MovieChat Forums > Phyllis (1975) Discussion > I Wanted to See Lars!

I Wanted to See Lars!

posted 17 years ago by janicep
4 replies | jump to latest

It drove me up a wall that we never saw Lars! Did anyone else want to see him! They teased the audience about him on MTM. I really thought they'd show him in the episode when he has a fling with the Happy Homemaker. It was the first time I ever saw an entire show revolve around an unseen characters.

A lot of shows pull that stunt of the unseen yet talked about character such as Maris on Frasier, Norm's wife Vera on Cheers, Carlton the Doorman on Rhoda,etc. I read that they considered casting an actress as Maris but it was better to leave her to the audience's imagination. They didn't think they could cast someone as good as what the audience already pictured in its mind.

I suppose the audience all imagined Lars in different ways. But I wanted to see him! I wish there would have been a picture in a frame that Phyllis kept on her dresser so we could have had a glimpse. Or they could've done a flashback episode when Lars and Phyllis were newlyweds. A different actress could've played a very young Phyllis with a young Lars as a medical student. Who could've played him??

[–] NewYorkGrove 14 years ago

to a MUCH smaller degree they did the same thing with Ted Baxter's mother he talked about her but we NEVER saw her

[–] harlowfan 14 years ago

I get what you're saying, but I prefer that we didn't see him. I love those little quirks in TV shows. Whether it's a character that is always referenced but who we never see, or something else. On Taxi, we never learn what country Latka comes from, etc.

Isn't it funner to just imagine? Suppose they finally casted someone as Lars. What if that person wasn't anything remotely like what some people imagined? What if some people were actually put off by the actor? It'd be kind of a bummer for them.

[–] lmchildress 14 years ago

I think the reason they never had an actor portray Lars is that Lars was a convenience for Phyllis. She got married to him because marriage was expected of women at the time; same reason she had Bess, although she did care about her daughter. Phyllis was essentially a self-centered person, who really only was focused on herself; having an invisible husband played that up.

Imho, of course. Ymmv.

[–] pjpurple-1 7 years ago

Yeah, Phyllis was very self involved. I remember watching an episode recently where she was having a platonic relationship with a handsome man played by John Saxon. The two of them went to the theater and ballet. Phyllis insisted to Mary that Lars was fine with it because he didn't care for those activities.

Phyllis did seem a little put out by the fact that her "friend" didn't even try to hit on her. and she was upset that he went out with Mary too.

At the end of the episode he said that he was going to get back with his long time girlfriend. They were getting married.

Phyllis said, "I hope you'll be as happy in your marriage as Lars is in mine."

It was HER marriage and Lars was just in it! LOL I would've liked to see a glimpse of Lars as he was leaving the room, just the back of his head.