode. Supposedly Groening just simply said that Smithers had beeen back from a very long Caribbean cruise in the first episode and was just extremely "sun-tanned".
• 

  Howard Lopez September 18, 2009 at 7:41pm

  the truth behind the original smithers being black was a mis-translation on the work order when the episode was sent to korea to be colored.
• 

  markweee September 24, 2009 at 6:14am

  Whoa...never poor a finely crafted beer into a frosty glass. Glass should be clean and room temp - you get more aromatics that way. Doctorate degree AND Online schools
• 

  markweee September 24, 2009 at 6:15am

  LA stood for Low-Alcohol. They figured no one would buy a beer named Low Alcohol so they just called it LA for short. But LA didn't sell either. online Bachelor degree AND online foundation degree AND Online degree programs
• 

  maigenc212 October 8, 2009 at 10:14pm

  Wasn't it Alex's little sister Gabby on ghost writer? I'm pretty sure I remember Alex being the older brother and Gabby being the younger (annoying) sister. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.. Correct me if I'm wrong.
• 

  Timothy D. Grogan January 14, 2010 at 12:13am

  Regarding Boy Meets World losing characters when they graduated to high school... I never had any trouble with it cuz in my town (when I grew up) there where 2 high schools. Depending on where you lived determined which high school you went to. It was Not uncommon for class in grade school to be split up to different high schools. Also, I always enjoyed Ghostwriter as well, but dont remember them recasting Gabby... I seem to remember them making the new "pesky" little girl a cousin or something.
• 

  sam3678 March 9, 2010 at 11:06pm

  I really enjoyed exploring your site. good resource ... thanks for sharing the info, keep up the good work going.... gucci handbags
• 

  sam3678 March 22, 2010 at 1:07am

  Thank you for the great web site - a true resource, and one many people clearly enjoy thanks for sharing the info, keep up the good work going.... http://www.zframez.com
• 

  leftwaing April 17, 2010 at 9:26pm

  also, In the pilot episode of ghost writer Samuel L. Jackson plays the role of one of the characters fathers
• 

  Namrata1213 May 15, 2010 at 12:51pm

  A must watch about LOST All 15 must be written well though i haven't watched all of them. Regards

Would you like to make a comment?
We have 3 options when registering that are quick and easy.

• 1. Sign In Through 3rd Party Sites

  
  

  If you have any of these accounts you can use them to sign in to Sloshspot. No more passwords to remember!

  
  
  

• 2. Email Register With Sloshspot

  
  

  Just your email! No verifications required. Quick, painless, and instant. We will make a temporary username and password for you then email them to you. You can register right now from this form and start commenting away!

  
  

• 3. Members Sign In

  
  

  Members can sign in here quickly.

If you use one of these other services sign in by clicking the 'OpenID' logo above.

Email Address

Kept private but must be real to login later

Incorrect please try again

• Change Words |
• Play Audio Words |
• Switch to Words |
• Help

Enter the words above: Enter the numbers you hear:

By clicking 'Register' you are agreeing to our Terms of Service
and Privacy Policy.

Login With OpenID

Username Password Comment

I Forgot My Password