"The Deadly Dares"


Just assume that these are B-s until further notice.  This February 19th episode contains what I have a strong suspicion will not be the last use of drag on the show (and certainly not on the spin-offs), and it feels right that Richie is paired off with Fonzie, Potsie with Ralph.

Some other notable things:
  • This is the first episode to actually show the high school, well, the hallway, but we haven't yet seen Richie in class.
  • Fonzie wears his leather jacket to a sock hop, pretty surprising in a first-season episode, but maybe Garry thought the ABC censors would be too distracted by the drag and same-sex dancing.
  • Chuck knows about the Demons and compares them to frats.
  • Joanie has some cute moments here, from her bad painting-by-numbers to not wanting to wear Richie's hand-me-down skirt and blouse.
  • Ed Begley, Jr., Hank here, would go on to many other roles, but it is amusing that one of his characters, Bobby Feeney, was then presumably in the Navy and didn't know about his doppelganger in Milwaukee.
  • Beatrice Colen has more to do as Marsha this time, being the victim of two pranks, including one played on a flirty cop, portrayed by Jack Riley, well-known by then and ever since as Elliot Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show.
  • Neil J. Schwartz makes his first of nine appearances as Bag Zombroski.
  • Steve Zacharias would write three more episodes.
  • Herb Wallerstein directs his first of three, suggesting that they hadn't yet settled on Jerry Paris.

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