UNSEEN CHARACTER

'Unseen characters' are a theatrical convention.^[1]
Television shows and stage plays sometimes include continuing characters — characters who are or were in frequent interaction with the other characters and who influence current story events — who are never seen or heard by the audience and only described by other characters. Such characters can be alive or dead.^[2]Often the unseen character starts as or evolves into a running gag or inside joke. Radio shows and plays also feature characters who never speak, and books feature characters who are merely referred to. Hidden characters appear in all varieties of fiction, but their prevalence is in televised programs. These can run for much longer than a movie or play (which usually last only a couple of hours), and unseen characters can take on special qualities even going so far as to have story ideas showing them rejected due to the fear of 'spoilng' the character.^[3]
There are several levels of "unseenness." The most complete is never seen or heard, only mentioned (sometimes pointed to, off screen). Because these characters exist only through the testimonies of the visible cast, writers often use this strange existence as a device for verbal irony. Unseen characters generally exhibit outlandish behavior, such as pursuing bizarre hobbies or doing things that are outright ridiculous and sometimes downright impossible. Sometimes characters are never seen, but speak to the visible cast offstage. There are also "partially seen" characters in TV or film formats, where shots are planned so that only parts of the character's body are shown. Many adult supporting characters in cartoons are only ever shown from the waist down to bring the perspective on the child-size stars.

Contents

Unseen characters in television history

Never seen, only mentioned

Heard but not seen

Partially seen characters

See also

References

Unseen characters in television history

Never seen, only mentioned

The earliest example of an unseen and unheard television character was Gladys Potter on the 1950s TV series ''December Bride''; regular character Pete Potter, played by Harry Morgan, constantly complained about his wife Gladys, but she was never seen on that show. She was, however, featured in the later spin-off series ''Pete & Gladys''.
One of the most famous characters never to be seen is in the TV series Columbo, where the wife of the main character is often mentioned but never ever seen. One episode, Troubled Waters, featured both Columbo and his wife going on a holiday on a cruise liner, with various conventions and jokes being made about them constantly missing each other in passing.
The sitcom Friends often made mention of a former roommate, Kip, who was replaced by Joey. He is mentioned regularly on the show, but never appears in image or voice. The spinoff Suddenly Susan was created after Brooke Shields's character leaves her fiancé Kip at the altar. This Kip was shunned by his friends and roomies after moving out, a storyline very similar to the Friends' Kip. While never stated that they are one in the same, the two programs do exist in the same fictional universe.
Maris Crane is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Frasier. She is introduced as Niles Crane's wife, although they divorce later in the series. Though often discussed on the show, she is neither seen nor heard.
The British sitcom ''Bottom'' was notorious for its unseen characters, often with unusual or outlandish names, such as "Gusty McWindflap," "Cannonball Taffy O'Jones," and "Dodgy Bob McMayday, the most violent travel agent in the world," to name a few. In another BBC-produced series, The Mighty Boosh, the two main characters Vince Noir and Howard Moon often mention their good friend "Leroy", who is often mentioned but only seen in one brief scene - in heavy KISS-style make up.

Heard but not seen

The second most common phenomenon in this category is viewers to construct their own image of what the character looks like. The wife of Rocky King on the 1950-54 Dumont series ''Rocky King, Inside Detective'' is the earliest TV example of this. Rocky would often speak to his wife from one room, while she was busy in another. Her offscreen replies to Rocky were all the audience would ever experience of Mrs. King. (For a time, Rocky also had a son, Rocky, Jr., who was an offscreen voice as well).
One of the characters famous for being heard but not seen was Charlie from ''Charlie's Angels''.
The long running sitcom ''Cheers'' used an unseen character in the form of Norm's wife Vera^[3].
The character Newman from ''Seinfeld'' originally began as a 'heard but not seen' character in "The Revenge", the seventh episode for the second season. He was originally voiced by the show's co-creator Larry David, but when Wayne Knight later got the role of Newman, his voice was dubbed over for syndication.

Partially seen characters

After that are partially seen characters, such Ernst Stavro Blofeld in his first two portrayals in the James Bond film series. In ''From Russia with Love'' and ''Thunderball'', Blofeld's face was unseen, as the audience could only see his forearms and hands, as he stroke his white cat. His face was revealed in his third movie appearance, ''You Only Live Twice''. Blofeld's first two appearances have become stereotypes of partially-unseen lead villains, as they have often been imitated or parodied. Dr. Claw in ''Inspector Gadget'' is obviously based on this image, as the only part of whom ever shown were his metallic hands and arms, stroking his cat. Other parts of characters can be shown, like many adult supporting characters in cartoons, who are only ever shown from the waist down to bring the perspective on the child-size stars, the typical example was Mammy Two-Shoes in ''Tom and Jerry''. The ''Cow and Chicken'' show parodies this particular convention of unseen characters with the characters of Mom and Dad, whose bodies actually have no upper half.
Perhaps the earliest "partially seen character" was in the now TV police drama ''The Plainclothesman'', a Dumont show which ran from 1949-1954. The show was filmed from the point of view of the lead character, known only as The Lieutenant (played by Ken Lynch). Aside from brief glimpses in mirrors, or shots of his hand picking up a "clue", The Lieutenant was not seen, and he was never seen in full until a flashback episode aired in 1952.
Another early example of a perhaps more traditional "partially seen" character was that of John Beresford Tipton, on the 1950s series ''The Millionaire''. Tipton (voiced by Paul Frees) was heard at the beginning of every episode giving instructions to his assistant Michael Anthony. However, the audience only ever saw the back of Tipton's head as he was seated in a chair.
One of the more famous examples is the character Wilson from the '90s television comedy ''Home Improvement'' starring Tim Allen. Over time, we saw most of Wilson, especially from the nose up, but we never saw his mouth. The fact that Wilson's mouth was almost always obscured became something of a running gag in the series, and was even parodied in the show's opening credits.

See also

★ Silent protagonist

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References

1. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-840X%282001%292%3A51%3A2%3C394%3ASUSDSZ%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5
2. http://eoneill.com/library/review/24-1.2/24-1.2d.htm
3. http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/123098/LB0242.shtml
4. http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/123098/LB0242.shtml