If this question has been asked before then I apologize. I am not a big fan of "TAGS" but I have noticed that in the later episodes (especially in the last season) Opie is nowhere to be found. Am I just missing the episodes that he was in or did Ron Howard leave the show before it went off of the air?

- Thanks

I haven't seen a lot of the later episodes (color & Barney Fife-need I say more?) but I'm pretty sure he stayed until the end.

No, Ron never left the show.

No, he didn't leave.

There were probably stretches of time where Opie was not featured because they (the production company, cast and crew) went out of their way to allow Ronnie Howard to have as normal a "boy's life" as he could. If he had something going on in his real life, then they worked around him so that he could participate in that activity.

Ronnie Howard (Opie) appeared in 24 of 30 episodes in the last season of TAGS.