"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"



This March 12th episode is easily the best so far (a B), with the characters starting to click and the script offering some genuine laughs.  OK, it's a bit odd that Richie and Arlene Holder (I could've sworn they said Hoffstedter before) have been going out for only two weeks, when they were going steady four episodes ago, but obviously there are bigger timeline issues this season.
Notes:
  • The boys vs. girls scene about Richie and Arlene's fight is a good way to start things off and, yeah, it gives Trudy stuff to do again.
  • Howard is such a reluctant chaperone, he's actually steering couples towards makeout spots!
  • Did he and Marion go to Jefferson High, too?  Or was it somewhere else with an oak tree?
  • Laurette Spang would play Arlene once more, along with some other characters.  Three's Company fans may recognize her as Inga from that skiing episode.
  • Fonzie cleans up nicely, and he actually dips Mrs. Cunningham!  (There was always a not-quite-ship about the two of them, more about that later of course.)
  • Ralph as class clown and coward is starting to solidify.
  • It's the junior prom, even though Richie was supposed to be a senior.
  • This is another Bickley solo script, with Paris back in the director's chair.

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