Reliving Happy Days

While the romance between Ralph and Kitty (played by Judy Landers's 21-year-old sister Audrey) is a bit sweet, I just felt like the whole thing of Ralph boxing Kitty's not-quite-ex (a stereotypically stupid Southern jock) to prove his manhood, especially when Kitty doesn't want him to fight and likely likes Ralph because he's a different type, bugged me.  On the other hand, for some reason this is an episode that came back to me a bit as it unfolded, e.g. Potsie singing "Calendar Girl."  So a C. Note that Mickey & Minnie Malph are name-checked, twice.

This already has a strike against it being a sports episode, but then the plot gets muddled and there are some definitely creepy moments, so it earns the first D+ of the series.  The whole thing of Sheena tricking a very gullible Richie to meet her at Arnold's right before the game is dubious, but then when Fonzie tells Sheena that he'll fight the guys from Fillmore High (incidentally Laverne and Shirley's alma mater) and deal with her alone, I know it's meant to be seductive, but it sounds a bit rapey.  Then the whole thing of her slavishly doing what he says and him "retraining" her to be loyal to Jefferson High adds to the creepiness. Notes: The Lifesaver joke at the end was then very topical, as the audience's reaction suggests. There's yet another Arlene character with long, blonde hair, but this time it's someone Ralph is interested in. And speaking of girls with long, blonde hair, it looks like Jill Higgins, the Charlene Tilton character, is...

This episode is of particular note for fans of the Jodie Foster version of Freaky Friday, being shot around the same time and featuring not just a pre- Dallas Charlene Tilton (in I believe her first TV role) but Marc "Boris" McClure as the other point in the triangle.  Tilton plays Joanie's bitchy rival, who won't let her be on the cheerleading/pom-pom squad and who is her main competition in a dance marathon.  The prize is a cheesy golden foot, but with Fonzie as Joanie's partner, there are soon side bets.  I really enjoyed this episode, which I vaguely remember from the time, and it's getting the first B of the season.   A few other observations: McClure is the cute but nerdy Jimmy Bradkip here but would be Roger in "Joanie's Weird Boyfriend" the following year.  I have no idea if that's as the title character. Gary Epp plays Tilton's character's brother Bubba here and would have two other HD  roles later, as well as one on Laverne ...

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 dopp...