Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1974 to 1984 on ABC. The show presents an idealized vision of life in mid 1950s to mid 1960s America. The family consists of Howard Cunningham, a hardware store owner, his homemaker wife Marion, and the couple's children, Richie, an optimistic if somewhat naïve teenager, and Joanie, Richie's sweet but nosey younger sister. The Cunninghams originally had an older son named Chuck, a college student. Chuck was phased out of the show with no onscreen explanation for his departure.
The earlier episodes revolve around Richie and his friends, Warren "Potsie" Weber (Anson Williams), Ralph Malph (Donny Most) and local dropout Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli (played by Henry Winkler). As the series progressed "Fonzie" proved to be a favorite with viewers and soon more story lines were written to reflect his growing popularity. Soon Fonzie befriended Richie and the Cunningham family. Later the focus would sometimes shift to other characters such as Fonzie's cousin, Charles "Chachi" Arcola, who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham.
This long-running show spawned several other television series, including Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and Joanie Loves Chachi, and is currently a musical touring the United States. The show has been syndicated under the title Happy Days Again.
Despite some inconsistencies, it is generally indicated that the events of the series begin about 1956 and, despite eleven seasons, ended around 1965 (though the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a pivotal event, was not mentioned). As a general rule, most episodes take place about 19 years before the year of their first air date. The second season episode "The Not Making of the President" revolves around the 1956 presidential election, while two other episodes in the same season specify 1958. The sixth season episode "Christmas Time" ends with a photo dated Christmas 1960. In the 10th season episode "Babysitting," Fonzie watches the first heavyweight championship fight between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston on television. This boxing match occurred on February 25, 1964. In the first part of the series finale, "Passages," Joanie and Chachi are wearing T-shirts that say "The Kinks – Summer 1965 Tour." Series producer Garry Marshall contracted period icons, such as Howdy Doody and The Lone Ranger, to make visits to underscore a feel of innocence and hero worship.
History
Happy Days originated during a time of 1950s nostalgic interest evident in film, television, and music. The show began as an unsold pilot filmed in late 1971 called New Family in Town, with Harold Gould in the role of Howard Cunningham, Marion Ross as Marion, Ron Howard as Richie, Anson Williams as Potsie, Ric Carrott as Charles "Chuck" Cunningham, and Susan Neher as Joanie. While Paramount passed on making it into a weekly series, the pilot was recycled with the title Love and the Happy Days, for presentation on the television anthology series Love, American Style. In 1972, George Lucas asked to view the pilot to determine if Ron Howard would be suitable to play a teenager in American Graffiti, then in preproduction. Lucas immediately cast Howard in the film, which became one of the top-grossing films of 1973. Show creator Garry Marshall and ABC recast the unsold pilot to turn Happy Days into a series. According to Marshall on an interview, executive producer Thomas L. Miller, known professionally as "Tom Miller," was quoted as saying this while developing the sitcom: "If we do a TV series that takes place in another era, and when it goes into reruns, then it won't look old." This made sense to Marshall while on the set of the show.
Production styles
The first two seasons of Happy Days were filmed using a single-camera setup and laugh track.
One episode of Season 2 ("Fonzie Gets Married") was filmed in front of a studio audience with three cameras as a test run.
From the third season on, the show was a three-camera production in front of a live audience (with the announcement by Tom Bosley that "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience" at the start of most episodes), giving these later seasons a markedly different style. A laugh track was still used, but only to sweeten the live reactions.
The first two seasons of Happy Days were filmed using a single-camera setup and laugh track.
One episode of Season 2 ("Fonzie Gets Married") was filmed in front of a studio audience with three cameras as a test run.
From the third season on, the show was a three-camera production in front of a live audience (with the announcement by Tom Bosley that "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience" at the start of most episodes), giving these later seasons a markedly different style. A laugh track was still used, but only to sweeten the live reactions.
Sets
The show had two main sets: the Cunningham home, and Arnold's Drive-In.
In season 1 & 2, the Cunningham house was arranged with the front door on the left and the kitchen on the right, in a sort of triangle. Beginning with season 3, the house was radically rearranged to accommodate multiple cameras and a studio audience. However, the second season episode (mentioned above) in which Fonzie gets engaged was shot on the old set, but with multiple cameras.
The Cunninghams's official address is 565 North Clinton Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[2] Within the actual Milwaukee street grid, this would put the address somewhere in the center of Milwaukee County near the current day Interstate 94, just south of Michigan Street. It would also be an oddity, as north-south streets in the city west of downtown are numbered rather than named.[original research?]
The house that served as the exterior of the Cunningham residence is actually located at 565 North Cahuenga Blvd (south of Melrose Avenue) in Los Angeles, just a few blocks from the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue.
The Milky Way Drive-In, located on Port Washington Road in the North Shore suburb of Glendale, now Kopps, was the inspiration for the original Arnold's Drive-In; it has since been demolished. The exterior of Arnold's was a "dressed" area on the Paramount Studios lot, that has since been demolished, very close to Stage 19, where the rest of the show's sets were located.
The set of the diner in the first season was a room with the same vague details of the later set, such as the paneling, and the college pennants. When the show was changed to a studio based filming, the set was redesigned and became the Arnold's that is most remembered. The set was largely opened to show the audience the scenes that took place within it. The Diner entrance was hidden, but allowed an upstage, central entrance for cast members. The barely-seen kitchen was also upstage and seen only through a pass-through window. The diner had orange booths, downstage center for closeup conversation, as well as camera left. There were two bathroom doors camera right, labeled "Guys" and "Dolls." A Seeburg jukebox was positioned camera right, and a pinball machine was positioned far camera right.
College pennants adorned the walls, including Purdue and University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, along with a blue and white sign reading "Jefferson High School."
Storylines dictated that the set would be destroyed by fire, so in later seasons, a different Arnold's Drive-in emerged and lasted through the later years of the show. The new set featured wood paneling and stained glass.
In 2004, two decades after the first set was destroyed, the Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion requested that the reunion take place in Arnold's. The familiar set was rebuilt by Production Designer James Yarnell. Built from the original ground plan, this was the first time that the Happy Days cast had been in this set since the 1970s.
The show had two main sets: the Cunningham home, and Arnold's Drive-In.
In season 1 & 2, the Cunningham house was arranged with the front door on the left and the kitchen on the right, in a sort of triangle. Beginning with season 3, the house was radically rearranged to accommodate multiple cameras and a studio audience. However, the second season episode (mentioned above) in which Fonzie gets engaged was shot on the old set, but with multiple cameras.
The Cunninghams's official address is 565 North Clinton Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[2] Within the actual Milwaukee street grid, this would put the address somewhere in the center of Milwaukee County near the current day Interstate 94, just south of Michigan Street. It would also be an oddity, as north-south streets in the city west of downtown are numbered rather than named.[original research?]
The house that served as the exterior of the Cunningham residence is actually located at 565 North Cahuenga Blvd (south of Melrose Avenue) in Los Angeles, just a few blocks from the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue.
The Milky Way Drive-In, located on Port Washington Road in the North Shore suburb of Glendale, now Kopps, was the inspiration for the original Arnold's Drive-In; it has since been demolished. The exterior of Arnold's was a "dressed" area on the Paramount Studios lot, that has since been demolished, very close to Stage 19, where the rest of the show's sets were located.
The set of the diner in the first season was a room with the same vague details of the later set, such as the paneling, and the college pennants. When the show was changed to a studio based filming, the set was redesigned and became the Arnold's that is most remembered. The set was largely opened to show the audience the scenes that took place within it. The Diner entrance was hidden, but allowed an upstage, central entrance for cast members. The barely-seen kitchen was also upstage and seen only through a pass-through window. The diner had orange booths, downstage center for closeup conversation, as well as camera left. There were two bathroom doors camera right, labeled "Guys" and "Dolls." A Seeburg jukebox was positioned camera right, and a pinball machine was positioned far camera right.
College pennants adorned the walls, including Purdue and University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, along with a blue and white sign reading "Jefferson High School."
Storylines dictated that the set would be destroyed by fire, so in later seasons, a different Arnold's Drive-in emerged and lasted through the later years of the show. The new set featured wood paneling and stained glass.
In 2004, two decades after the first set was destroyed, the Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion requested that the reunion take place in Arnold's. The familiar set was rebuilt by Production Designer James Yarnell. Built from the original ground plan, this was the first time that the Happy Days cast had been in this set since the 1970s.