tdiet-24810 Happy Days was great first few seasons had a definite 1950s feel..Interesting lessons learned, very sweet, innocent and fun loving. The reason for the drastic change was ratings. The Potsie character was not generating the ratings. If Fonzie had not been the main star with Richie the show would have been canceled. I love the early episodes once the guys left HS show was not nearly as enjoyable. Once Richie character left I stopped watching....

powermandan Happy Days is such a warm show that always makes people feel good and is such a pleasure to watch. Like most family sitcoms, serious issues are tackled, but it is able to find the balance between cop-out (Full House) and very explicit (Diff'rent Strokes). But there are two things that make the show great: its characters and its time period setting in the 1950s.Happy Days is a spin off of Love American Style that was about a teenager growing up in 1950s Milwaukee. Richie Cunningham is the star of the show played by Ron Howard from the Andy Griffith Show. Richie has an older brother, Chuck, little sister Joanie (Erin Moran), his father Howard (Tom Bosley) owns a hardware store and his mother Marion (Marion Ross) is a housewife. The first season dealt with Richie's home life and his high school days with best friend Warren "Potsie" Webber. As the first season progressed, jokester Ralph Malph (Donny Most) and greaser Arthur "The Fonz/Fonzie" Fonzerelli (Henry Winkler) grew from being briefly seen to reoccurring. Although being filmed in the 70s, the show perfectly captures the look and feel of the 50s. You could swear it was filmed in the 50s.The first two seasons were done as single-cams, but was changed to a regular-sitcom setting by season 3. Fonzie's greaser look and superhuman gimmick immediately made him a fan favourite, giving him second billing after Ron Howard. Both him and Ralph grew to main characters, so there was really no point in Richie having an older brother who was rare seen. So Chuck was written out. In shows, when a character suddenly vanishes and seems like they never existed, it is known as the "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome." But whatever. The multi-cam switch gave the show more energy and all the characters were at their heights. While the show still revolved around the Cunninghams, Fonzie soon became the most popular character on TV. Personally, I find Fonzie to be the best character ever. He becomes a tenant for the family, and his relationship with them was one to savour. Potsie and Ralph eventually became the same in terms of importance and were often paired up in the backdrop of Fonzie and Richie. But the show took a dark turn in season 8. Ron Howard's movie-directing career was growing and he decided to pursue it full time and leave Happy Days. Don Most also decided to leave to pursue other interests. The show lost its edge, with many people not liking it. It was written in that Richie and Ralph join the army and get stationed to Greenland. To replace Richie was his cousin Roger Phillips (Ted McGinley) who moved to Milwaukee to be an educator. It took a long time for Roger to grow in me, I mean seasons! Fonzie becomes an auto mechanics teacher and own the new Arnold's. The hangout was changed to reflect the 60s that the show was going into, with it being the 50s before.Almost the remainder of the show focused on Joanie's relationship with Fonzie cousin Chachi (Scott Baio). I always liked this. They eventually went on to their own short-lived spin off "Joanie Loves Chachi." Season 10 was their absence. I consider that season to be "Happy Days: The Next Generation." The worst thing was it gave up on capturing the 60s style. Luckily, the new array of characters were cool. Joanie's best friend Jenny Piccolo (Cathy Silvers) became more prominent, some new high school students were seen more regularly, Fonzie settles down with divorced Ashley Pfister (Linda Purl) and her daughter Heather (Heather O'Rourke), Roger's rebellious younger brother Flip (Billy Warlock) moves to town, and Howard's goody-goody niece KC (Crystal Bernard) moves in from Houston. The only one I did not like was KC. Heather was adorable, Flip was awesome, Jenny ruled, and Fonzie's growing endeavours were compelling. Season 11 was the final season, with Joanie and Chachi moving back home after the cancellation of their show. Many of these new characters did not return. Flip and Jenny should have stayed regulars. But there were some good things to come out. Richie and Ralph return for a few episodes to pursue their dreams, Joanie and Chachi get married, and Fonzie adopts a child. It also started to push boundaries and do edgier episodes. The show could have gone on longer.This show was nearly flawless. It had some bad episodes, but what show doesn't? The time period should have been more consistent and Potsie should not have been dwindled down the last three seasons. But these flaws are forgivable. There was so many great things and people to come out of this show. The Richie era was the best, but post-Richie was fine too.

Peter S Happy Days first three seasons rank among the best television made.Very funny,entertaining ,well acted.The show was perfectly cast.Authentic haircuts and fashions,cars etc from the late 1950s when the show took place.A lot of attention always goes to Ron Howard and Henry Wikler,but Donny Most as Ralph was equally good and definitely the funniest character.However when they introduced Scott Baio to the show,around season four it started to slowly decline in quality.Scott Baio was only one reason for the lower quality.A few other reasons,the story lines were not as good or funny.Once the main characters reached college for some reason the show lost some of its spark.A few seasons later Donny Most and Ron Howard left the show,that also contributed to the poorer quality of later episodes.It got to the point where the last 3 or 4 seasons were just ordinary at best but often boring and stupid.The characters even dressed in 1980s fashions and hairstyles when the later seasons took place in the early 1960s.So stick to the early seasons for great entertainment.

DKosty123 It doesn't seem possible but this series became the number 1 show in the late 1970's but it started modestly without the Fonz as a pilot episode on Love American Style in 1972. It took Gary Marshall 2 years after that to get it on ABC. Once ABC got it on, this became part of the late 1970's ABC rise in the overall ratings. Richie, Potsie, Ralph Mouth, & the Fonz rode the top of the sitcom landscape for several years. Howard Cunnigham's Hardware Store was the most talked about and never seen business in the history of TV. This show literally gave a lot or performers a place to start then. Amzaingly, most of the main cast members are still around even though it's been over 30 years since this show started. Henry Winkler became so type cast as the Fonz, that try as he did, he really never got another role folks remember him more for than this one. Ronny Howard went on to become a great director of films. One of the few folks no longer around, Pat Morita (original Arnold of Arnolds Drive-In Restaurant) went on to a lot of roles, most famous of which was Mr. Miyagi, the Karate Kids Teacher. This show spun off Laverne & Shirley which had great success and produced another good movie director in Penny Marshall. It also spun out Joanie Loves Chachi whose success was limited to a very short run.What was most successful about this show was it played on 1950's Nostalgia after the Vietnam War. As people wanted to forget that era, this show was the answer. Going back to the 1950's was really in and Gary Marshall really hit the right formula with this show inspired by George Lucas famous 1973 classic film American Graffatti. Of course Marshall had already aired everything but the Fonz on Love American Style. The original theme (Rock Around The Clock) for this by Bill Haley & the Comets was a great theme. Later on, Richie & the Cast did a second theme song which was pretty good too. The Fonz became a cultural icon.Then there was always Arnold, who installed the dime thing on his bathroom stall doors, and then uttered the now nostalgic line to someone needing to get in the stall, "Why don't you do like the other kids do & crawl under?"