Throughout the history of television, there are examples of characters from shows just disappearing. In one episode they are there, and in the next, they are gone without so much as an acknowledgment from the remaining characters. Or sometimes a half-baked reason that doesn't come until years later. It's like they never existed at all. This is our list meant to remember those characters we have lost to the curse of being written out with no explanation.
Chuck Cunningham - Happy Days
Maybe the most famous example of this is Chuck Cunningham (Gavan O'Herlihy), Richie and Joanie's older brother on Happy Days. His disappearance has become so famous it's become known as the "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome." Though he was never a main star, he was still around in the first season until one day he wasn't and he was never even mentioned again. Harsh.
Santiago Herrera - Friday Night Lights
Linebacker Santiago Herrera on Friday Night Lights was a pretty major character in the second season of the show. Despite seemingly being a leader on the team with Coach Taylor working with him a lot, Santiago vanished from the team after Season 2 and was never even mentioned again.
Monica Dawson - Heroes
On Heroes, Monica Dawson had a unique power that allowed her to imitate anyone around her's power. That would be one of the most useful powers anyone on the show had (save for Sylar). Dawson, played by Dana Davis, is a main character in Season 2 and then is dropped from the show and is never ever mentioned again, without a real explanation.
Mutt Schitt - Schitt's Creek
Mutt Schitt, played by Tim Rozon is the very good-looking son of Mayor Roland Schitt (Chris Elliot). He plays a big supporting role in the first two seasons of Schitt's Creek, especially as one of Alexis' potential love interests. He was seen less and less as the show went on until only being spotted once in Season 3 and one final time in Season 4 before never being sighted or mentioned again
Celia Hodes - Weeds
For a while, Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins) was a semi-regular reoccurring character on Weeds. She seemed to idolize Nancy and hate her at the same time. Despite being an antagonist for the first four seasons, by Season 5 she's only mentioned occasionally in passing until after Season 6 when the character completely falls off the radar and is never heard from again.
Leah Murphy - Grey's Anatomy
Dr. Leah Murphy, played by Tessa Ferrer, had a fairly brief, but action-packed couple of seasons on Grey's Anatomy during Seasons 9 and 10. She was fired at one point, but earned her job back the character seemed like she might make it for the long, but it wasn't to be and after one brief appearance in Season 13, she completely disappeared from the show.
Tiger - The Brady Bunch
When The Brady Bunch first hit the airwaves, it was just the six kids that made up the blended family, there was also the boys' pet dog Tiger. Tiger often made a mess of things, including Mike and Carol's wedding, but he was beloved. Until he wasn't. Tragically, the dog who played Tiger was hit by a car and killed, and rather than replace him, the producers just wrote the poor mutt right out of the show, though his doghouse remained in the backyard for years later.
Mr. Turner - Boy Meets World
For a while there, it seemed like Mr. Turner (Anthony Tyler Quinn) might be a very important teacher on Boy Meets World as he mentored Shawn and even took him in for a time. He was a regular character for three seasons before he dropped off the face of the earth after Season 4. He was mentioned briefly in the series finale, but fans never really got any closure from his sudden departure from the cast.
Judy - Family Matters
One of the most notorious examples of a character simply vanishing was the youngest Winslow child on Family Matters, Judy, played by Jaimee Foxworth. After Season 4, she was completely gone from the show as though she'd never existed. For shame Carl! Ignoring one of your daughters!
John Bennett - Orange Is The New Black
John Bennett was a key character during the first three seasons of Orange Is The New Black, and even had an affair with one of the inmates (Daya) and got her pregnant. Despite this, by the end of Season 3, he had quit his job and was never really even mentioned again. Fan theories abound, but ultimately it was the real world interfering as actor Matt McGorry simply quit the show.
Mandy Hampton - The West Wing
Right up there with Chuck Cunningham in notoriety is Mandy Hampton (Moira Kelly) in The West Wing. A full cast member and one of the stars in the show's first season, she completely disappeared and was never even mentioned again from the beginning of Season 2 on. Like the "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome," her disappearance has become shorthand for this kind of thing happening with fans calling it "Going to Mandyville."
Ser Ilyn Payne - Game Of Thrones
Ser Ilyn Payne, played by the late Wilko Johnson, was one of the scariest characters in Game of Thrones. He was King Joffery's executioner and despite playing a larger role in the books, he disappeared from the show after Season 2. Johnson had a major cancer scare and though he didn't end up dying from it, he was given only a few months to live at the time. He wasn't recast out of respect for Johnson. He is mentioned later once by Tywin Lannister in Season 6, but he's never seen again on screen, nor is his absence ever explained.
Tina Pinciotti - That '70s Show
Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon) was referred to as an only child for most of The '70s Show. This, however, is an example of confusing retconning for many hardcore fans. In Season 1 of the show, Donna had a sister, Tina Pinciotti (Amanda Fuller) and she is even seen on screen, not just mentioned. After one more throwaway joke in Season 2, Tina is never even mentioned again and Donna refers to herself as an only child. Did something sinister happen? We'll never know.
Mike - My Three Sons
As the name of the show would imply, on My Three Sons, there were, at least in the beginning, three sons. Mike, Robbie, and Chip were Steve Douglas' sons on the show for the first years. Mike, the oldest, played by Tim Considine, who left the show after Season 5, went to college and is barely ever mentioned again and he's never seen again. He doesn't even show up for weddings. He's just...gone.
Seven - Married... With Children
In Season 7 of Married... With Children, Peg's 12-year-old nephew Seven is introduced. It's a clear attempt at the "Cousin Oliver" effect when a young, precocious kid is randomly introduced to make the show "cuter." For Seven, however, it doesn't last long, as after 12 appearances, the show simply forgets about him, despite a few inside jokes (like appearing on the side of a milk carton).
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
In the pilot episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Detective Daniels is introduced as part of the team in the squad house. He seems like he'll be at least a semi-occurring character, but instead, he's never seen or heard from again.
Ben Geller - Friends
Even fans of Friends can admit that Ross (David Schwimmer) is pretty awful most of the time. Nothing is worse, however, than how he seemingly abandoned his first son, Ben. Ben wasn't a regular on the show, but he did appear multiple times. At least until his daughter, Emma, is born with Rachel. Ben, who was played by Cole Sprouse for a couple of seasons, is never even mentioned again and never meets his half-sister. Harsh, Ross.
Gwen Grandy - The Mindy Project
Gwen Grandy (Anna Camp) is one of Mindy's best friends on The Mindy Project. They talk all the time and Gwen even named Mindy as her newborn's godmother. Then Season 2 happened and Gwen was just gone from Mindy's life without even an explanation. Poof, the best friend is gone forever.
Robin Sylvester - Glee
Did you know Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) on Glee had a child? You might vaguely remember that she was pregnant at one point and in Season 3 fans even meet the child. Then the baby is hardly ever mentioned again and never seen on screen. We know that Sue was selfish and mean, but wow.
Tori Scott - Saved By The Bell
Tori Scott, played by actress Leanna Creel in the final season of Saved By The Bell was a very brief, but very serious girlfriend of Zach Morris. Sadly for Tori, after Jessie and Kelly returned to school after leaving for a time, the character was unceremoniously dropped and never mentioned again. It's not even clear if Zach broke up with her or if she fell off a cliff. She was just gone.
Amy Jessup - Fringe
Before she was cast in Suits, Meghan Markle had an all-too-brief role in Fringe. Markle's character Amy Jessup was introduced in Season 2 of the show and seemed to be a new, full member of the team. However, after two episodes, she was gone and no one ever found out why. She's never mentioned again,
Jenny Kelly - Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Sometimes there is off-screen drama that causes a sudden disappearance and that may be the case here with the character Jenny Kelly (Michelle Beaudoin) in Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Jenny was Sabrina's best friend and a major character in Season 2, but she didn't even get the dignity of a proper send-off when she suddenly disappeared from the show, never to even be mentioned again.
Mark Brendanawicz - Parks And Recreation
Mark Brendanawicz, played by Paul Schneider, was a key character in the early days of Parks And Recreation until he was written out completely when the actor left the show and the producers re-tooled and brought in new characters. Brendanawicz was never mentioned again.
Mo-Mo - Nurse Jackie
Mo-Mo (Haaz Sleiman) in the first season of Nurse Jackie provides a lot of much-needed fun and comic relief with his snarky asides to Jackie (Edie Falco). Sadly, it seems the show's producers didn't think the character was really necessary so he was written out after Season 1 without much explanation, despite being such buddies with Jackie. He deserved much better.
Molly Parker - The Facts Of Life
The character of Molly Parker, played by the great Molly Ringwald in the first seasons of The Facts Of Life and a couple of episodes of Diff'rent Strokes, met an unfortunate end when Ringwald was fired from the show in favor of other, older actors. Her leaving wasn't given any kind of explanation until years later when it's briefly mentioned that she left to become an actress. It seems like everything worked out just fine for Molly Ringwald.
Dr. Grace Miller - Scrubs
Dr. Grace Miller on Scrubs, played by Bellamy Young, was introduced with a lot of hype and promotion. She was essentially playing the female version of Dr. Cox and fans immediately hated the character. The backlash was so bad that she was dumped after just a handful of appearances as though she never existed. It's too bad because Young was great in the role.
President John Keeler - 24
24 went through presidents like people with a cold go through Kleenex. One president who lasted a couple of seasons was President John Keeler (Geoff Pierson), but after he was shot down in Air Force One and left incapacitated, his VP, Charles Logan, took over. It's completely unclear if Keeler died or was simply too injured to return as the character is basically never mentioned again.
Nebula Lawrence - Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World had a little bit of a habit of introducing seemingly important characters only to have them fall by the wayside without explaining why. Nebula "Nebby" Lawrence (Krystee Clark) is the perfect example. She was introduced in an episode of Season 1 and as her name implies, she is the sister of Topanga. That was her first and only appearance on the show and for the rest of the show's run Topanga is an only child. Nebby is never heard from again.
Caitlin - Heroes
Caitlin (Katie Carr) on Heroes gets at least a little explanation as to why she disappeared. She is introduced as a love interest for Peter in Season 2 and together they travel to the future, where she gets stuck and seemingly remains there forever, as she's never mentioned again, nor is her ultimate fate.
Frank Cubitoso - The Sopranos
Frank Cubitoso (Frank Pellegrino) was introduced as the head of the New Jersey office of the FBI in the first season of The Sopranos. He plays a recurring and pivotal role in trying to take down Tony and his crew for a while until he pretty much disappears after the murder of Adriana.
Nina Cassady - Law & Order
Characters coming and going from Law & Order was pretty standard fare for the long-running procedural. Most of the time though, they at least get some kind of send-off or at least an explanation. That was not the case for Detective Nina Cassady, played by Milena Govich, who lasted just one season before she was gone without so much as a hint as to what happened to her.
Behrooz Araz - 24
The Araz family were the main villains in Season 4 of 24 and while the fate of Navi and Dina Araz is clear (both are killed), the fate of their son Behrooz is left hanging. He is traded in a prisoner swap for Jack Bauer and the men who take him find the hidden trackers CTU hid on him. But after that, he just disappears and is never heard from again.
