Starring: Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran
Factual error: The Cunninghams are going to the movies, and Ralph asks Joanie what they are going to see. She says "Psycho" which was made in 1960. The series was set between 1955-1965, this episode would have been set in '57.
Other mistake: June Lockhart is referred to verbally as 'The Honourable Judge McKay', but the end credits say 'Judge MacBride'.
Richie Cunningham: A shark? That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.
Fonzie: Stupid, yes. Also dumb. But it is something I've gotta do.
Richie Cunningham: Fonz, you're not jumping over garbage cans on a bike. You're jumping over a shark. On nothing! On a couple of little skis! One little slip and chomp! Chomp! Chomp.
Fonzie: Thanks a lot for your support. Look, I was challenged. I gotta jump.
Trivia: Richie and Joanie had an older brother named Chuck, who was played by two different actors, and who only appeared during the first season of the show, because the character of Chuck was written off the show. This plot plot has since absorbed into popular culture: known as "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome," it refers to a character's (either leading or supporting) unexplained disappearance from a series.
Question: When this episode first came out, I vaguely remember a scene in the beginning where Ralph runs into Arnold's and yells to the people inside something like, "There's a flying saucer outside!" and no one believes the normal-joking Ralph. Then Richie comes in behind him and yells the same thing, and then the people all scream and flee in a panic, believing Richie. In all years of syndication/reruns, I have not seen this part at all, but remember this part as a kid when this episode was brand new. Did such a part ever exist? (Near the end of the episode, Howard mentions the flying saucer people thought they saw was a weather balloon so I'm figuring so).
Answer: Yes, the ending changed but this was in the beginning of the episode where the question lies.
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Answer: When it was originally broadcast there was a different ending. A new ending was added when the show was rerun to set up the Mork and Mindy series.