"Fonzie Moves In"

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 "one of the family," and Winkler being pushed into the Number Two spot in the credits, those are going to have an even bigger impact.  The Fonz was a breakout character even early on, but he's, for instance, hardly in the previous episode.  In this one, even when he's not onscreen, he's the center of attention.  That changes the dynamic of the existing, now Chuck-less family, from Howard not really liking Fonzie to the Fonz nicknaming Joanie "Shortcake."  What this will do to Fonzie's character will be something else I'll examine as time goes on, but even here, there's a softening of him, from him taking in his grandmother to him getting "misty" with emotion.  He's still sort of a hood in Season Two, but that would fade with time.

Other thoughts:

• Fonzie says he left his family when he was six, which doesn't fit with his father leaving when Arthur was twelve, but that's just one of many retcons ahead.
• His grandmother was living in Florida and has been married a few times.
• Fabian wouldn't break through until around 1959, so it seems a little odd that Joanie's friend owns one of his records.
• I have no idea how old any of the characters are in this season, as yet.
• The opening credits have been revamped, to mostly focus on the four male friends.  Goodbye Ketchup Girl, Fire-Drillers, et al.
• Hilary Horan, the Brunette in the Plaid Skirt, would make thirty-four other uncredited HD appearances.
• Bob W. Hoffman is Skizzy here and would have three more roles this year and next.
• Susan Lawrence is one of my favorite obscure '70s actresses.  She starred in the ABC Afterschool Special "Dear Lovey Hart: I Am Desperate" and would do a nice cameo on WBK.  Here she plays Vivian, as she would again, along with a couple other HD roles.
• Erin Moran finally makes it into the opening credits, having paid her dues since the post-Love-American-Style reboot.