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Siblings that disappeared without explanation

N

nomadcowatbk

Little used siblings that disappeared without explanation, a lot of these were in Miller/Boyett shows

Chuck Cunningham
Judy Winslow (disappeared after agent of actress who played her demanded a pay raise and more screen time)
Brendan Lambert (Saved By the Bell, disappeared around when a new baby aged rapidly between seasons)
Morgan Matthews (Boy meets World, disappeared and then returned a few seasons later older played another actress)
 
This happened on M*A*S*H as well, although we didn't see them, Hawkeye, Radar, and Hot-lips all made references to having sisters at one point,..later in the series they were all "only children"..
 
Dobie Gillis' older brother Davey (played by Dwayne Hickman's older brother Darryl) disappeared after only one or two appearance during the series' first season and was never heard from again.

In one of the early GILLIGAN'S ISLAND episodes, Thurston Howell recalls his son back home; yet in a later episode the Howells are established as childless, the better to "adopt" Gilligan.

Millie Helper is VERY pregnant in a few first-season episodes of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, but the child resulting from this pregnancy never appears.

And let us shed a tear for the stillborn Fred Flintstone Jr., who actually showed up in the first "Golden Book" adaptation of that TV series before Hanna-Barbera decided that the Flintstones should remain childless--at least for a while.
 
IIRC, Hanna-Barbera nixed the idea of Fred Jr. on the show before
it ever aired. The decision that Fred and Wilma would have a
daughter came about because the studio arranged a marketing
tie-in with Ideal Toys for a Pebbles doll, which obviously they felt
would appeal more to girls, hence Pebbles was a girl.
 
Mama's Family:

Season one Vint had two kids..Buzz and Sonya. Other than a very brief mention on the first episode of season 2..they were never heard from again.
 
Grounded for Life had one of their kids disappear for the final season.
He was always visiting grandma or at boy scouts or something whenever
his name came up.
 
Most of the main characters on Seinfeld had phantom siblings, mentioned once and never shown.

Jerry Seinfeld once mentioned a sister who was an accountant on the show, who other than that single mention was never seen, and never referred to again. (In real life, he does have a sister, Carolyn, and she IS his accountant.)

George Costanza also referred to a brother once...and we never saw him either, or heard him referred to again.

And Elaine Benes had a sister who was a Roman Catholic nun, who was referred to once during the episode in which the Christmas card photo Kramer took of her displayed a wardrobe malfunction. Said sister also was never mentioned again or seen.
 
Sibling that disappeared, but came back as a different person: Partridge Family's Chris was Jeremy Gelbwaks season 1, replaced by Brian Forster, seasons 2 and on.
The two kids didn't even look like each other. I heard that the first Chris was "difficult", whatever that meant. This 10 year old was confused, but I got over it! :D
 
Not necessarily a sibling but Married with Children added Seven. The concept flopped and Seven disappeared. The Bundy's made reference to him a couple of time after he left as a gag.
 
Actually the Dick Van Dyke Show does make references to Ellen, the Helpers older kid but it's very inconsistent.

On Leave It To Beaver, Violet Rutherford appears as Beaver's classmate and Fred's daughter. Then she gets phased out for Lumpy. Lumpy, Violet and Fred appear in only one episode together, then Violet is never mentioned again.

Of course on My Three Sons, Mike leaves and is only mentioned a few other times, like "Mike is back east," or by Ernie, who changes from Chips classmate you being younger. Of course Chip and Ernie were brothers in real life

Shirley from "Laverne And Shirley" is given a pretty developed family in the beginning with a mother and a lot of brothers who are sailors. But only one brother appears and quickly Shirley's family is forgotten about.

Archie Bunker has a sister (Alma) and two brothers Fred and Phillip, which may be different sibling or simply an error in continuity. Mike also appears to have a sibling but later on is presented as having no family at all.

On "Mama's Family", Bubba should have another brother, named Billy Joe (He was named something else in another sketch on Carol Burnett), but this was never mentioned.

The biggest coup was on "Empty Nest" where they had a sister written in right from the start who was never seen, named Emily. Then when Kristy McNichol took a leave of absence they were able to bring in an actress to play Emily, without any loss of continuity
 
Petticoat Junction--during the final episode of season 6, there is a reference to Betty Jo expecting a boy (although how they would know the baby's sex in 1969 is beyond me). When the season 7 started, there was no mention of the pregnancy.
 
searadiofreak said:
Sibling that disappeared, but came back as a different person: Partridge Family's Chris was Jeremy Gelbwaks season 1, replaced by Brian Forster, seasons 2 and on.
The two kids didn't even look like each other. I heard that the first Chris was "difficult", whatever that meant. This 10 year old was confused, but I got over it! :D
Click to expand...
Roseanne kinda sorta did something like that with the two "Beckys," even having both of them "mirror" each other in one episode! 8)
 
larkin said:
Petticoat Junction--during the final episode of season 6, there is a reference to Betty Jo expecting a boy (although how they would know the baby's sex in 1969 is beyond me). When the season 7 started, there was no mention of the pregnancy.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a job for the Haney Preborn Gender Determination Service :D
 
On The Dukes of Hazard, Bo, Luke, Daisy, Coy, and Vance were all portrayed as cousins, and Jesse as their uncle. However, I seem to recall an episode in which a Duke sibling appeared, or was at least mentioned.
 
Mark said:
On Leave It To Beaver, Violet Rutherford appears as Beaver's classmate and Fred's daughter. Then she gets phased out for Lumpy. Lumpy, Violet and Fred appear in only one episode together, then Violet is never mentioned again.
Click to expand...

If i recall, wasn't there a hint of her being mentioned in the 1983 reunion movie? In the scene, Beaver mentioned dating her in high school when he gets hired by Fred Rutherford.
 
firepoint525 said:
mleach said:
Mama's Family:
Season one Vint had two kids..Buzz and Sonya. Other than a very brief mention on the first episode of season 2..they were never heard from again.
Click to expand...
The syndicated version had a son named Bubba, if I'm not mistaken.
Click to expand...

You're part right. Bubba was Ed and Eunice's son. He was ordered to stay with the Harpers after being released from juvenile hall and placed on probation.
 
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