The show WandaVision is also built on references to vintage TV shows, especially sitcoms. One of the biggest sitcom tropes the show employs is the unseen character, often referred to but never appearing on the screen.
The character of Ralph, Agnes' husband, in WandaVision so far fits the bill. This trope goes back decades and is a major feature of many of the greatest sitcoms and dramas of all time.
Charlie
Easily one of the most famous of the unseen TV characters is Charlie, from the 1970s smash television series Dynasty.
Mrs. Columbo
Columbo was a great mystery show that rarely ever broke its format. One concept it held on to for the entire run was never showing Mrs. Columbo. Peter Falk, who played the detective in the television series and later made-for-TV movies, referenced her constantly. But she was never seen. Oddly enough, a spinoff of the show, Mrs. Columbo, aired in 1979. It starred Kate Mulgrew, better known as Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager, as the titular character. Columbo never appeared in the spinoff.
Stan
Another TV spouse who is often referenced but never seen is Stan Walker from Will And Grace. The cast of the smash sitcom has been in many other TV shows, but Stan has never been seen in anything. The rich husband of Karen Walker is often referenced derisively, though it's clear that Karen has a real love for him (at least his money). Karen and Stan had a complex relationship that persisted through death, divorce, prison, and many other ups and downs. He died between the original series and the recent revival.
Mrs. Wolowitz
Deborah "Debbie" Melvina Wolowitz (known as Mrs. Wolowitz or just 'Ma' for much of the early run of The Big Bang Theory was the mother of Howard Wolowitz and the mother-in-law of Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz. She is never seen but often heard yelling or shouting from another room or over the phone.
The show often tackled big issues, including the death of Mrs. Wolowitz in the show. The actress who voiced her, Carol Ann Susi, sadly ed away and the show chose to acknowledge it by also having her character .
Lars Lindstrom
The late, great Cloris Leachman played Phyllis Lindstrom in many of the best episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and she was married to Dr. Lars Lindstrom, who was never seen. Like Agnes with Ralph in WandaVision, Phyllis often references Lars, but he's never once seen by the audience. Leachman starred in Phyllis, a spinoff of the show that debuted in 1975, which saw her move to her hometown of San Francisco after the offscreen death of Lars. The show ran for two seasons before being canceled.
Vera
Another famous unseen spouse was from Cheers. Vera was Norm Peterson's wife in the hugely successful 80s sitcom. She evidently knows that Norm spends all his time at Cheers but doesn't really care. Like Stan Walker, she's the subject of a lot of jokes from Norm and the others at the bar, but it's also clear over time that he does care about her. Vera was seen briefly onscreen at the end of the episode "Thanksgiving Orphans," but her face was obscured by a pie thrown by Diane, played by Shelly Long.
Bob Sacamano
Seinfeld, and one of them might be that audiences never saw his friend Bob Sacamano. Sacamano is never seen but is the frequent subject of many of Kramer's wildest stories and s. In an episode from the ninth season, Kramer explains that Bob Sacamano made a fortune from toy paddles that had a ball and rubber band. Sacamano came up with the idea for the rubber band and before that, people would just hit the ball, and it would fly away.
The President (Veep)
Stuart Hughes, the President of the United States on Veep, is never seen in the show. His absence on screen is likely a nod to The Thick of It, a British show that is similar to Veep, also created by Armando Iannucci, in which the Prime Minister remains unseen throughout the show's four seasons.
Hughes was the 44th President in the world of the show and resigned after the First Lady attempted suicide. Laura Montez then took over, after defeating Vice President Selina Meyer in a bitter Senate battle for the highest office in the land.
Maris
Frasier was at its heart the story of two brothers and their father. Over the course of eleven seasons, Niles Crane references his wife Maris, but she's never seen. This wasn't unusual for sitcoms of course but the wrinkle here was that Niles was in love with another woman, Daphne. Maris is very wealthy, so much so divorcing her was unrealistic. She is described as small and thin and does make a couple of appearances of a kind. In one episode, she appears completely wrapped in bandages.
Ralph
Agnes's so far unseen husband, Ralph, has all the hallmarks of an unseen character in a sitcom. She constantly refers to him, jokes about him in not always nice ways, and of course, he's nowhere to be found. It's an open question on the show whether or not he will appear before the series wraps up and if he even exists. Some speculation surrounds Agnes really being Marvel sorceress Agatha Harkness, which would make Ralph's true identity a lot more complicated.