History TearJerker / ChicoAndTheMan

* "Raul Runs Away" was a [[VerySpecialEpisode special hour-long episode]] that brought closure to the death of series star Freddie Prinze. Aired January 20, 1978, on the weekend of the one-year anniversary of Prinze's death, the plot revolved around new "chico" Raul running away after Ed had yelled at him. (Raul had found Chico's things, and Ed – still having trouble coming to terms with Chico's heretofore unacknowledged-to-viewers death – shouts at him and breaks Chico's guitar, which Raul had been playing.) Ed later deeply regrets his hasty anger and, after going to apologize, sees that Raul is nowhere to be found. Ed forms a search party and, acting on a tip that Raul may have hitchhiked to Tijuana, travels there to find him. He eventually tracks him down inside an old church and tenderly apologizes. The tearjerker kicks in when he indeed explains about Chico, how close he had grown to him, and that he had passed away (though it is never stated exactly how Chico died; it's presumably due to a car accident). Although Ed never cries on camera (in reality, it likely was all Jack Albertson could do to avoid showing his emotions) it is a very tender moment and was probably one of the last true highlights of the series. (And yes, Raul accepts the apology and agrees to return home.)

* Some Freddie Prinze era episodes had these moments as well. One in particular being "If I Were A Rich Man" in which Chico falls in love with a girl he'd been dating for some time. When he decides to propose to her, not only does she turn down the proposal, she reveals that she doesn't feel the same way about him because of his blue collar line of work. Needless to say, The usually jovial Chico is heartbroken.

* After Prinze died, there was no time to rewrite the last few season 3 episodes so all of Chico's lines were reassigned to recurring character Salvador. In one episode, there's a scene of Ed shaving, with one side of him facing the camera. [[WordOfSaintPaul Salvador's actor Danny Mora remembers]] in a 2008 book that the side facing the camera was basically just Ed being Ed, but the side that wasn't - the Jack Albertson side - had tears running down his cheeks.

* "Raul Runs Away" was a [[VerySpecialEpisode special hour-long episode]] that brought closure to the death of series star Freddie Prinze. Aired January 20, 1978, on the weekend of the one-year anniversary of Prinze's death, the plot revolved around new "chico" Raul running away after Ed had yelled at him. (Raul had found Chico's things, and Ed – still having trouble coming to terms with Chico's heretofore unacknowledged-to-viewers death – shouts at him and breaks Chico's guitar, which Raul had been playing.) Ed later deeply regrets his hasty anger and, after going to apologize, sees that Raul is nowhere to be found. Ed forms a search party and, acting on a tip that Raul may have hitchhiked to Tijuana, travels there to find him. He eventually tracks him down inside an old church and tenderly apologizes. The tearjerker kicks in when he indeed explains about Chico, how close he had grown to him, and that he had passed away (though it is never stated exactly how Chico died; it's presumably due to a car accident). Although Ed never cries on camera (in reality, it likely was all Jack Albertson could do to avoid showing his emotions) it is a very tender moment and was probably one of the last true highlights of the series. (And yes, Raul accepts the apology and agrees to return home.)

* "Raul Runs Away" was a [[VerySpecialEpisode special hour-long episode]] that brought closure to the death of series star Freddie Prinze. Aired January 20, 1978, on the weekend of the one-year anniversary of Prinze's death, the plot revolved around new "chico" Raul running away after Ed had yelled at him. (Raul had found Chico's things, and Ed – still having trouble coming to terms with Chico's heretofore unacknowledged-to-viewers death – shouts at him and breaks Chico's guitar, which Raul had been playing.) Ed later deeply regrets his hasty anger and, after going to apologize, sees that Raul is nowhere to be found. Ed forms a search party and, acting on a tip that Raul may have hitchhiked to Tijuana, travels there to find him. He eventually tracks him down inside an old church and tenderly apologizes. The tearjerker kicks in when he indeed explains about Chico, how close he had grown to him, and that he had passed away; it is never stated how Chico died (presumably, a car accident). Although Ed never cries on camera – although in reality, it likely was all Jack Albertson could do to avoid showing his emotions – it is a very tender moment and was probably one of the last true highlights of the series. (And yes, Raul accepts the apology and agrees to return home.)