Chuck Cunningham Syndrome

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by JozefK, Nov 26, 2019.

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  1. evillouie

    evillouie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toledo
    Here are a couple:

    Gregory Sierra was in the first couple of seasons of Barney Miller, but was gone after that. Was his departure ever explained?
    Another one is Taxi. They started out with a character named John, who was one of the cabbies, but after a while he was gone. Not sure if they ever mentioned him again, either.
     
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  2. Jay_Z

    Jay_Z Forum Resident

    Chano's departure was never explained. He was mentioned. In one of the periodic attempts at establishing a female detective, she mentioned she was replacing Chano. There was also a brief flashback to Chano, along with Fish and Yemana, in the final episode.
     
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  3. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    Regarding the John character on "Taxi", it's been awhile since I seen any of the episodes, but wasn't he there for the entire first season?
     
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  4. jeroemba

    jeroemba Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    The Chuck Cunningham syndrome can also happen in hour long dramas. I remember how surprised i was when Mandy Hampton character, played by Moira Kelly on "The West Wing", disappeared from the show after season 1, without any word of explanation.
     
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  5. Jay_Z

    Jay_Z Forum Resident

    Yes, he was. He was replaced by Christopher Lloyd as Reverend Jim.
     
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  6. MickAvory

    MickAvory Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Could the Chuck Cunningham syndrome be more specifically attributed to a family member that leaves a show and is never heard of again? I mean.. the Happy Days bit is a pretty specific case in the sense that he disappears and is never referenced again, even in the fact that the family only acknowledges Joanie & Ritchie in later episodes as the only kids.

    A show like MASH could easily be explained as its a war and people get transferred in and out of the unit.

    A workplace type show could easily be explained as the person got transferred or fired.

    Do these types of shows really fit the Chuck Cunningham syndrome?

    But.. to remove a child and then erase them from the continuity is a pretty specific situation. The show 'Mom' is a good example how in later seasons the kids are gone with no explanation.

    **Edit - I see somebody else upthread mentioned a similar idea to mine.
     
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  7. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    The Mo Rocca podcast in the original post was very broad in its definition, including replacements (The Two Darrens) and firings (Valerie).

    The stricter definition is more like a notable character (not necessarily a family member) whose existence was later "erased": Chuck C., Family Matters, Doris Day's kids, and I suppose Adam on Bonanza.
     
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  8. Solitaire1

    Solitaire1 Carpenters Fan

    Vidiot wrote the following as part of a post:

    I've wondered if this was a factor in the change in Barney's voice from his original nasally voice at the beginning of The Flintstones to the "Ed Norton" type voice that Barney ended up with. I suspect that it had to do with Daws Butler (the original voice actor for both Fred and Barney) temporarily taking over the role from Blanc during the above incident.

    I agree that it is much easier to replace a voice actor than it is to replace an on-screen actor. However, to me sometimes the new voice actor just isn't a match for the original. An example of this is Fred Flintstone, where Henry Corden (who took over the role after Alan Reed passed away) was very different from the original and I found it distracting. Likewise, in the series Ranma 1/2 the original voice actor for the Male Ranma (Sarah Strange) was replaced by a voice actor (Richard Ian Cox) who had a very different voice. That, and he'd done so many other voices in other series including (per IMDB) the original English dubbed voice of the Adult Goku in Dragonball Z which made it difficult for me to hear him only as Ranma.
     
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  9. cboldman

    cboldman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hamilton, OH USA
    The whole cast of 77 Sunset Strip, sans Efrem Zimbalist Jr., was vanished without explanation for the final season.
     
  10. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia

    was that linda lavin….I know she was there for a while...and Barbara barrie might qualify.....a regular in the first season....then eased out.
     
  11. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Beth Davenport on The Rockford Files.
     
  12. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

     
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  13. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    And yet another Chuck (Ric Carrott) in the pilot:

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
     
  15. Scooterpiety

    Scooterpiety Ars Gratia Artis

    Location:
    Oregon
    The Pigeon Sisters also vanished with Roy after Season 1 of The Odd Couple. Oscar's girlfriend Dr. Nancy Cunningham appeared late in season 1 and disappeared after a few more appearances in season 2.
     
  16. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I just remembered there was an episode where Steve visits his childhood hometown, runs into a girl he knew from then, and mentions Mike as one of his sons. Ernie was already adopted in and Mike and his girlfriend/wife were long gone.
     
  17. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Julie on Love Boat.
     
  18. BobT

    BobT Resident Monkeeman

    Nope- made a guest appearance in season 9.

    S9, Ep8
    30 Nov. 1985
    Trouble in Paradise/No More Mister Nice Guy/The Mermaid and the Cop

    Julie McCoy asks Gopher for advice when her marriage starts to fall apart. One of the Mermaid dancers is on the run and is afraid that a Las Vegas cop might recognize her. Ace is forced to fire two employees.
     
  19. Kyle B

    Kyle B Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    And then when ABC aired Love Boat several two-hour specials after the ninth season, Julie was back as cruise director and it was her sister/replacement who was gone without explanation.
     
  20. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    And the actress who played Eric's sister was replaced with no mention of it.
     
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  21. In Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin’s dad had a brother who appeared for one early storyline and was never seen or referred to again.
     
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  22. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    OK, I can't say that I watched it much. Was Julie sent off with a sendoff episode, or was she disappeared? I thought they just fired her.
     
  23. Kyle B

    Kyle B Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    She was fired in between seasons 7 and 8. Season 8 opened with the crew receiving a letter that she had married the character played by Dean Jones, who had appeared in season 7. And Julie’s newly-divorced sister arrived to replace her. For some reason, you had to be single to be a Princess cruise director.
     
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  24. Steve Litos

    Steve Litos Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    The Big Valley tv show 1965-69...widowed matriarch Victoria Barkley (Barbara Stanwyck) originally had 4 children Nick (runs the ranch) , Audra (is the daughter), Jarrod (the lawyer), with Eugene (the college student) being a recurring character.

    Heath (as played by Lee Majors) was the son of Victoria's husband from an extra marital affair who shows up in the first episode as a launching point for the show.

    The 4th son Eugene, as played by Charles Briles, was on 8 episodes of the first season in a limited capacity. The actor was drafted into the military and his acting career never really recovered.

    I wonder if the character was originally conceived as a "backup" just in case the storyline with illegitimate Heath didn't fly with the sponsors, network, & censors etc.
     
  25. Solitaire1

    Solitaire1 Carpenters Fan

    If I remember correctly, John made a return appearance in the Second Season. He had been replaced by Rev. Jim, but they did an episode where he makes an appearance. He's having marital problems with his wife (he literally met her at a bar, said "do you want to get married?" as a pickup line, she said "yes", and they got married that night. Each thought the other would say it was a joke but neither of them did).
     
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