|
Chuck Cunningham syndrome is a term of art used by television critics; it refers to a television series in which a main character is dropped with little or no explanation.
The term comes from the character Chuck Cunningham in the American series Happy Days (the oldest son in the Cunningham family). Chuck appeared during the first season of the show but was written out at the beginning of the second season. After the second season, he was never mentioned again. The original explanation for his departure was that he was going to college. Subsequent episodes referred to the Cunninghams as having two, rather than three, children. On the Happy Days reunion special that aired February 3, 2005, a series of clips was introduced that not only pointed out that Chuck disappeared, but that he was played by two different actors over the course of the series; both of them were then brought out, a surprise to Marion Ross and the rest of the cast.
Other instances of Chuck Cunningham syndrome include:
- All in the Family: At the start of the 1976-77 season the Bunkers took in a Puerto Rican border named Teresa Betancourt. She was featured in several episodes, but did not return the following season. No explanation was ever given regarding her departure.
- All My Children: One of the earliest examples of the Chuck Cunningham syndrome, Joe Martin's son Bobby Martin went up to wax his skis one day in 1970 and was never seen again. The show has been known to poke fun at the incident, such as one episode in which a character ventured into the Martins' attic and found a skeleton with a shirt bearing the words "Bobby" and holding a pair of skis.
- Are You Being Served?: Several characters disappeared without explanation during the run of this series, including Mr. Mash, Mr. Grainger, Mr. Goldberg, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Grossman, Mr. Klein, and Old Mr. Grace.
- Boy Meets World:
- Corey's sister Morgan disappears after the second season. During her absence she is never mentioned. When she reappears two seasons later as a new actress, she comes down the stairs saying she's been in her room for a long time.
- The character of Stewart Minkas, a classmate of Cory and Shawn's, disappears after the first season, and is never mentioned again until a later episode. When he reappears, Cory and Shawn ask where he's been. Minkas responds by pointing towards the camera, and saying "Over there, on the other end of the school." The boys respond that they don't go to that end, as people have been known to never return. Minkas then calls out in that direction to Mr. Turner, a teacher who was likewise dropped from the show after being a regular.
- Gimme a Break!: Uncle Ed, the Chief's older brother, mysteriously disappeared.
- Family Matters: Judy Winslow and Aunt Rachael disappeared from the series without explanation, Aunt Rachael even abandoning her son. Aunt Rachael, however, returned for a few subsequent episodes. In Judy Winslow's last episode, she simply goes up to her room and never comes back down.
- Law & Order: Captain Donald Cragan and ADA Paul Robinette mysteriously disappeared after the third season; as did DA Adam Schiff following season ten.
- Life With Bonnie: The Molloys's oldest child, Samantha, disappeared from the show after the first season. According to series star Bonnie Hunt, this was due to "creative differences."
- Married... With Children: Seven runs away to live with the D'Arcys and is never seen again (The producers of the show realized they had made a mistake in introducing his character; his face was later seen on a milk carton).
- M*A*S*H: Spearchucker Jones appeared during the first season as a doctor at the 4077th and the fourth tentmate in the Swamp. He disappeared during the first season when the producers realized there were no black doctors during the Korean War.
- New York Undercover: The lieutentant, played by Patti D'Arbanville, was dropped from the show without any explanation after a third-season finale that killed off two other characters.
- The Simpsons: The therapist Dr. Marvin Monroe was dropped from the series with no explanation because the cast all hated the sound of his voice (Harry Shearer has also said it was hurting his throat). In an episode about the show's anniversary, it claimed that Marvin Monroe was one of two characters that died at the time. However, he reappeared in a later episode claiming he was "ill" during the time he was missing.
- Space: 1999: Between the first and second seasons, Victor Bergman (Barry Morse), Paul Morrow and Ben Kano disappeared from Moonbase Alpha without any explanation, a particularly glaring omission since there was nowhere they could have gone (Morse left due to a contract dispute; the other two were let go by new producer Fred Freiberger in favor of new characters Tony Verdeschi and Maya in an effort to make the show's appeal a little broader).
- Star Trek: During the first season, Janice Rand was a regular, serving in the capacity as the captain's yeoman and potential love interest for Captain Kirk. She mysteriously disappeared halfway through the season and, although she has appeared in four of the Star Trek movies and an episode of Star Trek: Voyager since, no explanation has ever been given for her departure (William Shatner claims that Grace Lee Whitney was let go because of serious drug and alcohol problems; while that was true, the producers have said that they just didn't think it was a good idea for Kirk to have a love interest on the ship).
- Step By Step:
- The youngest Lambert boy on the show, Brendan, saw his role reduced during the last few years of the show until he was completely dropped from the show during the last season without explanation.
- In the first season, Carol owns a beauty salon attached to the Lamberts' house. The beauty salon employs two women, Carol's mother and sister, who are also main characters. After the first season, both the two women the beauty salon are completely dropped.
- That '70s Show: Donna's younger sister, Tina, is shown once and never mentioned again. Donna also apparently had an older sister, Valerie, who was mentioned once but never seen or mentioned again.
- Three's Company: Chuck Cunningham syndrome appeared three times in Three's Company:
- Lana Shields (Ann Wedgeworth) was added to the show at the beginning of the fourth season but soon disappeared several episodes later when the show's writers realized they had run out of ideas for her.
- Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) was the original blonde girl on the show. She moved temporarily during the fifth season with the apparent intention of coming back, but was never heard from again afterwards (she was forced out of the show during a failed attempt to hold out for more money).
- Cindy Snow (Jenilee Harrison), Chrissy's cousin, was Chrissy's first replacement on the show. She disappeared during the sixth season after an argument with Janet and was never heard from again.
- The Torkelsons: During their move from Oklahoma to Seattle, the family mysteriously loses two children, Steven Floyd and Ruth Ann.
- The West Wing: The character of Mandy Hampton is dropped after the first season without explanation, though the show's creator, Aaron Sorkin has said that she was dropped the character had run her course.
See also
|
