Why Several Happy Days Stars Sued CBS Decades After The Show Was Canceled

Nearly 30 years after the final episode of "Happy Days" aired, the cast of one of the best ABC TV shows of all time found themselves back together — not for a TV reunion, but inside a Los Angeles courtroom. 

In 2011, "Happy Days" stars Anson Williams (Potsie Weber), Marion Ross (Marion Cunningham), Don Most (Ralph Malph), Erin Moran (Joanie Cunningham), and Patricia Bosley (acting on behalf of her late husband, Tom Bosley, who played Howard) filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS Studios, which owned the distribution and merchandising rights to the show. Notably, A-list stars Ron Howard and Henry Winkler were not part of the lawsuit.

This group of the show's surviving actors alleged that the network had stiffed them out of millions of dollars in promised revenue generated from show-related merchandise, including comic books, T-shirts, lunch boxes, greeting cards, and DVD set covers. The lawsuit came to fruition after the actors learned that their faces were featured on "Happy Days" slot machines in casinos all across the country.

Under their original contracts, the actors were entitled to receive 5% of net merchandising proceeds if a single actor's image was used, and half that amount if they were depicted as an ensemble. Yet, after decades of continuous product sales, the actors claimed they hadn't seen a dime. Per a report from CBS News, the lawsuit alleged that CBS had essentially adopted a policy of "if you don't ask, then we don't pay" regarding overdue royalties.

After the initial filing, CBS Consumer Products issued a statement asserting that they agreed "funds are owed to the actors" and insisted that it had been "working with them for quite some time to resolve the issue." In July 2012, both sides ultimately reached an out-of-court settlement. Although the judge had previously dismissed the fraud and punitive damage claims, the final agreement secured undisclosed financial payouts for the cast alongside a guarantee that future royalty obligations would be honored.

According to a report from The Wrap, CBS released a statement confirming, "All contractual obligations will be honored, as we had promised from the beginning. We appreciate the Court's earlier dismissal of the far-reaching claims, which paved the way for an ordinary settlement based on contractual issues."

While the exact payout remained confidential, a source told The Wrap that each actor will receive $60,000 to $65,000 each in the settlement — a far cry from the $10 million they were originally seeking. Whatever the number is, attorney Jon Pfeiffer released a joint statement on the actors' behalf, noting they were "satisfied with the outcome," while also confirming that they will "continue to receive all of the merchandising royalties" promised to them in their contracts.