To me, it's a toss up between Lori Beth and Potsie. Both characters needed to have Richie around to play off of to really work. After Ron Howard left, it seemed like they only really used Lori Beth for "ghost" storylines involving Richie (like their "wedding" and the birth of their son). I also found it funny that Richie wasn't allowed to be at least temporarily discharged from the Army so that he could be there for his son's birth (it kind of made Richie look bad if you asked me).

With Potsie, I honestly don't know why Anson Williams stayed on after Ron Howard and Donny Most left. The writers didn't really know what to do with Potsie. All of the "youth" storylines that Potsie, Richie and Ralph once occupied were now transferred to Joanie, Chachi and Jenny (and to a lesser extent, the students that Foznie and Roger taught at Jefferson High). I think there was a period where they tried to make him into the Cunningham's surrogate son in Richie's absence (like having Potsie work at Howard's hardware store).

I agree.

Lori Beth seemed to be around more than she had been, lol! They did kind of use her to keep Richie's spirit on the show.

Potsie too, he didn't have any of his friends left. They did work him into some episodes, but it still felt kinda weird. i think they wanted to have some old characters around, even if just in the background, while the new ones were introduced, to keep the show feeling familar.

BTW--did Potsie EVER graduate college? :lol:

I think the Potsie character suffered greatly due to the departure not only of Ritchie but Ralph as well. The writers had no idea what to do with Potsie once Ritchie and Ralph were no longer there for him to interact with. And it seems like didn't really try either. It seems like the writers choose to concentrate on Joannie and Chachi and the newer/younger characters and Potsie and Loribeth just faded into the background.

I think it's both Lori Beth and Potsie.

I just don't understand why LB gets married then leaves for a few weeks and comes back to the C's and have her baby. Then she leaves again in this season or the 10th..

I would think that LB would want Richie there for the birth of their kid and she should have been in Greenland.

Both characters suffered, but in my opinion, Anson Williams moreso.

They really did not seem to know what to do with him without Ron and Donny's characters to play off of. No wonder why Anson said that the magic was gone when they left.

In a way, though, Goodfriend's character got a boost. She got promoted to full cast member status and because of the wedding and childbirth, had a reason to interact with the Cunninghams, who were now her family.

And the reason Richie didn't make the wedding was because Ron Howard left the show! I always thought Fonzie standing in for Richie was lame. They should have waited until Ron returned in the final season and had their marriage and move to California as the plot line for the show.

I'm trying to remember if Anson's episode when he's hired as the nightclub singer was before or after Ron and Donny left. Regardless, that's probably one of the best uses of his character in a single story. Potsie did always have Fonzie around -- and sometimes he really needed him!

I agree with Dr. Thong about Lori Beth's interaction with the Cunninghams, especially all of her scenes with Marion.

I'm trying to remember if Anson's episode when he's hired as the nightclub singer was before or after Ron and Donny left. Regardless, that's probably one of the best uses of his character in a single story. Potsie did always have Fonzie around -- and sometimes he really needed him!

I agree with Dr. Thong about Lori Beth's interaction with the Cunninghams, especially all of her scenes with Marion.

Are you referring to 'A Potsie Is Born?'. It was in the 7th season, before Ron and Don left.

To answer the question to this thread, I'd say Lori Beth and Potsie suffered the most in Richie's absence.

Here's something that strikes me as being odd. Okay, Richie couldn't get time off to marry Lori Beth, so Fonzie acted as a stand-in. Yet, somehow, he managed to find time for a honeymoon. Why didn't he just wait until he could get the time off and just do the wedding right before the honeymoon?

Here's something that strikes me as being odd. Okay, Richie couldn't get time off to marry Lori Beth, so Fonzie acted as a stand-in. Yet, somehow, he managed to find time for a honeymoon. Why didn't he just wait until he could get the time off and just do the wedding right before the honeymoon?

I was thinking the same thing. Actually, they should have had Richie and Lori Beth get married before Ron left and had Ron guest-star in the episode where the baby was born.

Agreed.

I wonder if Ron Howard had any say or approval in regards to storylines involving him after he left the show?

Here's something that strikes me as being odd. Okay, Richie couldn't get time off to marry Lori Beth, so Fonzie acted as a stand-in. Yet, somehow, he managed to find time for a honeymoon. Why didn't he just wait until he could get the time off and just do the wedding right before the honeymoon?
They didn't have a honeymoon. Lori Beth visited Ritchie at the army base in Greenland. However she could only visit him on the base if they were already married. That's why they got married via telephone with Fonzie as the proxy.

Oh, I forgot. It's been so long since I saw that episode.

But still, the wedding thing was cheesy. They should have waited until Richie came home.

Lori Beth was sort of used to carry the memory of Richie, but at the same time it gave her limitations since by the time the 10th season came around they most likely didn't have her back because they didn't want a little kid crawling around the Cunningham house. It just wouldn't have worked in my opinion. So basically 2 -post Richie seasons is all she got.

Lori Beth was sort of used to carry the memory of Richie, but at the same time it gave her limitations since by the time the 10th season came around they most likely didn't have her back because they didn't want a little kid crawling around the Cunningham house. It just wouldn't have worked in my opinion. So basically 2 -post Richie seasons is all she got.

They pretty much gave all of the cute kid spotlight on Heather O'Rourke's character.

Anson Williams started out as the co-lead, then was downgraded to third or fourth banana (depending on how you view Ralph Malph), and then found himself even further down the totem pole once Ron Howard and Don Most left (and Scott Baio and Erin Moran became the new young leads). By the end of the series, he was a complete non-entity and frequently the butt of everyone's jokes (remember Arnold's reaction when he returned to buy the restaurant and was wistfully commenting on all the new faces, and Potsie cheerfully announced that he was still around? "Why?"), and the fact that he didn't even make the finale speaks volumes. That, and the fact that he got beat up (offscreen) by Chachi during the last season. Think about that for a minute.

So I'd say that Potsie definitely suffered more than any other character. But Anson probably enjoyed cashing those checks regardless.

Potsie.

Most definitely.

Btw, welcome to the board!!:wave:

And yes, Potsie for me. He was hardly in it after Richie and Ralph left.

To me, when Ron Howard and Donny Most left the show, Potsie was no longer needed since he was part of the old gang and the focus shifted to Joanie and Chachi. So that's where Roger came in as a new character who would play off Fonzie and eventually the two would work together when Roger became the principal at George S. Patton Vocational School and Fonzie would be the Dean of Boys.

Btw, welcome to the board!!:wave:

And yes, Potsie for me. He was hardly in it after Richie and Ralph left.

Thanks! :wave:

I think that Fonzie suffered too

Potties stayed to sing at Arnold's.

It was Potsie more importantly

Okay, Richie couldn't get time off to marry Lori Beth, so Fonzie acted as a stand-in.
I wonder if Fonzie acted as a stand-in on the wedding night, too.

Potsie. Sure, Lori Beth suffered too, but unlike her, Potsie was one of the original main characters, arguably the deuteragonist to Richie in the first two seasons. But in the last four seasons, he was basically a background character. Such a role decrease.

I wonder if Fonzie acted as a stand-in on the wedding night, too.

Bwahahahaha! That's very funny! :lol:

The post-Richie years were terrible. Lori Beth, Potsie, Fonzie and the show itself suffered when Richie Cunningham left Happy Days. No amount of Ted McGinley or Helen from Wings could save it. No amount of Lori Beth filling in for her absentee husband could make up for him leaving.

Anson Williams started out as the co-lead, then was downgraded to third or fourth banana (depending on how you view Ralph Malph), and then found himself even further down the totem pole once Ron Howard and Don Most left (and Scott Baio and Erin Moran became the new young leads). By the end of the series, he was a complete non-entity and frequently the butt of everyone's jokes (remember Arnold's reaction when he returned to buy the restaurant and was wistfully commenting on all the new faces, and Potsie cheerfully announced that he was still around? "Why?"), and the fact that he didn't even make the finale speaks volumes. That, and the fact that he got beat up (offscreen) by Chachi during the last season. Think about that for a minute.

So I'd say that Potsie definitely suffered more than any other character. But Anson probably enjoyed cashing those checks regardless.

http://epguides.com/HappyDays/#navbar

From the list of production numbers here, it appears that Anson Williams left Happy Days altogether at some point halfway through Season 11. I haven't seen all of these to know, but his last-filmed appearance may have been in "Welcome Home", where Potsie appeared with Richie & Ralph. The episodes were aired in a much different order though, making it look as though Potsie was there every other week or so, similar to how Bewitched handled Dick York's leaving the show with several episodes left to be filmed. York appeared in the final Season 5 episode aired, but it was filmed long before many other episodes that season.

Bwahahahaha! That's very funny! :lol:

The post-Richie years were terrible. Lori Beth, Potsie, Fonzie and the show itself suffered when Richie Cunningham left Happy Days. No amount of Ted McGinley or Helen from Wings could save it. No amount of Lori Beth filling in for her absentee husband could make up for him leaving.

Certain actors and characters cannot be replaced. When you take them out of the show, it changes the chemistry of the show, it's a shock to the system.

Henry Winkler may have been the star as Fonzie, but Ron Howard was the actor the show was originally built on and his character was the yin to Fonzie's yang. The two actors had a great chemistry together and Howard was the linchpin that tied everything together.

I think the big mistake was bringing in characters who, in some instances, were watered down versions of the characters they were taking the place of. Roger is a prime example of this.

Don't blame Ted McGinley for what happened in the final years of Happy Days, blame Garry Marshall and the writers for coming up with weak characters and situations to keep a show going past its prime.

Certain actors and characters cannot be replaced. When you take them out of the show, it changes the chemistry of the show, it's a shock to the system.

Henry Winkler may have been the star as Fonzie, but Ron Howard was the actor the show was originally built on and his character was the yin to Fonzie's yang. The two actors had a great chemistry together and Howard was the linchpin that tied everything together.

I think the big mistake was bringing in characters who, in some instances, were watered down versions of the characters they were taking the place of. Roger is a prime example of this.

Don't blame Ted McGinley for what happened in the final years of Happy Days, blame Garry Marshall and the writers for coming up with weak characters and situations to keep a show going past its prime.

I agree. It seemed as though Garry Marshall kept continuing Happy Days long after the actors and the audience got bored. The show should have ended at the end of Season Seven, when Richie left. Instead, it continued as a zombie of its former self for another four ghastly seasons.

I agree. It seemed as though Garry Marshall kept continuing Happy Days long after the actors and the audience got bored. The show should have ended at the end of Season Seven, when Richie left. Instead, it continued as a zombie of its former self for another four ghastly seasons.

And to make matters worse, he spun off Joanie and Chachi for season 10. The characters were bumped up and became featured characters to fill the void created by the absence of Richie and Ralph and Garry Marshall takes them out of the show.

I've said this many times before, but Happy Days wasn't the same show during those last four seasons. I think it might have been better off if the show's name had been changed to Jefferson High or something else. Kind of like when All In The Family became Archie Bunker's Place after the departures of Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers and Jean Stapleton.

And to make matters worse, he spun off Joanie and Chachi for season 10. The characters were bumped up and became featured characters to fill the void created by the absence of Richie and Ralph and Garry Marshall takes them out of the show.

That's a great point, Dr. Thong. In retrospect, the whole JLC spin-off was a terrible idea.


I've said this many times before, but Happy Days wasn't the same show during those last four seasons. I think it might have been better off if the show's name had been changed to Jefferson High or something else. Kind of like when All In The Family became Archie Bunker's Place after the departures of Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers and Jean Stapleton.

Or what I call Little House: The New Batch. Which... Don't get me started.

Potsie was always on a decline. He was pretty good as the second lead.
If i remember correctly he was cooler Ralph and Richie, he was the guy that would get the girls for him and Richie.

I always wondered why they kept bumping/dumbing him down. Then they wanted Fonz to become the start of the show.

That's a great point, Dr. Thong. In retrospect, the whole JLC spin-off was a terrible idea.

Scott Baio himself said that JLC was "a cesspool."

The simple truth is that Happy Days ended the day Ron Howard left the show.

And that was also the day I stopped watching it.

The simple truth is that Happy Days ended the day Ron Howard left the show.

And that was also the day I stopped watching it.

I continued watching it and I can truthfully say you didn't miss anything.

Those shows got worse with age.

Potsie was always on a decline. He was pretty good as the second lead.
If i remember correctly he was cooler Ralph and Richie, he was the guy that would get the girls for him and Richie.

I always wondered why they kept bumping/dumbing him down. Then they wanted Fonz to become the start of the show.

I heard that the producers at one point even wanted to change the name of the show to Fonzie's Happy Day, but Henry Winkler and the other cast members protested against it.

I heard that the producers at one point even wanted to change the name of the show to Fonzie's Happy Day, but Henry Winkler and the other cast members protested against it.

On the 30th anniversary special, Ron Howard said that he told Garry Marshall that if the name was changed to Fonzie's Happy Days, he wanted to leave the show.

I've also heard rumors that ABC president Fred Silverman wanted to spin Fonzie off into his own show, but Winkler nixed the idea, feeling that Fonzie was born on Happy Days and that's where he belonged.