13 Storylines TV Shows Decided To Either Forget About Or Change, But It Wasn't Super Subtle

There are obviously some MASSIVE spoilers ahead! And #5 mentions pregnancy loss.

HBO

First, in the pilot episode of "Succession," Roman Roy appears with a woman and child — and he's wearing a wedding ring. Then, they were never seen again. Most fans pointed out that the show simply forgot about Roman's family, with Kieran Culkin saying it was later explained to him that it was just "his girlfriend, and she had a child."

As for the wedding ring, he was wearing his own. He told Variety, "I was excited about the idea of having a kid, and the kid was like 7 or 8. It was a little disappointing, but I think the idea was that it would just give them more freedom to play with the character."

The family also went away because originally, the writers were "questioning what Roman's sexuality is."

Fox

In "Prison Break," Sara was notably killed in a gruesome fashion, with her head literally being delivered to Lincoln and Michael as a warning. It was a heartbreaking death that was later reversed when she came back alive in Season 4. The show explained that it wasn't actually Sara's head in the box but rather another woman who looked like her.

Due to reported contract negotiations with Sarah Wayne Callies and Fox reportedly wanting to re-energize the series, executive producer Matt Olmstead revealed their initial plans for Season 3 changed. Sara ultimately died sooner than they wanted, but they still loved the character and found a way to bring back Sarah for Season 4. Sarah joked that she dies "in Season 3 of everything," referencing her character's death in The Walking Dead.

ABC

"Family Matters" originally centered heavily on the Winslow family, however, after audiences loved Steve Urkel so much, the central storylines on the show shifted. This led to the youngest Winslow daughter, Judy, disappearing one day as if she never existed. People often joke that Judy went upstairs one day, and never returned.

According to Rolling Stone, Jaimee Foxworth, who played Judy, was fired before Season 5 after seeing her role reduced to more of a background character in the previous two seasons. For the rest of the series, the remaining characters acted like she never existed, but audiences vividly remember the third Winslow daughter who just vanished.

Her last episode was Season 4, Episode 19.

CBS

In "The Big Bang Theory," Sheldon notably revealed that he does his signature triple knock before entering because he once accidentally walked in on his father cheating on his mom with another woman. However, in "Young Sheldon," the story changes, with Sheldon actually catching his parents engaging in role-play, with his mom wearing a blonde wig.

Sheldon's dad cheating on his mom was a central element in the original series, with Sheldon's reveal to Penny being an important step forward in his character development. In the Season 10 episode, Sheldon talks about how he's worried he and Amy are fighting like his parents used to and how he's worried he might "do something like his dad did."

Fox

In "Married...with Children" Season 6, Peg is pregnant; however, a few episodes later, it was revealed that it wasn't real, and Al dreamt it. This storyline was originally created when Katey Sagal was pregnant in real life, but then her child was stillborn while filming the season. The writers made the choice to reverse her character's pregnancy storyline on the show following the news.

Katey missed four episodes prior to the episode when it's revealed to have been a dream. Also, the show did away with Marcy's pregnancy, as both Peg and Marcy were pregnant at the same time. 

In 2017, while promoting her memoir, Katey spoke about her daughter Ruby's stillbirth "at almost eight months," saying, "It was a very difficult thing ... I could not wrap my brain [around it]."

The CW

In "The Vampire Diaries" Season 1, Stefan is the first Salvatore brother Elena meets in Mystic Falls. However, seasons later, it was revealed that Elena actually met Damon before she met Stefan, but he used compulsion to make her forget.

The change of storyline has long been discussed with fans, with many calling out the show for conveniently making Damon the first person Elena meets as a reason that Damon and Elena should end up together.

ABC

In the series finale of "Roseanne," Roseanne reveals that she's actually been writing her book and she changed details, with a big one being Dan died of a heart attack. When the series was rebooted in 2018, the show decided to make it so Dan was still alive.

Following a series of racist tweets from Roseanne Barr, Roseanne was canceled before the show turned into The Conners, which is still on the air. In The Conners, Roseanne was killed off in the pilot, and Dan is still alive.

Fox

"Fringe" Season 2 introduced FBI agent Amy Jessup, who was played by Meghan Markle before she landed her breakout role in "Suits." Although she was seemingly setting up a big storyline involving the Fringe Division's case files, she suddenly just vanished after only two episodes.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2009, executive producer Jeff Pinkner talked about Jessup's sudden disappearance, saying, "There's no end date. She's an available tool in our toolbox, and we'll use her as we see fit. [But] we're really trying to tell stories about our main characters…"

CBS

When "Happy Days" began, Richie originally had an older brother named Chuck. He appeared in the first two seasons of the series before just disappearing as if he never existed. In his place, Fonzie became a bigger character and acted as an older, brother-like figure for Richie.

Chuck was even played by two actors. Chuck's disappearance is so significant in TV history that it led to the phrase "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome," which is when a TV show removes a character without an explanation.

NBC

Similarly, in "The West Wing" Season 1, Moira Kelly starred as Mandy Hampton, a White House media consultant who was a main character. However, when Season 2 began, Mandy was gone. The disappearance of her character even led to fans coining the term "Mandyville," which was used when any other character just vanished during the show's run.

Speaking about working with Moira, creator Aaron Sorkin said, "Moira Kelly didn’t have to audition; she was offered Mandy. Moira was a joy to work with, a total pro who understood as time went on that for whatever reasons — and those reasons had nothing to do with her considerable talent — it just wasn’t working."

The CW

In the "Riverdale" pilot episode, when Cheryl talks about the cheerleading squad, she mentions that she's the "senior captain." It's also assumed that Jason Blossom, Cheryl's twin, is older than the other main characters. However, eventually, Cheryl becomes the same age as Archie, Betty, Jughead, Veronica, and more.

This is a common case of a TV show changing a character's original age to keep them around longer. As the show went on, though, it got more confusing because Jason and Polly are seemingly meant to be the same age, which is older than the core group. Cheryl eventually graduated from Riverdale High along with the other main characters in Season 5.

NBC

In Season 8 of "Cheers," Frasier mentions that his dad was a scientist and is dead. However, when "Frasier" premiered four years later, Frasier's dad, Martin Crane, was a central and beloved character.

Martin proved to be an essential character in Frasier's character development. In Vanity Fair's oral history of the series, writer/producer Lori Kirkland Baker said, "Martin's presence, over the show's duration, softened Frasier." 

Cheers also mentions that Frasier's an only child, which was also retconned in Frasier with the introduction of Niles, played by David Hyde Pierce. Niles was created after the casting directors and writers fell in love with David.

CBS

And finally, in "Dallas," Bobby tragically died in the Season 8 finale while saving Pam. Then, an entire season went by, aka 31 episodes, before Pam woke up and it turned out it was all a dream, and Bobby was alive. Nicknamed "The Dream Season," it remains one of the biggest retcons on TV.

According to cast member Steve Kanaly, "I don't want to mention them [by name], but various cast members were pissed because their storylines were lost as a result of that. And it had a big impact."