20 TV retcons that were absolutely maddening for viewers

Before Jodie Whittaker’s run as the Thirteenth Doctor in the long-running British sci-fi program Doctor Who, the Doctor’s origin was simply another Time Lord. During Whittaker’s run, the character’s background was rewritten to show them as being the original proto-Time Lord. Found as a child on another planet by a being known as Tecteun, they were discovered to have the power to regenerate. Tecteun reverse-engineered this ability and eventually became the genetic basis of the Time Lord race. It’s a rather jarring change to the mythology that seems superfluous, given how late it appears.

The animated sitcom King of the Hill featured some of the most memorable characters in ‘90s television, but it still made a few missteps when it came to retcons. Notably, Peggy’s mother changes significantly during several different episodes, to such a degree that the various iterations of the character seem almost like completely different individuals. Though this isn’t the worst case of retconning — given that the character is a relatively minor one — it still would have been nice to have a main character’s mother have some sort of stability.

One of the most tragic retcons in TV history occurred in the raunchy sitcom Married…with Children. At one point in the show, the character Peg was written as being pregnant to coincide with actress Katey Sagal’s off-screen pregnancy. Tragically, Sagal lost the baby, and so this particular storyline was written as being nothing more than a dream. This saved Sagal from additional trauma, and it demonstrates the extent to which the show had a surprising sensitivity to the unique issues that women often face.

Glee really went out of its way to be inclusive, featuring characters with a variety of identities and who have a variety of struggles. At first, Tina appears to have a stutter, but, subsequently, she reveals that this was all just a facade so she could get Artie’s interest. While it makes sense that the show would perhaps dispense with this — considering the actress notably doesn’t have a stutter — in some ways, the fix is worse than the original plot problem, revealing how a retcon can be a double bind.

The West Wing influenced an entire generation of Americans to think about the nature of American politics, in particular, the presidency. Though the Aaron Sorkin series was usually fairly adept at making sure it stayed consistent, the question of the veto came up in both the second and third seasons. The latter season, however, features a storyline focused on the political fallout from a supposedly never-used veto, seemingly forgetting the actions in the previous season. It’s certainly a shocking oversight for a writer and creator of Sorkin’s skill.

The relationship between Monica and Chandler is arguably one of the most important in Friends, which makes it all the more strange that the series can’t seem to decide when exactly Chandler admits he loves Monica. It seems to happen in two different episodes, both “The One with all the Thanksgivings” and “The One Where Everybody Finds Out.” Continuity is obviously not the strong suit of most sitcoms, but even so, it’s a rather strange oversight for a series that puts so much emphasis on its characters and their relationships.

Arguably, one of the worst kinds of retcons is when a character is killed in a notable fashion and is almost immediately revealed to have been alive all along. In the case of Prison Break, Sara was supposedly beheaded–her head was even delivered in a box!--which would lead most people to assume that she was actually dead within the world of the show. However, starting in season four, she has returned, with the head revealed to have been a fake. It’s a very hamfisted retcon that is not particularly convincing.

Supernatural really gained in complexity and mythological richness as it progressed. However, this also led to some rather surprising retcons, one of the most egregious of which was the revelation that the recurring character known as the Trickster was, in fact, Gabriel all along. It’s arguably not the worst retcon one can imagine, but it is nevertheless a little frustrating when a series plays fast and loose with its own mythology since it suggests that the writers don’t have as firm a grasp on their material as one might assume or expect.

Succession might have been one of the most acclaimed series of the 2010s and into the 2020s, and for the most part, it managed to keep its plot consistent.  In the pilot, however, Kieran Culkin’s Roman is shown having a wife and potentially children, only for them to be essentially retconned as a girlfriend and her children later in the first season. This isn’t the most distracting retcon in TV history, but it is still rather odd to see in a series with productions as high as those of  Succession.

The most important and enduring mystery in Gossip Girl is the title character's identity. It’s ultimately revealed that Dan Humphrey was behind it all along. It’s very clear that this is an unspoken retcon and that the decision to make Dan the blogger wasn’t the original plan. Among other things, this revelation doesn’t make a great deal of sense, particularly given the nature of several of the revelations that Gossip Girl is responsible for during the show’s run.

Few things are more perplexing in a show than the disappearance of a character. Take, for example, Judy of Family Matters. This character infamously went up the stairs in the fourth season and was almost never seen again. There was never any diegetic explanation as to what happened to her, and it’s very clear that this is a case where the creative team simply had no idea what to do with the character. At the least, however, her disappearance gave rise to great hilarity among TV fans.

For most of its run, Boy Meets World was a key and beloved part of ABC’s "TGIF" lineup. Fans of the show also know that the romance between Cory and Topanga is, in some ways, the most important relationship of the show, which makes the inconsistent accounts of how they got together all the more perplexing. It’s clear from the conflicting accounts — whether or not they met as children remains an open question — is all the more extraordinary considering how much their romance becomes key to the show. 

Kelsey Grammer has the distinction of having played the part of Frasier Crane in several different iterations, most notably in Cheers and Frasier. This has given rise to at least one notable retcon in that his father, as he appears in Frasier, is very different from the man he describes in Cheers. While the former attempts to make a convincing retcon, it’s very clear that the Frasier of the earlier show is, in some ways, a fundamentally different character than he would later become. 

Fans of the series MASH know that Radar has always been one of the show’s most beloved characters, partly because of his sweet personality. In earlier episodes, however, he appeared to be a character who was a bit rough around the edges. The show doesn’t give much of an explanation as to why his character changes so much from the earlier episodes to the later ones, but it was definitely a good change since his sweetness added a necessary element to the show.

Even though it was a sitcom, That ‘70s Show still managed to maintain some core continuity. One notable exception to this was Donna’s younger sister, who was shown on-screen but then disappeared. At times, the show would show a bit of self-awareness about this particular retcon. Eventually, however, it opted to just assert that Donna had always been an only child, which makes one wonder why they even decided to include the other character in the first place.

The dream sequence has fallen out of fashion in the world of TV. Dallas, however, took this convention to new heights during its ninth and tenth seasons. After Patrick Duffy left the show after season eight, he appeared to be dead until the tenth season revealed the entire ninth season was nothing more than a dream. It’s one of those moments that, in hindsight, is almost too ludicrous to believe, but its presence reveals a great deal about how much has changed in terms of what TV audiences will accept. 

However much ground it might have broken in terms of LGBTQ+ representation, Will & Grace did its legacy no favors with its finale, which, among other things, showed that the title characters stopped speaking to one another for several years. Fortunately, this entire ending was wished out of existence when this show, like many others, was rebooted. The show deserves some points for cleverness, though, since it was explained that the finale had just been one of Karen Walker’s many drug and alcohol-fueled delusions, which was definitely for the best.

The Simpsons has proved to be remarkably good at keeping its internal mythology at least somewhat consistent. The show has made a few missteps, however, including when it was revealed that Principal Skinner was never who he said he was. The episode “The Principal and the Pauper” remains one of the series’ most controversial and arguably disdained episodes. It marks one of those moments where the series seemed to betray its loyal fans and fundamental identity.

Few series have been as infamous in their retcons as Roseanne. In the very final episode of the series, it’s revealed that the entire ninth season was an extended fiction penned by Roseanne herself. Controversially, this episode also revealed that beloved character Dan had died of a heart attack. Indeed, this ending was so unpopular among the show’s fandom that it, too, was ultimately retconned when the series was rebooted in the 2020s, taking place in the same continuity but as if much of the ninth season had never happened at all.

The Golden Girls might have been one of the most beloved sitcoms of the 1980s, but it definitely wasn’t particularly concerned with continuity. Among other things, it tended to recast major characters, in particular Blanche’s daughter, Rebecca. This became a bit of an issue since the actress who portrayed the character in later episodes was significantly thinner than her counterpart and, given that there was never any explanation as to her weight loss — even though her weight was a major subject in her first episode-this was a puzzling development.