11 Great TV Characters Who You Never Actually Got To See

By Baz Greenland / September 3, 2013

7. Mrs Columbo (Columbo)

Like 'The Mother', the wife of this great, shabby, unassuming, eagle-eyed sleuth is a woman we got to know about for many, many years before finally making an onscreen appearance. Except she didn't...well sort of. After the show ended, the networks attempted to keep the magic alive with a spin off 'Mrs Columbo' featuring 'Captain Janeway' herself, Kate Mulgrew, as 'The Missus', but it quickly evolved to another show altogether (and didn't last that long). For one thing, if the then 24-year old Kate Mulgrew was his wife, it would have meant he would have married her when she was under age... In truth her character never had anything to do with the great detective himself. So we'll return to the main show. Like many great unseen TV characters, we kept missing the wife. And Columbo came up with some fantastic excuses to explain her absence.

"She had to go to Chicago to look after her mother. She fell and broke her hip. Her mother, she was having fun at the time, ma'am -- learning how to skateboard."

"Well sir, it's her night school, final exam in accounting . She was dyin to come here, but at the last minute she decided, she better take the exam."

Or the classic...

"Gee, she was here a minute ago...probably in the ladies room..."

There was never denying the detective's fondness for this unseen woman. Over the years we learned some great things about her. She loved mystery novels and films, but could never pick the murderer. She loved to dance but couldn't play the piano, despite many attempts. She was a whizz at crosswords, and belonged in a bowing league. Oh and she couldn't cook to save her life. And as always, she was a big fan of 'everything and everyone'. Chances are, if the killer was a bit of a celebrity, than Mrs Columbo was their biggest fan. Which is a shame as her husband kept arresting them for murder...