1974 ‘Happy Days' Episode Ranked ‘Greatest' of the Series Marked the Final Appearance of One Character
A 1974 Happy Days episode was named the "greatest" of the series, but it also led to one of the greatest mysteries in TV history.
Gold Derby ranked the Season 2 episode, "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas," as the all-time best episode from the 11-season sitcom, which aired on ABC from 1974 to 1984. The holiday-themed episode outranked classics such as "Fearless Fonzarelli, "A Date with Fonzie," and "My Favorite Orkan," the latter of which introduced up-and-coming comedian Robin Williams to the franchise.
The Happy Days Christmas episode featured a story about lonely tough-guy Fonzie (Henry Winkler) sharing a special holiday with the Cunningham family.
In its synopsis of the episode, Gold Derby noted, "Fonzie ends up spending Christmas Eve with the Cunninghams, finishing with a heartfelt, 'thank you, God.' This is the last time Chuck is seen before disappearing for good."
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Never mentioned again
"Guess Who's Coming to Christmas" originally aired on Dec. 17, 1974, and it was one of the first episodes that gave the Fonzie character a main storyline, Winkler told TV Line in an interview. But it was also the end for Chuck, the eldest Cunningham family son, who was never mentioned on the show again.
"People still ask me about Chuck," Winkler shared in the interview. "[The writers] couldn't write for Chuck anymore because Fonzie was essentially the big brother."
Chuck Cunningham appeared in a total of 11 Happy Days episodes. Gavan O'Herlihy played the character in nine episodes, per IMDb, but was replaced by Randolph Roberts in Season 2 for two episodes before Chuck disappeared from the show forever.
Roberts had several scenes in "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas," including one in which his character couldn't find a faulty Christmas tree bulb and another in which he couldn't figure out how to fix the family's motorized Santa Claus. Fonzie ultimately fixed both problems, and by Season 3, the Fonz was living in an apartment above the Cunninghams' garage.
The disappearance of Chuck spawned the "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome," a TV trope that refers to a character who goes missing with no explanation.
Happy Days creator Garry Marshall once addressed Chuck's vanishing act during a panel appearance. "Everybody asks me what happened to Chuck on Happy Days," the showrunner shared. "We thought Richie (Ron Howard) needed a brother… but you've got to pay attention to what's happening. It soon became obvious because we heard the audience love Fonzie, it soon became obvious that Fonzie was like the older brother, and that was the relationship that was working."
"So I just said let's just have Chuck disappear and let's see how much mail we get," Marshall continued. "We didn't get much, and the cast was, you know, around 11 years."
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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 10:12 AM.