I was watching TV the other night, just flipping channels, when I came upon a really old “Happy Days” episode I hadn’t seen in years. It must have been one of the first ones they made because Richie’s older brother, the one obsessed with basketball, was in it. I think he went away to college after the first season, never to be heard from again.

Anyway, the basic plot was that Mr. C. wanted to spend a quiet, peaceful Christmas Eve at home with just his family and no one else. They were going to trim the Christmas tree, pop popcorn, roast marshmallows in the living room fireplace and sing a few Christmas carols. Just a simple old-fashioned Christmas celebration.

Before the festivities began, Mr. C. and Richie had to go somewhere, and the family car  broke down. Naturally, they asked Fonzie to fix it, which he did. Fonzie told them he was going to take a bus to Waukesha to spend Christmas with his cousin and his family. They have a 9-foot Christmas tree, he told them, with an unbelievable spread of food and a ton of presents.