RIP Mr. "C"

I was and still am a TV kid. When I was little I had a toddler size wood rocker. My mother tells stories of how I would pull it right up to within inches of the television screen and watch my cartoons on Saturday morning. As I grew older my favorites expanded to more than cartoons. In 1974, ABC aired a 30 minute sitcom called Happy Days. It was about a 1950's family called the Cunninghams and their son, Richie and his friends, Potsie, Ralph Malph, and, of course, Fonzie. The patriarch of the family, Howard Cunningham, or Mr. "C" as he was known on the show was played by the actor Tom Bosley. He was the master of the delayed surprise take. He gave us the stern father figure with a heart of gold that every character came to for advice. And who could forget those tender moments with his daughter, Joanie, those heart-to-hearts with his son, Richie, his undying support of Fonzie, or his "Frisky" chases up the stairs after his wife, Marian? The show ran for 11 seasons, quite a feat for TV, even by today's standards. Characters came and went on the show, but Tom Bosley was a fixture for the whole run. I loved the show, and I loved Mr. "C". We lost Tom Bosley this week and with him will go some of our Happy Days.