All language subtitles for TV.We.Love.S01E05.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
The golden age of television.

I Love Lucy didn't just
change American television,

it invented
American television.

[narrator]
Back when one screen

brought everyone together.

Watching television
was a family event.

[narrator]
The shows that shaped us.

[Gary] The Brady Bunch
was part of the American soul.

It's timeless.

[narrator] The familiar faces.

[man] Ralph Kramden
was loved on The Honeymooners.

Pow, right in the kisser!

He was a presence.

[narrator]
The unforgettable moments.

[Jeff]
Dynasty captured the essence

of what the 1980s
were about in America.

[narrator]
These are their stories.

[Jeff]
Cheers is the pinnacle

of how great
the sitcom can be.

[narrator] This is TV We Love.

[narrator] It's 1974.

1974 was
a rather fraught time

in America's history.

The Vietnam War
was still raging.

[narrator] America is
in the grips of the oil crisis.

And that was
eventually the year

that Richard Nixon
would resign the presidency

due to the Watergate scandal.

I have never
been a quitter.

[narrator]
But a new television series

provides some welcome relief.

[laughter]

♪ Sunday, Monday, happy days ♪

[Brian] It was set
in a more innocent time.

Let's take a step back
and go back to cruising

and poodle skirts,
fancy hot rods, the drive-in.

Ay!

Happy Days was really one
of the masterpieces of '70s TV.

You have all these great,
hilarious characters.

-Okay, bucko.
-I still got it.

-"I still got it."
-Sit on it, Malph.

There were so many catchphrases
on the show.

Wah, wah, wah.

The show
was fantastically successful.

And they all lost it
for Fonzie.

Correctamundo.

He became
this bigger-than-life character.

[engine revving]

[Henry]
It's amazing to me

that the show
and the character

was so important
to so many people.

[Richie] Here we go, Fonz.
I'm heading for the ramp.

[William] But the show
was in danger of being canceled

from the day
it was on air.

♪ Are yours and mine ♪

♪ Happy days ♪

Doesn't Richard
look nice tonight?

He's got stinky stuff
on his hair.

Is that what that smell is?
I thought the milk was sour.

[laughter]

The origins of Happy Days
begin circa 1971

with two important
TV executives,

Tom Miller
and Michael Eisner.

They are snowed in
at the Newark Airport

in Newark, New Jersey.

So I said, Tom,
this is ridiculous.

We're wasting our time here.

Let's write a show.

[Brian] They started talking
about the kinds of shows

that ABC
did not make anymore.

And it was intended
to be a throwback,

to be a return
to the kind of series

that dominated television
in the 1950s,

the family situation comedy.

[Joe] And to make
this show a reality,

they handed it off to a producer
named Garry Marshall.

Garry's just an incredible,
talented gentleman.

[Garry] We had
a big hit with The Old Couple.

And Tom Miller came along
and said, "You're very good.

I'm a producer.
We'll be great."

And so he
and Michael Eisner

wanted to do this show
of nostalgia.

I said, "Let's try the '50s."
And they said, "Okay."

[Joe] And what
he came up with was a pilot

called "Love
and the Happy Days."

And that original pilot
does feature three cast members

who would go on
to be in the regular show,

Ron Howard, Marion Ross,
and Anson Williams,

all playing the characters
that we know them for.

I had a chance
to do this episode

called "Love
and the Happy Days."

And it came at a time
where I wasn't getting any work,

because I was
in that sort of awkward period

between 16 and 18.

It was a cool part,
and I thought I should do it.

Do you think maybe
there's something wrong with us?

Yeah.

He did a lot of playing
in the set.

Richard seems upset
about something.

Maybe you should go
and talk to him.

As soon
as this is over.

[laughter]

The plot
of the original pilot

revolves around
the Cunninghams

getting a television set.

[Richie]
Today's a big day.

We are going to be
the first family on the block

to get a television set.

And neighbors and friends
are trying to invite themselves

to this unveiling
of the television set.

And Richie has
a decision to make.

My mom didn't like
you climbing through there.

[Joe] Invite his good friend
Potsie Weber

or the girl
that he's trying to impress.

Tell her you got a television
and you're in like Flynn.

And Richie
chooses the girl.

[commentator] Round one
from Madison Square Garden...

There's the fighters!

It was a beautiful pilot
for a TV show.

[Michael] I then took it
to the program board

and the head of research
was there.

And he convinced
the program board

that the '50s wouldn't work.

Now all I have to do
is stand here all night.

[Brian]
They couldn't sell it

because period shows
were frowned upon

by and large
by the networks.

One of the things I think
about Happy Days

is that it wasn't
of its time

as opposed to a Norman Lear show
like All in the Family.

But they did air it
in 1972

as an episode
of its anthology series

Love, American Style
on ABC.

[theme music playing]

And then George Lucas
would watch that failed pilot

and it became
the springboard for Ron Howard

to appear
in American Graffiti.

Happy Days
owed its existence

to the popularity
of American Graffiti.

A hugely popular sleeper hit
in the early 1970s.

And then ABC in looking at how
successful American Graffiti was

got more interested in turning
Happy Days into a series.

And there was
a new Happy Days pilot

written by Garry Marshall
along with Rob Reiner

who was his then brother-in-law
married to Penny Marshall.

And Harold Gould
who played the father

in the original pilot
was unavailable.

And so they kind of seduced
Tom Bosley.

He was well known.
He was the professional actor.

[Brian] So he was very reluctant
to get on board.

When an actor is waiting
for the new TV season,

he's hoping for a series.

He's somewhat reluctant to take
the first one that comes along.

But they talked him into it

and they added
Erin Moran as Joanie.

[William]
Erin Moran was a sweet kid

that you just
fell in love with.

Erin was perfect
for that show.

[Brian]
And then Don Most

had originally auditioned
to play Potsie.

[Don]
I was auditioning for Potsie.

And then my agent called me
a few days later,

said that, "You didn't get
the role of Potsie.

But the producers, they really
loved your screen test."

They liked him so much
that they decided

to create
a role for him.

And Ralph Malph was born.

[Don] He's a guy
that he's into cars

and he's kind of
a wisecracking guy.

You're weird, Richie.

And I just had a ball
doing it, so.

[Joe] And they cast
Gavan O'Herlihy as Chuck,

as the very mysterious
older brother

of Richie
and Joanie Cunningham.

But there was
still no Fonzie.

Arthur "the Fonz" Fonzarelli.

The character
was envisioned to be

a big, tall, tough Italian guy
from the East Coast.

[Joe] But instead,
this nice young Jewish man,

this graduate
of Yale Drama School,

Henry Winkler, very much
unlike Fonzie, got the role.

They were looking
for a big Italian kid,

you know,
and they got a short German Jew.

Tom Miller brought me in
and had my eyebrows plucked.

And they cut my hair

and they combed it
into a ducktail.

They got me
a T-shirt and a jacket

and I auditioned
in character.

[William] When he put
that comb in his hand

and slicked his hair back,

he became
this bigger-than-life character.

[Joe] But ABC was
a little concerned

about the look of
the Arthur Fonzarelli character.

With his leather jacket

and pompadour
and motorcycle,

he looked like a hoodlum.

[William] I was the showrunner
of Happy Days

for the first two seasons.

And the network
had the idea

that Fonzie would be perceived
as a bad person.

And so, to make him
look less like a hoodlum,

they dressed him
a little bit more respectably.

They gave him
a windbreaker.

Yeah, well,
that was kind of dumb.

[William] The network wanted us
to deliver a one-camera show,

which means
it's shot like a movie,

not in front
of an audience.

[Brian] So, it was a different
show than what it became

when it became
the most popular show on Earth.

There was a hope
that the show might succeed.

[William] But nobody thought
it would work.

Not in a million years
did anybody think

it would stay
on the air.

[gentle music playing]

[Joe] Happy Days premiered
in 1974,

two years after the original
pilot for the show aired.

Bottoms up!

[Brian] A lot of them
are about growing up

and your first drink,
your first bachelor party...

[all cheering]

...your first car,
your first prom,

your first tragic breakup.

Good night,
Richard Cunningham.

[William]
But not so much about Fonzie.

Fonzie started out as very much
a supporting character.

He was this cool
but mysterious guy

that Richie sort of knew.

[Brian]
And the first episode they did,

he doesn't speak
for the first 22 minutes.

Hey, Fonzie,
can I talk to you for a minute?

Well, remember the other day
I was telling you

about me
and Mary Lou Milligan?

He speaks
in one little scene at the end.

The fact is...

I played chess.

You played with her chest?

[Joe]
But we're starting to see,

"Oh, maybe there's
more to this guy

who rides around
on a motorcycle.

Maybe there's
something more to him."

But their windbreaker kind of
made him look like a dork.

So reluctantly,
the network allowed Fonzie

to wear
the leather jacket.

That's his superhero costume.

And you can instantly see
why this character at this time

resonated with so many people

and why that character
still resonates today.

In my opinion,

the very first year of
Happy Days was the best year.

I thought it was fantastic.

Oh, brother.

The episode
where Richie has to dress up

as a girl with Potsie
for the fraternity,

it was so funny.

That's an excellent one
where Fonzie plucks Richie

by the hand,
pulls him onto the dance floor,

going, "Hey, wallflower."
[laughs]

Wallflower, let's dance.

[Don] I could look at that scene
and laugh every time.

And then all of a sudden,

Fonzie starts blowing
into Richie's ear.

[laughter]

And then Richie
finally can't take it.

-He says...
-[Richie] It's me, Richie.

See, this is all part
of the Demons initiation.

I knew that.

And then Richie's walking around
looking for Potsie,

and he looks over, and Ralph
is dancing with Potsie.

It was a classic.
That was a classic.

[laughter]

Happy Days did very well
in its first season.

It came in 16th for ABC,
third place Network,

a blessing at that time.

And we were picked up
before the wrap party

at the end of the first season
for the next season.

But Garry Marshall wanted
to change the theme song.

Originally, the theme song
was "Rock Around the Clock."

And so "Happy Days," the song,

became the theme song
for the entire sitcom.

Which is really what
we remember now.

♪ Sunday, Monday, happy days ♪

♪ Tuesday, Wednesday,
happy days ♪

[Don]
And it was a hit record.

♪ The weekend comes,
my cycle hums ♪

♪ Ready to race to you ♪

[Jim]
But what really changed,

especially
as the series progresses,

some of the more
involving episodes

actually happen
to revolve around Fonzie.

"Guess Who's Coming
to Christmas"

is one of the most
classic Christmas episodes

of not just Happy Days,

but of any
American television series.

What does it
look like, Marion?

Like you're being mugged
by Santa Claus.

Ho, ho, ho.

Richie is the only one
that can see

that when Fonzie says
he doesn't need

to go share Christmas
with any family,

well, he's lying.

He has no place.
He has no one.

And Richie is the only one
that can perceive that.

And then it's about Fonzie
being able to accept the help

from the Cunninghams
because he's a proud person.

Hey, God.

Thanks.

[William]
Henry made Fonzie come alive

in such a powerful way

that, well, you've got to do
stories about that character.

[Joe] And Linda Purl
had a recurring role

as Richie's girlfriend
in a few episodes.

Donnie Most was a dear friend,
and he called and said,

"I'm doing this show
called Happy Days,

and there's a role
that you might be right for."

I introduced her
to the casting director,

and I said, you know,
"She'd be great on the show."

So she got the part.

And it was for Gloria.
She was Ron Howard's girlfriend.

Is this your new car?

Yeah, this is it.
Do you like it?

Oh, I love it.

[Linda] And I remember
Jerry Paris,

who was the director,
who was so wonderful.

He had me chewing gum
all the time.

And when I would go
to kiss Richie,

I would have
to take the gum out, kiss,

and then put
the gum back.

Well, okay.

And any time he even got close
to getting a kiss...

Do you want something, Richard?

[Brian] ...something terrible
would happen.

[Fred]
And she played it brilliantly.

No, Mom.

Unfortunately,
the second season of Happy Days,

the ratings crashed.

The nostalgia angle

is really what sold the show
at the beginning,

but the novelty appeal
of Happy Days

started to wear off.

And we were in danger
of not getting picked up.

[Brian] So Garry Marshall
tried a last-ditch effort

to save the show.

He turned it
into a three-camera show

in front of an audience.

[William] Garry felt that
that would give it

the boost it needed,

but I had never done
a multi-camera show

in front of an audience.

I had no experience in that.

[Lowell] We were pretty
experienced in that format,

so we were supposed
to help Garry

transition the show
from the single-camera format

to the live audience format.

[William] So we did
that experimental episode

at the end of season two
in front of an audience.

[announcer]
Tonight's Happy Days

was filmed
before a live audience.

Everybody quiet!

That was an episode called
"Fonzie's Getting Married."

He met a librarian,
so he thought,

who was really a stripper.

The one and only
Lone Stripper!

[audience cheering]

[Brian]
So Fonzie had his heart broken.

I'm in love.

[Brian]
It was a great emotional ride,

and it gave a new dimension
to Fonzie's character.

[audience exclaiming]

Fonzie! [sobbing]

The audience told everybody

that Fonzie was the, quote,
"breakout character."

We could see how the character
Fonzie was really catching on.

[Lynda]
He was very sexy and funny,

and I think that's what people
hooked into in his character.

[William]
So for the next season,

it changed to multi-camera
in front of an audience,

which was when Lowell
took over the show.

And when
the big transition

from it being
a show about Richie

to a show
about Fonzie began.

[Joe]
But when it became clear

that Fonzie was the most
popular aspect of the show,

ABC wanted to change
the name of the show

to Fonzie's Happy Days.

And they approached
Ron Howard,

who was still
the nominal star of the show,

and he said,
"I just can't do it."

[upbeat rock music playing]

[Brian] Henry's popularity
had been growing massively.

On the boys'
first publicity tour,

they discovered 25,000 people
waiting for them

to see Henry,
not so much the other guys.

And it was a little bit like
we were a boy band.

Henry was the lead singer.

But it was
that kind of NSYNC

sort of egomania
kind of thing.

It was kind of wild.

There was a point where you
almost left the show, right?

They did come to me and say,
the network would kind of like

to change the name of the show
to Fonzie's Happy Days.

And I said, "Well, I don't think
I want to be in that show."

The one producer who
wasn't there was Garry Marshall,

and he said,
"It's not going to happen then."

And that was that.

[Brian] Garry,
I think he just felt

he wasn't going
to disrespect Ron.

One of the stipulations
for renewing the show

was that it be filmed in front
of a live studio audience.

This required the main sets,

like the Cunningham's
living room,

to be totally redesigned.

[Don] The other big thing
that they did at ABC

was having Fonzie move
into the guest apartment

that was above
the Cunningham's garage.

That was logical,
that I moved in

with the Cunninghams
and I lived over the garage,

and, you know, then I could be
closer to the action.

Okay, I'll tell you what,
I'll stay here for a week.

And if I don't like it,
I'll leave.

[laughter]

And Chuck
was written out.

In season two,

they tried
recasting the role

with an actor
named Randolph Roberts,

and it just didn't take.

[Lowell]
We started doing the show,

but we didn't write Chuck
into the first few episodes.

And nobody said anything.
[laughs]

Nobody called us on it.

[Joe] And from there on out,
Chuck is never mentioned again.

Poor Chuck.

[Lowell] But that season
of Happy Days

was the most exciting
work season of my life.

It was exciting,
it was fresh,

and the audience discovered
the show in a whole new way.

"Fearless Fonzarelli"
was a two-part episode

in season three,

and in it,
Fonzie appeared on a TV show,

and he was
to break the record

by jumping over 14 garbage cans
with his motorcycle.

[engine revving]

[all cheering]

[Don] And he smashed
into a chicken stand.

Am I dead?

But my personal
favorite episode

is called
"A Date with Fonzie."

It's about Fonzie and Richie
going on a double date

with a couple of
working-class girls

named Laverne and Shirley.

[Brian]
And they would become played

by Garry Marshall's
sister Penny

and Ron Howard's castmate
from American Graffiti,

Cindy Williams.

Hey, Fonzie!

Hey, DeFazio! They're here.

I remember having
a lot of fun in that show

because they were so great.

I just remembered
laughing a lot.

So Shirl,
what do you think of this kid?

-You been with worse.
-Oh, he's nice and a tie too.

And a hanky, is that
for showin' or for blowin'?

[laughter]

Well, it's been
quite an evening.

What do you say
we go to Richie's house?

Richie's seduction
could not have gone worse

with Shirley Feeney.

So she curled up
her chubby little hand and boom.

Oh!

And they start effectively
making out on the floor.

Oh, Richie, I'm so sorry!
Oh, dear.

Oh, here,
let me kiss your boo-boo.

Richie, we're home!

And his mother, father,
and sister come in.

Oh, no, nothing here's---
there's nothing going on.

[Lowell]
And the audience went crazy.

Oh, I missed it!

And 114 days after
"A Date with Fonzie" filmed,

Laverne & Shirley debuted

as the number one show
in television.

And eventually,
Happy Days became

the number one series
in television.

And the show became
an international sensation.

They all lost it
for Fonzie.

It's amazing to me
that the show and the character

was so important
to so many people.

One of the things that made
Happy Days truly unique

as an international powerhouse

was they marketed it
to the hilt.

There are over 2,000 licensed
products from Happy Days.

[Jim] When I was going
into first grade,

I think everyone had
that Happy Days lunchbox.

[Brian] It's almost unheard of,
but it just shows

how the show kept growing
in popularity.

And then as the show matured,
they added new characters

that gave a new spark
and purpose to the series.

There's Pat Morita, who would
find fame doing The Karate Kid.

You write this stuff?

Huh, I always thought
the kids did it.

Oh, the kids not funny.
I write the good stuff.

And Al Molinaro.

You know, my first date
with Rosa Colletti

was a picnic.

[laughter]

Yeah.

[Brian] And Scott Baio
came on as Chachi.

I had done a movie
called Bugsy Malone,

and when the film was done,
they screened it

for all the executives
at Paramount Studios,

and one of the people
in that room was Garry Marshall.

And Garry said, "He looks like
somebody that girls might like."

So they brought me on
to attract girls to the show.

Well, I guess it worked.

And he, of course,
becomes a huge heartthrob.

Now, you all know
my cousin Chachi.

-There's your little boyfriend.
-How you doing, blue eyes?

What are you
selling today, shrimp?

[Don] Seeing those scenes with
Erin, they were always a kick.

It was always so much fun to
watch the two of them together.

[gentle music playing]

[Brian]
And Richie would meet a woman

who would eventually become
his wife in the series,

Lynda Goodfriend.

I got cast as Lori Beth.

The doors are locked.

She's stuck in here
until five tomorrow.

Oh, nuts.

I think they wanted to give Ron
more of a life

outside of just his family
now that he was growing up.

I loved working with Ron.
He called me Sweet Knees.

You love it when
I call you Sweet Knees!

[Lynda]
And that became a catchphrase

for the rest
of the series.

There were so many catchphrases
on the show.

I created "Sit on it."

"Sit on it" definitely became
part of the vernacular

in my elementary school.

Sit on it, Malph.

-Sit on it, Potts.
-Sit on it, Fonzie.

Ay!

And once they took a bite
of that "Sit on it" apple,

they were trying every kind of
catchphrase they could think of.

Correctamundo.

-You're stupid, bucko.
-Ay!

-Wah, wah, wah!
-Wah, wah, wah.

I have no idea
where it came from.

Some of those originated
from the actor,

so I came up
with "I still got it."

I still got it.
That became a big catchphrase.

I still got it.

But as the show progressed,
one of the common complaints

is that the writing gradually
became more cartoonish.

Fonzie got more
and more powerful.

[Scott] The episode
where it really started

was when Richie,
Potsie, and Ralph...

Hi, boys.

-...go to a cabin...
-Excuse us.

[Scott]
...and they meet some girls.

We'll take it.

And it ends with one
of the classic moments

in Happy Days history

where Fonzie,
sleeping outside,

can't get to sleep
because the owls, the birds,

the squirrels,
everybody's making noise.

-[owl hooting]
-[squirrel squeaking]

And then Fonzie,
his eyes kind of open up slowly,

he's looking around,
and he sits up,

and then he goes...

Cool it!

[Brian]
And the forest goes quiet.

A great step
in his expanding powers.

Let's see Tarzan do that.

And because
he seems to have,

especially
as the series progresses,

more and more magic powers,

he can romance women
by snapping his finger.

He could pop a jukebox
in a certain way

that would
bring it to life.

He seems to be able
to do anything.

And then it just got, you know,
it just started getting crazy.

Like, all of a sudden,
now Fonzie's like Superman.

And of course, the most
infamous example of that

is a three-parter from
the beginning of season five

called "Hollywood,"

leading to the catchphrase
that will not die.

[Brian]
The fact that

we're still talking
about jumping the shark

45 years later
is unbelievable to me.

[Joe] The catchphrase
"jumping the shark"

is the point at which
something in popular culture

is less good than it used to be.

This is the breaking point where
the show starts to go downhill.

Happy Days
did a three-parter

called "Hollywood"
parts one, two, and three...

-[man] Fonzarelli!
-Yeah.

Now here's the script
for your screen test.

...in which
the Cunninghams and Fonzie

travel out to Hollywood

so that Fonzie can do a screen
test to be in the movie.

I ended up
writing that episode.

And all of us tease
Fred Fox mercilessly

about his involvement
with it.

So they go out to Hollywood
for a screen test for Fonzie,

and the family
goes with him.

And there was this very cocky
California kid on the beach.

He and Fonzie
are at odds.

They don't like
one another at all.

You up
for a real challenge?

Fonz never ignores
a challenge.

We both make one jump.

Well, let's make it
something big.

Oh, it's big all right.

[Joe] And the California kid
taunts him

into performing
a risky stunt,

water skiing over a shark.

Henry was really
a pretty good water skier.

[dramatic music playing]

[Brian] And now jumping
the shark has become

its own thing.

[Scott]
It's a great metaphor.

Supposedly that's where
the show started going downhill.

We were number one
for, like, six years after that,

so nobody else thought
we jumped the shark.

[Jim] Talk about
jumping the shark.

Or is it an episode
where an alien comes

and meets Richie
and what?

Up in the sky,
it was fantastic.

It's a flying saucer.
Come on, you gotta see this.

[Don] When we read that script,
we were like--

We we're thinking this is like
the worst script that we've had.

This is like, "What the hell
is going on here?"

Fonz, I just saw
a flying saucer.

Hey, what are you, a nutso?

But that episode
became the launch pad

for Robin Williams' career
playing Mork from Ork.

[laughter]

Wait a minute,
who are you?

I am Mork from Ork.
[speaking in other language]

I didn't know
who he was.

And went to the set
and I saw Robin Williams.

And you went, "Oh, man,
what is going on here?"

You know,
this is-- this is remarkable.

It's Robin [muted] Williams.

He made it a lot-- Hell of
a lot better than what it was.

He was just coming up
with all the stuff

that wasn't in the script,
improvising,

and it started
becoming really funny.

Look, would you mind if
I just ask you a few questions?

Right away, bucko.

That's great, okay, would you
just mind having a seat?

-Seat.
-Yeah.

[speaking in other language]

The episode is so popular
that it spins off

onto its own show,
Mork & Mindy,

which made a star
of Robin Williams.

[William] I get choked up
thinking about Robin,

who was an absolute genius

and a really lovely
human being.

But the cast
was expressing some level

of dissatisfaction
with the show.

At a certain point,
the show just became,

and I'm sorry,
the show became silly.

[Don] It started getting
a little too, you know,

I thought
far-fetched, ridiculous,

whatever you want to call it,
and I think that hurt the show.

Not only do you get
"Westward Ho,"

which is a three-part
Western episode...

Help! Help!

...with Joanie
having to be rescued

from a runaway stagecoach

and Fonzie riding a bull.

-What's this rope for?
-You hold onto that!

I knew that.
I knew that.

You get episodes
like "The Claw Meets the Fonz"

in which gangsters are moving in
on Arnold's territory,

one of whom has
a mechanical claw hand

like a James Bond villain.

[laughs] It was...

weird!

It was-- it was dumb.

[William] So Ronnie Howard
came out to my house

and he felt like he had lost
the show that he had had.

It was pushing too hard.

He understood
why it was happening,

but he just felt bad
that it was.

[Brian]
And Donnie always felt

that it was also restricting
what he could do,

and I think
that's why when both his

and Ron Howard's
initial contract was up,

Ron and Don chose
to leave the show.

[Joe] At the end
of season seven,

Ron Howard and Don Most decided
not to go on with the show.

We kind of knew that Ron Howard
was going to leave.

Ron always wanted
to direct.

My contract was up, and I wanted
to become a director,

-and it was very hard.
-How did that work out?

-I'm still working on it.
-You're still working on it.

Ron, you might make it.

Don leaving the show

was a bit of a shock.

I'd done seven seasons,
and I felt like it was changing,

and it wasn't,
to me, growing anymore.

It was--
So, I wasn't real happy.

[Joe]
And so, it is explained

that Richie and Ralph
joined the Army,

and they are stationed
in Greenland.

And we only get
occasional updates

about what they are doing
up in Greenland.

I want you
to perk up your ears

because you're going to have
an audio party here.

Richie wrote me a letter.

I wasn't worried
about the show failing

after Don
and Ron left at all,

because at that point,
I was about as big

as you could get
on television.

I don't want to say
I was carrying the show,

but Henry and I
were the show.

Henry and I and Erin.
That was the show.

[Joe]
Happy Days got very lucky

because they brought in
a young man

to play
Marion's nephew, Roger.

He was played by Ted McGinley,
who fit in really well.

-Joanie!
-[screams] It's good to see you!

-It's been so long!
-Boy, you've grown!

But not even he is the greatest
addition to the show.

That title goes
to Cathy Silvers,

daughter of legendary comedian
Phil Silvers,

who plays Jenny Piccalo,

the boy-crazy, wild-acting
friend of Joanie Cunningham.

I'll be
right outside the door

if you want to get married
or anything.

And I'm talking anything.

And then we looked
at Fonzie's life

and said that he's never had
a serious relationship.

[Joe]
And so when they're looking for

a regular girlfriend
for Fonzie,

they think,
"We need a Linda Purl type."

My agent called

and said, "They're looking for
a Linda Purl type."

So we called and said,
"Well, can Linda audition

for a Linda Purl type?"

So it was so much fun
to come back to that show

because it allowed me
to come back in

as a different character,
entirely different character.

Look, I don't know who you are
or why you are following me,

but if you don't stop, I will
have the owner throw you out.

It's going to be
a little difficult to do

because I am the owner.

And we really did get to see
a different part of Fonzie.

Call me Fonzie.

-Fonzie?
-Yeah.

Let go of my hand.

[Joe] There is an episode
guest-starring a young man

named Mr. Tom Hanks

called
"A Little Case of Revenge."

He has hated
the Fonz for decades,

and it all comes
to a head

with a spectacular
martial arts battle...

Are you ready
to face oblivion?

[Joe]
...between Henry Winkler...

I'm ready
for you and him.

[Joe]
...and Tom Hanks at Arnold's.

Tom Hanks was fantastic.

[Brian]
Garry Marshall was very good

at finding people
that became very popular.

[Joe] And Garry Marshall wanted
to continue

to capitalize on that.

So Erin Moran
and Scott Baio were moved over

to their own show,
Joanie Loves Chachi.

[Scott] We went on
to do Joanie Loves Chachi,

which was a mistake because she
and I didn't like each other.

We started dating,

and I don't recommend anybody
to ever do that on a TV show.

Ever. Because it...

always ends up badly.

And it did.

And the premise was no good.

It just wasn't a good idea.

And it just--
it just fizzled.

[Brian] So Joanie and Chachi
did not get picked up,

and they returned
to the show.

And we're fortunate
that Ron Howard and Don Most

wanted to come home
for a visit.

-Joanie? Wow!
-[Joanie screams]

Ralph!

Give me a break,
I just got out of the Army!

It had been four years
since we'd done the show.

And it was really great
coming back

and reuniting
with everybody.

And it came back for probably
one of the most impactful...

-Yeah.
-...shows we ever did.

The scene where Richie
and Fonzie

say goodbye to one another
just blows me away every time.

Tears, tears. [laughs]

I just want to tell you
that I love you.

Very much.

But unfortunately,
the ratings were down.

The A-Team with Mr. T

became the biggest thing
on TV since Fonzie.

The powers that be
certainly thought

that this was
going to be the end.

[Joe] Happy Days
was in definite peril

at the end of its 11th season.

[Brian] The ratings
were down,

and Garry Marshall was fearful
that the show would be canceled.

[Joe] And unfortunately,
Happy Days is canceled

in the summer of 1984.

[Brian] And there were
some people on the show

who felt
that it was kind of time.

That this engine
that had brought

so much to so many for so long

had kind of run out of gas.

[William] But some of the cast
was absolutely stricken

that the show
was not going to continue.

But there was nothing ultimately
really to be sad about

because what a ride.

[Lowell] Very few shows actually
need to do a final episode.

But I thought the audience
was owed that.

I thought it was really
the kind of thing a show

that meant that much
to that many people

for that long
needed to do.

[Joe] Happy Days, the final
two-parter was titled "Passages"

which ends with Joanie
and Chachi getting married.

[Al] We are gathered here
to join together

Joanie Louise Cunningham

and Charles
Chachi, Chachi, Chachi.

We wanted to do
something really special,

and we were fortunate
to have Ron back in "Passages,"

our hour-long finale.

At the end when Tom Bosley
breaks the fourth wall,

talks to the audience
and thanks everyone,

and we kind of lost it.

So thank you all
for being part of our family.

To Happy Days.

[Scott] I don't think anybody up
until that moment

realized
what was happening.

I watched
the final episode at home,

just sitting there with my wife,
and the end credits ended,

and the instant
it went to black,

I broke out in tears,

the likes of which
I had never shed.

It was very hard,
very tough to say goodbye.

It had been my life
for eight years.

[Lowell] Working on the show
was the most exciting time

of my life still to this day.

It was a tremendous experience.

[William]
That cast was probably

the single best cast overall
I've ever worked with.

It was just an amazing,
amazing time.

For me, it was--
it was sad,

because I felt like
that was a big chunk of my life.

It was tough,
but it was great

because I had another show
to go to.

I got offered
Charles in Charge

right in the last season
of Happy Days.

I was like,
"Okay, see ya!

I got this gig to go to."

[Don] I had mixed feelings
because I had

such an unbelievably
wonderful experience

doing the show.

I wouldn't have traded it
for anything.

I mean,
working with these people

behind the scenes
and in front of the camera,

working with Jerry Paris
and Garry Marshall

and Bill Bickley
and Lowell Ganz

and Brian and Freddie,
you know,

wonderful,
wonderful experiences.

[Lowell] And people
are still watching it.

People are talking
about it.

We get references
to Happy Days turning up

in movies and television shows
all the time.

We're all gonna be like
three little Fonzies here.

And what's Fonzie like?

Come on, Yolanda,
what's Fonzie like?

-Cool.
-[Jules] What?

-Cool.
-Correctamundo!

There's so many references
in shows like The Simpsons...

It'll be great
to see the old gang again.

Potsie, Ralph Malph,
the Fonz.

...Family Guy.

Please rise.
Now sit on it.

And if you look
at television and film history,

you'll see
how it's dominated

by the people
who worked on and acted in

and directed Happy Days.

You look at the 200 films
and television shows

that Ron Howard
has produced and directed.

You look
at Henry Winkler's career,

and Anson's directed
over 150 episodes of television.

We recently had a reunion.

The four guys back together
again for the first time.

[reporter] The Happy Days
core four,

Ron Howard, Henry Winkler,
Anson Williams, and Donnie Most

came together
for Steel City Con

in Pittsburgh
over the weekend.

My gosh,
it was a little surreal,

but at the same time,
it was like

we had just
gone back in time

and all those years
hadn't passed.

And I was so surprised.

So many people coming up to me,
getting emotional and telling,

"You have no idea how much--
What that show meant to me."

It was incredibly
rewarding, fulfilling

to hear people say that,
and so surprising.

You know, really surprising.
It was quite amazing.

It just shows you
the power of that show.

It's powerful.

Ay.

♪