In the 1970s, pop culture had endured long enough to create a sense of nostalgia for itself. One of the notable expressions of this nostalgia was the TV show “Happy Days,” a sitcom paying homage to the ’50s and ’60s. The storyline mainly revolved around the Cunningham family, particularly focusing on teenager Richie (played by Ron Howard), his younger sister Joanie (played by Erin Moran), and their circle of friends. The show was largely set at the Cunningham household or the popular hangout spot, Arnold’s Drive-In, where Milwaukee’s youth regularly gathered.

Ralph Malph (played by Don Most) was one of the non-Cunningham characters who added depth to the “Happy Days” scene. Known for his comedic attempts that often missed the mark and his lack of success with women, Ralph was a part of the series from Season 2 to Season 7. However, by Season 8, Ralph’s character had vanished, only returning for a brief two-episode appearance during the show’s 11th and concluding season. It appeared that Most was dissatisfied with both the direction the show was heading and his acting career overall, prompting his decision to end Ralph’s “Happy Days” journey.

Numerous actors have faced the challenge of finding work after becoming famously associated with specific roles. This seems particularly common among TV actors, who achieve significant success with a certain character and subsequently spend years trying to escape its enduring influence.

Don Most began to sense that this might be a possibility for him after seven seasons playing Ralph Malph on “Happy Days,” which is half of the reason he decided to leave the show several years before it actually ended. As he told Pop Goes the Culture TV in 2021, “I was concerned I was getting so associated with that role that it was gonna be more and more difficult for me to break away.”

The other factor in why Most left “Happy Days” was that the show was no longer as good as it used to be. He wasn’t wrong on that point, as “Happy Days” not only had one of the biggest “jump the shark” moments in TV history, but had the original “jump the shark” moment — a notorious stunt that Fonzie (Henry Winkler) pulled in Season 5 where he literally jumped a shark on water skis. By Season 7, when Most semi-retired Ralph Malph, “Happy Days” was already more than two seasons into its post-jump era. So it seemed like a pretty good time for Most to leave the show before it presumably continued to get even worse.

It wasn’t just an arbitrary choice that the end of Season 7 is when Don Most left “Happy Days.” He was actually up for contract renewal for Season 8, and decided to use the negotiations to feel things out in terms of the future of his career. Paramount, the studio that produced “Happy Days,” was ready to up Most’s salary significantly in order to entice him to stay on board. Feeling like that gave him the power to make demands, as it were, Most came up with an interesting counteroffer.

Most told Paramount that he was actually willing to keep doing “Happy Days” for his then-current pay. But in exchange for not taking the extra money, he wanted Paramount to allow him to explore other acting opportunities with the studio. To Most’s surprise, Paramount wasn’t interesting in doing that. 

Now feeling more certain than ever that playing Ralph Malph was a rut that he desperately needed to get out of before he got even deeper into it, Most turned down Paramount entirely and did not return to “Happy Days” for Season 8. Considering that Most was willing to come back and play Ralph for those Season 11 guest spots, it seems that, at the very least, he didn’t leave the show on bad terms – if not happy ones.