I think the first 2 seasons were the best. Fonzie's character seemed to be more serious and realistic in the beginning. As soon as the 3rd season came around, Fonzie was played as more of a 'comical' character.

Anyone else notice the drastic change in teh character?

Then, as the series went on, Fonzie took on a 'Rocky Balboa' dialect.

Stark

Originally posted by Stark1955
I think the first 2 seasons were the best. Fonzie's character seemed to be more serious and realistic in the beginning. As soon as the 3rd season came around, Fonzie was played as more of a 'comical' character.

Anyone else notice the drastic change in teh character?

Then, as the series went on, Fonzie took on a 'Rocky Balboa' dialect.

Stark
And quiet too in the beginning. Don't know whether he was being grumpy or shy.

Did anyone else ever notice his voice changed at the start of the 3rd season too? It started to sound deeper.

I don't think Fonzie had too much to say in the first season, that changed later.

Originally posted by Urkel_2003
Did anyone else ever notice his voice changed at the start of the 3rd season too? It started to sound deeper.

Yes, I did. Guess he used his different greaserlike voice when they switched to 3 cameras.

I like the 3rd season, some great episodes like "Richie Fights Back"

When the show started Fonzie was a lot more realistic. Probably not as confident on the inside as the "front" he liked to show the world. He was definitely cool, no doubt, but more like a cool person would have been in real life. Then entire show changed, not just Fonzie. It became cartoonish.

The show began like the "Wonder Years", but it finished like "Saved by the Bell."

That's one reason why Laverne & Shirley didn't really seem to change that much. The sets and locations may have changed but style of humor remained consistent. It's because when L&S began, Happy Days had already gone through the major metamorphosis and L&S was just working from the same platform.

On the other hand, MASH did just the opposite of Happy Days. It started out as just a silly, corny, slapstick style comedy, and ended a lot more seriously. That's one reason I really respected MASH. But even it went downhill in later seasons when more and more of the actors on the show wanted creative input.

I liked Fonzie as a comical character. Especially when he started that "Aaaaa" sound. I've asked for the first season DVD for Christmas. I hope I won't be too disappointed if Fonzie isn't that comical of a character. Was the show still funny before he added the "Aaaa" sound? I don't think I've ever seen the first two seasons of the show.

You'll be surprized. The show was still very good but Fonzie was not yet living with the Cunninghams. So the show was usually based on Richie. Have you ever watched Family Matters? Do you know how in the first few seasons of Family Matters Steve Urkel was there, but in some episodes only for a few seconds? That's how Fonzie was in the earlier episodes. Although there was some episodes during the first 2 seasons that he starred in, but the shows were mostly about Richie and his Family.

The show was never originaly based on The Fonz being a star character. IT was meant to be a story about Rich, Potsie and Ralph, and Fonz was a supporting character. When his character turned out to be the most popular, the producers changed it to give the fans what they wanted, and, ratings went up too! An added bonus!