Originally, we were never meant to see more than the back of Alan Brady's head on The Dick Van Dyke Show
While Carl Reiner is primarily known for his directing and writing, he's also frequently demonstrated his ability as a comedic actor.
Notably, Reiner played Alan Brady, boss of Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Though Brady was originally only mentioned (or seen by the back of his head), Reiner's face eventually made an appearance and became a more prevalent character as the series went on.
During an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Reiner maintained that during the beginning of the show, Alan Brady was intended to be heard and not seen.
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"My idea was to play him with his back to the audience. I never intended him to be very much."
Reiner also added that he never planned to play the star of The Alan Brady Show, and had originally intended to cast someone incredibly famous. However, they were unable to find an actor for the role, so Reiner stepped in.
Even with Reiner as the face of Alan Brady, there were no concrete plans to develop the role into a fully seen character. Reiner maintained that the development of Alan Brady was simply due to a natural progression of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
"But once you get past the first season, you start to look for better ideas," said Reiner. "Then when you find that the ideas have Alan Brady in it strongly, we better turn him around. You can't use the back of his head when you need the expression on his face."
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