
As a critic, I always felt sorry for Chuck Cunningham on ‘Happy Days.’ Initially, he was set up as the dependable older brother to Richie, but that role quickly vanished. You see, a cool, leather-jacketed newcomer, Fonzie, stole the show and became the one Richie turned to for guidance. Frankly, with Fonzie around, Chuck just wasn’t needed. And beyond being a former college basketball player, Chuck didn’t really have much going for him. It’s no surprise they wrote him off the show entirely. It was a bit of a quiet exit, actually – in the 1984 finale, Howard simply mentioned that both his children were now married, as if to say, ‘Oh, and by the way, Chuck’s gone.’