Editing Chico and the Man (section)

====Post-Prinze episodes====
After Prinze's death, the producers considered canceling the show, but opted instead to try replacing the character. To write Chico out of the script, they had the other characters comment that he had gone to visit his father in Mexico. The third season finished out with three episodes without Chico, focusing on the other characters in the show.

In the opening episode of the fourth season, a replacement for Chico was introduced. Instead of an adult, the producers brought in 12-year-old Raul, played by Gabriel Melgar. His first appearance came when Ed and Louie go on a fishing trip to [[Tijuana]] and find the Mexican orphan hiding out in their trunk on their return. At the end of this episode, Ed is putting Raul to bed and accidentally calls him Chico. Raul corrects him and Ed remarks, "You're all Chicos to me." Ed eventually adopts Raul, only to have Raul's overprotective Aunt Charo – played by  actress/singer [[Charo]] – come from [[Spain]] and try to become a part of the "family", as well.

A two-part episode ran in the final season in which Raul discovers Chico's belongings in a closet. Ed catches Raul playing Chico's guitar and Ed smashes it on the van in anger. Raul believes Ed does not love him anymore and runs away to Mexico. Ed goes after him and finally explains to Raul that Chico died, but did not say how, putting a measure of closure on the fate of Chico in the series.

In January 1978, after one further episode, NBC placed ''Chico and the Man'' on hiatus. The show returned in June, and the unaired episodes were broadcast through the summer of 1978, although one episode remained unaired during the final network run.

Toward the end of the show's final season, actress Julie Hill was added to the cast as Monica, Ed's attractive 18-year-old adopted niece. She had come to Los Angeles to break into show business, and lived in Chico's old van while awaiting her big break. ''Chico and the Man'' was canceled  at the end of the fourth season. The show's ratings declined steadily after Prinze's death and never recovered.<ref>{{cite book|last=Snauffer|first=Douglas |author2=Thurm, Joel|title=The Show Must Go on: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series|publisher=McFarland|year=2008|page=78|isbn=978-0-7864-3295-0}}</ref>