Today, in the newest Pop Culture Theme Time, I’m asking you who was the best retconned-in-relative TV cast member addition.
Pop Culture Theme Time is a feature where I put a question to you to see what you think about a particular theme. I might later revisit the theme for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns or Top Five.
As you obviously know, TV shows often add characters to the cast as the series goes along. One of the key tricks that shows do is reveal never before mentioned relatives and essentially retcon in these relatives to the series. The reason they do this is because it is hard to expect a new cast member to just integrate into the cast smoothly when we’ve never seen them before, so an easy answer is just to say, “Oh, they’re Character X’s sister” or “They’re Character Y’s cousin,” and therefore there is a clear reason for why they would suddenly be so intertwined into the lives of the cast. It’s especially useful for replacing departing characters, as their relative can take over any family property or family-owned business.
Most of the time, though, these new additions are terrible. However, sometimes they work out. So I want to know who you think was the best retconned-in-relative TV cast member addition. Note I mean FULL CAST member, not just a recurring character. I mean people who were added to the full regular cast of the show.
Some notable examples include Dawn Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spence on Ellen and Roger Cunningham on Happy Days.
I’m going with Ira Buchman on Mad About You. Originally, Tommy Hinkley played Selby, Paul Buchman’s best friend on the series, but he didn’t really work out, and was dropped after the show’s first 13 episodes. John Pankow was added as Paul’s cousin, Ira, in episode 15, and by Season 2, he was a full cast member, and remained so for the rest of the series. Paul and Ira had great chemistry, and since he was his relative, it made more sense why Paul would put up with some of Ira’s antics. It also allowed for an even greater examination of the Buchman family neuroses. He was a strong addition.
I almost considered Matthew Lawrence’s Jack Hunter on Boy Meets World, as he fit the show perfectly, giving Will Friedle’s Eric Matthews a best friend character, and Rider Strong’s Shawn Hunter a relative that allowed him to no longer require a legal guardian, thus allowing the show to drop the non-teen plotlines. It worked out very well for the show.
Okay, so that’s my pick. What’s yours?
Also, feel free to suggest future Pop Culture Theme Time topics to me at my new, much shorter e-mail, brian@poprefs.com!
the most memorable for me The Cosby Show, in the pilot “why do we have 4 kids?” response “because we didn’t have five.”
Partway through the first season Sondra the oldest and now fifth child arrives.
I have to go with Charley O’Casey, portrayed by William Demarest. He was the heretofore unmentioned brother of William “Bub” O’Casey, portrayed by William Frawley, on My Three Sons. Bub was Steve Douglas’ father-in-law and the boys’ grandfather.
In 1965, when Frawley was eased out of the show mid-way through the series’ fifth season, Demarest entered the picture in a two-episode arc, as Bub’s brother (hence the boys’ great-uncle) to assume the rôle as housekeeper, surrogate mother, and general, all-around grouch.
For the remainder of the season, there were some occasional references to Bub. But, from the sixth season on, Bub was never mentioned, again. It was like Uncle Charley had always been there. Even in the first episode of the eighth season, when the Douglas family moves to California and Steve reminisces about their days in Bryant Park (marked by snippets of early-season episodes), Bub is omitted.
What’s funny is that I literally have an article planned about post-departure references to Mike and Bub!
By the way, I realized after I posted that technically Bart Maverick counts, since Maverick initially launched as just starring Bret Maverick, but it happened so early in the series that I don’t think it really fits the spirit of the question.
What’s funny is that I literally have an article planned about post-departure references to Mike and Bub!
You’re usually ‘way ahead of me, but if you need input on those references, I’m up to speed on them, including the two oblique references to Mike in the ninth season.
Would Cheryl Ladd as Kris Munroe count? She was the younger sister of Jill Munroe played by Farrah Fawcett Majors who left the show after the first season. Cheryl Ladd ended up playing the character for five years.
It definitely would count!
The oblique ones are the ones that really fascinated me the most, as it’s, like, “Okay, you’ve totally written him out, and yet….”
There’s also Roger Moore’s Beau Maverick who came in after James Garner left. Not that I’d nominate him in the “best” category.
Even less known was Robert Colbert’s two-episode stint as the heretofore unmentioned third Maverick brother, Brent.
Even before Roger Moore left Maverick, Warner Brothers planned to capitalise on contract player Colbert’s resemblence to James Garner, by dressing him in an outfit almost identical to that classically worn by Bret Maverick and introducing him as the next Maverick.
The audience didn’t buy it. While Colbert performed his rôle admirably, it just didn’t go over with the viewers. And Brent Maverick was put on that last stage to Mandyville.
Colbert really looked EXACTLY like James Garner. It was kind of creepy, really.
Yeah, while I liked Beau Maverick, I definitely wouldn’t put him in the best category, while Bart Maverick really was quite good (just nowhere near as good as Bret Maverick). Brent Maverick was also not particularly good (although, the good Commander notes, that wasn’t because of Colbert).
. . . while Bart Maverick really was quite good (just nowhere near as good as Bret Maverick).
This is another case in which I swim against the tide. To be sure, James Garner, as Bret, was the definitive Maverick. But I slightly preferred the episodes with Jack Kelly as Bart. I felt that Kelly was the more versatile actor.
I think everyone will agree, though, that the episodes featuring both brothers were the best ones of the series.
How about Barbara Gordon/Batgirl on the 1966 “BATMAN” TV show? She’s mentioned as arriving in the second season finale (by her father, Commission Gordon, who’d never mentioned her before) and is automatically a regular member of the cast by the third and final season, replacing Madge Blake as Aunt Harriet Cooper (whose health was failing and only had 1-2 guest appearances that season). Not only did Yvonne Craig add a boost to the show itself, but was part of a concerted effort across TV and comics to introduce that new character and helped add more diversity to the genre.
[Barbara Gordon is] mentioned as arriving in the second season finale (by her father, Commission Gordon, who’d never mentioned her before) . . .
Actually, there was a reference to Barbara Gordon before that second-season finale (“The Duo Defy”, first aired on 30 March 1967).
During the course of the episode “Batman’s Waterloo”, first aired on 09 March 1967, Commissioner Gordon is consulting with Batman over the bat-phone about the current menace of King Tut, when the commissioner brings up a personal concern.
“I’m worried about
my daughter Barbara . . . she’s away at college—she’ll be graduating shortly, and I’d hate to think that some of the
dire happenings which have happened to that fine professor of Egyptology could also
happen to my beloved daughter at her school.”
To which, the Caped Crusader replies, “I rather doubt that your daughter Barbara
is going to get conked on the head and turned into a long-dead Egyptian ruler, commissioner.”
Now, as this exchange occurred in an episode only four weeks before the end of the season, it’s logical to assume that it’s foreshadowing the introduction of her character, just as the reference to Barbara in “The Duo Defy” definitely was.
In UK shows I would pick “uncle Albert” who replaced grandad in Only Fools and Horses from season 4 after the death of actor Lennard Pearce
runner-up – Ray Daley who became the new minder for his uncle Arthur Daley following the departure of Dennis Waterman who starred in the first 7 seasons of Minder as Terry McCann.
Honoury mention to Brass which featured the other sort of retconned in relative – when a police detective Inspector Hamish McDuff replaced his (identical) brother Dr McDuff who’s story had run it’s course (so the family connection is just an excuse to keep using an actor in a new role)
So, so good.
I think Kelly was an excellent actor, but Garner got first pick of scripts, and I think he typically picked the best ones, so I like Bret episodes better. When Kelly then got first pick against Moore and Colbert, Bart really got the chance to shine, though. And while I will concede Kelly was probably the better actor between him and Garner, Garner had that crazy ass movie star charisma that was off the charts. Like, for instance, take a couple of big 1980s TV actors, Daniel Travanti and Tom Selleck. Travanti was the much better actor, but Selleck was a STAR.
Similar to Mad About You, King of Queens had the male lead’s friend go from main to guest to gone, meanwhile they brought in his cousin (played by his IRL brother) who supplies the same things as Ira – deeper dive in to family neurosis, a reason to hang around each other, etc. Ironically, I think the female lead had a sister character that went the other way and went from being part of the stories, to just in the background, to gone!
I think the female lead [of The King of Queens] had a sister character that went the other way and went from being part of the stories, to just in the background, to gone!
Correct! Part of the original cast of The King of Queens was actress Lisa Rieffel, who portrayed Carrie Heffernan’s half-sister, Sara Spencer. She appeared in five of the first six episodes of the series, then was never seen, again.
The initial notion is to say she was just put on the bus to Mandyville, because there is a reference to her in the third-season episode “Roast Chicken”. However, she’s not referred to by name—only obliquely mentioned by Doug Heffernan as part of an excuse to get out of something his boss wants him to do.
Since later episodes of the show indicate Carrie was an only child, the easiest way to reconcile the sister’s third-season reference is to consider her an outright fabrication as part of Doug’s lie. That puts Sara Spooner in the Chuck Cunningham category—not just forgotten, but denied.
That’s hilarious timing, as I JUST LAST NIGHT wrote about Sara being a victim of Chuck Cunningham Syndrome. Talk about being on the same wavelength!
https://popculturereferences.com/carries-sister-on-king-of-queens-had-a-delayed-case-of-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/