Have you ever heard of Chuck Cunningham Syndrome? This refers to a television character that was in a television show, usually started with said show, but somewhere along the series’ run the character simply disappeared with no explanation. The origin of the phrase lies in the idyllic-1950s set sitcom Happy Days, which ran from 1974 to 1984 (which also has the dubious distinction of being where the phrase “Jumping the Shark” comes from). In context, did you know that Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) had an older brother in Happy Days? In the first two seasons, he certainly did. His name… wait for it… Chuck. Chuck Cunningham. And from Season 3 on he was never seen, or mentioned, again. And his is an interesting story.
For a seemingly unimportant character, it may be surprising to know that Chuck Cunningham was played by not one, not two, but three different actors in total. Happy Days is actually a spin-off from another show, Love, American Style. In the Season 3 episode “Love and the Television Set” (also known as “Love and the Happy Days“), the Cunningham family – including Chuck – set up their first television, which prompts Richie and his friend Potsie Weber (Anson Williams) to use it for wooing girls. In a brief appearance at the dinner table, Chuck was played by actor Ric Carrott. When ABC picked up the series, Gavan O’Herlihy played Chuck in seven episodes of the first season, and Randolph Roberts for two episodes in Season 2.
Chuck Cunningham Wasn’t Needed
O’Herlihy admitted that he had enough of being Chuck Cunningham after seven episodes, and in an interview O’Herlihy explained why. “I pulled out of it, I didn’t want to do it,” he said. “They had me at college, I was going to grunt and bounce a basketball once every couple of weeks for probably three or four years. And at 20 years old, that’s not the gig you want to be doing.” Nevertheless, he did confess that his presence on the show did open some opportunities he was grateful for, including a role in 1983’s Never Say Never Again as SPECTRE bad guy Jack Petachi. Roberts left the show in Season 2 in order to take the role of “2nd Sanctuary Man” in Logan’s Run. And that was it, no more Chuck Cunningham. Even Papa Cunningham, Howard (Tom Bosley), had forgotten about his first son by the end of Season 11, saying how proud he was of his “two kids” – Richie, and Joanie (Erin Moran).
Series creator and Hollywood legend Garry Marshall, when asked about where Chuck disappeared, would humorously insist that Chuck got a basketball scholarship in Outer Mongolia. The truth is, Chuck Cunningham was on his way out anyway. Fonzie (Henry Winkler) was becoming the breakout star of the show, and with that popularity came more screen time, which had to come from someone. Besides, Fonzie had effectively taken over the “big brother” role for Richie and his friends, giving sage advice and being a role model, without losing his cool.
Chuck Cunningham Lives On In the TV Trope That Bears His Name
Happy Days‘ Chuck Cunningham may have been the first, and most prominent, minor character to disappear from a TV series without explanation, but he was far from the last. Similar circumstances befell Judy Winslow (Jaimee Foxworth) in Family Matters. When Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) grew into the breakout star of that series, he, like Fonzie before him, warranted more screen time (it goes without saying that is about the only thing Fonzie and Steve Urkel have in common), and that time came at the expense of the youngest Winslow, who went upstairs and never came back down. Another victim of “minor character unexpectedly takes off,” perhaps? Only the most die-hard of Golden Girls fans might remember their live-in housekeeper, the flamboyant Coco (Charles Levin). Coco got the pilot, and that was all she wrote, or more truthfully all Estelle Getty‘s Sophia wrote, after Sophia proved wildly popular with test audiences.
Paul Schneider‘s Mark Brendanawicz was a key part of Parks and Recreation‘s first two seasons, only to be sent off on a new job at the end of Season 2, never to be heard from, or about, again. Maybe you remember cute Ben Geller (Cole Sprouse), Ross’ (David Schwimmer) son in Friends? Ross apparently doesn’t after midway through Season 8, as Ben is only mentioned by name six times over the remainder of the series. He never even meets his half-sister! But a very well-thought-out and airtight argument about his absence made the rounds a while back, one that says Ross actually lost custody of Ben. And not all victims of Chuck Cunningham Syndrome are human, either. In the first season of the iconic The Brady Bunch, the family was made complete with Tiger, the dog. Oddly, the fifth episode of Season 1, “Katchoo,” was a Tiger-heavy storyline, with Jan (Eve Plumb) seemingly allergic to the family pet. Eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Tiger didn’t look the same as he did in the first four episodes, and for good reason. Tiger was hit by a car off-screen and died, and pseudo-Tiger was a dog picked up by the trainer from the pound to, hopefully, get through filming the episode. Apparently, it didn’t go well, so there are scenes where Tiger is leashed to the floor, so he wouldn’t run away while cameras were rolling.
There are, blessedly, only near-casualties of Chuck Cunningham Syndrome. Baby DeVante Johnson (August and Berlin Gross) was absent throughout Season 7 of black-ish, another victim of CCS. However, the reason was far less malicious: filming of Season 7 occurred during the Covid pandemic, and young children were not allowed to be on set at all. Once normalcy returned to filming, so too did wee DeVante. So we remember those we lost to CCS, those destined to be lost to CCS, and those that come out on the other side all right. Thank you, Chuck Cunningham, for leading the way for unwanted and unloved television characters for prime-time eternal.
