Happy Days/The Best Man

The Best Man
Season 1, Episode 14
Airdate	April 23, 1974
Written by	Joel Kane
Directed by	Jerry Paris
Produced by	William S. Bickley
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Happy Days — Season One

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The Best Man is the fourteenth episode of the first season of Happy Days.

The episode is a look at racism in the 1950s, and in the process the Cunninghams – who are willing to host the wedding of a Black couple – learn a lot about the prejudicial attitudes of their neighbors.

Starring: Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham)

Co-Starring: Marion Ross (Marion Cunningham), Anson Williams (Potsie Weber) (credit only)

Also Starring: Tom Bosley (Howard Cunningham)

Co-Starring: Henry Winkler (Fonzie), Donny Most (Ralph) (credit only)

Also Co-Starring: Robert Do Qui (Fred), Bill Henderson (Mr. Davis)

Featuring: Erin Moran (Joanie), Gail Bryant Cameron (Carol), Amzie Strickland (Mrs. Finley), Wonderful Smith (Reverend), Edward Marshall (Officer Kincaid)

Notes

• In the original pilot, "Love and the Happy Days," Howard questions Marion on why "a colored man" is in his living room (for the scene where the Cunninghams are hosting a watch party (of a world boxing championship match) for the neighbors. Two years later, Howard's racial attitudes appear to have changed dramatically (although in the pilot, he is not overtly racist).
• Incidentally, Fonzie's attitudes toward Black people have never changed, noting that as long as the person himself is cool, he's OK with them. (He even slaps some skin with Fred, Howard's Army friend.) His attitudes are consistent with an episode aired years later, where he and Al go to a sit in at a whites-only Southern diner (where a cousin of Fonzie's Black friend has been harassed and denied service.)