Top Stupid Things about the 'Happy Days' TV series (1974-1984)

Robert Johnson might disagree.

 

Communism has killed 80-100 million people (growing daily) and enslaved hundreds of millions more. It’s very similar to Nazism. The 1950s were not perfect but the quality of life was improving for the vast majority of Americans, if unevenly. It wasn’t 17% average unemployment rate of the 1930s or a World War of the 1940s

 

I'd go nuts with the bad TV and lack of internet. And again, the bad medical care (and the lack of knowledge in that era) would be tough to deal with. I think a lot of people look back at the 1950s with rose-colored glasses and see only the innocence and good times that were there, but they ignore the strife, grief, and very real problems that went on. Look at movies like Pleasantville, which present a version of how when modern people find themselves stuck in a 1950s-like situation, it's not as nice as your memories predicted. Back to the Future is another film that showed that the "innocent 1950s" weren't always as fun as people remember.

Stephen King's book 11/22/63 deals with a guy who time travels (several times) from our present to 1958, and the time-traveller goes into quite a bit of detail on the problems he endures in trying to survive to November '63 in Dallas to stop JFK from being assassinated. The poverty, politics, racism, violence, and a lot of other 1950s issues are very clear in that book.

I'd rather cling to the desperate hope that things will get better for those of us living in modern times. I think this is a better philosophy than longing to go back to the past, which is something we'll never be able to do in real life.

 

You make a good point. One cannot isolate then criticize (especially using modern standards) individual points in history. It’s a progression over time. One must measure a society by its advancements. Lamenting over a particular point in history isn’t very productive.

 

Look - there are elements of the 1950s that were great, particularly the extended families and communities that provided a support system for those who needed it. Now, we have fractured, scattered families and neighborhoods were people don’t know each other. People fall through the cracks more easily now. I work as a manager and I’m frequently surprised by some of the things that our younger employees want from the company. But then I realize that in a way, companies are now substituting for families that aren’t there, or churches/clubs that are declining or no longer exist.

But there were elements of the 1950s that weren’t great for women, blacks, gays, and others who weren’t really allowed to live the lives they wanted to lead. We can’t go back to that.

 

The upshot being that one of the dumbest things about Happy Days is that it wasn’t your standard 21st century Hollywood exploitation film about how bad Americans have been throughout their history. Geez. And to think my first post here criticized Potsie’s haircut.

 

Is that Jerry Paris playing the heckler? That should go in the cameos thread. I'm guessing he directed the episode.

 

These reunion specials are often cringey and embarrassing to me. But for whatever reason, this one sounds amazing!

 

I don't quite follow what is meant by John Stamos attending in the role of Chachi. I figured it would just be a group interview with a moderator, where the participants talk about their memories of producing the show. Are they all showing up in character? Will they do sketches or scenes together? What is Stamos going to do? Is he going to reminisce about watching the show?

 

Yes, but he and Richie later supported Obama: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xu5jx3

 

I'm guessing Stamos thought it was going to be a virtual table read thing, like the recent Princess Bride reunion. Either that, or he was making a joke.

 

He’s making a joke - he knows that Scott Baio is a Trump supporter and won’t be there.

 

The strangest, most ironic fact about this show:

The best episodes are those which feature Fonzie not wearing a leather jacket.... but a windbreaker.

 

I was waiting for M*A*S*H to come on last night and I thought the same thing. His jacket looked out of place as did his hair. This was a later episode with Roger. It was a basketball game and Chachi hurt his ankle. The hairstyles were distracting. Chachi was full-on Shaun Cassidy hair, Fonz's hair was styled as the 50's but it was obviously too long for the period and Roger looked like someone from an early 80's cheesy movie. It was terrible but as a kid I couldn't get enough.

I used to wish I could be in the 50's. In my world everyone would hang out at the malt shop, drive 57 Chevy's and crank up the rock and roll. As @Vidiot said, people look to the past thru rose-colored glasses. As a teen in the 80's I love that period. Sometimes I would want to go back but when I look on it now it wasn't all that great. I mean I grew up in a great middle class neighborhood and had the same friends from grade school until college. But I think of how far medicine has come along even since then. In high school I had a diabetic friend. He would give himself shots of insulin and I honestly have no idea how he checked his blood sugar. He ended up in poor health by the time he was 20 and was dead by the time he was 25. Sure, he probably didn't take good care of himself but the technology today is so much better -- I have a diabetic 10 year old and she has an insulin pump, rarely, if ever gets insulin shots and has a continuous glucose monitor that checks her blood sugar every 5 minutes and if her sugar levels get too high or low it sends an alert to our cell phones. With technology like that the only time period I want to be in is now and the future. So as far as I am concerned the past can stay in the past.

As for Happy Days, the first 2 seasons are the best. It captured the time period perfectly. Even as a kid I sensed a change when Arnold's burned down. They remodeled it and it looked like a 70's café and it did not fool this 9 year old kid.

 

I think that was a bit of a reference to Rebel Without a Cause.

 

So like five episodes? He was allowed the jacket after the first half dozen or so shows.

 

Substitute "Facism" for "Communism" and would you still feel the same way? As pointed out by others Communists murdered more people in the 20th century than Fascists did. "Political Affiliation"? Is National Socialism / Fascism a "political affiliation"? Both are horrible. Communism is the mortal enemy of our way of life. They had infiltrated everything here. Julius Rosenberg really was guilty. The Manhattan Project was rife with communist spies (Klaus Fuchs and others). The messenger being corrupt (McCarthy) does not wholly invalidate the message. Deciding to go after our artists made them martyrs and allowed the real villains (those in government, defense, science and technology) to be overlooked. At least the ex-Nazis (who should have been prosecuted and not given sanctuary) were working for us, not against us. As far as I am concerned they could have executed or imprisoned for life all of the Waffen-SS. The hatred of fascism is justified. So is the hatred of communism. Why people can see one as a threat and the other harmless befuddles me. It mocks the tens of millions who were murdered by them. Communists use our freedoms to work to take them away from us. Let them speak but call them out and denounce them. The Red Star and the Swastika are both symbols of evil.

Enough of the tirade....

Very true about polio as I knew a few kids who suffered from its debilitating effect. Jonas Salk developed a miraculous vaccine and it virtually disappeared from our country. Many have never seen a child suffering from it and we now we have anti-vaccination nutjobs.

The 50's were a great time for white males, not so great for everyone else. I lived in Detroit in the 50's and it was a nice place then. Great neighborhood, great people, a true sense of community. We left just before it began to fall apart. But I am white and was living in what was then an all-white middle-class neighborhood. But that is what "Happy Days" was all about, being white in the 1950's. I doubt many blacks, latinos. etc have such wonderful memories of that time. The shame is that it was not like that for all people. The shame is that so few of them have those kind of memories.

We as a country simply had to start living up to the promises made in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. We had to make the Pledge of Allegiance "with Liberty and Justice for all" ring true. It's tragic that it has taken so long.

 

The 50s were a great time to live in if you were part of a TV family like the Cleavers, the Andersons or the Stones. No cussing, mom at home, dad with a good job, siblings who ultimately had each other's backs, food on the table, folks dressed up hanging around the house. I lived through it and always thought something was wrong with my family life since we really didn't look or act like them at all. Then, in time, stories about the real lives of the various actors were revealed and it all made sense. Rose colored glasses indeed.

 

Even at this point, the single camera years, Fonzie is already a completely ridiculous character. In what world does a character like this exist?

Again, Ron Howard, such a bad actor at this point. Didn't help. By far the worst part of American Graffiti.

A real Fonzie at the time would have been forced to conform if he had to get anywhere. If they had just gone more subtle, emphasized all of the don't ask don't tell stuff that DID go on in the 1950s, the enforced conformity, Fonzie can conform some but rebel with asides and such.

But that was the 1970s, the 1950s were the "safe" time with the retro fashions mostly.

 

He'd definitely disagree.

 

gotta agree with this one. He was like Scrappy Doo for live action sitcoms.

 

Hi,
I don't think I would call this stupid (maybe some slight mannerisms),
somebody may disagree,
but I don't know where else someone might be interested in seeing it;
I never saw this before, to my recollection:


(it was recommended to me on you tube, I have no idea why)

 

Wow that guy's got tons of Happy Days clips and other TV clips on his channel
Pardon me if this was already posted

 

I wouldn’t call this a “stupid” moment in Happy Days. It actually gives an emotional background into the Fonzie character and the scene between Fonzie and his father is actually moving and revealing plus well acted.

 

Thank you, yeah me either (I was thinking, when I wrote slight mannerism, they way they overdo Fonzie's response, maybe the loud crowd that jumps at his every move doesn't help)
I liked it actually. And it was well-acted; Henry Winkler was a good actor who simply could not get any great parts after this show, but then at least he sure didn't need the money.
It does give background, yes of course....can explain why his whole "tough guy" thing (if that wasn't so overdone - again, Garry Marshall producing never allows subtlety)......