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

I like Ike! My bike likes Ike!

 

funny as a crutch, Leif!

 

what can one say... those first 3 or 4 seasons were gold. the Marshalls had the touch. it's not their fault that the Odd Couple was more their mien than a show about Milwaukee teens!

 

About the time they dropped "Rock Around the Clock" for their own theme song.
Fonzie becoming a wuss.
Ralph and Potsie, couldnt stand either of them.
Richies disappearing brother.
Scott Baio, with his 70's haircut, probably the wimpiest "Bad Boy" on tv. LOL!
And their move into 70's- 80's fashions. I only saw bits and pieces of the later years anyway.
Never could make up my mind if I disliked Chachi, or that dancing idiot who dated Shirley, on the "Laverne and Shirley" show

 

I couldn't stand Chachi. Or that effin' "wah, wah, wah" thing. GOD I couldn't stand him.

 

Eaglebauer. Ironically played by Clint Howard.

 

That's right, it was a white outfit, and he stood up there speaking the lyrics to Heartbreak Hotel! ha ha, I remember that!
That was so bad, it was kind of enjoyable....at least years later on, to see, for a laugh

 

"The Big Ragoo," UGH. Carmine Ragusa....I hadn't thought of that character in ages...he was the one I hated on Laverne and Shirley (a show that the characters of Lenny and Squiggy saved - based on a thig they did at a party that some business people liked, and toned it down big time because it was almost all swearing with the two characters originally).

 

He once was outside at some place in the country with Richie and probably Ralph and Potsie (what a name) and bothered by all these animals' noises, like owls hooting and such, and he yelled COOL IT! And of course, total silence followed by mass applause. Totally stupid.

 

I don't know his name (or if his character was given one), but the coolest person on there to me (and not "cool" like Fonzie was supposed to be), was this guy with glasses, I think a fat, "nerdish" guy who'd sit in the booth and get picked on by some of "the gang." I can't find anything about him online. I recall some really nice moment at the end of a show with him and this girl (maybe also a wallflower?) dancing.
To think a moment with that much heart was on the show, shows how badly it became, and quickly.
It must have been in the first season. It HAD to be.

 

You'd be wrong. The show didn't start to suck by any means, but a lot of us saw that the quality definitely took a turn for the worse when David left and Elsine's image changed.

 

I watched the documentary movie on Amazon Prime. It’s a great documentary on Suzi Quatro and reveals what a huge Rock Star she was outside the United States. Artists like Joan Jett and the Go Go’s cite her as a major influence.

She did ‘Happy Days’ for three seasons and they even offered her a spin-off series, but she wisely declined and left the series.

I highly recommend the documentary, it’s an extremely, insightful look at a very influential artist.

https://www.suziqmovie.com/

 

Yeah Quatro was really big in England, she got a lot of play in some of the rock mags of the mid 70's. That "Stumblin' In" single wasn't horrid ,compared to a lot of the TV theme song drivel that was all over the charts at the same time. I think I have a cd, I found a few years ago with "Devil's Gate Drive" on it, which was one of her bigger hits in Britain.

 

Awwww, man...I don't think Carmine was THAT bad.

(cough-cough)

 

I vaguely remember the kid you're talking about. I hate to say it, but IIRC, they called him "Moose", didn't they?

I'm sure you're right that he was very early on in the series.

 

Oh, thank you very much!
Moose, I had forgotten that. Yes very early on.

 

I rewatched almost the whole series, last summer (started with "The Pen," I think), and when I got to season 8, I said, "Yeah, if these are the only episodes someone's seen, I can see why they don't like the show." They still have laughs, and I'm one of the few that love the finale, but the storylines just got so absurd. I think season 3 is quintessential Seinfeld. That's when the "show about nothing" scripts reached their peak in hilarity and relatability.

 

When I watched seasons 3 and 4 on DVD, I thought they were funnier than the first two seasons. Granted, back then (some time in middle school), I had an aversion to single cam shows, because I didn't like the canned laughter disconnect. I'm not sure how I'd feel now. I've always seen that the first two seasons had the more authentic look and vibe, so they win on that front. They were also a bit more raunchy. Maybe that was another problem, for me. I took in a lot of prudishness from my grandmother and early Catholic school education. In any case, I have to say that the first four seasons are solid. I've seen later episodes in syndication, and have no desire to go beyond that point.

 

In case you haven't heard Garry Marshall's story about the overseas reception to the HAPPY DAYS spinoff, JOANNIE LOVES CHACHI . . .

It was dumped overseas and the ratings numbers came back and it was the number one show in [country I'm forgetting]. Great! The next week it bombed. What happened?

Turns out that "Chachi" was dialect for a certain piece of male anatomy. And here were the promo ads of an (ostensible) American teenager between the actors portraying her father, Chachi and the Fonz. So this overseas audience thought they were getting something a lot rowdier and randier than a TEEN BEAT style spin-off.

I half expect the anecdote to be debunked fake news, but if so, it's from Marshall himself on a talk show.

 

Korea. Urban legend.

What just shocked me is that it got a DVD release. I don't remember that. I have no interest in watching, though.

 

Would Happy Days have done better with a better lead than Ron Howard?

I say yes. The Wonder Years was basically Happy Days, set a little later, with no Fonzie. I think it was possible to do a show like that with a "normal" lead character and have people watch, but Ron Howard just didn't have enough to be that lead.

The Waltons would be another show set in the past with a teen lead, and I think Richard Thomas was a better actor than Ron Howard.

Then there's American Graffiti, which yes, does feature Ron Howard. But let's face it, Richard Dreyfuss is the lead there. Ron Howard couldn't compete with that.

Ron Howard eventually left acting for a very successful directing career. But I think a stronger actor in that role could have prevented some of the show's problems.

 

I don't know about that. This isn't the only show to have a unique, possibly cartoony, side character take over from the lead(s). Really, Fonzie probably just shouldn't have been a regular character. Of course people are gonna gravitate towards the rebellious, cool, character, in a sea of corny whitebread characters.

 

When the scripts dried up the producers did their damndest to push the series
into The Sixties. Kinda throws the whole premise, don't it?

Personally, this show was best in its first two seasons and even better as a
"Love, American Style" sub-series, if that's a term. I even liked and remember
the elder Cunningham brother! Wasn't his name "Stitch" or "Stretch"? Lulz

 

They didn't have to do such corny, whitebread characters though. But I think that was the original intent.

Happy Days started in the mid 1950s. American Graffiti was set in 1962. There was a big difference. Superfically, the eras looked about the same. Maybe 1962 seemed even tamer with hard rock and roll seemingly on its way out, replaced by folk music. Of course 'Nam etc. was all just around the corner. Whereas the actual 1950s soon seemed like an anachronistic oasis, with the problems dwarfed by what went down in the 1960s. So the producers went whitebread for the safe feeling of nostalgia, even more whitebread than the Waltons, which was set longer ago.

 

It is likely that there is a market for just about every show. I recently purchased Mighty Orbots - The Complete Series, which was only on the air for a few months and was cancelled due to legal issues. I always remembered the series, so I purchased it when I had the chance despite being a show that few people remember.

Likewise, I have an interest in some obscure shows that I think few people would be interested in. One I'd like to see is Uncle Kroc's Block, which is supposed to be the very worst show ever put on Saturday Morning Television. Despite that, I'd like to see it to see if it is as bad as it's supposed to be. Plus, it featured a cartoon that I liked called Fraidy Cat.

Many series have the "cartoony" character that gets attention, and sometimes actually takes over the show. One that comes to mind is Steve Urkel on Family Matters who went from being a minor character to being the main focus on the show. Other characters like Lenny & Squiggy (Laverne & Shirley), Reverend Jim (Taxi), and Kramer (Seinfeld) come to mind.

However, sometimes a character can become the focus of the show by not being "cartoony." An example of this is Oliver Wendell Douglas on Green Acres, who was the focus on the show because he was the one character on the show who was normal.