The 5: Sitcom Children Who Got Misplaced
Sometimes even TV families lose interest. But it would be so easy to come up with a storyline driven reason to get rid of a kid that the writers lose interest in. It’s just common sense. For these five sitcom kids, they had a fate worse than getting written off a hit show. They just disappeared. Where do the sitcom children go?
1. MISSING CHILD ALERT: Chuck Cunningham: Happy Days (11 episodes)
When you go through three actors in the same role, it might be time to give up hope of turning your character into a memorable part of your show. Chuck, the older preppy brother of Richie and Jonie, first showed up in Happy Day’s pilot episode in Love American Style, played by Ric Carrott. But that role was recast and played for 9 episodes by Gavan O’Herlihy, who left and was replaced in two episodes by Randolph Roberts, before the producers realized the less than memorable Chuck wasn’t adding much to the crowded series and any brotherly relationship Richie needed could be given by “The Fonze.” In one final blow to the memory of Chuck, the Cunningham patriarc declared in the last episode that he had two children, wipping Chuck from existence. But he lived on via the Internet with “the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome” which references randomly disappearing characters.
2. MISSING CHILD ALERT: Kevin: Greatest American Hero (4 episdodes)
If you’ve ever seen the Greatest American Hero’s two hour pilot, you know that the basic premise was that special ed-teacher, single father Ralph suddenly has the responsibility of protecting the world when a red suit is sent down from space. Originally, the single father aspect was a major storyline; Ralph only tried to fly when he was running late for a custody hearing. There was even a rather sweet father-son moment asking his son if he wanted to live with him. Well, Ralph won custody from his supermodel ex-wife, but by the end of the first season Kevin was dropped from the show completely, never to be mentioned again. Apparently priorities change when you get a superpowered red suit.
3. MISSING CHILD ALERT: Steve Floyd and Ruth Ann: The Torkelsons (20 episodes)
The short lived NBC family comedy The Torkelsons went through a big change between the first and second season. Once a comedy about a low-income family in the Oklahoma, in the second season the show’s name was changed to Almost Home and moved the show to fancy suburbs of Seattle so their mother could be a housekeeper (basically it was just a reverse on Who’s the Boss). Three of the five kids came along, with not even mention of the son and daughter who didn’t make the trip (maybe stayed in Oklahoma with the family boarder William Schallert). A Young Britney Murphy and sitcom regular Jason Marsden were brought in to turn the family show into a teen-friendly series…it lasted 13 episodes.
4. MISSING CHILD ALERT: Judy: Family Matters (70 episodes)
Perhaps the saddest example of a kid getting dropped, the adorable youngest child of the Winslow family was the hardest hit victim of Urkelmania (this country still hasn’t recovered). Once Steve Urkel pushed his way into the family house, there was a scramble for characters to connect to this nerd. Father Carl hated him, daughter Laura had to resist him, and brother Eddie befriended him. But what to do with litte Judy? After season four the little used character was simply written out and the character never referenced. The actress, Jaimee Foxworth, spoke of being hurt over being let go and remerged years later in pornography and later VH1’s Celebrity Rehab.
5. MISSING CHILD ALERT: Brendan: Step By Step (133 episdoes)
Finally, it’s one thing to get written off a show, but to be pushed out to make room for another child seems pretty harsh for a show aimed at children. The shockingly long running TGIF series Step-by-Step ran 9 seasons. Although the premise was an “edgier” Brady Bunch, almost immediately the poorly defined youngest child seemed to be completely void of personality or distinct characteristics. Unfortunately, when a baby was born, the show used the opportunity to move the pre-teen Brendan out and rapidly aged the new daughters to take on the role of “cute kid” in the last seasons, with no mention of what happened to their 6th child.
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