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"Fonzie's Spots"

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It is September 24, 1984.  The final episode of Three's Company aired last week.  This isn't even Tuesday, but Monday.  Eight p.m. on Tuesdays this Fall will be (as it was for much of last season)  Foul-Ups, Bleeps, & Blunders, now followed by the 3'sC spin-off/sequel Three's a Crowd.  Before long, the outtakes show will be pushed to 9:00 and Crowd will foolishly be placed at 8:00, followed by Who's the Boss? , which has a much longer future ahead of it.  I will keep watching ABC, but I'm sixteen now and have a boyfriend who will eventually be my ex-husband.  The Tuesday Night ABC Line-Up I grew up with will become a set of mangled memories. I don't know if I watched this episode at the time.  I certainly didn't recall anything about it today.  I'm going with a C-, since it's pretty forgettable, except for the talk between Fonzie and Howard. Notes: Howard has been Grand Poobah for five years and has allegedly only recruited Potsie, but what a
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"Good News, Bad News"

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As a Very Special Episode about diabetes, this would be a C at best, but add in that, one, we never actually get a sense of the tour with the Beach Boys that Chachi might miss out on, and two, the comic relief is wincey, and I have to go with D+. A couple notes: Neil Thompson, who plays the D.J., had four different roles on Laverne & Shirley. Martin Ferrero plays Omar the pilot again.
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"School Dazed"

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An of course simplistic view of drug abuse, including no acknowledgement of the detoxification process.  And I really wish they could've had Joanie as a teacher, I don't know, teach, like not deal with Very Special Crises but figure out her teaching style and stuff.  I'm going with C-. A couple notes: This is clearly set in Winter, although it aired in July. Casting Elinor Donahue of Father Knows Best as the troubled girl's mother adds to the "even nice families have to deal with drug abuse" message, which I have mixed feeling about.  (Not that it isn't true, but it's supposed to be worse that Jesse has a nice home life than if she lived in the expected "hellhole.")
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"Low Notes"

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  Chachi defiantly says he'll get a job in show business, and ends up as a dance instructor for elderly women.  Nothing too remarkable here, but it's mostly innocuous, so C+. Notes (not low): Whatshisname, the former crewcut-comber has a little lineless scene where Fonzie has him eat Chachi's food. I think this was alluded to before, but here it becomes clear that Potsie and Chachi are roommates, which could've been an episode in itself.  And it makes Potsie not going to Chachi's wedding even sadder. Potsie is still working at the hardware store, and still annoying Howard. Linda Henning was Army Lt. Quinlan back in '77 and is Jean Kelly (pun intended) here. Al Aidekman wrote eleven Laverne & Shirley episodes but this his only for HD.
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"So How Was Your Weekend?"

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My weekend is OK I guess, except that I'm watching Happy Days trickle to its forgettable end.  Let's say C for this. Notes: Billie Bird plays the long-referred-to Mother Kelp, who turns out to have issues with Marion, but not as much as she despises Howard.  At least she likes Joanie. I do like Joanie being supportive of Marion. I was under the impression that Mother K lived in town, but she has a Mork & Mindy looking house in Larsonville. Is Chachi really the only one of Joanie's boyfriends that didn't turn Howard's stomach, or is Howard just trying to be nice?
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"Passages," Parts 1 and 2

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  The "last episodes," except for that whole "five leftovers for summer" thing.  At the time, I probably felt the feels, although I mainly remember going, "But what about Chuck???" at Howard's speech.  (OK, and finding it implausible that Joanie & Chachi were Kinks fans.)  This time, well, I don't care all that much about Joanie & Chachi getting married (other than she could do much better), although it's nice to glimpse Richie et al. again.  I really don't care about yet another plot of "Fonzie wants to be a father," especially since I've never seen this kid on other episodes.  I'm giving a C for Part 1 and a C+ for Part 2. Notes: Pamela Dunlap is Doris Charles in both parts, and Danny Ponce is Danny in both.  I'll note that allegedly (according to IMDB but not on my copy) Harris Kal is Bobby and Kevin Rodney Sullivan is Tommy, the last time for both.  They were at best filler all these post-Richie seasons, ne
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"Fonzie Moves Out"

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This is tonally odd, as Howard and Marion make life-changing decisions offscreen and Fonzie does not react well.  I can see how this would've worked with better writing though, so a C. Notes: Somehow Fonzie has been living there only six years, but then it was 1959 for a really long time. Roger wants Fonzie to move in with him.  No mention of Flip. There is a mention of Ashley and Heather, when Fonzie is listing the people who have deserted him, a nice touch. Joanie is gratuitously shown in a towel. Maggie Roswell, who plays real estate agent Joyce James (a pun on the Irish writer?), was Lenny's girlfriend Karen on Laverne & Shirley a couple seasons earlier. This time Jerry Paris's daughter Julie plays Ann. And, yes, this title mirrors "Fonzie Moves In," back at the beginning of Season Three.
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