Father’s Day Gets a C...”Mr. C,” that is! Mr. Cunningham’s Best “Happy Days” Episodes

By Michael Lyons

“I wonder if Robert Young ever had these problems?”

This line of dialogue is from an an episode of the beloved sitcom “Happy Days.” which centered on life during the innocent, “Rock Around the Clock” decade of the ‘50’s.  It was pondered by the patriarch of the Cunningham household, Howard Cunningham (played so well by actor Tom Bosley).

“Mr. C.,” as he was called on the show, was reflecting on what the actor who played Jim Anderson, the epitome of the knowing, wise, soft spoken TV Dad on the hit ‘50’s sitcom “Father Knows Best” would do.

Little did “Mr. C” himself realize that he himself was also the epitome of the knowing, wise, soft spoken TV Dad, who helped bring love, caring and perspective to his wife Marion, children Richie and Joanie and, yes, even their “Coolamundo” upstairs neighbor Fonzie.

As we prepare to celebrate Dads with Father’s Day approaching this weekend, it’s the perfect time to look at this “cooler than cool” TV Dad, in some of Mr. C’s best episodes of “Happy Days”:

“Richie’s Cup Runneth Over” (Originally aired: January 29, 1974)

In this episode, Richie (Ron Howard) learns what in today’s world seems like a very innocent hard lesson, when he gets drunk while attending a bachelor party

When he comes home, late at night, noticeably intoxicated, the ever understanding Mr. C asks what he had to dink.  “All we had was beer in teeny weeny little glasses,” says Richie.  “How many of these teeny weeny little glasses did you have?”  Asks Howard.  “Seventy two,” responds Richie.

Mr C then attempts to sober Richie up and it becomes an episode less about his son being in trouble and more about Howard understanding that a tough lesson has to be learned.

In fact, when Richie asks his dad if he is going to be punished, Mr C hints that how Richie feels in the morning will be punishment enough.

“The Other Richie Cunningham” (Originally Aired: October 7, 1975)

Howard asks Richie to take a prospective customer’s daughter on a blind date, but when Richie realizes that he’s double booked with dates, a plan is devised to have Potsie (Anson Williams) pose as Richie on the blind date.

You guessed it, things don’t go well and begin to unravel, ruining a potential business opportunity for ol’ Cunningham Hardware.  But, when Mr. C learns that the business partner was not all he seems, he comes to the defense of Richie and his pals.

Bosley’s performance at the end of this episode is filled with the effortless comic timing that became the actor’s trademark...and the fact that Mr. C sticks up for his son and his friends gets a big thumbs up from Fonzie!

“Howard’s 45th Fiasco (Originally Aired: October 28, 1975)

The Cunningham family decides to celebrate Howard’s 45th Birthday by re-enacting a popular TV show, at the time, “This is Your Life.”  They reflect back on people and events in Howard’s life, but instead of making Mr. C feel warm and nostalgic, he begins to feel regret for all that he was never able to accomplish in life.

He then suffers a brief, mid-life crisis and considers running away and leaving his family, before a conversation with The Fonz gives him perspective, in a nice moment of acting from both Bosley and Henry Winkler.

A poignant and somewhat dramatic episode of “Happy Days,” it’s a refreshing focus on Mr C, at a time when the show was seemingly all about Fonzie.

“A Shot in the Dark’ (Originally Aired: January 25, 1977)

An episode that really revolves around Richie, actually features an ending filled with memorable, sage advice from Howard.

Richie finds himself quite the local celebrity when he leads his high school basketball team to victory.  While basking in the glory, Richie lets it all go right to his head and learns a hard lesson.

The episode ends with Richie finding out that fame can indeed be fleeting, until Mr. C provides perspective, letting Richie know that while he was only “famous” for one week, some people in life don’t even get that.

Things then conclude with a take-off of a popular commercial from the ‘70’s, making this episode a nice little “time capsule” as well.

These episode of “Happy Days,” like so many, show how Howard Cunningham did just as well as Jim Anderson on “Father Knows Best,” and why Mr C still remains one of our favorite TV Dads.

Here’s hoping that all the Dads out there find their Father’s Days today and always to truly be “Happy Days!”

Sources:

IMDb