607 replies to this topic

[Kuka]

Chuck disappeared. Fonzie's jacket was white. Didn't the structure of the house change at some point too? And the show was much more... 50's in the beginning. I loved the episode where they put some sort of plastic in front of the tv to make it color, then had to sit in a line to watch it properly.

[Eris Rising]

I'd always thought that Chuck came out of the closet, and the Cunninghams and the rest of the extended clan disowned him in a "We will never speak of him again" fashion.

Oh, was "Happy Days" the first show to take someone who had started on the show as a preadolescent (Erin Moran) and suddenly make her a sex symbol once she filled out? Like they did years later with Ashley on "Fresh Prince"? That always struck me as somewhat disturbing.

[elle75au]

I used to LOVE Happy Days when I was a kid. But it really changed when Ritchie went to College and Fonzie started seeing that women who had the daughter. And then the whole Joanie & Chaaachi stuff.

(My friend and I have a joke that we have to call out firstborn daughters The Fonz & Chachi)

[Eris Rising]

Yeah. Oddly enough, the moment that he jumped the shark in the show was not the shark-jumping moment for me. I honestly enjoyed some of the goofier episodes (The dude ranch! Mork! Random the angel!). The turning point for the show was the new "Fonzie and Big Al's" diner. Bleah. And Fonzie as a teacher.

And why, why, why did they have to introduce Jenny Piccolo as an actual character?

[YourDensity]

Fonzie's jacket was white.

They made Fonzie's jacket white because the network (oh those crazy networks!) was worried that a black leather jacket would make The Fonz look like a rough, street hood. So eventually the director convinced the network that black leather jackets were "motorcycle safety clothes" (which, they are I suppose..) and that Fonzie was being responsible by wearing it.

So the networks said they could show the Fonz in the black leather jacket if and ONLY if he was on his motorcycle. So they put the motorcycle in every scene. They brought it into Arnold's. Then they sloooowly removed the motorcycle once the show (and The Fonz) was a hit.

Oh, and Henry Winkler (the Fonz, who produced MacGyver, btw!) won the role when in an audition he was asked to "comb his hair". All the previous actors combed their hair. Winkler walked up to a mirror, poised the comb and then threw his arms out like "I'm already perfect, why mess with it?" and that cemented the role for him.

I don't know why I know this. Perhaps I caught a special on E! I never really watched it, except as a child in Okinawa on base. We thought it was a modern show (base tv sucks, btw. Or sucked in 1981) and we still have tapes of my brother singing "Sunday Monday Happy Days!"

[Navin]

I loved the episode when Fonzie had to disguise himself as a nerd so he could be abducted by the girl gang. He told them he was looking for snails to add to his snail collection.

One of my favorite editorials from The Onion is Ralph Malph's "Why Do People Laugh When I Say Something Funny?"

[muchsarcasm]

All the previous actors combed their hair. Winkler walked up to a mirror, poised the comb and then threw his arms out like "I'm already perfect, why mess with it?" and that cemented the role for him.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I had heard in one of those behind-the-scenes shows that Henry Winkler was kind of obsessed with his hair. One of his friends had bet him he couldn't go a week without combing his hair, which resulted in that scene.

[giebergoldfarb2]

Happy Days was great for the first two seasons, when Richie was the star, it was shot one-camera with a laugh track, Fonzie was a supporting character, Potsie was the guy who tried to get Richie to misbehave, the Cunninghams' house looked like a real house, there was a genuine '50s atmosphere, etc. But the show was struggling in the ratings, so when Fred Silverman took over at ABC, he suggested they retool it to make Fonzie the star. (ABC even wanted to change the title to "Fonzie's Happy Days," but Ron Howard threatened to quit.) They made other changes in the third season:

- Fonzie moved in with the Cunninghams
- They went to a live studio audience, which meant that the acting got broader, there was lots of cheering and applause; Ron Howard looked awkward because he'd never performed in front of a live audience before, etc.
- Potsie became even stupider than Ralph, if such a thing is possible
- They added catchphrases like "sit on it"

When the first season DVD comes later this year, I will grab it. The second season too. But after that... well, it was a hit with the new format, but it was a sellout, and I think even Garry Marshall knows it was a sellout.

[Hestia]

This programme was such a joke with my peers, I had an impossible job convincing them it was ever good.

To my mind, Happy Days' best was when they had "Rock around the Clock" as the opening theme music. Rich was everyman, Potsie was everman's slightly wacky mate and the Fonz was cool as.

There was a scene where the Cunninghams were worried about Joanie's grades. Richie mentioned the Fonz - that he was a cool guy who'd dropped out of school early.

Mr Cunningham's comment was something like, "At least Joanie will have company..." [paraphrasing]

See! Mr Cunningham didn't know the Fonz! Briefly! It was better that way.

How long was it before "Rock around the Clock" turn to "Sunday Monday Happy Days!" I think it was a least a season and maybe a season and a half. Knowing my memory though, it might've been four episodes. [Everyone with whom I've had a casual coversation on this subject, swears I'm mistaken and 'Rock around the Clock' was never used. But I know I'm right! (And all you will bow down towards me - oops! This is the way cults are created, isn't it?)]

[Kev]

Yes, Rock Around the Clock was the opening theme for at least the first season (when the show was good and actually seemed to take place in the 50's) and the ending theme was what became the later opening theme.

[cmkrcwi]

I liked the episode where Richie got drunk and couldn't figure out why since all he had was "some beer in these teeny weeny little glasses". When Howard asked him how many, he said "75".

[Doctor Funk]

I would agree that artistically, the early seasons may be a little better (but I never found them to be much a cut above the episode of "Love, American Style" they were born from.

However, as a weekly thing? I know seven-year-old Doctor Funk couldn't wait to see Superhumanly Cool Fonzie. Dancing with Shortcake at the Dance Marathon, and saving his hair (and the day!) by dancing that Russian Dance. I believe he called it the Kasatzky. He kicked so much ass he would dance it again in a Weezer video twenty years later.

Fonzie and Pinky beating the Malachi brothers in the Demolition Derby. I ignore the years with the woman and her daughter. Pinky was Fonzie's one true love.

Ooooh yeah, baby. That's the stuff. Hot chocolate for the brain: Sweet and comforting, and of no nutritional value whatsover.

[Eris Rising]

That's a pretty good theory! Now if they can only find an explanation how the house suddenly changed from the stairs being to the left when you walk in the front door to being on the left and how the front door and the kitchen door could now be on the same side of the house!

Some 50's incarnation of the QE Fab Five?

Fonzie didn't like the way it looked, so he hit the side of the house and everything rearranged itself?

[Eris Rising]

Man, oh, man, you got made in the shade!

Remember that Potsie was the cute one?

Yep. Potsie was the cute one, Richie was the sensitive one, Ralph was the funny one, Fonzie was the cool/dangerous/tough one.

Nowadays they'd be a boy band.

Edited by Eris Rising, May 26, 2004 @ 4:19 PM.

[gnbhull]

Fonzie's jacket was white.

They made Fonzie's jacket white because the network (oh those crazy networks!) was worried that a black leather jacket would make The Fonz look like a rough, street hood.

[Nitpick] Fonzie's season 1 jacket was blue. [/Nitpick] And I'm ashamed that I know that.

[Roller Girl]

How old was Fonzy supposed to be in the show? Was he close to Richie's age? Any ideas?