One Hit Wonders: Characters Who Were Only In One Episode But You Want To See Again

[Danielg342]

On 8/26/2021 at 12:33 AM, Annber03 said:

Regarding the talk of crime dramas, the earlier mention of "Criminal Minds" reminds me of another character from that show that I would've liked to see pop up again: Nathan Harris. The episode with him, "Sex, Birth, Death", is one of my favorites of the series, and I'd always wanted to know what became of his character. It would've been neat to see the team revisit him or that case again at some point down the line, check in and see how he was faring. 

Unfortunately, Anton Yelchin's untimely death ended that possibility :(. 

Harris comes up quite a bit among the CM fanbase, at least here. I understand why. A character trying to fight his darkest urges and not become a serial killer himself is an interesting concept, and Anton Yelchin gave him a humanity that made him feel even more real.

I suppose Nathan Harris (and some of the other small-time CM characters whom I might have liked to have seen more, like Lily Kershaw's Kelly Shane (from the S4 finale) or the central characters of "Damaged" (criminal Chester Hardwick and victims the Galen siblings), didn't strike as much a chord as Zoe Hawkes did because at least they survived, which, in theory, meant they could have come back.

It just goes to one of the bigger issues I have with CM in that the characters in their cases seem to operate in a vacuum- as soon as the show is done with them, they're forgotten, except in some rare cases where a (usually clumsy) story is concocted around them. It defies reality to think that the team saves these people from some absolutely horrible nightmarish situations and not once has any one of them ever thought to so much as send the team a card or flowers. Just once I would have liked hearing a team member say they received a message from someone they rescued informing them how much better their lives are at the moment...little things like that. I mean, we actually see the BAU forge bonds with a lot of the people they rescue or otherwise deal with...why can't the show give us a nod to that every now and then?

[JustHereForFood]

Another episodic character that I remember fondly: The third season of the BBC version of Robin Hood was a bit of hit and miss, but one of the better things was the episode A Dangerous Deal, with Holliday Grainger (from The Borgias) as a character called Meg who had an episode-long romance with Gisborne. The story was a bit cheesy, but I loved it at the time and her character was awesome.

[magicdog]

Just caught an episode of Emergency in which Bobby Sherman ("Here Come The Brides") plays a medical resident fresh out of medical school and not thinking much about the paramedic program.  He was quite a bit antagonistic to the point that Dr. Brackett send him to work a shift with Johnny and Roy to better understand what they do.

I wouldn't have minded seeing his character more often as someone who is occasionally answering calls from other paramedics in the field.  Of course, not long after doing this episode, Sherman left acting to actually become a paramedic!

[Fool to cry]

Kat Mandu on Happy Days:

[Blergh]

While I have to admit Kat Mandu (played by, of all folks, the performer turned writer, novelist, singer and executive producer Deborah Pratt) was an intriguing character, that whole episode 'Fonzie Meets Kat' was among the lamest ones due to the writing. I mean, it had such things as Richie refusing to tell Howard and Marion that Joanie was being . ..detained at a dock bar  by a gang of sailors led by Fonzie's rival Rico who were trying to compel her to have her (at the very least) kiss all of them was preposterous! What was the worst they'd have done to Joanie-call the cops and then have her grounded? That sure would have been preferable to what those sailors had in mind for her!  Obviously this was JUST so RIchie would have HAD to had Fonzie rescue Joanie in spite of being hobbled by a promise of 'no fighting' for 24 hours he'd made to Al's wetblanket twin brother priest  Father Delvecchio.  Of course, literally moments after the wetblanket showed up at the dock bar to remind Fonzie of the promise - the 24 hours was up and Fonzie got unleashed. It would have been one thing to have had no choice BUT to have Fonzie rescue Joanie due to the Cunningham parents being out of town,etc. but the script had them in town but deliberately kept in the dark  of their daughter's very safety being  at serious risk  because. ..why?Speaking of safety, until Kat changed sides and became Fonzie's ally due to her admiration for him keeping the oath, not only had she been allied with Rico and those menacing mariners but at no point did she attempt to so much as verbally discourage them from trying to have their way with Joanie- much less make any attempt to protect Joanie (and she made no apologies for her prior allegiance/priorities). I know it was a comedy but I definitely think someone should have called her out on saying and doing nothing to attempt to stop a gross criminal act from happening- especially when it was made clear she was more than capable of having done so on her own! Oh, and the last scene had Kat drop by to bring Joanie's ( I think purse) to the Cunningham house and Richie instantly brags ad nauseum how he's going to do a HUGE write up and expose on Kat's life which, to no surprise gets Kat to amscray  while Richie tries in vain to get Howard and Marion to come into the kitchen to meet Kat but the Cunningham parents somehow are unwilling/unable to walk three whole steps to meet this person. Natch, Kat amscrays before she becomes a rag headline [to the surprise of no one].  What was frustrating is that this script of had elements that COULD have made it an entertaining one but it was very lamely thought out and wound up laying an ostrich egg [of course, this was a later Screamy Mimi Studio Audience show].

P.S Why didn't they think of having Kat Mandu exit by saying she had to 'get to Bob Seger' ?

Edited August 15, 2023 by Blergh

[magicdog]

On 8/13/2023 at 7:06 AM, Blergh said:

While I have to admit Kat Mandu (played by, of all folks, the performer turned writer, novelist, singer and executive producer Deborah Pratt) was an intriguing character, that whole episode 'Fonzie Meets Kat' was among the lamest ones due to the writing.

Well, the ultimate endgame was to give the character a spinoff of her own, though the network didn't bite.  I would imagine the character would have been a bit like Caine in "Kung Fu", wandering from place to place helping people out.  Her character doesn't seem like one that would stay in one place too long. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by magicdog

[Blergh]

4 hours ago, magicdog said:

Well, the ultimate endgame was to give the character a spinoff of her own, though the network didn't bite.  I would imagine the character would have been a bit like Caine in "Kung Fu", wandering from place to place helping people out.  Her character doesn't seem like one that would stay in one place too long. 

While Miss Pratt's talents largely made Kat Mandu an intriguing character , IMO the script was so lame and awkward that it's not surprising that ABC didn't bite. I mean, I understand that it was part of the MO for the character for the audience to be unsure whether she ultimately to be a friend or foe to the Fonz until the very end. However, the script never gave any motivation as to WHY she'd allied herself to Rico and those mariners in the first place (IOW, it might have helped had there been some indication that she was just giving Rico enough rope to hang himself and had been an agent/spy,etc. but that wasn't the case). Then,too, the character was somewhat of a . ..straight woman thrust into the middle of (by-then) a very broad sitcom so I wouldn't be surprised if ABC wasn't sure how she'd be a protagonist of her own show AND whether it was to be a straight-up comedy, a Get Smart-type spoof or a dramatic spy-intrigue show. Yep, the HD writers needlessly shot themselves in the foot via their lame script, which is too bad because it had the potential to have been a really cool episode! Thankfully, Miss Pratt proved to easily bounce back in ways they couldn't have imagined!

[BlueSkies]

Jesses brother on Saved By The Bell.  Or step brother.  I think his name was Eric? 

 

He was good at shaking things up with the Bayside crew.  Enough so 30 years later I still remember him 

Edited September 4, 2023 by BlueSkies

[BlueSkies]

Growing Pains had some memorable one hit wonders:

 

Dana Plato as the Madonna wannabe.  

 

 

Jay Acovone as Jake the carnival worker in another episode where he helps out Carol

[DearEvette]

Poker Face is a mother lode of one-shot fantastic guest performances.  Not only acted well but written very well.  Unfortunately most of them play the villains... but I'd love to get a glimpse of Irene and Joyce (S. Epatha Merkerson and Judith Light) and again.  If only see what mayhem they might be up to next.

[Egg McMuffin]

The Katmandu episode of Happy Days is so incredibly lame. But I’d love to see the Katmandu pilot that they did film, and that ABC passed on. Did it take place in the early 60s like Happy Days?

[magicdog]

14 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

The Katmandu episode of Happy Days is so incredibly lame. But I’d love to see the Katmandu pilot that they did film, and that ABC passed on. Did it take place in the early 60s like Happy Days?

I don't know if a specific pilot was made, the episode we saw may have been it - a backdoor pilot.  Whether or not it would have taken place in the past is a toss up since many other spinoffs from HD took place in the (then) present.  Laverne and Shirley I think was the only one to take place in the same time frame as HD.

[Egg McMuffin]

Yep - a pilot was made, costarring Alice Ghostley and Vicki Lawrence.

[andromeda331]

On 9/4/2023 at 6:54 AM, BlueSkies said:

Jesses brother on Saved By The Bell.  Or step brother.  I think his name was Eric? 

 

He was good at shaking things up with the Bayside crew.  Enough so 30 years later I still remember him 

It was her stepbrother but yes his name was Eric. He made things a lot more interesting.

[Egg McMuffin]

How about Charlie on That 70s Show? He was meant to be a replacement for Eric when Topher Grace was leaving. But Bret Harrison wasn’t locked in and wound up doing another series. So they actually killed off Charlie and brought in the awful Randy.

[Blergh]

OK, now that I brought up the late Ruth Gordon (1896-1985) elsewhere, I might as well add one of my fave one-shots she did was on Rhoda (1974-1978) as Carlton the [never seen] Doorman's Mother.

Carlton's Mother [no other name given]was a flaky grifter of the first order who, even when pressing for Rhoda to get Carlton's job restored, never stopped trying to get the best of others (and likely contributed a great deal to Carlton's character). Oh, and she had one of the best lines ever:

"You know who his father was!" Carlton's Mother.

"No!"-Rhoda

"Me neither!"-Carlton's Mother.

[Shannon L.]

We can't have her back because she was murdered, but, in Criminal Minds, Zoe, the young woman who was studying criminology in college, was a great character, and I think she'd have eventually been a good addition to the team