View Full Version : Happy Days on DVD released 8/17
btomarra
08-20-2004, 05:45 PM
Picked this up.
I may be in the minority but I loved the show when it was done without an audience during the "Rock Around the Clock" days (first two seasons, except for one episode during season two).
It dealt with serious topics (racism, quiz show scandals, etc). I believe Garry Marshall said that early on it was done as a movie (one camera), then beginning with season three it was done as a sitcom (three cameras, audience, etc).
Fonzie was transformed into a super hero and it became almost camp (jump the shark). Early on it was almost patterned after American Grafitti (same opening song), Arnolds diner (Mels diner), Ron Howard (in both). Potsie (Toad), Ralph (Chuck), Fonzie (Milner).
The only thing about the DVD is the lack of bonus material. And you could fit the 15 episodes on 2 DVds, not three.
Any other comments.
Brian
Garry Marshall should have at least done a commentary for the first episode, just to set the tone and talk about his creation. I wonder why they didn't include the original pilot, "Love And The Happy Day," which ended up airing as an episode of Love, American Style when it wasn't picked up by the network (ABC) initially.
BTW, that pilot preceded American Graffiti by about a year. When Graffiti became a hit, the ABC execs all of a sudden became very hot for Marshall's '50s sitcom, which they didn't think anyone would care about in the pre-nostalgia era.
Cheepnik
08-20-2004, 08:05 PM
I agree -- Happy Days was actually good in its first two seasons, when Fonzie was a somewhat menacing side presence instead of a cuddly de facto main character (and before the Cunninghams apparently murdered big brother Chuck and buried him in the cellar).
In those first couple seasons, it was a tad bit racy, too -- lots of talk about hickeys and bras that would disappear once the show became such a gigantic hit.
Cheepnik
08-20-2004, 08:10 PM
I wonder why they didn't include the original pilot, "Love And The Happy Day," which ended up airing as an episode of Love, American Style when it wasn't picked up by the network (ABC) initially.
I imagine it's an issue of who owns Love, American Style; it might not be the same people.
I remember seeing that pilot in reruns well after Happy Days caught on, and being quite stunned to learned that's where the show's roots were.
Ed Bishop
08-20-2004, 08:17 PM
During the first year or so, HAPPY DAYS did Ok at capturing a little of the AMERICAN GRAFFITI spirit, though of course it was hamstrung by sitcom conventions. Sadly, when Fonzie became such a huge character, the show became his...which might not have been bad, except everything was written around his making an entrance...as such, it was one of the first sitcoms where I was conscious of where the actors were standing, their cues, all of that..it became very staged, which shows with that dreaded 'live studio audience" almost always become: people standing around reciting dialogue and waiting for prompted laughter to subside, rather than the filmed method, which took its chances with pacing and jokes, hoping it worked.
:ed:
Fonzie in white Jacket...good shows...
Fonzie in dark jacket...shows were bad...
guy incognito
08-20-2004, 09:36 PM
Fonzie was transformed into a super hero and it became almost camp (jump the shark).
Almost?
Agreed that the first season was far and away the show's best. Among other things, the chemistry between Ron Howard and Tom Bosley as father and son was absolutely superb, one of the best and most believable of such portrayals in TV history. This would be exploited less and less in coming seasons, as comedic priorities superceded dramatic ones and the Richie-Howard relationship took a back seat to the Richie-Fonz one.
And, of course, the early episodes had that wonderful period flavor, which would be more or less tossed out the window before very long. The truth is that the show that inspired the expression "jump the shark" started to go downhill long before Fonzie's actual shark-jumping stunt.
Lord Hawthorne
08-20-2004, 11:24 PM
Do they ever explain what happened to Richie's brother?
Do they ever explain what happened to Richie's brother?
not a word...
ascot
08-21-2004, 08:52 AM
I grew up watching this show and I guess I have more favorable opinion of things up until Ron Howard left. I agree the early shows are vastly different.
beatlematt
08-21-2004, 10:00 AM
They made a passing reference to Chuck duriing the last episode when Richie came back, or at least I think it was the last episode.
vinnie
08-21-2004, 11:11 AM
I believe Garry Marshall said that early on it was done as a movie (one camera), then beginning with season three it was done as a sitcom (three cameras, audience, etc).
The Odd Couple, another Gary Marshall show, went throught the same change after the first season but got better and funnier after. (IMHO).
Still love this exchange from an earlier Happy Days episode when Richie dates a
girl with a reputaion:
Richie: We played chess, Fonz.
Fonzie (in disbelief) You played with her chest?!!
Richie: No Fonz, chess, the game.
They made a passing reference to Chuck duriing the last episode when Richie came back, or at least I think it was the last episode.
Nope. Not only did they not do that, but on the show's final episode at the end of the 11th season, where Joanie finally married the dreaded Chachi, Howard did the wedding toast, making reference to the fact that now "both of our children are married."
The disappearance of Chuck Cunningham remains shrouded in mystery. I think a fun "bonus" feature for the second season set would be a mockumentary about Chuck Cunningham consipiracy theories featuring the original cast members, of course.
PMC7027
08-21-2004, 11:49 AM
Richie, I can always tell when my children are upset.
Joanie sucks her thumb,
You stand holding a basketball and don't shoot,
Chuck sucks his thumb.
Marion Cunningham.
vinnie
08-21-2004, 11:51 AM
I believe there was a reference made to Chuck in a reunion show broadcast sometime in the 90s.
btomarra
08-21-2004, 12:02 PM
Originally posted by Guy Incognito
The truth is that the show that inspired the expression "jump the shark" started to go downhill long before Fonzie's actual shark-jumping stunt.
Totally in agreement with you here, Guy. Fonzie was treated as a man with imperfections in the early years. Tried to go back to school and cheated on a test. Was passed over by a movie starlet in favor of Ritchie (IIRC). Later, he could do everything (turn on lights in anentire building by hitting the wall, turn on the jukebox by hitting it). And instead of making mistakes. it became "Okay, I was wrooooooo...." I was wrooooooo." Bend a crowbar! (Fonzie Clark Kent anybody!) Ridiculous!
Even Marion Ross's character was given intelligent writing and came across as having weight. When Ritchie and Potsie were caught participating in dragracing, she straightened Howard out. The punishment was reduced from life to two weeks.
"It will go fast!" She told them.
Brian
I have a question about the episodes on the DVDs. Have they been restored with the original music on the soundtracks, or are we stuck with updated syndicated/cable versions, with the generic '50s music, including a remake by Bill Haley of "Rock Around the Clock"?
beatlematt
08-21-2004, 07:14 PM
I believe there was a reference made to Chuck in a reunion show broadcast sometime in the 90s.
YES YES YES There was! :agree:
Michael
08-21-2004, 11:12 PM
IIRC, Didn't Chuck get his own Apt? How is the video quality on this?
Cheepnik
08-22-2004, 09:46 AM
Still love this exchange from an earlier Happy Days episode when Richie dates a girl with a reputaion:
Richie: We played chess, Fonz.
Fonzie (in disbelief) You played with her chest?!!
Richie: No Fonz, chess, the game.
:laugh: That was the first episode, IIRC. "Babysitting with Mary Lou Milligan? Man, oh man, you got it made in the shade!"
Cheepnik
08-22-2004, 09:48 AM
Do they ever explain what happened to Richie's brother?
"Bag," a rival of Fonzie's, also vanished after the second season. I think a ditzy Arnold's carhop played by Misty Rowe (or was it Louisa Moritz?) did too.
It is interesting to watch these early episodes again and see how much the characters changed. Ralph and Potsie are almost cool in the first season instead of the cartoon characters they became later on. Ritchie is actually goofier than them in the first season, and Fonzie is much easier to take in small doses. I can see why Fonzie became the breakout character, but in short order it took the show in an entirely new direction that I didn't enjoy. All in all, a much better show in the first two seasons IMHO.
RetroSmith
08-24-2004, 12:01 PM
The reference to Chuck was by Tom Bosley. After they did a toast, there was a knock or a ring and Bosley says "Its Chuck"!!! and that was the referernce.
I'm glad old Chuck got mentioned at least.
Just like Clarence, the original Beatles Sax player never gets mentioned in any anthologies today.......:)
guy incognito
08-24-2004, 12:11 PM
Incidentally, does anyone else think "The Wonder Years" was directly inspired by "Happy Days" (in its original incarnation)?
Joel1963
08-24-2004, 01:25 PM
IMHO, Happy Days was GREAT in the first two seasons, but was almost insufferably unwatchable in the 1975-76 Fonzie the Idol season. But it did improve quite a bit in the next few years, especially close to Ron Howard's departure. The show seemed to mature at that point (1979 or so). A little of that survived after Howard's departure, but not for long. Every bit of chemistry fell by the wayside by the end- for instance, the Howard Cunningham character became a caricature.
BTW, the one pretty good character from the last few seasons- Jenny Piccolo.
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