Happy Days cast on sitcom fame 50 years later: ‘It was like The Beatles’
Happy Days premiered 50 years ago and TV was never the same. With a cast of largely unfamiliar faces, the hit show made Fonzie a household name.
Happy Days premiered on January 15, 1974 — and prime-time television was never the same.
The ABC series, set in Eisenhower-era Milwaukee, materialised on the heels of the 1950s nostalgia craze generated by the movie American Graffiti.
The show revolved around the all-American, middle-class Cunningham family: loving parents Marion (Marion Ross) and Howard (Tom Bosley), their good-natured teenage son, Richie (Ron Howard, who co-starred in American Graffiti), and his kid sister, Joanie (Erin Moran).
Howard, the future Oscar-winning director (A Beautiful Mind) was already familiar to television viewers as Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show in the 1960s; both Ross and Bosley were seasoned showbiz veterans whose resumes dated back to the 1950s.
The supporting cast members, though, were largely unfamiliar to viewers: Henry Winkler as loyal, tough-guy greaser with a heart of gold Arthur Fonzarelli — aka “Fonzie,” aka “The Fonz” (Aaayyy!) — and Richie’s pals, wide-eyed Potsie Weber (Anson Williams) and wise guy Ralph Malph (Don Most).
In its third season, the series went from a single-format sitcom (shot like a movie) to a three-camera set up with episodes filmed before a live audience — adding electric energy to a surging show already ingrained in American pop culture.
By its fourth season, Happy Days shot to No. 1. Winkler’s The Fonz became a breakout figure and one of the most iconic characters in sitcom history — anchored, at the show’s core, by his friendship with Ritchie, Potsie and Ralph.
“I think the show has always resonated with people because we portrayed the ideal American family with healthy moral values,” Ross, 95, told The Post via email. “Marion Cunningham was the typical wife and mother of the ‘50s; she was the homemaker and Howard went to work [at a hardware store].”
There was that, and there was also the instant chemistry between the Happy Days cast members, who bonded on-screen and behind-the-scenes under the paternal watch of series creator Garry Marshall and veteran director Jerry Paris, who helmed the bulk of the Happy Days episodes.
The series aired for 11 seasons and 255 episodes and spawned two spin-offs: the wildly popular Mork and Mindy, starring Robin Williams in his career-making role, and Joanie Loves Chachi, which aired for two seasons with stars Moran and Scott Baio. (Moran died from cancer in 2017 at the age of 56.)
The Post spoke to Anson Williams, 74, and Don Most, 70, about the impact of Happy Days as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. The conversations have been edited for length.
Why did the show resonate?
Most: People did find some sort of relief and a nice escape to look back on a simpler time and the nostalgia connected to it. What made it have legs, and why it still resonates with people, has more to do with a combination of casting the show, which was a little bit of lightning-in-a-bottle … and great chemistry and a very talented cast. When the show first came out we didn’t get a lot of critical acclaim — people felt we were a bunch of teenagers, or actors playing teenagers, who were goofing around and having fun and it was light. But we took our work seriously, had a great time, and got along well, and that’s what’s translated all these years. Garry Marshall, who led all the writers and Jerry Paris, our director, who was another comic genius, were wonderful mentors for us. It sounds clichéd, but we were like family. And Garry seemed very set on making sure the show would convey some nice morals and values — friendship, loyalty and family and doing it all with this great humour so it was never preachy.
Williams: The ’50s will always be old and will always be new. It was just a divine intervention with casting and the writing was terrific. Garry Marshall was like a professor that cared about his students. He really involved us. It was a collaborative show and all of us were able to contribute our ideas. We were listened to. The other factor is the chemistry that just went above the page. I think the reason the show has connected in so many different cultures was that it was a show about family and friends that gave before they took … Fonzie, no matter what, would always be there for you as a friend. The cast were givers, not takers, and the importance of family felt so right to so many people. It was love, friendship and selflessness that captured you on a very human level in a very subtle way.
When did you sense the show was catching on?
Most: I remember calling my parents, I grew up in Brooklyn and went out to LA five months earlier, when we were shooting the pilot and said, “I really think this show can make it, it can really be a success.” I would never go home from the set; I just wanted to watch this guy from New York, Henry Winkler and what he was doing, and Ron with his parents and Erin. I was getting excited picking up on the chemistry, the energy, the talent. The show was a bit of a hit in its first season and then, truth be told, in the second season there was some question of whether we’d get picked as the ratings started to go down. Jerry and Garry were big proponents of having the show shot in front of a live audience — a lot of big comedies at the time were doing it that way, Maude, Good Times, All in the Family — and then they decided to put Fonzie more to the forefront and move him into the apartment above the Cunninghams’ garage. It was a combination of the energy we had shooting in front of a live audience and Fonzie just taking off like crazy and we shot up to #1.
Williams: They put us on a two-week promotional tour that started in Houston. When we landed we got in a limo and they took us right to the event, an amphitheatre in a park, and we looked ahead and saw a sea of young people and I looked at Henry and said, “Man, there must be a concert going on.” It was for us. The fans came down screaming. It was like The Beatles; they were lifting the limo and the cops had to get us through the crowd. The fans were tearing at us. We put on wireless mics backstage and then we go out there and the screaming wouldn’t stop and Henry looks at me and goes, “Hey, forget about it. Forget about it.” I almost fainted from the pitch of the screams. That was the beginning. By the end of the fourth season, we were No. 1 in the world and that’s when we became a monster hit.
How did the show affect you personally?
Most: I felt the change in my life fairly soon in the first season because I started to get recognised. By the third season it was more extreme where I couldn’t go anywhere without people recognising me and wanting my autograph. You realise you can’t flip a switch and turn it off, it’s 24/7 now, and it does change your life. It has to. It’s like being in The Twilight Zone in a different reality and it takes getting used to. I think having Garry and Jerry there was great in setting the tone and helping us, and by Ron having been there [with The Andy Griffith Show] — he was so grounded, a regular guy, and we would see he wasn’t getting all uppity and temperamental or playing “star.” He was a guy doing his job … so that set an example for us to keep our feet on the ground a little more.
Williams: Back then there were no paparazzi; they didn’t track you down … and we didn’t quite have all that craziness. None of us got big-headed because Garry Marshall sat us down early in the show and said, “You guys are going to be famous. There’s going to be a light on you. Your responsibility is to take the light and shine it on someone who has something to offer.” He also told us to take advantage of Paramount Studios [where Happy Days was shot]. He said, “It’s a college for you guys. Learn other areas of entertainment. Acting might not be your life’s work.” The fame and all of that were nice, but that was secondary to taking advantage of the opportunity to learn a lot. I’ve directed over 300 shows and I try to pay Garry forward. It was the best and most caring and generous advice anyone could give a young actor.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.
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