Wondering did the demise of Mork and Mindy, and Laverne and Shirley cause the Garry Marshall to pull the plug on Happy Days too? HD would have probably went another year I think if L&S went another season but guess we will never know

Garry Marshall didn't pull the plug on Happy Days - ABC canceled it. I think that if the ratings for Happy Days were still good, it would have continued regardless of what Laverne & Shirley did.

Garry Marshall didn't pull the plug on Happy Days - ABC canceled it. I think that if the ratings for Happy Days were still good, it would have continued regardless of what Laverne & Shirley did.


I just figured ABC felt that the Marshall product was losing it's appeal and once they cancelled L&S they knew that they were not extended HD past the 83-84 season

It wouldn't have made any difference. By the ealry80s, they were each their own show, not 'connected' with one another as it was in the beginning.

Nope because like all the other shows from the 70s that were still on the air at the time it ran it's course.

Happy Days was horrible the past few years and I feel it was lucky to get past 1980...

The show was completely different from it's original concept..

It just dragged on role players season after season that sucked even more than the previous lame characters they had replaced..

I remember there was rumors Ron Howard might return to the series after he first left...But then he did make a hit film and that was that...

And even if he never left what else could they do with him??

They did all they could do to keep him on the show while he was gone with ridiculous episodes such as his wedding to Lori Beth where he wasn't even there..

I can't believe the audience stuck around as long as it did...

The show wasn't the same after Ron Howard left.

^ I agree with you both. There were still some fun episodes in the post-Ron era (especially when he and Don Most guest-starred in the last season), but things never were the same without Richie. It didn't help that both Happy Days and L&S changed from being set to the 50s/60s to the 70s/80s with no explanation. ohno: