Reliving Happy Days

  I was leaning towards a C- but the sentimental last part bumps this up to a C. Notes: This manages to both offer backstory for the middle-aged people and to contradict HD.  As for the latter, not only does Joanie say she's never had a home-movie camera before (contradicting the "Summer of '62" two-parter), but we even get a different version of the Cunninghams' Christmas that week!  Joanie will not get to see Richie, Lori Beth, their son, or Grandmother Kelp, none of whom were expected on "All I Want for Christmas." Chachi says he's never had Christmas with a "father" before.  Did his biological father die when he was a baby? Al says his father always had to work on Christmas, so Al would go look in the window at another family gathering.  But what about his mother and twin brother? Rico was nine and Louisa was seven one Christmas during the Depression.  So that puts her born somewhere between 1922 and 1933, probably towards the earlier e...

  This is probably the best episode of the series, certainly the best so far.  I like that it's not about anyone's love life or music career.  It's just about Joanie standing up for herself against a condescending professor, with Chachi's support, and Mario trying to do the right thing.  OK, there is Al and Louisa learning to communicate better in the subplot about a ridiculously tacky couch, but it's not "romantic" per se.  Plus, Moran does a nice, sexy cover of "He's So Fine."  So B-, well done! Notes: William Woff, who plays Bill Ziegler, would be The Skier on HD the next year. Scott's brother Steven Baio is Jerry Wood here and would play Joey on HD in '83 and '84. I feel like they've toned down Bingo, and that's a good thing. Barry O'Brien had written a couple HD episodes and one for Laverne & Shirley, but this is his only one for JLC.   It's the first of two JLC scripts for Cheryl Alu, who had written one ...