"Fonzie's New Friend"


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 Erotica 17.
  • Sid Arthur (which sounds like a Siddhartha pun) and Artie Laing would shortly write their only other HD episode.

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