Happy Days

Happy Days
Premiere	January 15, 1974
Finale	September 24, 1984
Creator	Garry Marshall
Network/Provider	ABC
Style	30-minute sitcom
Company	Miller/Milkis Productions (seasons 1–8) Miller/Milkis/Boyett Productions (seasons 9–11) Henderson Production Company (seasons 4–11) Paramount Television
Distributor	Paramount Television (1979–2006) CBS Paramount Television (2006–2007) CBS Television Distribution (2007–2021) CBS Media Ventures (2021– )
Seasons	11
Episodes	255
Origin	USA

Happy Days is a sitcom that aired on ABC.

Derived loosely from the movie American Graffiti and mainly from the Love, American Style episode "Love and the Happy Days", the series is a look at the Cunningham family, a typical close-nit American family in Milwaukee. Howard is the husband and father, Marion the mother and wife, and they have three children, their sons Chuck (who was later written out of the show without explanation) and Richie, and their daughter Joanie.

The first two seasons, studio shot with a laugh track, mainly focused on Richie's forays meeting girls and chumming with his pals, Potsie Weber and Ralph Malph. Arthur Fonzarelli, "Fonzie" to his closest friends, was a motorcycling greaser who would usually appear to stir up trouble but usually offered sage advice to Richie. Fonzie worked at a garage and had his own apartment, but later moved in to the vacant room above the Cunninghams' garage.

Social commentary was offered as well, with episodes involving the Quiz Show Scandals, the 1956 presidential election, building a bomb shelter, and even getting a shot of Howdy Doody Show's Clarabelle the clown sans makeup.

As the show began filming in front of live audiences, Fonzie was slowly groomed to be more of a hero, especially when it came to thugs trying to pick on Richie. Fonzie also helped children across the nation overcome their fears about wearing glasses as, after being diagnosed as being farsighted, he told an audience that "wearing glasses is cool." Fonzie was consummate coolness, losing it once in awhile (along with his emotions in an episode where Richie is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident) but always regains it by the end of the show.

The show also helped coin the recent phrase "Jump the Shark", used to denote a show that was good but went downhill citing a specific instance as to when it stopped being good. The start of the 1977 season had Fonzie and the crew going to Hollywood, where a hotshot surfer challenges Fonzie to a surfing contest over a bay of sharks. The same season, Fonzie's second nephew, Chachi Arcola (the first was Spike) was introduced, and his character had a crush on Joanie, who at first didn't return the affection.

Later in the series, Ron Howard left, so his character of Richie was written off as having joined the Army. Fonzie became a partner of ownership of a new Arnold's restaurant, along with Al Delvecchio, after the original Arnold's burned down in a 1980 episode. Romantic sparks began to ignite between Chachi and Joanie, and the two launched a singing gig. Joanie also got work as a teacher at a high school. Richie returned at the end of the final season to see his sister get married to Chachi. Fonzie adopted a little boy as well.

Happy Days spawned four spinoffs: Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy, Joanie Loves Chachi, and the Saturday morning cartoon Fonz and the Happy Days Gang. When the show first entered off-network syndication in the fall of 1979, the syndicated episodes aired under the title Happy Days Again to distinguish them from the first-run episodes still in production on ABC at the time.

Cast

Actor	Character	Duration
Main Cast		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Ron Howard	Richie Cunningham	*	*	*	*	*	*	*				o
Henry Winkler	Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli	o	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Marion Ross	Marion Cunningham	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Anson Williams	Warren "Potsie" Weber	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Donny Most	Ralph Malph	o	*	*	*	*	*	*				o
Erin Moran	Joanie Cunningham Arcola	o	o	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	o	*
Al Molinaro	Alfred "Al" Delvecchio		o		o	o	*	*	*	*	o	o
Scott Baio	Charles "Chachi" Arcola					o	*	*	*	*	o	*
Lynda Goodfriend	Lori Beth Allen Cunningham					o	o	o	*	*		o
Cathy Silvers	Jenny Piccalo								o	o	*	o
Ted McGinley	Roger Phillips								o	o	*	*
Linda Purl	Gloria		o
	Ashley Pfister										*
Tom Bosley	Howard Cunningham	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Orange/Red/o indicates a recurring or guest role during that season. Dark Green indicates top billing during that season.
Supporting/Recurring Cast		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Beatrice Colen	Marsha Simms	*	*	*		*
Pat Morita	Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi			*	*		*				*	*
Harris Kal	Bobby								*	*	*	*
Kevin Rodney Sullivan	Tommy								*	*	*	*
Billy Warlock	Leopold "Flip" Phillips									*	*
Crystal Bernard	Krystal "K.C." Cunningham										*
Heather O'Rourke	Heather Pfister										*

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
ABC
Season One	January 15, 1974	May 7, 1974				16
Season Two	September 10, 1974	May 6, 1975				23
Season Three	September 9, 1975	March 2, 1976				24
Season Four	September 21, 1976	March 29, 1977				25
Season Five	September 13, 1977	May 30, 1978				27
Season Six	September 12, 1978	May 15, 1979				27
Season Seven	September 11, 1979	May 6, 1980				25
Season Eight	November 11, 1980	May 26, 1981				22
Season Nine	October 6, 1981	March 23, 1982				22
Season Ten	September 28, 1982	March 22, 1983				22
Season Eleven	September 27, 1983	September 24, 1984				22

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Season Sets  (Region 1)
The Complete First Season			August 17, 2004	purchase		3
The Complete Second Season			April 17, 2007	purchase		4
The Third Season			November 27, 2007	purchase		4
The Fourth Season			December 9, 2008	purchase		4
The Fifth Season			May 20, 2014	purchase		4
The Sixth Season			December 2, 2014	purchase		4

External Sites

• Happy Days on IMDb