I found it. It was It's Your First Kiss Charlie Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSiSObBqnAA I found it last night when I was looking for some Thanksgiving related comedy videos and it was in with some Peanuts clips.
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Invisible, Nonexistant Characters
- Thread starter RicoGregg
- Start date
I found it. It was It's Your First Kiss Charlie Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSiSObBqnAA I found it last night when I was looking for some Thanksgiving related comedy videos and it was in with some Peanuts clips.
There's a very good reason for Mr. Dunahy not being seen: The viewer essentially stands in for him, as Joe directly addresses the camera.
http://www.jackiegleason.com/joe.html
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I recall that sketch - it ran every week. Gleason as "Joe the Bartender" was the straight man, and Frank Fontaine (as Crazy Guggenheim) was the goofy drunk who provided the humor. Then Frank would sing some corny song in his normal voice - the gimmick being that he didn't sound anything like his Crazy character - kind of like the difference between Gomer Pyle and Jim Nabors' singing voice.
Ugh! I was a Gleason fan, but Frank Fontaine made my flesh crawl.
On any Jimmy Durante show, Mrs. Calabash would never be seen. He didn't even know where she was.
Jenny Piccolo was brought 'on camera' on "Happy Days" in 1980, (season 8, just after Richie and Ralph left). Cathy Silvers left the show after season 10, and in the final season, Jenny was back to being an 'off camera' character(she'd run off with a Marine!)
'Are You Being Served?' had a number of offstage characters. The producers dropped actor Kenneth Waller, who had played the second('Old')Mr. Grace, following the departure of Harold Bennett. For the last couple of seasons, Old Mr. Grace became an offstage character, and Mr. Rumbold (Nicholas Smith) got a new secretary who became a regular, and took over the 'eye candy' role from Mr. Grace's various secretaries.
And 'Mr. Slocombe' was mentioned in passing only a couple of times, although he appeared on the spinoff, 'Grace and Favour', AKA 'Are You Being Served? Again!' Mrs. Slocombe's best friend, Mrs. Axleby, did not appear, although she was mentioned so often, it seemed like she was a regular! Also, if Mr. Lucas's stories are to be believed, he lived at home with his old crippled mother, in Highgate.. She was mentioned in some of Lucas's elaborate excuses for being late.
'Are You Being Served?' had a number of offstage characters. The producers dropped actor Kenneth Waller, who had played the second('Old')Mr. Grace, following the departure of Harold Bennett. For the last couple of seasons, Old Mr. Grace became an offstage character, and Mr. Rumbold (Nicholas Smith) got a new secretary who became a regular, and took over the 'eye candy' role from Mr. Grace's various secretaries.
And 'Mr. Slocombe' was mentioned in passing only a couple of times, although he appeared on the spinoff, 'Grace and Favour', AKA 'Are You Being Served? Again!' Mrs. Slocombe's best friend, Mrs. Axleby, did not appear, although she was mentioned so often, it seemed like she was a regular! Also, if Mr. Lucas's stories are to be believed, he lived at home with his old crippled mother, in Highgate.. She was mentioned in some of Lucas's elaborate excuses for being late.
While it's true that we never saw Mrs. Calabash, Durante once identified her as his first wife. According to the residents of Calabash, NC, a coastal
town between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach noted for its seafood, the Durantes once spent some time in the town, and Jimmy was so impressed he not only nicknamed his wife Mrs. Calabash but once considered buying the town. His picture is on the wall in one of the town's oldest restaurants, BTW.
And here's a technicality: on "The Flintstones," the Great Gazoo was invisible to everyone except Fred, Barney, Pebbles, and Bamm Bamm. His explanation was that he was visible to Fred and Barney because they found him, and to the kids because they believed in him.
town between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach noted for its seafood, the Durantes once spent some time in the town, and Jimmy was so impressed he not only nicknamed his wife Mrs. Calabash but once considered buying the town. His picture is on the wall in one of the town's oldest restaurants, BTW.
And here's a technicality: on "The Flintstones," the Great Gazoo was invisible to everyone except Fred, Barney, Pebbles, and Bamm Bamm. His explanation was that he was visible to Fred and Barney because they found him, and to the kids because they believed in him.
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Regarding Frank Fontaine, I worked as a banquet waiter years ago, and an older woman was talking about some of the famous people she had served. This was shortly after Fontaine had died, and she made the comment, "Oh, he was so foul-mouthed..."
Another never seen "character": Bob Saccamano, Kramer's friend on "Seinfeld"
George Jefferson wasn't seen for the first few years of "All in the Family," but was mentioned often. Norman Lear said it was because they had a hard time trying to find someone to play him. The backstory on him (to explain his absence) at the time was that he would never set foot in a racist's house.
Another never seen "character": Bob Saccamano, Kramer's friend on "Seinfeld"
George Jefferson wasn't seen for the first few years of "All in the Family," but was mentioned often. Norman Lear said it was because they had a hard time trying to find someone to play him. The backstory on him (to explain his absence) at the time was that he would never set foot in a racist's house.
Re Frank Fontaine's singing voice, he recorded several albums which sold fairly well in the '60s, most notably, IIRC, "Songs I Sing On The Jackie Gleason Show." Jim Nabors, likewise, put out a few albums (BTW, we got our first taste of Nabors' singing on "The Andy Griffith Show" and possibly a little before that, when he was a semiregular on Steve Allen's short-lived Wednesday-night ABC show in 1961).
Lear wanted Sherman Hemsley to play the part all along, but Hemsley was committed to the Broadway show, 'Pippin', and had one or two projects afterwards that ultimately left him unavailable for two years. Henry Jefferson was a temporary 'placeholder', and was never seen on either 'AITF' or 'The Jeffersons' after the Christmas 1973 episode that finally introduced George.
That's one of my favorite MASH episodes. In the closing credits where the supporting cast was listed it included "Captain Tuttle as himself."
More family members who were talked about, but only seen via home movies on MASH: Henry Blake's wife Lorraine and their kids.
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FredLeonard
Guest
He was devoted to Gracie and he was human. He did fall for a starlet in real life and cheat on her. He felt guilty afterwards and brought Gracie an expensive present (I forget exactly what but let's say a mink coat). He didn't think Gracie found out but she somehow knew. Some years later, Gracie said to a friend, I wish George would have another affair. I need a new coat.
T
Thomps2525
Guest
On Married With Children, Al Bundy frequently made nasty comments about Peg's mother but the character was never seen. On Family Matters, Steve Urkel seemed to spend all his free time at the home of his neighbors, the Winslows. There were many references to his parents but they were never seen. Urkel was so irritating and annoying, they probably couldn't stand to be around him.
If memory serves correctly, Detective Phil Fish's wife Bernice was never seen on BARNEY MILLER. However, when Fish (Abe Vigoda) was spun off into his own show, she was played by Florence Halop.
Don't know if this qualifies or not, but Phyllis Diller's husband "Fang" was the unseen subject of her stand-up routines for years...
Don't know if this qualifies or not, but Phyllis Diller's husband "Fang" was the unseen subject of her stand-up routines for years...
Beavis' mom was never seen
That special was "It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown" which first aired in 1977.
However the "Little Red Haired Girl" never appeared in the 50 years of the Peanuts comic strip. The TV specials and movies have always been somewhat of an alternate universe for Peanuts, with some characters and situations that never appeared in the actual strip.
In several of the very early Peanuts comic strips (1950's) adults actually have some dialogue, but they are not seen; just a speech balloon pointing out of frame.
However, adults feature prominently in Charles Schulz's non-Peanuts work, such as the "Young Pillars" religious themed single panel cartoons from the mid 1950's-mid 1960's, as well as in "It's Only A Game", a sports themed strip that ran for a little over a year in the late 1950's.
Bernice made a few appearances on Barney Miller. Here is excerpt from Wikipedia article:
"Fish's wife Bernice made an appearance from time to time in Seasons 1 to 4. In Seasons 1, 3 and 4 she was played by Florence Stanley (in a total of seven appearances); in Bernice's only Season 2 appearance she was portrayed by Doris Belack".
The principal of McKinley High was never seen in the short-lived Freaks and Geeks. There were occasionally references to a never-seen principal, but when it came time for doling out discipline, that fell to the guidance counselor, played by Jeff "Gruber" Allen.
I stand corrected! Thanks. (But I guess "Fang" still qualifies...)
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