Photo of George Wendt, who played Norm on 'Cheers'. Viewers never saw Norm's wife,Vera,although s...
Credit: Photo by Alan Light | ©Wikimedia Commons
Many television series feature elusive characters that are never actually seen on camera. While we may get a glimpse of an arm or the back of a head, the faces of some characters remain a mystery. Here are some of the top TV characters that were never seen by viewers.
The Parents from Peanuts - A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965). The long running Peanuts comic strip yielded several TV specials, and this Christmas special was the first. As in all Peanuts cartoon specials, there were no adults around. While we could hear the garbled "Waa waa" voices of adults around the gang, we never saw what Charlie Brown's parents or teachers looked like. Series creator Charles Schulz liked it that way, preferring instead to have his child characters think- and sometimes act- like adults.
Carlton the Doorman - Rhoda (1974-1978). This spinoff of The Mary Tyler Moore Showfeatured single gal Rhoda (Valerie Harper) living in a New York City apartment. Her building doorman, Carlton (voice by Lorenzo Music) would constantly call her over the intercom. Viewers grew to love the familiar line "This is Carlton your doorman" in each episode, but Carlton's face was never seen.
Charlie Townsend - Charlie's Angels (1976-1981). This popular series featured three gorgeous private investigators (Farrah Fawcett Majors, Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson) who took assignments from their mysterious boss, Charlie (voice of John Forsythe). While viewers were treated to Charlie's voice very week, the character was never completely shown on camera. The most viewers ever saw was the back of his head.
The Gooch - Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1985). School bully "The Gooch" scared the crap out of little Arnold Jackson (Gary Coleman) on this sitcom. The school bully was mentioned in several episodes of the series, with entire episodes being built around the character ("Return of the Gooch," 1980) and Willis' girlfriend Carmella actually fighting The Gooch in one episode. The Gooch is mentioned throughout the series, first in 1979 and all the way up through 1984.
The Parents from Peanuts - A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965). The long running Peanuts comic strip yielded several TV specials, and this Christmas special was the first. As in all Peanuts cartoon specials, there were no adults around. While we could hear the garbled "Waa waa" voices of adults around the gang, we never saw what Charlie Brown's parents or teachers looked like. Series creator Charles Schulz liked it that way, preferring instead to have his child characters think- and sometimes act- like adults.
Carlton the Doorman - Rhoda (1974-1978). This spinoff of The Mary Tyler Moore Showfeatured single gal Rhoda (Valerie Harper) living in a New York City apartment. Her building doorman, Carlton (voice by Lorenzo Music) would constantly call her over the intercom. Viewers grew to love the familiar line "This is Carlton your doorman" in each episode, but Carlton's face was never seen.
Charlie Townsend - Charlie's Angels (1976-1981). This popular series featured three gorgeous private investigators (Farrah Fawcett Majors, Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson) who took assignments from their mysterious boss, Charlie (voice of John Forsythe). While viewers were treated to Charlie's voice very week, the character was never completely shown on camera. The most viewers ever saw was the back of his head.
The Gooch - Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1985). School bully "The Gooch" scared the crap out of little Arnold Jackson (Gary Coleman) on this sitcom. The school bully was mentioned in several episodes of the series, with entire episodes being built around the character ("Return of the Gooch," 1980) and Willis' girlfriend Carmella actually fighting The Gooch in one episode. The Gooch is mentioned throughout the series, first in 1979 and all the way up through 1984.
Comments
What about Stan Walker from Will & Grace? I always imagined him as looking somewhat like Jabba the Hutt.
There are a bunch of them in "Gilmore Girls" - like Lane's father, Al from Al's Pancake World.
My favorite was Wilson.
What an interesting idea for an article -- great list!
My fave was Carlton the Doorman!!
Great article! I forgot all about the "Gooch"!
Great list. I always wondered what Vera looked like.
When I saw the title, Mr. Wilson was the first one I thought of. :
Cool list. But, how about Maris from Frasier? Or Mrs. Columbo from Columbo's show?
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