Happy Days


Happy Days is an American sitcom television series that aired first-run from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning eleven seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, the series was one of the most successful of the 1970s, an idealized vision of life in the mid-1950s to mid-1960s Midwestern United States, and starred Ron Howard as young Richie Cunningham, Henry Winkler as his friend Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, and Tom Bosley and Marion Ross as Richie's parents, Howard and Marion Cunningham. Happy Days became one of the biggest successes in television history and heavily influenced the television style of its time.
The series began as an unsold pilot starring Howard, Ross and Anson Williams, which aired in 1972 as a segment entitled "Love and the Television Set" on ABC's anthology show Love, American Style. Based on the pilot, director George Lucas cast Howard as the lead in his 1973 film American Graffiti, causing ABC to take a renewed interest in the pilot. The first two seasons of Happy Days focused on the experiences and dilemmas of "innocent teenager" Richie Cunningham, his family, and his high school friends, attempting to "honestly depict a wistful look back at adolescence". Initially a moderate success, the series' ratings began to fall during its second season, causing Marshall to retool it emphasizing broad comedy and spotlighting the previously minor character of Fonzie, a "cool" biker and high school dropout. Following these changes, Happy Days became the number-one program in television in 1976–1977, Fonzie became one of the most merchandised characters of the 1970s, and Henry Winkler became a major star. The series also spawned a number of spin-offs, including Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy.

Plot

Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the series revolves around teenager Richie Cunningham and his family: his father, Howard, who owns a hardware store; traditional homemaker and mother, Marion; younger sister Joanie; Richie's older brother Chuck ; and high school dropout, biker and suave ladies' man Arthur "Fonzie"/"The Fonz" Fonzarelli, who would eventually become Richie's best friend and the Cunninghams' over-the-garage tenant. The earlier episodes revolve around Richie and his friends, Potsie Weber and Ralph Malph, with Fonzie as a secondary character. However, as the series progressed, Fonzie proved to be a favorite with viewers, and soon more story lines were written to reflect his growing popularity; Winkler eventually received top billing in the opening credits alongside Howard. Fonzie befriended Richie and the Cunningham family, and when Richie left the series for military service, Fonzie became the central figure of the show, with Winkler receiving sole top billing. In later seasons, other characters were introduced including Fonzie's young cousin, Charles "Chachi" Arcola, who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham. The eleven seasons of the series roughly track the eleven years from 1955 to 1965 in which the show was set.
The series' pilot was originally shown as Love and the Television Set, later retitled Love and the Happy Days for syndication, a one-episode teleplay on the anthology series Love, American Style, aired on February 25, 1972. Happy Days spawned successful television shows Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy as well as three failures, Joanie Loves Chachi, Blansky's Beauties featuring Nancy Walker as Howard's cousin, and Out of the Blue. The show is the basis for the Happy Days musical touring the United States since 2008. The leather jacket worn by Winkler during the series was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution for the permanent collection at the National Museum of American History. The original tan McGregor jacket Winkler wore during the first season was eventually thrown into the garbage after ABC relented and allowed the Fonzie character to wear a leather jacket.

Episodes

Cast

Cast changes

With season four, 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. Al Molinaro also played Al's twin brother Father Anthony Delvecchio, a Catholic priest. Al eventually married Chachi's mother and Father Delvecchio served in the wedding of Joanie to Chachi in the series finale.
The most major character changes occurred after season five with the addition of Scott Baio as Fonzie's cousin, Charles "Chachi" Arcola. Originally, the character Spike was supposed to be the character who became Chachi. Season five also saw the introduction of more outlandish and bizarre plots including Fonzie making a bet with the Devil, and the appearance of Mork, an alien who wanted to take Richie back to his homeworld. Although when first aired this ended with it all simply being a dream Richie was having, this episode was retconned in subsequent airings by way of additional footage to have actually taken place, with Mork having wiped everyone's memory except Richie's and then deciding to time travel to the present day.
Lynda Goodfriend joined the cast as semi-regular character Lori Beth Allen, Richie's steady girlfriend, in season five, and became a permanent member of the cast between seasons eight and nine, after Lori Beth married Richie.
After Ron Howard 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. Cathy Silvers also joined the cast 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 season ten 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.
Billy Warlock joined the cast in season 10 as Roger's brother Flip, along with Crystal Bernard as Howard's niece K.C. They were intended as replacements for Erin Moran and Scott Baio 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. Al Molinaro also left Happy Days in season 10 for Joanie Loves Chachi. Pat Morita then returned to the cast as Arnold in his absence.
In season 11, the story line of Richie and Lori Beth is given closure with the two-part episode "Welcome Home". Richie returns home from the Army, but barely has time to unpack when he learns that his parents have lined up a job interview at The Milwaukee Journal for him. However, they are taken aback when he tells them he prefers to take his chances in California to become a Hollywood screenwriter. They remind him of his responsibilities and while Richie gives in, he becomes angry and discontented, torn between his obligations to his family and fulfilling his dream.
After a confrontation that ends with a conversation with Fonzie, he decides to face his family and declare his intentions. While somewhat reluctant at first, they support him and bid Richie, Lori Beth, and Little Richie an emotional farewell.

Characters

Main

Happy Days originated during a time of 1950s nostalgic interest as evident in 1970s film, television, and music. In late winter of 1971, Michael Eisner was snowed in at Newark airport where he bumped into Tom Miller, head of development at Paramount. Eisner has stated that he told Miller, "Tom, this is ridiculous. We're wasting our time here. Let's write a show." The script treatment that came out of that did not sell. But in spite of the market research department telling them that the 1950s theme would not work, they decided to redo it, and this was accepted as a pilot. This unsold pilot was filmed in late 1971 and titled 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 Television Set, for presentation on the television anthology series Love, American Style. Also in 1971, the musical Grease had a successful opening in Chicago, and by the following year became successful on Broadway. Also 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 pre-production. Lucas immediately cast Howard in the film, which became one of the top-grossing films of 1973. With the movie's success generating a renewed interest in the 1950s era, TV show creator Garry Marshall and ABC recast the unsold pilot to turn Happy Days into a series. According to Marshall in 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 on the show. However, during a delay before the start of production he found work doing a play abroad and when he was notified the show was ready to begin production, he declined to return because he wanted to honor his commitment. Bosley was then offered the role.

Production and scheduling notes

The first two seasons of Happy Days were filmed using a single-camera setup and laugh track. One episode of season two 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, giving these later seasons a markedly different style. A laugh track was still used during post-production to smooth over live reactions.
Gary Marshall's earlier television series The Odd Couple had undergone an identical change in production style after its first season in 1970–71.

Sets

The show had two main sets: the Cunningham home and Arnold's/Al's Drive-in.
In seasons one and two, the Cunningham house was arranged with the front door on the left and the kitchen on the right of screen, in a triangular arrangement. From season three on, the house was rearranged to accommodate multiple cameras and a studio audience.
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 in Los Angeles, several 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, was the inspiration for the original Arnold's Drive-In; it has since been demolished. The exterior of Arnold's was a standing set on the Paramount Studios lot that has since been demolished. This exterior was 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 changed to a studio production in 1975, the set was widened and the entrance was hidden, but allowed an upstage, central entrance for cast members. The barely-seen kitchen was also upstaged 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 was positioned camera right, and an anachronistic "Nip-It" pinball machine 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 provided the inspiration for the exteriors of the fictional Jefferson.
In a two-part episode from the seventh season, the original Arnold's Drive-In was written out of the series as being destroyed by fire. In the last seasons that covered the 1960s timeline, a new Arnold's Drive-In set emerged in a 1960s decor with 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 set was rebuilt by production designer James Yarnell based on the original floor plan. The reunion special was taped at CBS Television City's Bob Barker Studio in September 2004.

Theme music

Season one used a newly recorded version of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets 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 the song's use on the show. The "Happy Days" recording had its first commercial release in 2005 by the German label Hydra Records. In some prints intended for reruns and overseas broadcasts, as well as on the Season 2 DVD set release and later re-releases of the Season 1 DVD set, the original "Rock Around the Clock" opening theme is replaced by the more standard "Happy Days" theme, because of music rights issues.
The show's closing theme song in seasons one and two was a fragment from "Happy Days", whose music was composed by Charles Fox and whose lyric was 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 three to ten 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 at #1, ending the five-year Nielsen reign of All in the Family.
For the show's 11th and final season, 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.

Merchandising revenue lawsuit

On April 19, 2011, Happy Days co-stars Erin Moran, Don Most, Marion Ross and Anson Williams, as well as the estate of Tom Bosley, filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, which owns the show, claiming they had not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts. The cast members claimed they had not received revenues from show-related items, including comic books, T-shirts, scrapbooks, trading cards, games, lunch boxes, dolls, toy cars, magnets, greeting cards and DVDs where their images appear on the box covers. Under their contracts, they were supposed to be paid 5% of the net proceeds of merchandising if their sole image were used, and half that amount if they were in a group. CBS said it owed the actors $8,500 and $9,000 each, most of it from slot machine revenues, but the group said they were owed millions. The lawsuit was initiated after Ross was informed by a friend playing slots at a casino of a Happy Days machine on which players win the jackpot when five Marion Rosses are rolled.
In October 2011, a judge rejected the group's fraud claim, which meant they could not receive millions of dollars in potential damages. On June 5, 2012, a judge denied a motion filed by CBS to have the case thrown out, which meant it would go to trial on July 17 if the matter was not settled by then. In July 2012, the actors settled their lawsuit with CBS. Each received a payment of $65,000 and a promise by CBS to continue honoring the terms of their contracts.

Legacy

The idiom "jumping the shark" describes a point in a series where it resorts to outlandish or preposterous plot devices to maintain or regain good ratings. Specifically, the term arose from the season five episode "Hollywood " that first aired on September 20, 1977, in which a water-skiing Fonzie jumps over a confined shark. Despite the term, Happy Days continued to be popular in the ratings for several years, only seeing a real downturn in its final season. The program was more popular with audiences than its peers, never receiving an Emmy nomination for writing during its entire run; comedy writing Emmy nominations during Happy Days' broadcast history were routinely awarded to the writers of such shows as M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and All in the Family.
Fonzie's signature leather jacket has been on display at the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian Institution, since the early 1990s.

Broadcast and syndication

Happy Days has been rerun by many networks. It aired in the United States on TBS from 1989 to 1995, Nick at Nite from 1995 to 2000, Odyssey Network/Hallmark Channel from 1999 to 2002, TV Land from 2002 to 2007, WGN America from 2002 until 2008, and FamilyNet from 2009 to 2010, INSP from 2012 to 2013, The Hub Network from 2010 to 2014. It currently airs reruns on MeTV.
In the United Kingdom reruns aired on Five USA and on Channel 4 between the early 1990s and the early 2000s. Original-run episodes in the 1970s and 1980s were shown on various regions of the ITV network usually on a weekday afternoon at 17:15. It was shown on the True Entertainment channel until the channel ceased broadcasting in September 2019.
When reruns first went into syndication on local stations while the series was still producing new episodes, the reruns were re-titled Happy Days Again. The series went into off-network syndication in fall 1979, just as season seven began on ABC. While most prints for syndication today use the original Happy Days titles, some episodes in circulation still include the Happy Days Again title.
The show has aired in Australia on Eleven since January 11, 2011 during the afternoon and midnight. Happy Days was a perennial favorite seen on the Nine Network from 1974 to 2006. During its original run in the 70s and early 80s on the Nine Network was shown every Sunday night with reruns shown every Saturday afternoons during the early 2000s.

Home media

and CBS DVD have released the first six seasons of Happy Days on DVD in Region 1, as of December 2, 2014. For the second season, CBS features music replacements due to copyright issues, including the theme song "Rock Around the Clock".. Only season 3 and 4 of the DVD release contain the original music. The Sixth Season was released on December 2, 2014. It is unknown if the remaining 5 seasons will be released.
The season 7 premiere "Shotgun Wedding: Part 1" was also released on the Laverne & Shirley season 5 DVD. To date, this is the last episode released on home media.
Seasons 1 to 4 have also been released on DVD in the UK and in regions 2 and 4.

Reunion specials

There have been two reunion specials which aired on ABC: the first was The Happy Days Reunion Special originally aired in March 1992, followed by Happy Days: 30th Anniversary Reunion in February 2005 to commemorate the program's 30th anniversary. Both were set up in interview/clip format.

Spin-offs

Happy Days resulted in seven different spin-off series, including two that were animated: Laverne & Shirley, Blansky's Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Out of the Blue, Joanie Loves Chachi, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang and Laverne & Shirley with The Fonz.
Spin-off pilots that did not succeed include The Ralph and Potsie Show as well as The Pinky Tuscadero Show.

In other media

Books

A series of novels based on characters and dialog of the series was written by William Johnston and published by Tempo Books in the 1970s. A reimagining titled Who Killed the Fonz? continues the story in the 1980s as a murder mystery. It was published in hardcover on February 19, 2019, and written by James Boice.

Comic Books

Western Publishing published a Happy Days comic book series in 1979 under their Gold Key Comics brand and Whitman Comics brand.

Animation

There are two animated series, both produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with Paramount Television. The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang ran from 1980 to 1982. There are also animated spin-offs of Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. The following season, they were connected together as Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour.

Musicals

In the late 1990s, a touring arena show called Happy Days: The Arena Spectacular toured Australia's major cities. The story featured a property developer, and former girlfriend of Fonzie's, called Miss Frost, wanting to buy the diner and redevelop it. It starred Craig McLachlan as Fonzie, Max Gillies and Wendy Hughes as Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham, Doug Parkinson as Al, and Jo Beth Taylor as Richie's love interest Laura. Tom Bosley presented an introduction before each performance live on stage, and pop group Human Nature played a 1950s-style rock group.
Another stage show, Happy Days: A New Musical, began touring in 2008.