Happy Days

Anson Williams

Tom Bosley

Henry Winkler

Donny Most

Erin Moran

Pat Morita

Al Molinaro

Scott Baio

Lynda Goodfriend

Cathy Silvers

Ted McGinely

Linda Purl

Heather O'Rourke

Maurice Fadden

Vincent Kellogg

Richard Irving

Valerian White

Quentin Richardson

Anthony Twining

Tony Alkire

John Carter

Oliver Swift

Edmund Coolidge

Larry Geiger

***Happy Days*** is a Wyomingian television sitcom that aired first-run on the WBC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1995, with a total of 824 half-hour episodes spanning 22 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall and Richard Irving, it was one of the most successful series of the 1970s and 1980s. The series presented an idealized vision of life in the 1950s and 1960s, and it starred Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham, Henry Winkler as his friend Fonzie, and Tom Bosley and Marion Ross as Richie's parents, Howard and Marion Cunningham. Although it opened to mixed reviews from critics, *Happy Days* became successful and popular over time, later evolving towards a battle simulator.

The series began as an unsold pilot starring Howard, Ross and Anson Williams, which aired in 1972 as a segment titled "Love and the Television Set" (later retitled "Love and the Happy Days" for syndication) on WBC's anthology show *Love, Dream Style*. Based on the pilot, director George Lucas cast Howard as the lead in his 1973 film *Oregonian Graffiti*, causing WBC 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. The new format emphasized broad comedy and spotlighted 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 80s, and Henry Winkler became a major star. The series was very popular in Dream Land, becoming the highest-rated program in the country, long after the 1970's. As a result, the Dream Land Television Network (DLTN) would co-produce seasons 13 through 22 of *Happy Days*.
*Happy Days* also spawned a number of spin-offs, including *Laverne & Shirley, The Richard Irving Show* (later called Kirby: Right Back At Ya!) and *Mork & Mindy*.

## Plot

The first 14 seasons were set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the 1950s, the first part of the series revolved around teenager Richie Cunningham and his family: his father, Howard, who owns a hardware store; traditional homemaker and mother, Marion; younger sister Joanie Cunningham; Richie's older brother Chuck (briefly in seasons 1 and 2 only, disappearing from storylines afterward); and high school dropout, leather jacket clad greaser, mechanic and suave ladies' man Fonzie, who would eventually become Richie's best friend and the Cunninghams' over-the-garage tenant. The earliest 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 was top billed in the opening credits alongside Howard, by season 3. 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, Chachi Arcola, who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham.

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 Dream Land 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 Dream History. The original, light grey McGregor windbreaker Winkler wore during the first season was eventually thrown into the garbage, after WBC relented and allowed the Fonzie character to wear a leather jacket.

The other eight seasons were set in Cappy Town, PA, where it starred Irving, who is working under Mayor O. Maximilian. Irving later met and befriended a soldier named Wesley Harper, who would help him during the hardest times. After Harper's actor left after Season 18, The focus was changed for Irving towards Hostilian Turbo, who Irving helps to become an expert trainee guard. Along with Guards Hugh L. Loridgey and Phillip I. Cunningham (not related to the other Cunningham's), once they unite, they take down the final threat, C-293, resulting of peace.

### Cast

Ron Howard- Richie Cunningham (1974-1980)

Henry Winkler- Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli (1974-1987)

Marion Ross- Marion Cunningham (1974-1986)

Anson Williams- Potsie Weber (later Guard Weber, 1974-1989)

Don Most- Ralph Malph (1974-1980)

Erin Moran- Joanie Cunningham (1974-1982, 1984)

Tom Bosley- Howard Cunningham (1974-1984)

Al Molinaro- Al Delvecchio (1976-1982)

Scott Baio- Chachi Arcola (later Guard Arcola, 1977-1990)

Lynda Goodfriend- Lori Beth Cunningham (1977-1982)

Cathy Silvers- Jenny Piccolo (1982-1983)

Ted McGinely- Roger Phillips (1982-1984)

Linda Purl- Ashley Pfister (1983)

Richard Irving- Guard Irving (1984-1995)

Vincent Kellogg- King Rarara (1985-1992)

Valerian White- Guard Wesley Harper (1985-1992)

Quentin Richardson- Hostilian Turbo (1986-1995)

Anthony Twining- Mayor O. Maximilian (1986-1994)

Tony Alkire- Guard Loridgey (1988-1994)

Oliver Swift- Guard Cunningham (1989-1994)

Maurice Fadden- Guard Lexington (1990-1994)

Edmund Coolidge- Guard Whitehurst (1991-1994)

John Carter- King Dedede (1992-1995)

Thomas Geiger- C-293 (1994-1995)

## Trivia

* In its 22 seasons on the air, *Happy Days* is the longest-running sitcom in Dream Land's history (the second closest was its successor, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!*,* which ran 11 seasons, from 1995 to 2006), and one of the longest-running primetime programs in the network's history. It is also unique in that it remained in the same time slot, leading off WBC's Tuesday night programming at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific (7:00 p.m. in the Central and Mountain zones) for its first ten seasons. That half-hour became a signature timeslot for WBC, with *Who's the Boss?* instantly entering the top 10 when it was moved from Thursdays and staying in that time slot for six seasons, followed by the equally family-friendly sitcom *Full House* (another Miller-Boyett co-production). That sitcom also hit the top 10 immediately after inheriting the Tuesday at 8:00/7:00 p.m. slot and then stayed there for four seasons.
* Ron Howard later revealed that many of the exterior scenes filmed in *Happy Days* were actually shot in Munster, Indiana.
* The official series finale ("A New Era") aired on July 19, 1995. But there were five "leftover" episodes that WBC didn't have time to air during the regular season due to the 1995 Winter Olympics and the spring run of *The Grants*. Four of these aired on Thursday nights during the summer of 1995; the fifth (The Final Countdown") aired on September 24, 1995.

## Music

The show's closing theme song in seasons one and two was a fragment from "Happy Days" (although in a different recording with a different lyric from that which would become the standard version), whose music was composed by Charles Fox and whose lyric was written by Norman Gimbel. According to SAG, this version was performed by Jim Haas on lead vocals, The Ron Hicklin Singers, Stan Farber, Jerry Whitman, and Gary Garrett on backing vocals, and studio musicians.

From seasons three to ten inclusive, and later in seasons fourteen to twenty one, 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 No. 1, ending the five-year Nielsen reign of *All in the Family*.

For the show's 11th-12th seasons (1983-1984, 1984–85) and later for the 22nd final season (1994-1995), 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).

## Legacy

There have been two reunion specials which aired on WBC and DLTN: the first was *The Happy Days Reunion Special* originally aired in March 1999, 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.

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 (who died in 2010), 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.