Brilliant non-characters in comedies

[Kevin S]

Mrs Elizabeth Mainwaring in Dad's Army is a stroke of genius. We hear about Captain Mainwaring's marriage from him and can infer all sorts of things about Elizabeth but all we ever get of her are a few off-screen noises when they are in the bunk beds in their air raid shelter.

Any other great characters referred to in the third (occasionally second) person, whom we never really get to see?

[Giggler]

Mr Swainey's mum in One Foot In the Grave is the one that obviously stands out for me.

[Patrick Thistle]

Maris in Frasier has got to be the number one.

[Levin]

Which relates to Vera in Cheers.

[Benjm]

Vera was the first to mind for me.

[Sits]

'er indoors.

[Satchmo Distel]

Mrs Columbo

[3 Colours Red]

Ugly Naked Guy seems like he would almost certainly be less petty, neurotic and self-absorbed than any of the Friends.

[Jah Womble]

If we can stretch this to the screen versions of the Peanuts cartoons, why has 'the little red-haired girl' suddenly become a visible entity in recent times?

The whole point of her, surely, was that she remained unattainable to Charlie Brown, thereby keeping him tied to his predicament (conveniently for me, a key sitcom trope).

I'm sure Schulz is turning in his grave (or sifting in his urn)...

[Satchmo Distel]

Was there a sitcom with a bedridden relative who is only ever heard shouting from upstairs?

[Mr Cogito]

Was there a sitcom with a bedridden relative who is only ever heard shouting from upstairs?

Kerrrryyyyyyy!!!! WHAT??? KERRRRY!!!!!!!! WHAATTTT!!!!!

[ad hoc]

Was there a sitcom with a bedridden relative who is only ever heard shouting from upstairs?

Big Bang Theory. Mrs Wolowitz

[Hot Pepsi]

If we can stretch this to the screen versions of the Peanuts cartoons, why has 'the little red-haired girl' suddenly become a visible entity in recent times?

The whole point of her, surely, was that she remained unattainable to Charlie Brown, thereby keeping him tied to his predicament (conveniently for me, a key sitcom trope).

I'm sure Schulz is turning in his grave (or sifting in his urn)...

I'm pretty sure she has been visible before.

[Patrick Thistle]

The teacher in the Charlie Brown & Snoopy show. ("Mwah Mwah Mwah")

[Jah Womble]

I'm pretty sure she has been visible before.

She certainly wasn't visible in the strip cartoons - which to me are the definitive voice of Schulz's creation, rather than the increasingly-watered-down animations.

[Patrick Thistle]

Many of Kramer's friends in Seinfeld were talked about but never seen. Bob Sacamano is one that springs to mind.

[Hot Pepsi]

She certainly wasn't visible in the strip cartoons - which to me are the definitive voice of Schulz's creation, rather than the increasingly-watered-down animations.

I feel like I saw her in the strips, but I could be wrong.

[Giggler]

Wally Bazoom in Game On always conjured some great images.

[evilC]

John Shuttleworth's wife, Mary. We only ever see/hear her as a disembodied voice, usually chiding John for his musical antics instead of doing something productive.

[evilC]

Similarly, Dame Edna's husband, Norman.

From Wikipedia:

Her husband, Sir Norman Everage, died in 1988 after many years in hospital suffering from prostate problems and a "testicular murmur"; Edna founded the non-profit "Friends of the Prostate" in his honour. Dame Edna was not with Norm when he died. And due to his insistence that all his organs be donated; by the time she reached his bedside, Norm had been "globally recycled" and all that remained was "a dent in the pillow". As a result Dame Edna almost believed that Norm's cremation was a "waste of money".