Characters Who Left... Sort of - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Adamantium · 12-30-2007, 02:51 PM

This thread is for characters who sort of left a show. Maybe they left and kept coming back for a visit, or just had their role reduced. A few examples are:

Tommy Solomon (3rd Rock from the Sun) - In the sixth season, Tommy left to go to college. And while he still made appearances in the season, he also missed about eight episodes, scattered throughout the final year. His name was still in the opening credits, he just wasn't on the show as much.

Walt Finnerty (Grounded for Life) - After the second season, Walt went from being a full time cast member to just a recurring character. In the third, fourth and fifth seasons, he only appeared in a total of eight episodes. He appeared in three episodes of the third season, four episodes of the fourth season, and just one episode - the finale - of the fifth season.

Kelly & Jessie (Saved by the Bell) - During their senior year, Kelly and Jessie only appeared in half the season. Episodes that they didn't appear in featured new girl Tori as a friend and love interest for Zack. However, the episodes, though shot seperately, aired mixed together. One week it was a Kelly/Jessie episode, the next week a Tori episode. This caused confusion, because in the Tori episodes there was no mention of Kelly and Jessie and in the Kelly/Jessie episodes there was no mention of Tori.

Adamantium · 12-30-2007, 03:46 PM

Mr. Kotter & Vinnie Barbarino (Welcome Back, Kotter) - In the fourth and final season, John Travolta had gone from credited cast member to "Special Guest Star." His character seemed distant from the other Sweathogs and he appeared in something like 9 or 10 episodes that season. While Kotter, who was still in the opening credits appeared in about five episodes. Their episodes were scattered in the season, but Vinnie's last episode is the one where he delivers a baby in the hospital elevator, that's like the 8th to last episode. Kotter appears in the last two episodes.

Potsie Webber (Happy Days) - While Richie and Ralph flat out left the show, Potsie stuck around and just had his role reduced. Even though I don't have an exact episode count, he only appeared in a handful of episodes in the final season. He didn't even appear in the final episode. He remained in the opening credits throughout the entire series, however.

Lorimar Television · 12-30-2007, 03:57 PM

Randy Taylor (Home Improvement)- In the second episode of the final season, Randy gets accepted in a program in Costa Rica and is gone for the rest of the series. He does come back for one episode, where he comes home for Christmas, though.

Kyra Hart (Reba)- Starting in the fourth episode of the fifth season Kyra isn't seen, and very rarely mentioned. She left because the actress was dealing with annorexia, she still remained in the opening credits though. Then Kyra returns for the final season, and when Reba asks where she was, Kyra replied "I got something to eat", an inside joke about her absence.

JulieSomoski · 12-30-2007, 06:01 PM

Crystal (Roseanne) - after she married Dan's Dad in season 3, her role was reduced in the fourth and fifth seasons, and made her final appearance in the season 8 finale.

Lionel and Jenny (The Jeffersons) - Lionel didn't show up at all in season 5, but then came back and he and Jenny had a baby in season 6, but left again only appearing once or twice the rest of the show.

Dean Winchester · 12-30-2007, 06:23 PM

Ellen was really guilty of this in her final season. Her show had become a Seinfeld-ish ensemble in the third and fourth seasons, and then after she came out of the closet and began dating dating, we saw much less of Paige, Audrey, Spence and Joe, and there would be huge patches of episodes they did not appear in, although they remained credited. Spence for instance missed the last patch of episodes before finally appearing again in the series finale.

James · 12-30-2007, 07:40 PM

Let's see:

Karen Arnold from The Wonder Years: In the finale of the second-to-last season she got married. We didn't get to see her at all in the final season, with the exception of the finale. (Of note: Had the show gone on another season, we could have had a multi-part episode in which the Arnolds go to Alaska to visit her. I mean, if the Bradys could take trips...)

Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years: In the second-to-last season she was in like only six of the 23 episodes. I read somewhere that Danica McKellar wanted more money--is this true? In the final season she was back to being a regular. Of course, Winnie was, to be diplomatic, whiny, quite the departure from the other seasons.

gotsmart · 12-30-2007, 09:07 PM

Julie Cooper (One Day at a Time)
Becky Conner (Roseanne)
Denise Huxtable (The Cosby Show)
Mr. French (Family Affair)

James · 12-30-2007, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James

Let's see:

Karen Arnold from The Wonder Years: In the finale of the second-to-last season she got married.

Correction: Karen got married in the third-to-last episode of that season. Two more episodes came before the season took a summer break. (Granted, one was a clip show, but still ...)

treky · 12-30-2007, 10:54 PM

Barney Fife-"THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW"

Micheal Kelso-"THAT 70S SHOW"

catlover79 · 12-31-2007, 01:09 AM

Kelly Fox - Coach

Nighthawk76 · 12-31-2007, 01:22 AM

Cindy, Sue Ann, Nancy and Molly on FOL.

PlayOn · 12-31-2007, 04:18 AM

Mike, Gloria and Joey Stevick- All in the Family
Eric Foreman- That '70's Show

TJL · 12-31-2007, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adamantium

Mr. Kotter & Vinnie Barbarino (Welcome Back, Kotter) - In the fourth and final season, John Travolta had gone from credited cast member to "Special Guest Star." His character seemed distant from the other Sweathogs and he appeared in something like 9 or 10 episodes that season. While Kotter, who was still in the opening credits appeared in about five episodes. Their episodes were scattered in the season, but Vinnie's last episode is the one where he delivers a baby in the hospital elevator, that's like the 8th to last episode. Kotter appears in the last two episodes.

That's what really crippled the show. Okay, I can understand John Travolta leaving the series after his movie career took off, but when Gabe Kaplan stopped showing up, you really couldn't call the show "Welcome Back Kotter" when Kotter was M.I.A.

JulieSomoski · 12-31-2007, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James

Let's see:

Karen Arnold from The Wonder Years: In the finale of the second-to-last season she got married. We didn't get to see her at all in the final season, with the exception of the finale. (Of note: Had the show gone on another season, we could have had a multi-part episode in which the Arnolds go to Alaska to visit her. I mean, if the Bradys could take trips...)

Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years: In the second-to-last season she was in like only six of the 23 episodes. I read somewhere that Danica McKellar wanted more money--is this true? In the final season she was back to being a regular. Of course, Winnie was, to be diplomatic, whiny, quite the departure from the other seasons.

I believe Danica's contract was always to appear in only half of the season's episode order (except for the first season of course). I believe Olivia had the same contract beginning in season 3, because it was hard to create storylines for both of them, seeing how they usually got the least parts anyway.

Then in the sixth season, Olivia had her contract cut down to 6 of the season's episodes (or a fourth of the episodes), not sure why, though.

Adamantium · 12-31-2007, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJL

That's what really crippled the show. Okay, I can understand John Travolta leaving the series after his movie career took off, but when Gabe Kaplan stopped showing up, you really couldn't call the show "Welcome Back Kotter" when Kotter was M.I.A.

They should have changed the name to "Welcome Back, Hey, Where's Kotter?" But no, they didn't. lol

To be honest, it was the Sweathogs that made the show a classic. Gabe Kaplan wasn't all that great an actor. With that said, I loved having him there since that's based on his own experiences and he's charming in his own way.

The big thing that hurt the show in it's fourth season was the change in writers. They just didn't get the show at all. And then of course less Vinnie and Kotter didn't help.

12-30-2007, 02:51 PM	#1
Adamantium TVAdam No More Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 11, 2002 Location: Springfield, Ohio Posts: 7,826	Characters Who Left... Sort of This thread is for characters who sort of left a show. Maybe they left and kept coming back for a visit, or just had their role reduced. A few examples are: Tommy Solomon (3rd Rock from the Sun) - In the sixth season, Tommy left to go to college. And while he still made appearances in the season, he also missed about eight episodes, scattered throughout the final year. His name was still in the opening credits, he just wasn't on the show as much. Walt Finnerty (Grounded for Life) - After the second season, Walt went from being a full time cast member to just a recurring character. In the third, fourth and fifth seasons, he only appeared in a total of eight episodes. He appeared in three episodes of the third season, four episodes of the fourth season, and just one episode - the finale - of the fifth season. Kelly & Jessie (Saved by the Bell) - During their senior year, Kelly and Jessie only appeared in half the season. Episodes that they didn't appear in featured new girl Tori as a friend and love interest for Zack. However, the episodes, though shot seperately, aired mixed together. One week it was a Kelly/Jessie episode, the next week a Tori episode. This caused confusion, because in the Tori episodes there was no mention of Kelly and Jessie and in the Kelly/Jessie episodes there was no mention of Tori.

12-30-2007, 03:57 PM	#3
Lorimar Television Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Dec 06, 2007 Posts: 7,034	Randy Taylor (Home Improvement)- In the second episode of the final season, Randy gets accepted in a program in Costa Rica and is gone for the rest of the series. He does come back for one episode, where he comes home for Christmas, though. Kyra Hart (Reba)- Starting in the fourth episode of the fifth season Kyra isn't seen, and very rarely mentioned. She left because the actress was dealing with annorexia, she still remained in the opening credits though. Then Kyra returns for the final season, and when Reba asks where she was, Kyra replied "I got something to eat", an inside joke about her absence.
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12-30-2007, 06:01 PM	#4
JulieSomoski Roseanne Reboot - March 27! Forum Veteran Join Date: Nov 06, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,558	Crystal (Roseanne) - after she married Dan's Dad in season 3, her role was reduced in the fourth and fifth seasons, and made her final appearance in the season 8 finale. Lionel and Jenny (The Jeffersons) - Lionel didn't show up at all in season 5, but then came back and he and Jenny had a baby in season 6, but left again only appearing once or twice the rest of the show.
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12-30-2007, 10:54 PM	#9
treky star trek fan Eternal Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 25, 2002 Location: Conshohocken, pennsylvania Posts: 14,490	Barney Fife-"THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW" Micheal Kelso-"THAT 70S SHOW"
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12-31-2007, 01:09 AM	#10
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12-30-2007, 03:46 PM	#2
Adamantium TVAdam No More Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 11, 2002 Location: Springfield, Ohio Posts: 7,826	Mr. Kotter & Vinnie Barbarino (Welcome Back, Kotter) - In the fourth and final season, John Travolta had gone from credited cast member to "Special Guest Star." His character seemed distant from the other Sweathogs and he appeared in something like 9 or 10 episodes that season. While Kotter, who was still in the opening credits appeared in about five episodes. Their episodes were scattered in the season, but Vinnie's last episode is the one where he delivers a baby in the hospital elevator, that's like the 8th to last episode. Kotter appears in the last two episodes. Potsie Webber (Happy Days) - While Richie and Ralph flat out left the show, Potsie stuck around and just had his role reduced. Even though I don't have an exact episode count, he only appeared in a handful of episodes in the final season. He didn't even appear in the final episode. He remained in the opening credits throughout the entire series, however.

12-30-2007, 06:23 PM	#5
Dean Winchester Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 14,803	Ellen was really guilty of this in her final season. Her show had become a Seinfeld-ish ensemble in the third and fourth seasons, and then after she came out of the closet and began dating dating, we saw much less of Paige, Audrey, Spence and Joe, and there would be huge patches of episodes they did not appear in, although they remained credited. Spence for instance missed the last patch of episodes before finally appearing again in the series finale.

12-30-2007, 07:40 PM	#6
James Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 07, 2001 Location: Dayton, Ohio, USA Posts: 6,370	Let's see: Karen Arnold from The Wonder Years: In the finale of the second-to-last season she got married. We didn't get to see her at all in the final season, with the exception of the finale. (Of note: Had the show gone on another season, we could have had a multi-part episode in which the Arnolds go to Alaska to visit her. I mean, if the Bradys could take trips...) Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years: In the second-to-last season she was in like only six of the 23 episodes. I read somewhere that Danica McKellar wanted more money--is this true? In the final season she was back to being a regular. Of course, Winnie was, to be diplomatic, whiny, quite the departure from the other seasons.

12-30-2007, 09:07 PM	#7
gotsmart The Office, Thursdays on NBC Frequent Poster Join Date: May 05, 2007 Location: Schrute Farms Posts: 341	Julie Cooper (One Day at a Time) Becky Conner (Roseanne) Denise Huxtable (The Cosby Show) Mr. French (Family Affair)

12-31-2007, 01:22 AM	#11
Nighthawk76 Rachel Berry Forum Celebrity Join Date: Feb 28, 2003 Location: Illinois Posts: 23,254	Cindy, Sue Ann, Nancy and Molly on FOL.

12-31-2007, 04:18 AM	#12
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