Could someone explain me why Ritchie and Ralph leave the show? Thanks!
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Louisifer — 14 years ago(May 25, 2011 10:07 PM)
Most did some voice work too, I thought he was great as Eric in Dungeons & Dragons. Probably a better VA then regular actor, certainly better than the celebutards that get starring roles in animated films today.
Try not to take life too seriously, no one gets out alive. -
IcingOnTheCake — 13 years ago(June 21, 2012 11:20 PM)
Just because it didn't work out doesn't mean DM didn't try. Actors like to strike when the iron is hot, such as being known on a popular TV show, before they're type cast, and as soon as their contract is up. He was a supporting character on Happy Days but wanted to try for something bigger. It's understandable.
I've always heard that Ron(ny) Howard was raised right. That he was expected to be kind & respectful and thus respectable during his days as "Opie". His parents weren't too overly strict but they were good parents and did their job.
I find it funny that the Howards had only 2 children with one looking exactly like the dad and the other looking exactly like the mom and looking nothing like each other.
Rance (the dad) Howard was in a few episodes of Happy Days. One aired the other day, he was the announcer of the dance contest which Marion entered with Fonzie. The other episodes should be listed in his filmography. I know one was in which he complained that Fonzie's dog Spunky was digging up his flowers. -
jefgg — 13 years ago(June 24, 2012 12:09 AM)
An actor leaving a hit show can rub some fans the wrong way. Ron Howard was considered a star and Donny Most a supporting actor. I bet a lot of fans thought "Ralph Malph has a lot of gall leaving Happy Days". He could have taken acting jobs totally different from Happy Days during his off time. But I guess he couldn't wait. His part could have grown after Ron Howard left, but it didn't work out that way for Potsie.
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IcingOnTheCake — 13 years ago(June 24, 2012 05:36 PM)
Yes but you implied in an above post that fans may have been bitter because Most left Happy Days and thus could be why his career wasn't better after having left. Ron Howard left too and most fans liked the Richie character better than the Ralph one and were thus more upset that Ron Howard had left the show.
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trollomatic — 10 years ago(January 23, 2016 07:56 PM)
Ron Howard and Donny Most didn't really leave Happy Days totally that season.
They continued playing Ritchie Cunningham and Ralph Malph that season.
Here's the proof:
Several people said that also explains why Ritchie's brother Chuck was never seen again. -
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jefgg — 11 years ago(January 20, 2015 09:14 AM)
Anson Williams appearances became sporadic in the later years. Potsie appeared in only six episodes apiece for the final two seasons. Although he is credited during the opening credits of the series finale, he does not appear in the episode other than archive footage.
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happipuppi13 — 11 years ago(February 25, 2015 04:08 PM)
Here's why Don left in (some of) his own words. August 15, 2014 :
When Most left Happy Days after seven seasons to pursue film opportunities, he was surprised to find that the character who had made him famous, also lingered in the minds of Hollywood decision makers.
The actor describes Ralph Malph as a real cut up, the class clown, a very rambunctious and sort of outgoing character. Admits Most, The truth of the matter is that it was very different than who I was. I was pretty introverted, and kind of shy, and not that way at all. And I was an actor and I felt that, Well this is a role Im playing.
.And I wanted to play many, many different kinds of roles. But then it became, because of the perception, it became very difficult to break away from that.
Still, Don Most has enjoyed wonderful film and television roles including those on EDtv, Glee, Star Trek: Voyager and directing opportunities. Although he is currently focused on his big band performances, he insists his acting and directing projects wont be taking a backseat.
To read the whole story go to :
http://parade.com/328265/nancyberk/showbiz-analysis-with-happy-days-don-most/
Title : Showbiz Analysis with Happy Days Don MostI don;t recall when the issue was bujt i rememebr i first read about Ron howard leaving in TV Guide. (For those who recall) it was on that yellow page with black typing, when they had TV news out of hollywood.
It stated that Ron was leaving and had signed a contract with
NBC to make some Tv movies for them. (Not star in) but direct and create.
The first of which was "Skyward". A drama with (ironically) Marion Ross. Also , Bette Davis, Lisa Welchel (Blair of Facts of Life) and Howard hessman (Of WKRP IN Cincinatti.)
That aired on 11/20/1980. The rest from that point is well known history.
Go for it or just be a gopher!
(MR.) happipuppi13
arf,man! -
TMC-4 — 13 years ago(November 05, 2012 04:43 PM)
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=305106
Season 8
-As this season started, the show had lost Ron Howard and Danny Most so they could grow their careers more and have some directing opportunities, at least in Ron Howard's case. Their characters, Richie and Ralph, had left for the Army at the end of Season 7 so right there it left a big hole that they needed to fill and quickly. A lot of people feel the series should have ended with the end of Season 7 but the ratings were still there enough to go on and ABC chose to renew. In season 8 the decision was made to focus the show around Fonzie and his life. Also, this is the season where we finally actually see Joanie's friend Jenny Piccalo who had only been mentioned by name up to that point. The season deals largely with 3 things: Fonzie and his life and how it's affected when he becomes a teacher, which changed him. Secondly, it deals heavily with Jenny Piccalo since she's still in High School. Third, it deals of course with Joanie, Chachi and their relationship. Season 8 is where it started to deal a bit too much with that and there started to be a lot more drama surrounding that than was needed. Also, about midway through the season Richie's cousin Roger comes to stay with the Cunninghams..who is played by the actor many know from Married With Children. His character stayed through the rest of the series. So, a lot of changes happened that season and some were good and bad. I'd give that season a 7.
Season 9
-It's actually a bit better of a season than 8 is, the few big changes that season were the addition of Joanie and Richie's cousin, KC and Roger's brother got added in too. Outside of that it shifts even more towards focusing on Fonzie and it ends up being a weird mish-mash of going back and forth between Fonzie, Roger and his brother, Joanie and Chachi and to a bit lesser extent Jenny Piccalo. This is where they started to make a lot of changes at once and some things panned out and worked ok, other things just didn't stick to the wall. This is the season Richie's son was born in and Fonzie literally helped deliver him. I'd give that overall season an 8.
Season 10
-This was probably the hardest season to get through honestly. It centers a lot around Fonzie and how he finally gets into a steady relationship with a girl who has a daughter. That part was okay but the HUGE mistake they made that season was they had Fonzie deal with getting older and they almost never showed his bike on screen anymore. Also, there are a lot of points where he isn't wearing the leather jacket anymore. As far as Fonzie goes they made a LOT of poor choices there. Everyone gets older I understand that but a character like Fonzie it's not really necessary or smart to focus on his getting older. The stronger parts of the season dealt with Roger and his brother still. I'd give this season a 6 and that's being generous. It was easily the worst of the 11 seasons I felt.
The 11th and Final season
-You know, all things considered it was a really well done season and I know that's gonna catch hell probably but here's why. The show stopped dealing with Fonzie getting older and just put him back into the character everyone knew. He became a dean at a school in a bad neighborhood and they did well with that. It showed him relating to those inner-city kids and the difference he made for them. Roger became the principal of that school, and Joanie ended up teaching at that school. That whole Joanie-Fonzie-Roger arc worked really well and surprised me. Due to the new school setting, they tried to add in a lot of new characters who they tried to have regularly (It seems like as the season started they were thinking it might get another year). Some of them worked well, others not so much but they tried. Joanie and Chachi got married. Also, Richie and Ralph came back for one final episode, which was surprisingly quite moving. The final scene with Richie and Fonzie summed up those 11 years and the whole thing behind the show perfectly.."You were my protector, the best friend a guy could ever ask for, my confidant, you helped me get married, deliver my son..how do you ever repay someone for all of that?" Fonzie's response? "I think you just did." and he walked out that door for the final time crying. By that point I was too. That scene was perfect and captured those two characters in one damn sentence. As for Fonzie? At the very end he got to adopt his own son which was just fitting..the kid came from a background not much different from his. As I said I think they were trying to get pieces to fit for a 12th year but at that point they knew they were done so they ended it as best they could. They did well. The last line of the show was great, from Tom Bosley: "Here's to Happy Days" as he looks at the camera like he's thanking the audience. Not Newhart brilliant but still very good. The final version of the theme song for the show used in the final season was GREAT, best version of -
crasmi — 13 years ago(November 22, 2012 05:17 AM)
Great summary - and I agree with your ratings.
But, you got season 9 wrong - KC & Flip (Rodgers cousin) didn't join until season 10 - which was the season Joannie & Chachi left for their own show.
When they returned in season 11, Flip & KC disappeared.
Big Al also left at the end of season 9 (to join Chachi & Joannie in Chicago in their own show).
The original Arnold retuned for a few episodes to fill the void.