Happy Days

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974 to September 24, 1984 on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America.

Set in the Midwestern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the series revolves around teenager Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his family: his father, Howard (Tom Bosley), who owns a hardware store; mother Marion (Marion Ross); younger sister Joanie (Erin Moran); and high school dropout, biker and suave ladies man Arthur "Fonzie"/"The Fonz" Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), who would eventually become the Cunninghams' upstairs tenant. The earlier episodes revolve around Richie and his friends, Warren "Potsie" Weber (Anson Williams), Ralph Malph (Donny Most) with Fonzarelli as a secondary character. As the series progressed, Fonzarelli proved to be a favorite with viewers and soon more story lines were written to reflect his growing popularity.Fonzie befriends Richie and the Cunningham family, and when 'Richie' (Ron Howard) left the series following his character's wedding to his long-time college sweetheart, Winkler's Fonzie became the central figure of the show. In later seasons, other characters were introduced including Fonzie's young cousin, Charles "Chachi" Arcola (Scott Baio), who (finally) became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham after Joanie initially resisted his charms.

Originally spun off from a one-episode teleplay on the anthology series Love, American Style, the series spawned several other television shows, including Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and Joanie Loves Chachi. The show is the basis for the Happy Days musical touring the United States. The leather jacket worn by Winkler during the series currently hangs in the Smithsonian Institution.

History

Happy Days originated during a time of 1950s nostalgic interest as evident in 1970's film, television, and music. Beginning as an unsold pilot filmed in late 1971 called New Family in Town, with Harold Gould in the role of Howard Cunningham, Marion Ross as Marion, Ron Howard as Richie, Anson Williams as Potsie, Ric Carrott as Charles "Chuck" Cunningham, and Susan Neher as Joanie, Paramount passed on making it into a weekly series, and the pilot was recycled with the title Love and the Happy Days, for presentation on the television anthology series Love, American Style. In 1972, George Lucas asked to view the pilot to determine if Ron Howard would be suitable to play a teenager in American Graffiti, then in preproduction. Lucas immediately cast Howard in the film, which became one of the top-grossing films of 1973. Show creator Garry Marshall and ABC recast the unsold pilot to turn Happy Days into a series. According to Marshall on an interview, executive producer Tom Miller said while developing the sitcom, "If we do a TV series that takes place in another era, and when it goes into reruns, then it won't look old." This made sense to Marshall while on the set of the show.

Gould had originally been tapped to reprise the role of Howard Cunningham for the TV series, but went abroad to perform in a play during a delay before production. Midway through the play's run he was notified that the show was ready to begin shooting, but he decided to honor his commitment to the stage production and passed on the part, which led to Tom Bosley being cast as the family patriarch. Gould would later state that a requirement to shave his beard was also a factor in his declining the role.

Happy Days premiered in January 1974 in the Tuesday night time slot that had been occupied by Temperatures Rising, which had been put on hiatus for a second retooling.

Cast

Full character list

Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard): The protagonist for the first seven years of the series (1974–1980). When Howard left the cast due to his burgeoning directoral career, Richie was written out by leaving to join the United States Army. Howard returned for guest appearances as Richie during the show's final season, in which he wore a mustache.

Howard "Mr. C". Cunningham (Tom Bosley): Husband, father, business owner (hardware store), lodge member, family man. Frequently seen reading the daily newspaper in his easy chair.

Marion "Mrs. C". Cunningham (Marion Ross): Wife, mother and homemaker. She was the only character whom Fonzie allowed to call him by his real first name, Arthur, which she always did affectionately.

Joanie Cunningham / Joanie Cunningham Arcola (Erin Moran): Richie's younger sister. In early seasons, she is a pre-teen sometimes snooping on Richie's activities. Called "Shortcake" by the Fonz.

Arthur "Fonzie" / "the Fonz" Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler): Initially a minor character, he was a hugely popular breakout character and was made a series regular. Known for his catchy lines "(H)eyyyy!" and "Whoa!" He had supernatural powers by making coin-operated machines (specifically, the jukebox at Arnold's) function by pounding on them with his fist, or getting the attention of girls by snapping his fingers. His hero of being cool is James Dean.

Warren "Potsie" Weber (Anson Williams): Richie's best friend, and a talented singer. He is somewhat more carefree and "worldly" than Richie in early seasons. Ralph Malph would often say to him; "You're such a Potsie" In later seasons, his character evolves to increasingly emphasize his dimwitted side. "Potsie" often talked about the terrible relationship he had with his father, who was never actually seen on the show. Potsie was rarely seen after Richie and Ralph joined the Army, however was shown in the opening credits. He also was obsessed with his hygiene.

Ralph Malph (Donny Most): Richie's other best friend, and a self-styled comedian. Ralph left with Richie (1980) to join the Army. Returned as a guest star in the final season.

Charles "Chachi" Arcola (Scott Baio): Fonzie's younger cousin and later, Al Delvecchio's stepson. Dated and eventually married Joanie Cunningham.

Mesuma "Arnold" Takahashi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita): In Season 1, Arnold was a middle-age Caucasian with about ten seconds of air time. Morita depicted the owner of Arnold's Drive-In for Season 3 (1975–1976), stating he obtained the moniker when he purchased the restaurant and people mistook him for "Arnold." The character explained that it was too costly to buy enough letter signs needed to rename it "Takahashi." He moonlighted as a martial arts instructor, teaching self-defense classes at the drive-in after hours. Morita also played "Arnold" as a guest star in 1977 and 1979 before returning as a recurring character after Al Molinaro departed in 1982.

Al Delvecchio (Al Molinaro): From Seasons 4–10 (1976–1982) Al became the new owner/cook of the drive-in after Arnold got married the previous season. Al married Chachi's mother, Louisa, thereby becoming Fonzie's uncle. Molinaro left Happy Days in 1982 to star in Joanie Loves Chachi, and guest starred as Al in three later episodes of Happy Days.

Jenny Piccolo (Cathy Silvers): Joanie's boy-crazy best friend (1980–1983). Mentioned often in early episodes, but never appeared in person until the 1980 season. Returned as a guest star in the series finale. Jenny's father appeared in one episode, played by Silvers's real-life father Phil Silvers.

Lori Beth Allen Cunningham (Lynda Goodfriend): Richie's girlfriend and later his wife (1977–1982). Returned as a guest star in the final season.

Minor characters

Charles "Chuck" Cunningham (Gavan O'Herlihy, Randolph Roberts): Elder son, college student and basketball player. Chuck's rarely-seen character disappeared without explanation in season two, giving rise to the pejorative term "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome" to describe TV characters simply disappearing from shows. In the last episode Howard comments that he is proud of his "two kids." Fonzie's character took on the role of big brother to Richie and his friends.

Pinky Tuscadero (Roz Kelly): Former girlfriend of Fonzie.

Leather Tuscadero (Suzi Quatro): Musician. Sister of Pinky Tuscadero, and a former juvenile delinquent.

Dr. Mickey Malph (Jack Dodson): Ralph's father, an optometrist and, like his son, a self-styled comedian.

Roger Phillips (Ted McGinley): Marion's nephew and coach and teacher at Jefferson High. Introduced after Richie left the show. (1980–1984)

Flip Phillips (Billy Warlock): Roger's brother. (10th season only)

Krystal "KC" Cunningham (Crystal Bernard): Howard's niece. (10th season only)

Marsha Simms (Beatrice Colen): A carhop in the first two seasons.

Spike (Danny Butch) Fonzie's even younger nephew. Made fleeting appearances before the introduction of Chachi. The relationship between Spike and Chachi was never explained.

Wendy (Misty Rowe): Another carhop from Arnold's in the first two seasons.

Louisa Arcola / Louisa Delvecchio (Ellen Travolta) Mother of Chachi Arcola and Fonzie's aunt. Married Al Delvecchio.

Melvin Belvin (Scott Bernstein): Nerdy classmate of Joanie and Chachi.

Eugene Belvin (Denis Mandel): Twin brother of Melvin Belvin. Also a nerd.

Bobby (Harris Kal): Friend of Chachi and Joanie seen in episodes after Richie and Ralph left the show.

Bill "Sticks" Downey (Jack Baker): Friend of Richie, Potsie and Ralph and drummer for their band, hence his nickname "Sticks." (He, however, claimed he got the nickname because he's skinny.)

Gloria (Linda Purl): Richie's occasional girlfriend in the second season.

Ashley Pfister (Linda Purl) Divorced mother who becomes Fonzie's steady girlfriend, but later broke up with him (offscreen) (1982–1983).

Heather Pfister (Heather O'Rourke): Ashley Pfister's daughter (1982–1983).

Jim the Student (Kurt Krakowian): Played a student at the graduation (1977).

Danny Fonzarelli (Danny Ponce): Fonzie's adopted son in the series finale.

Police Officer Kirk / Army Reserve Major Kirk (Ed Peck): Fonzie's nemesis and antagonist, who's eager to demonstrate his inflated sense of authority, and on the watch for delinquents and "pinkos" (communists).

Carla (Dana Kimmell): only appeared 10th Season and episode 206, Tell-Tale Tart (1982)

Richie Cunningham Jr. (Bo Sharon): Richie and Lori Beth's son.

[edit]Guest stars

Buffalo Bob Smith and Clarabell the Clown appeared in Season 2 Episode 35. They came to town looking for Howdy-Doody look-alikes. The episode was so popular Smith launched The New Howdy Doody Show a year later.

Robin Williams appeared in two episodes, #108 ("My Favorite Orkan") and #136 ("Mork Returns") as Mork from Ork. In "My Favorite Orkan", Mork wants to take Richie back to Ork with him to study earthlings. The episode was so popular that it led to Happy Days ' second series spin-off (the first being Laverne and Shirley) called Mork & Mindy. Williams returned as Mork in "Mork Returns", during the height of Mork and Mindy's popularity

Tom Hanks appeared in an episode as a character seeking revenge on Fonzie for pushing him off a swing when the two of them were in the 3rd grade. The confrontation occurs just as Fonzie was about to be given a community leader award. Years later in 1987, Hanks asked Winkler to direct his comedy Turner & Hooch, but creative differences between the two stars led to Winkler being fired from the job.

Herbie Faye appeared as "Pop" in the 1974 episode "Knock Around the Block."

John Hart (television's "The Lone Ranger" from 1952–54) made a guest appearance in an episode where Fonzie meets his childhood idol. In 1981, a new Lone Ranger movie was being filmed. Controversy arose when television's original Lone Ranger, Clayton Moore, was banned, by Jack Wrather Productions, from wearing the Lone Ranger mask. Therefore, Moore was scratched and Hart was hired.

Milwaukee Braves home run king Hank Aaron appeared in one episode.

Ralph's father was an optometrist, played by Jack Dodson, who also played Howard Sprague on Ron Howard's previous sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show.

Lorne Greene made a brief walk-on cameo during the first episode of Season 5, which took place in Hollywood.

Maureen McCormick, otherwise known as Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch, was "Hildie" in episode number 32 during Season 2.

Christopher Knight, otherwise known as Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch, played Joanie's boyfriend on a Valentine's Day episode.

Former teen idol Frankie Avalon played himself (as Al's cousin), singing his signature song "Venus" to a swooning Jenny Piccolo at the Leopard Lodge's annual "Poo Bah Doodah" musical.

Cheryl Ladd made a guest appearance in Season 2, Episode 32 "Wish Upon a Star". She plays the part of a Hollywood starlet Richie wins a date with.

Charlene Tilton appears in Season 3 Episode 70 as Joanies cheerleading rival, prompting a "dance off".

Morgan Fairchild appears in Season 5 Episode 96 as a snooty rich socialite who tries to humiliate Fonzie.

Dr. Joyce Brothers appears in Episode 105 as herself, trying to help Fonzie's dog out of a depression.

Janine Turner, later Maggie O'Connell of Northern Exposure, appeared in the 1983 episode, "Where The Guys Are."

Cast changes

With Season 4, Al Molinaro was added as Al Delvecchio, the new owner of Arnold's, after Pat Morita's character of Arnold moved on after his character got married. (Morita had left the program to star in a short-lived sitcom of his own, Mr. T and Tina, which was actually a spin-off of Welcome Back, Kotter. Morita also starred in a subsequent short lived Happy Days spin-off series entitled Blansky's Beauties.) Al Molinaro also played Al's twin brother Father Anthony Delvecchio, a Catholic priest. Al eventually married Chachi's mother (played by Ellen Travolta) and Father Delvecchio served in the wedding of Joanie to Chachi in the series finale.

The most major character changes occurred after Season 5 with the addition of Scott Baio as Fonzie's cousin, Charles "Chachi" Arcola. Originally, the character Spike (mentioned as Fonzie's nephew in the episode "Not With My Sister You Don't," but also claimed to be his cousin, as was stated in one episode) was supposed to be the character who became Chachi.

Seasons 8 onward

Lynda Goodfriend joined the cast as semi-regular character Lori-Beth Allen, Richie's steady girlfriend, in Season 5, and became a permanent member of the cast between Seasons 8 and 10, after Lori-Beth married Richie.

After Ron Howard (Richie) left the series, Ted McGinley joined the cast as Roger Phillips, the new physical education teacher at Jefferson High and nephew to Howard and Marion. He took over from the departed Richie Cunningham character, acting as counterpoint to Fonzie. Also joining the cast was Cathy Silvers as Jenny Piccolo, Joanie's best friend who was previously referenced in various episodes from earlier seasons and remained as a main cast member until the final season. Both actors were originally credited as guest stars but were promoted to the main cast during the tenth season after several series regulars left the show. The real focus of the series was now on the Joanie and Chachi characters, and often finding ways to incorporate Fonzie into them as a shoulder to cry on, advice-giver, and savior as needed. The Potsie character, who had already been spun off from the devious best friend of Richie to Ralph's best friend and confidante, held little grist for the writers in this new age, and was now most often used as the occasional "dumb" foil for punchlines (most often from Mr. C. or Fonzie).

Billy Warlock joined the cast in Season 10 as Roger's brother Flip, along with Crystal Bernard as Howard's and Marion's niece K.C. They were intended as replacements for Erin Moran and Scott Baio (who departed for their own show, Joanie Loves Chachi) and were credited as part of the semi-regular cast. Both characters left with the return of Moran and Baio, following the cancellation of Joanie Loves Chachi. Also leaving Happy Days in Season 10 for Joanie Loves Chachi was Al Delvecchio; Pat Morita returned to the cast as Arnold in his absence.

Gail Edwards, who previously guest starred in the episode "A Potsie Is Born," was offered the role that Crystal Bernard would fill but was never told so by her managers, as they knew she would take the role and they did not want her to be a "new character on an old show."[citation needed] Later, Edwards would appear with Bernard in 93 episodes of It's a Living.

Production and scheduling

Jerry Paris, who played a role on The Dick Van Dyke Show and directed several episodes of that series, directed every episode of Happy Days from the third season on, except for three episodes in Season 3 ("Jailhouse Rock", "Dance Contest" and "Arnold's Wedding").

Until the show went out of production, reruns of the show were syndicated under the title Happy Days Again.

Happy Days was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions, a teaming of Thomas L. Miller with former film editor Edward K. Milkis, which became Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions when Robert L. Boyett joined the company in 1980, and was the first ever show to be produced by the company's most recent incarnation, Miller-Boyett Productions, which followed Milkis's resignation from the partnership. It was also produced by Henderson Productions and was one of the popular shows produced in association with Paramount Television.

In its 11 seasons on the air, Happy Days still remains one of ABC's longest-running sitcoms (behind The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which ran 14 seasons, from 1952 to 1966), and one of the longest-running primetime programs in the network's history. It is also unique in that it remained in the Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. time slot for the series' first ten seasons. The network has not had an entertainment series that has run consistently in the same slot since.

Happy Days also proved to be quite popular in daytime reruns; they joined the ABC daytime schedule in 1975, airing reruns at 11:30 a.m. (ET), being moved to 11 a.m. in 1977, paired with Family Feud following at 11:30 a.m. It was replaced on the daytime schedule by reruns of its spin-off, Laverne & Shirley, in April 1979.

Happy Days also reruns on Five USA in the UK between 16:00 and 17:00, it was shown on Channel 4 between the early 1990s to the early 2000s.

ABC produced and aired a 30th-anniversary reunion special in 2005.

Happy Days began running on FamilyNet Television in January 2009 as part of a "Families on FamilyNet" evening programming block that also featured My Three Sons and Family Ties. This block was cancelled on February 26, 2010. Since October 2010, Happy Days airs on The Hub.

CBS programming head Fred Silverman scheduled Good Times directly against Happy Days during their respective second seasons in an attempt to kill the ABC show's growing popularity. However, he was named president of ABC in 1975, and so was given the task of saving Happy Days during its third season (which saw a rapid increase in ratings).

Production styles

The first two seasons of Happy Days were filmed using a single-camera setup and laugh track. One episode of Season 2 ("Fonzie Gets Married") was filmed in front of a studio audience with three cameras as a test run. From the third season on, the show was a three-camera production in front of a live audience (with a cast member, usually Tom Bosley, announcing that "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience" at the start of most episodes), giving these later seasons a markedly different style.

Sets

The show had two main sets: the Cunningham home and Arnold's Drive-In.

In Seasons 1 and 2, the Cunningham house was arranged with the front door on the left and the kitchen on the right of screen, in a sort of triangle. Beginning with Season 3, the house was radically rearranged to accommodate multiple cameras and a studio audience. However, the second season episode (mentioned above) in which Fonzie gets engaged was shot on the old set, but with multiple cameras.

The Cunninghams' official address is 565 North Clinton Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The house that served as the exterior of the Cunningham residence is actually located at 565 North Cahuenga Boulevard (south of Melrose Avenue) in Los Angeles, just a few blocks from the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue.

The Milky Way Drive-In, located on Port Washington Road in the North Shore suburb of Glendale, Wisconsin, now Kopps Custard Stand, was the inspiration for the original Arnold's Drive-In; it has since been demolished. The exterior of Arnold's was a "dressed" area on the Paramount Studios lot, that has since been demolished, very close to Stage 19, where the rest of the show's sets were located.

The set of the diner in the first season was a room with the same vague details of the later set, such as the paneling, and the college pennants. When the show was changed to a studio-based filming, the set was redesigned and became the Arnold's that is most remembered. The set was largely opened to show the audience the scenes that took place within it. The Diner entrance was hidden, but allowed an upstage, central entrance for cast members. The barely seen kitchen was also upstage and seen only through a pass-through window. The diner had orange booths, downstage center for closeup conversation, as well as camera left. There were two restroom doors camera right, labeled "Guys" and "Dolls." A 1953 Seeburg Model G jukebox (with replaced metal pilasters from Wico Corp.) was positioned camera right, and an anachronistic "Nip-It" pinball machine (actually produced in 1972) was positioned far camera right.

College pennants adorned the walls, including Purdue and University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, along with a blue and white sign reading "Jefferson High School." Milwaukee's Washington High School closely models the high school for the script.

Storylines dictated that the set would be destroyed by fire, so in later seasons, a different Arnold's Drive-in emerged and lasted through the later years of the show. The new set featured wood paneling and stained glass.

In 2004, two decades after the first set was destroyed, the Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion requested that the reunion take place in Arnold's. The familiar set was rebuilt by Production Designer James Yarnell. Built from the original ground plan, this was the first time that the Happy Days cast had been in this set since the 1970s.

Theme music

Seasons 1 and 2 of the series used a newly recorded version of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets (recorded in the fall of 1973) as the opening theme song. This recording was not commercially released at the time, although the original 1954 recording returned to the American Billboard charts in 1974 as a result of its use on the show. The "Happy Days" recording had its first commercial release in 2005 by the German label Hydra Records. (When Happy Days entered syndication in 1979, the series was retitled Happy Days Again and used an edited version of the 1954 recording instead of the 1973 version).

The show's closing theme song in Season 1 was a fragment from "Happy Days," whose music was composed by Charles Fox and whose lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel. According to SAG, this version was performed by Jimmy Haas on lead vocals, Ron Hicklin of the Ron Hicklin Singers, Stan Farber, Jerry Whitman, and Gary Garrett on backing vocals, and studio musicians.

From Seasons 3–10 inclusive, a longer version of "Happy Days" replaced "Rock Around the Clock" at the beginning of the show. Released as a single in 1976 by Pratt & McClain, "Happy Days" cracked the Top 5. The show itself finished the 1976–77 television season #1, ending the five-year Nielsen reign of All in the Family. On the recently released DVD set of Season 2, the song "Rock Around the Clock" was replaced with a reconstructed version of "Happy Days." This was done because of music rights issues.

For the show's 11th and final season (1983–84), the theme was rerecorded in a more modern style. It featured Bobby Arvon on lead vocals, with several back-up vocalists. To accompany this new version, new opening credits were filmed, and the flashing Happy Days logo was reanimated to create an overall "new" feel which incorporated 1980s sensibilities with 1950s nostalgia (although by this time the show was set in 1965).