From The TV IV

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, Chuck and Richie their sons and Joanie their daughter.

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 upstairs from the Cunninghams.

Social commentary was offered as well, with episodes involving the Quiz Show Scandals, the presidential election, building a bomb shelter, and even (horrors!) 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 consommate 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 Hollwyood, 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 didn't return the affection.

Late in the series, Ron Howard left, so his character of Rihcie was written off as having joined the Army. Fonzie became a partner of ownership of Arnold's restaurant, along with Al Delvecchio. Romantic sparks began to spark 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.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Seasons 3 In-Depth 4 DVD Releases 5 External Sites

[edit] Cast

Actor	Character	Duration
Main Cast
Ron Howard	Richie Cunningham	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Henry Winkler	Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Tom Bosley	Howard Cunningham	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Marion Ross	Marion Cunningham	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Erin Moran	Joanie Cunningham	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Anson Williams	Warren "Potsie" Weber	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Donny Most	Ralph Malph	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Gavan O'Herlihy	Chuck Cunningham	1
Randolph Roberts			2
Pat Morita	Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi			3							10
Al Molinaro	Alfred "Al" Delvecchio				4	5	6	7	8	9
Scott Baio	Charles "Chachi" Arcola					5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Lynda Goodfriend	Lori Beth Allen Cunningham					5	6	7	8	9
Cathy Silvers	Jenny Piccalo								8	9	10
Ted McGinley	Roger Phillips								8	9	10	11
Crystal Bernard	K.C. Cunningham										10
Linda Purl	Gloria		2
	Ashley Pfister										10
Heather O'Rourke	Heather Pfister										10
Billy Warlock	Leopold "Flip" Phillips										10
Denis Mandel	Eugene Belvin								8	9
Scott Mitchell Bernstein	Melvin Belvin									9	10

[edit] 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

[edit] In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

[edit] DVD Releases

Title	Release Date	#
Season Sets
The Complete First Season	August 17, 2004	3	purchase
The Complete Second Season	April 17, 2007	4	purchase
The Third Season	November 27, 2007	4	purchase
The Fourth Season	December 9, 2008	4	purchase

[edit] External Sites

• Happy Days at the Internet Movie Database