Reliving Happy Days

The title characters are Howard and Fonzie, who sue each other after a blizzard causes Fonzie's pigeon coop to crash down through the roof and into Fonzie's apartment.  I didn't think this was as funny or insightful as it could be, and I have to agree with Howard wondering why he ends up paying $200, the local "kids" will pay the other $200, and the Fonz pays nothing.  Still, there are some moments I like, such as Richie feeling torn when he has to testify against both men.  I'm going with a C+. Notes: Seeing pigeons cuddle makes Marion frisky. Joanie still believes in Santa Claus. Fonzie claims he was on his own at the age of six. Richie is, this probably won't surprise you, seventeen. Bob W. Hoffman's final HD role is as Ernie. I assume Lloyd Kino's character name as Arnold's repairman cousin, Marvin Lee, is a play on Lee Marvin; he would be Mr. Wang on Mork & Mindy three years later, which Robin Williams must've had a field day with....

This is definitely a better (B-) proto-crossover although still odd in ways I'll discuss in the notes.  The title is a fitting one since Fonzie, sort of as distinct from Winkler the actor, was a superstar in real life in 1976, as odd as that is to recall now.  Anyway, Ralph wants Fonzie to sing in Potsie's place while Potsie is out of town (for reasons), but Fonzie has stage fright.   Lots o' notes: Potsie has a rich uncle who wants him to go to Notre Dame, so Potsie's parents (who it's well established hate him) want him to tour the campus that weekend. Fonzie will be out of town shortly before the "Senior Dance," which is being held at Arnold's because apparently they tore down the sock hop sets from the first couple seasons. Fonzie is going to the Powderpuff Derby, to help Pinky Tuscadero, which, like really?  That's historic!  (I want to say she doesn't show up until Season Four though, and this reference may be retconned.)  They had quite ...

This episode has potential, but somehow doesn't pay off, combining as it does a Laverne & Shirley cameo (to no reaction from the audience by the way), the return of Fonzie's nephew Spike, a mass babysitting scheme to raise money to buy $10/20 football tickets from Arnold, and Howard in a toga.  I unfortunately have to go with a C. Notes: Fonzie imagines himself as a father, which is a new development, but arguably part of his whole character arc. Joanie apparently babysits a lot and even has a client list, which Richie steals. This is set around the time of Mardi Gras, which puts it in February, which is close enough for a January 20th episode. Marion resents having to do stuff for Howard's lodge. There's some stuff about '50s football, which I'm with Marion on being bored by. I'm not sure which is creepier, the still tiny Spike copying down girls' phone numbers from the men's room at Arnold's, or Fonzie encouraging him to threaten other kids...

This aired in the usual slot, the night after the anniversary show.  It's much better than the Laverne & Shirley episode where the girls sell door-to-door, although the "Jack sells encyclopedias" Three's Company  episode is better, partly because Jack also gets an offer to be a nude model. Ralph is much more bribable than Richie, no surprise. I appreciate that they're still using his flame-covered yellow car. Apparently, they're going to retcon Howard's backstory even from what it was earlier in the season.  Instead of him opening the hardware store at 20 (when he was 25), he instead got out of the Army, after three years as a cook during the War (presumably coming home on leave to impregnate Marion once or twice), and didn't know what to do with his life.  But he wandered into a hardware store to buy a plunger and found his calling.  He worked his way up from stockboy to owner.  (I don't imagine Mother Kelp was thrilled about a son-in-law who ...

  The first of many HD  clip shows, heavy on what had aired so far in Season Three, although it was worth revisiting Richie in drag, dancing with Fonzie, this time with more of an audience reaction, I assume live-studio-audience, although maybe not.  I'm going with a C, since, as I've said on other blogs, whatever the appeal of clip shows at the time of airing, they lose a lot on DVD. Notes: "All the Way" aired on January 15, 1974, but January 12, 1976 was a Monday, and I assume that this was in the 8:30 slot, since Barbary Coast and Mobile One weren't exactly big hits. Rather than try to come up with some anniversary that this could be about (as Laverne & Shirley would do on their  anniversary show), this is Fonzie's unspecified birthday, the first thrown for him by guys rather than girls. It's held at Arnold's, I'm guessing because Howard put his foot down about it being thrown at the house. It's a very Fonzie-centric episode, in both fla...

And now it's 1976, an even more eventful year in Marshalliana, but this isn't a great episode to celebrate the new year (well, technically Epiphany) with.   Marion is feeling restless as a housewife with no "activities" like her kids and husband.  Howard thinks it's her annual plea to get a job, so he puts his foot down.  She just wants to enter a dance contest, which they all think is hilarious, even though she was the best dancer in high school twenty years ago.  So she enters the contest with Fonzie, which means lots of rehearsal time, at his garage and at Arnold's, so then people think the two of them are having an affair.  This was the first episode where I actually felt sorry for Fonzie.  Anyway, I'm going with C+. Some other thoughts: Marion's mother, who hates Howard, lives locally but has not yet been shown. The dance number, a tango, isn't all that impressive, especially compared to when Richie would be in a dance contest on a Laverne ...

The story has potential but the execution is weak.  Putting Fonzie on a God-like level is too much, and it irritated me that, one, it's so hard for anyone to see that he might be wrong, and two, they start the running joke that he can't even pronounce the words "I was wrong."  I did like Howard's continued annoyance with Potsie, and Richie telling Fonzie off.  So I'm going with a C. A few thoughts: Amy Irving again plays Olivia, who doesn't like Ralph's sense of humor and yet finds the new girl Sheila hilarious when doing similar gags. Suddenly, the timeline makes sense, with Fonzie doing Christmas cards, on an episode that aired on December 16th. According to IMDB, Arthur Godfrey was a pretty controversial figure by the late '50s, although maybe Ralph has been working on his impression for years. His remark that 14-year-old Joanie will be a grown woman when he returns from the Marines is a bit creepy, and it will have an extra spin when he returns...

This is one I sort of remember, if not from the time, when I was seven, then certainly from the early years of syndication.  It did make me a bit of a Potsie/Joanie shipper (I think of this as the "Dren" episode), although he's right that by the time she's 19 and he's 22 (or whatever), she'll be long over him.  I was leaning towards a B-, but the tag with Joanie and Marion (and briefly Howard) is a little gem, so I'm going with a B. A few other notes: It's now Winter and Joanie is fourteen and three-quarters, because the timeline wants to drive me mad. Richie plays the drums and the saxophone, in one song! It's just the core cast this week, but that allows the basic dynamic to play out more purely, including Richie proving himself (as he did on the episode where Howard had a midlife crisis) to be a good, supportive big brother to Joanie. The wedding dream is possibly weirder than intended, although even in Joanie's dreams, Howard can't stan...

This is more heavy-handed than the episode where Howard is best man to a Negro he's been friends with since The War, although they mean well here of course.  I'm going with C+. Other thoughts: I may be reading into this, but I think I glimpsed the beginnings of Joanie's crush on Potsie, when she asks him to limbo.  But, yeah, usually she makes fun of him and of course tells him to sit on it. The celebration of Hawaii's 1959 statehood of course further mucks up the timeline. This is Bag's last appearance until '77 and he turns out to be racist, or at least have racist parents. Arnold's parents live in Miami. Kathy O'Dare was Mary Lou Milligan before and is Lois here. John-Anthony Bailey AKA Jack Baker would return as Sticks, the new drummer, the next year, and I honestly thought he was in more episodes.  Sadly, he would die in 1994 at age 47, after an eclectic career that ranged from Wonderbug to what sounds like a lot of porn in middle age, e.g. Afro Ero...

This is another one I vaguely remember, but I'm going with a C+ because of mild racism (against American Indians, while the "Uncle Tom's cabin" joke is arguably literary) and of course sexism.  I do like the "foreign" rendition of "Rock Around the Clock" (a semi-in-joke) and Richie's "mature businessman" voice. A few notes: Now I wonder what Marion did in her college days, besides study Archaeology, as we learned on the episode where Howard wanted to run off to Tahiti.  Sounds like things got pretty wild in the woods. This is set during "Easter break."  Come on, timeline!  It's like you're not even trying. I wonder if Richie and his pals would've done better if they just tried to pass as college students. A rare instance of Fonzie cluelessly cockblocking, although it works out after all. Boswell's writing partner this time is Tiffany York, who's only other IMDB credit is a Welcome Back, Kotter episode, fr...

While this is deservedly famous for introducing the characters of Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney (and thus reshaping not just Tuesday nights on ABC but arguably pop culture), I want to talk about it  here as yet another entry in the saga of Richie Cunningham being unlucky in "love."  Richie is in a dating slump, having broken up with Sharon Meyers a month ago, after a four-month relationship that we have of course never heard of.  Fonzie does his best to rebuild his confidence, first having him try to pick up chicks in an incredibly small supermarket and then fixing him up with Miss Feeney.  But Richie is very nervous, partly because Shirley is a little older (Richie is seventeen) and partly because these girls are rougher and tougher than he's used to.  They even fight in the ladies' room!  Still, Shirley thinks he's "a cute kid" and she does give him what seems to be a very warm goodnight kiss, so it's a happy ending, if Richie could stop locki...

The highlight here is of course anything to do with Ralph trying to break a bottle like Burt Lancaster, with Richie's Fonzie imitation coming in second.  I didn't care that much about Fonzie being a cop, so C+. Notes: Fonzie quit the Falcons three years ago, but they still look up to him. Richie actually tells Fonzie to shut up, with reason. I didn't recognize her but Kit McDonough apparently has the first of twelve uncredited HD roles as Girl in Blue Shirt.  When she'd get lines onscreen in the next couple years, like on the first Three's Company  episode, she'd turn out to have great comic delivery.  (She does speak on Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy for instance.) Ken Lerner returns as Frankie. Mindy Naud is credited as Roberta but is emphatically still Paula Petralunga, whom Potsie is seen lusting after.  And, yes, that pinball machine gets more action than Potsie. Ed Peck returns as Officer Kirk, and Fonzie remembers him as a bad dancer at the Po...

This is probably the funniest episode so far, especially the first half, but it also has some good character moments.  OK, so early-seasons Howard would never have doubted his own life's purpose like this, but I can buy it from revamped early-live Howard.  I even liked Fonzie in this one and he gives good advice for once.  The comedic highlight here is of course the This Is Your Life sequence, although Arnold is quickly proving a valuable new cast member.  Anyway, I'm going with a B+ Other thoughts: There's a cool exterior insert of Richie pulling up to his house in his red car. Mary Treen has a career going back to early talkies.  (She's Cousin Tilly in It's a Wonderful Life. )  She'd be in the first Laverne & Shirley episode, as Nana Shotz.  Here the then-68-year-old plays Howard's third-grade teacher, whose name of Miss Prism is probably taken from The Importance of Being Earnest, although the personality is much different. Still more backstory ...

This episode is most notable for the introduction of one of its most memorable minor recurring characters, no-nonsense Officer Kirk, played by Ed Peck for the first of nine times.  It also seems to have been one I either watched more than average or it somehow made an impression on me, because I recalled a lot watching it today, from Potsie and Ralph kissing the pinball machine to Arnold saying they should've crawled under the door for the pay toilet. As a kid and now, the episodes where Richie is idealistic appeal to me most, and I like that his father joins his passive resistance, although it does mean that Howard fails to get elected Grand Poobah, after waiting three years. Elvis was drafted in December '57 and joined the Army in March '58, if that helps with the timeline at all. Melinda Naud returns as Paula Petralunga, whom Fonzie plans to give as a "gift" to Elvis.  (Since Elvis isn't actually on the train, she will return.)   Jack Perkins plays a Drunk ...

This has dubious messages, although not as dubious as on the previous episode.  Still, I did laugh, especially at Richie beating up a leather jacket.  And it was nice to see Jeff Conaway as a greaser pre-Kenickie.  So I'm going with C+. Notes: Some backstory on Arnold here and, yes, him teaching martial arts is proto- Karate-Kid. This is at least the second episode where Marion uses the word "frisky" in reference to Howard. I feel like there was an earlier episode where Joanie hit a boy who tried to kiss her, but Marion supported her then but think it's un-lady-like here. Susan Lawrence is back at Vivian. Ken Lerner is Frankie here and on another '75 episode, but he'd later be two different characters named Rocco.  (At least, I assume they're different characters.) Arthur Silver would write seven more episodes, and much later direct one for Laverne & Shirley.

Easily the worst episode so far, a D in fact, and that's only because I liked "the Potsie Club" part and the episode starts out with a standard plot, used on The Brady Bunch and Three's Company among others, where someone can't go on a blind date and he (it's usually a guy) gets a friend to pretend to be him.  Potsie hits it off with the girl, who of course (another trope here) is not the expected "dog," but then (offscreen) he attacks her and rips her dress as she tries to escape!  Then she has to hitchhike back to the hotel where she and her parents are staying.  And there are lots of jokes about men being "animals," as if attempted date rape is funny.  Even Joanie being voyeuristic, which is weird enough with Richie pranking her by telling an imaginary date that his sister would want to watch, gets even more twisted.  And to top it off, Fonzie, the "expert on women," says women aren't real people and they expect a guy to ...

I found the writing a little weak here, not particularly funny or insightful, so I'm going with a C. Jack Smith of course returns. This time Susan Lawrence is Girl #1. Peter Hobbs is the nameless Doctor here and would later be Mr. Dugan. Arnold cusses in Chinese, on national television!

This is the first of what would be many multi-part episodes, unlike the, well, more episodic first couple seasons, where they couldn't even keep, for instance, Potsie's weight consistent for episode to episode.  Not that there's anything like a show bible, but for the first time we're expected to carry over what happens in one week to the next.  In fact, we get a cliffhanger of Fonzie in mid-air, doing his Evel-Knievel-like jump over fourteen trash cans.  And, yes, the phrase "Jump the Trash" never caught on. Actually, I am going with a C+ with this one, rather than my default B-, because of the gratuitous "punch Grace Kelly" joke, as well as the weirdness of Ralph wanting to see a human sacrifice.  (If he'd wanted to see something involving smut, that would be in character.) Notes: Mindy Naud debuts her memorable Paula Petralunga character here (well, I at least remembered the name). Jack Smith plays himself, but the audience doesn't seem to...

This and the previous episode were featured on a recent Zoom reunion fundraiser, with the cast (and guests) reading the scripts out loud.  I found it a little flat, although Ron Howard remains an under-rated actor.  Anyway, I honestly can't see this episode being done in Season One or Two.  Fonzie would never have considered Ralph a friend, and the Cunninghams wouldn't have tied the Fonz to a chair, pretending it was one of Joanie's magic tricks.  Nor would the episode have ended on a bathroom joke.  Still, I'm entertained, just in a different way than by the early episodes. William S. Bickley's co-writer this time, Michael Warren, would do thirteen more episodes, through to the end.

It was September 9, 1975.  I was in the second grade and starting to watch more prime-time TV.  Of the two ABC sitcoms in the Tuesday 8 to 9 p.m. block, I was of course drawn more to the debuting  Welcome Back, Kotter, not yet in its Thursday niche.    It was much funnier, especially to a seven-year-old and the guys were cuter.  (Yes, that matters when you're seven.)  It even had catchier catch-phrases.  But to say I was indifferent even at the time to the television history that this episode made would be untrue.  Fonzie moved in with the Cunninghams and stayed! The being filmed-in-front-of-a-live-studio-audience, shrug, not a big deal to me then.  Watching now though, the impact is obvious, from the redone living room set (now the front door is on Stage Left rather than Stage Right) to the broader acting.  They are not playing to the audience as much as they would, but the seeds are there. And, yes, Fonzie officially becoming like...

The most notable thing here in the final episode of Season Two is the complete transformation of Potsie from Haskellesque schemer to naïve fool.  It is Ralph who thinks they should sneak out of the hotel where they're staying in Chicago for a TV appearance with their choir group, while Potsie is more hesitant.  This revised characterization of Potsie is one that would become very familiar in later seasons, but I was startled to see it this early.  That said, aspiring comic Ralph does laugh at all the corny jokes in the nightclub, which is very him. We never find out how the TV show goes, or for that matter if Richie brings Fonzie back grease from the garage of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.  Marsha is referred to but not seen, as Ralph has a WWMD moment.  I don't know if I've noted it before, but the Jefferson High set is very recognizable from The Brady Bunch.  I don't think it was used for the live seasons, but we'll see. As for this season, it ranges ...

The basic premise is problematic from a sex-pol perspective and just in terms of character, but I did laugh (especially at Joanie) and there are some interesting character moments nonetheless.  If we buy that very non-monogamous Fonzie would ask Richie to look after his "girl" (Laurette Spang, this time as Denise Hudson) while he's away for a week, and Richie for once doesn't do the honorable thing but instead necks repeatedly with said girl at Inspiration Point, thus risking getting mono, then, yeah, OK, it's interesting to see how it plays out. Notes: This is probably the true debut of voyeuristic!Joanie, as she would rather watch Richie and Denise kissing than My Little Margie (which left the air in 1955).  She's not even disgusted by her parents kissing in the kitchen, like you'd expect from a 12-year-old, of any era. Richard Kuller is a nameless Kid (presumably the guy who has to use the men's room) and previously played Charlie. Didi Conn, here a...

This is a bit like a Brady Bunch "kid gets a swelled head" episode (and refers to stealing a goat mascot), but it most resembles a superior Welcome Back, Kotter episode, where Boom-Boom is the d.j. and we get George Carlin instead of Jesse White. Notes: Joanie has the funniest line, introducing herself as "Joanie the C." If this were the next season, Arnold would participate in the negotiations himself, but I kind of like Marsha playing lawyer. Warren Berlinger's first of five HD roles is as DJ Charlie the Prince. This is Jerry Rannow and Greg Strangis's second and last  HD script.

Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids play the title band, who sing "Young Blood," a more suggestive song than Richie's amateur band usually does.  Richie went to summer camp with one of the band members so his friends expect him to get them good tickets to the concert.   Notes: Richie's camp nickname at nine was Freckles. Both Joanie and the unseen Chuck still suck their thumbs when they're unhappy. It looks like Joanie invited a friend, presumably from the Chipmunks, to the concert, which is nice. Howard is earning a "spot" at the Leopard Lodge.  And his back goes out again.  Just in case we forgot he's middle-aged.  (Plus he makes fun of rock & roll of course.) The Pfister Hotel appears for I think the first time and seems much less fancy than it would on Laverne & Shirley a couple years later. Marjorie Bennett, then about 79, previously was Mrs. Harrison. Cher's little sister Georganne LaPiere, then about 23, plays the two-faced Cor...

I was annoyed with most of the characters' behavior in this one, although there are some cute moments and Potsie sings "Splish Splash" again, so I'm going with a C+.  It's unclear why Fonzie would need to join a band to pick up chicks, and if he must, why he has to play the bongos.  And then, Howard had no problem dancing with Marion in the prom episode but now he's worried about looking undignified? Other thoughts: Howard's lodge would become a bigger deal later in the series, and I'm amused that Howard can't decide if it's pronounced "Grand Poobah" or "Grand Poopah." Yes, Bag is still in the band, even though he's barely friends with the other guys.  I guess drummers were hard to find. Waiter Bob Harks previously was a Club Patron. Yes, that's 18-year-old Adam Arkin as Bo. And Susan Richardson, who's Carol Danson, the nearsighted cutie, would be the Danzaly named Susan Bradford on Eight Is Enough  in a couple y...

This is definitely an episode that would've felt very different with a highly vocal 1970s studio audience, particularly during Richie's date with the divorcee.  I like that the episode questions the "hot to trot" stereotype, but it does feel odd that it's not a bigger deal that he's having a romantic dinner with a woman ten years his senior (28 to his 18), no matter what her marital status. The divorced woman is played by Leslie Charleson, who would later be best known as Dr. Monica Quartermaine, a role it looks like she's still playing on  General Hospital  after over 40 years.  And note that Fonzie seems very curious about Richie's date, which I don't think would fit with his later characterization.

This episode takes advantage of Ron Howard's resemblance to Howdy Doody, although he comes in second in the lookalike contest. Notes: There's another Lone Ranger reference. Now I want to know how Ralph's "degenerate" joke was going to go. Ralph's birthday is in August. Joanie being a Junior Chipmunk actually figures into the plot this time. Richie wants to major in Journalism in college, which would happen, so much for his plans to be a lawyer. This time Bruce Kimmel plays Mark Summers, the editor of the school paper, and he dresses like he's 40. Buffalo Bob Smith appears as himself, as does Howdy I guess. This episode's solo writer Bob Brunner's first of only two onscreen appearances (the other being the Foreman on the first Laverne & Shirley episode) is as Clarabell, although famously that was actually the future Captain Kangaroo, so the plot about the clown never being seen without makeup (although apparently without pants!) is ironic.

Despite the presence of both Michael Lembeck and a post- Bunch- pre- Brady-Variety-Hour  Maureen McCormick (as a couple no less), I had issues with the basic plot and the twists it took, although it is notable that Bag actually impacts the plot for the first time in a long while.  I'm glad Ron Friedman didn't write any more episodes, and I'm giving this a C. Note that not only does Ralph call himself  "Mr. Sexy," but he refers to himself and Richie as "two redheaded Greek gods," which doesn't make any sense.

Despite airing on January 28th, this takes place up to and including the Presidential Election of 1956, when Richie is 17 and finds himself going against family tradition in supporting the Democrat, Adlai Stevenson.  (Of course, by this math, Richie wouldn't be able to vote for president until '60.)  This is another episode where Howard realizes he's wrong in insisting that Richie believe as he does, although what would by '75 be called The Generation Gap is dealt with gently. A few notes: Fonzie likes Ike and his bike likes Ike, one of the few lines I remember from syndication. There's a twist with Marion having voted for Stevenson! Ralph talks about sex, but Richie just hopes to neck. Director Jerry Paris plays the Heckler. This is the only HD episode written by Lloyd Garver, who'd do some for, e.g. The Bob Newhart Show,  while Ken Hecht would do one more for HD, but not until 1984, with some other shows in between.

This episode starts off slow, but it gets pretty funny when Richie, Potsie, and Ralph have to match wits with the burglar (Herb Edelman, who would show up as a different sort of crook on Blansky's Beauties, as well as of course as Dorothy's ex on The Golden Girls, and many, many other roles). Some notes: Joanie wanting to see her friends vomit is a little strange. Richie refers to his brother as well as his sister. I knew that as soon as Fonzie slid a slice of pizza under the closet door that the Burglar would complain that there either were or weren't anchovies, because that's how sitcom dialogue works. We see a toilet, and indeed much of the Cunningham bathroom in this episode. Potsie pretending to be 25 is ironic, since Anson Williams was 25 by this point. Ralph jokes about going to dental school, and his father would later turn out to be a dentist. This is the first of four HD episodes written by Mike Weinberger, who'd do one for L & S and three for Three...

The first live-in-front-of-a-studio-audience episode, done as an experiment, a successful one, although it would have a long-range impact on this show, and arguably its spin-offs.  In the short term, although it changes the comic timing, it's fine, and I did laugh out loud a few times.  In fact, I'm giving the episode a B, because I enjoyed it more than I expected. Other thoughts: The sets begin to morph, here with the dining room no longer between the living room and the kitchen. Garry Marshall is of course the drummer at the strip joint, and would often show up as a drummer, here and on Laverne & Shirley . And speaking of, I think we can safely say that neither the "Shirley" nor the "Laverne" referred to in this episode is one of the famous denizens of fictional Milwaukee, but clearly those names were in the air that year. I was a little shocked to hear the word "virgin" a few times.  The message at first seems to be that even Fonzie wants an...

We move into 1975, a highly significant year for this series, and the Marshallverse generally.   But this episode feels a lot like one of the '74 episodes, with Potsie and Richie planning a late-night poker party while Howard and Marion are out of town and Joanie is at a sleepover.  The arrival of three nineteen-ish coeds, and the dilemma of how the two seventeen-year-olds can attract them, with the resolution that they can't but it's OK, because they can lie about it, also feels very early-seasons. Some notes: Potsie admitting he's never had all those makeout dates is somewhat of a new wrinkle, but eventually (by Season Four I think) Potsie would be far more innocent than the original version. Richie is looking for a girl with a good personality, a cute face, and a cute "build."  Fonzie wants a girl who's stacked and can ride a Harley. Why does that girl go riding on Fonzie's motorcycle after he tells her right to her face that she wouldn't be his...

This second "Guess Who's Coming" episode is of course a pivotal one for the series.  It is the last for Randolph Roberts, for all the Chucks, although I suppose there might be references to him later this season.  He and the other Cunninghams welcome Fonzie into their home for Christmas, after Richie sees through Fonzie's lies about spending the holiday with family.  (Fonzie does in fact have relatives, but maybe none of them lived close enough to visit overnight?) A few other things: I like that Wendy gets a non-dumb-blonde line for a change, since she can at least recognize parsley. Chuck remains a dumb jock though. Robert Casper was a Customer at the hardware store before but here is Orville, one of Howard's three employees.   (Where were these people when Richie had to cover the store and miss a rock concert in Season One?) Marjorie Bennett is Mrs. Harrison here but would be a nameless Lady later. Bill Idelson would write two more episodes, and Frank Buxton,...

I remember this episode less well than the one where Fonzie and Marion do a play together.  The timing feels off for much of this one, but I like the surprisingly downbeat little exchange between Richie and Fonzie where we find out that Fonzie's father ran out on him when he was twelve and Fonzie hasn't seen him since, and the Fonz has even considered suicide. A few notes: We learn a little bit more about Howard's wartime experiences. Howard makes a gratuitous reference to a "sissy." The Buffalo Bob reference would become ironic when he'd actually show up, on the Howdy Doody episode of course. Ronnie Schell previously was Ernie the bomb-shelter salesman, while here he's the agent Monty Miller, and he was Anne Marie's agent on a couple That Girl episodes in '66. Alice Nunn doesn't make much of an impression as Mrs. Stewart here, but it looks like she'd be back as Mama Delvecchio (presumably Al's mother) in '81. Britt Leach, who's...

Although people think of Happy Days as a shiny view of the '50s (especially with that title), that wasn't always the case, as this post-Watergate episode about honesty and corruption shows.  It appears to be set before the quiz show scandals of 1957-58, since everyone is surprised when Richie is supplied with the answers for Big Money.  And Howard contrasts his own "weakness" with what he imagines would've been Ozzie Nelson's reaction to cheating. Other thoughts: Richie's middle initial is J. He plans to use most of the $5000 for college. Fonzie in these early seasons has a weird not exactly consistent moral code. Dave Madden has the hair and sideburns of Reuben Kincaid, rather than the look of an actual '50s game show host. There's a very mild anti-Ike joke. This is the first of two HD episodes written by Greg Strangis, who'd also do an early one for Laverne & Shirley. His co-writer for both HD episodes, Jerry Rannow, I know better for his...