You all remember Ann Veal from Arrested Development, right? Who? Her? Egg? Bland? No, of course you don’t. That’s the point. Nobody remembers … who are we talking about, again? That character from Arrested Development who … look! Shiny penny! Anyway, Egg is not the only Egg on television. There are other Ann Veals, characters with a significant presence for at least a short period of time on the show, with whom we have little recollection. Characters who never left much of an impression. Here are ten of those very characters from other television shows that we watched, and yet, have little lasting memory of these characters: They are television’s Ann Veal-iest characters.
Chris Brody, Homeland — Wait, what? Dana Brody had a brother? Really? What did he do on the show? How did he service the plot? I don’t recall Brody grieving over missing his son in the last season of Homeland. Are we sure Chris Brody actually existed, and wasn’t just an extra who stood in the background to fill out scenes?
Josh Girard, 30 Rock — His face looks kind of familiar, but who was he again? He was on 30 Rock for three seasons, including season two in which he was a regular cast member? Really? I have almost no recollection of that. He was replaced by Danny in season four? Oh yeah, I totally remember Danny! He was Canadian. Josh though? *shrugs* I’ll just go over to tumblr, where everything in 30 Rock was turned into a GIF and find a Josh one .. nope. None to be found.
Santiago Herrera, Friday Night Lights — He was a regular cast member in season two of Friday Night Lights, right? No, I don’t think so. That’s impossible because season two of Friday Night Lights never existed. Landry never shot anyone, Santiago was never on this show, and Friday Night Lights had four perfect seasons. The end.
Meegan Eckhart, The League — Hey! Remember when Pete on The League was married? Yeah, me neither.
Cindy Chandler, Lost — She was in 18 episodes over four seasons of Lost? ARE YOU SURE? I mean, I vaguely remember this woman as a flight attendant:
But this woman, who was kidnapped by The Others? Nope.
Jacqui, The Walking Dead — She was in the entire first season, was friend with T-Dog, and killed herself, along with Edwin, in the CDC explosion. I remember the explosion! But her? Barely, maybe, I guess? I think my memory of her disappeared right along with Glenn’s cap. RIP Glenn’s cap.
Gwen Grandy, Shauna Dicanio, The Mindy Project — Remember when Anna Camp was on The Mindy Project? She sure was, for 13 episodes. She played Mindy’s best friend, and then she just kind of disappeared, swallowed up in the first of two (or three) re-toolings that the sitcom has had, mostly because her character failed to register.
At least I kind of remember Gwen Grandy, but Shauna Dicanio (the one on the left, also in 13 episodes) I have almost zero recollection of.
Daniel Golden, The Good Wife — I love The Good Wife. I’m completely obsessed with it. I’ve watched every episode, from the very beginning. What’s that, you say? Daniel Golden? The guy from Scandal was in The Good Wife? For much of the first season? Really? I totally blanked on that, and yet I absolutely know him from Scandal. I even remember him as the guy that Whitley left at the altar for Dwayne on Different World. But The Good Wife? Uh uh.
(Michael Boatman was also on The Good Wife, and disappeared seemingly without explanation, but who could forget Michael Boatman? He was Carter Heywood in Spin City, for God’s sake)
Leander Sydnor, The Wire — OMAR! AVON BARKSDALE. STRINGER BELL. BODIE. BUNK. MCNULTY. KIMA. CARVER. HERC. BUBBLES. LESTER. PREZ … Syndor? It’s been a few years since I’ve seen The Wire in its entirety, but it probably says a lot about the rest of the cast — many of whom created indelible, unforgettable characters, some of whom are now iconic — that I barely remember Leander Sydnor, who was in 45 episodes of The Wire. I mean, I absolutely remember him from, like, 5 or 6 episodes, but 45?
Mark Brendanawicz, Parks and Recreation — The truth is, I do remember Mark. I remember thinking the entire time that he was on Parks and Recreation that he was the weak link on the show, that his character served no purpose, and that his plotlines were completely forgettable, and that no one cared about Mark Brendanawicz. He was as Ann as the nose on Plain’s face. When he left, our memory of him being a huge part of this series for two seasons just vanished. He was in 30 episodes, and yet, there was zero trace of him remaining on the show.
