http://www.avclub.com/articles/happy-days-became-one-of-the-biggest-hits-on-tv-by,84232/

Garry Marshall faced a dilemma in the second season of Happy Days. The series, which had initially been an attempt to honestly depict a wistful look back at adolescence (Marshall told the Associated Press in 2004 that it was his “artistic period”), had been a minor Nielsen hit in its first season, but it was sinking like a stone, falling out of the Top 30 and toward certain cancellation. He had one last shot at making the series a success, though it would destroy almost everything he’d set out to create. What he came up with was almost terminally dumb, but it made the show one of the biggest hits in television history, one of the ultimate case stories TV fans can point to when it comes to art versus commerce. Marshall and the show’s other producers took a charming little single-camera comedy about the trials of growing up and made it a loud, kid-friendly, multi-camera comedy more about gimmicks than intelligent storytelling or nuanced characters.

And it worked.

I became a fan during the third season and loved the show as a kid. I still like HD, but I was watching some season three episodes the other night and found myself thinking, "Everyone is shouting their lines, especially Fonzie."

And that's why I love HD. The first 2 seasons were good but the show didn't become great until season 3.

The debate about the show's format change has gone on for a long time and will probably continue, but if the show hadn't changed, it probably would have been cancelled.

i don't see what the big deal is; they just changed the camera-style and added a studio audience - there really wasn't that much of a difference in the characters or the writing (that came much later over time)

i don't see what the big deal is; they just changed the camera-style and added a studio audience - there really wasn't that much of a difference in the characters or the writing (that came much later over time)

The performances became louder and the comedy more broad, because they were playing to a live audience. In the theater, you have to project and say your lines louder so that the people in the back rows can hear you. And that's what multi-camera sitcoms with live audiences do.

I think too, that Fonzie was a cooler character in the first two seasons. He was more subtle and didn't have to shout how great he was to everybody. In fact, in some early episodes, he had very little dialogue and relied more on his presence to project cool.

Because I started watching during the third season, the early episodes seemed different to me. I didn't understand why at the time, but they had a different style and were more subdued, more nuanced.

I think too, that Fonzie was a cooler character in the first two seasons. He was more subtle and didn't have to shout how great he was to everybody. In fact, in some early episodes, he had very little dialogue and relied more on his presence to project cool.

Because I started watching during the third season, the early episodes seemed different to me. I didn't understand why at the time, but they had a different style and were more subdued, more nuanced.

I didn't see HD until around the third season either at about age 10. At the time, I must say that I loved the show and the Fonz. Like you, whenever I saw an episode from the first 2 seasons, they seemed a little strange. In later years, however, I would see the earlier episodes and think they were great! My favorite "tough-guy" episode from that era was when Fonzie rescued they guys from the gang in the pool room after they stole Potsie's bike. That was classic!

I didn't see HD until around the third season either at about age 10. At the time, I must say that I loved the show and the Fonz. Like you, whenever I saw an episode from the first 2 seasons, they seemed a little strange. In later years, however, I would see the earlier episodes and think they were great! My favorite "tough-guy" episode from that era was when Fonzie rescued they guys from the gang in the pool room after they stole Potsie's bike. That was classic!

TOTALLY AGREE with you! This was my favorite episode Too.
Check it out here:
http://t.imgbox.com/abiiySuA.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-fonz/8244756626)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-fonz/8244756626
Fonz was cool but even he could not beat up a gang all by himself (at least in seasons 1 and 2)

And that's why I love HD. The first 2 seasons were good but the show didn't become great until season 3.

To a degree, yes in that Happy Days didn't really become the show that most of us are familiar with until Season 3. But it's hard not to argue that Garry Marshall in effect, dumbed down Happy Days to keep it on the air. Ironically, the first two seasons, with the single camera, the more realistic design of the house (as opposed to the "fake" sitcom look and more obvious sets) and the occasional sweetly sexual overtones:crazy:, actually hold up better.

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This is not a popular opinion but I do not like the first two seasons of Happy Days. I'm 48 and I began watching the series when I was in first grade and that was season 3. I never saw the first two seasons until they came on in daily reruns a few years later and they looked absolutely Bizarro to me with the Cunningham living room being backwards Etc. I began watching happy days again a few weeks ago with my 12 year old daughter and we began with season 3 and we are going until the episode where Arnold's Burns and after that I don't consider the show worth watching.

This is not a popular opinion but I do not like the first two seasons of Happy Days. I'm 48 and I began watching the series when I was in first grade and that was season 3. I never saw the first two seasons until they came on in daily reruns a few years later and they looked absolutely Bizarro to me with the Cunningham living room being backwards Etc. I began watching happy days again a few weeks ago with my 12 year old daughter and we began with season 3 and we are going until the episode where Arnold's Burns and after that I don't consider the show worth watching.

I respect your opinion, but for me, the first two seasons, with the original house, and with Chuck, and with Fonzie being a cool person (not a superhero) are classics. The next few seasons are not as good, not as classic, but at least okay. However, the show devolved into something unwatchable in its last few seasons.

This is not a popular opinion but I do not like the first two seasons of Happy Days. I'm 48 and I began watching the series when I was in first grade and that was season 3. I never saw the first two seasons until they came on in daily reruns a few years later and they looked absolutely Bizarro to me with the Cunningham living room being backwards Etc. I began watching happy days again a few weeks ago with my 12 year old daughter and we began with season 3 and we are going until the episode where Arnold's Burns and after that I don't consider the show worth watching.

Funnily enough, when the show went into syndication in the fall of 1979, the local station I watched it on started with season 3. Eventually, they did show season 1 & 2 once they ran through the other seasons.

I don't dislike seasons one and two, but I prefer seasons 3-7. I started watching the show during season 3 when it was in first run on ABC and that's my go-to version of the show.

BTW, season two does have one episode shot in front of a live audience and that was a test run for the format change in season 3.

The first two were shot like every sitcom today is LOL. Almost every one

The first two were shot like every sitcom today is LOL. Almost every one

True, but at least today's one camera shows that aren't filmed in front of a studio audience don't have a laugh track anymore.

True, but at least today's one camera shows that aren't filmed in front of a studio audience don't have a laugh track anymore.

Ditto! Oh yeah I remember thinking that was weird on the reruns they added the audience LOL

Ditto! Oh yeah I remember thinking that was weird on the reruns they added the audience LOL

I know that the reason it was done was because they felt if home audiences heard someone else laugh, it might induce them to do the same, kind of like if you hear someone else laugh at a party or whatever, you might find it funny and laugh too.

But for me, if you have to tell me where to laugh, you're not doing your job correctly.

I read somewhere once that Gary Marshall got the idea to add a live audience from "THE ODD COUPLE" because it boosted that shows ratings.

I read somewhere once that Gary Marshall got the idea to add a live audience from "THE ODD COUPLE" because it boosted that shows ratings.

Probably. The Odd Couple was also filmed single camera without a live audience for its' first season.

I read somewhere once that Gary Marshall got the idea to add a live audience from "THE ODD COUPLE" because it boosted that shows ratings.

We Got It Made In the Shade! (http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2004/08/we-got-it-made-in-shade.html)

I saw the new DVD set of the first season of Happy Days, which will be released August 17, and I can definitely recommend it. There are no extras, which is unfortunate, because creator Garry Marshall is really good at commentary tracks (listen to his commentary on an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show). But the episodes are uncut, 25 minutes and 30 seconds -- ah, for the days when there were only four minutes of commercials per half-hour -- and they look better than I've ever seen them look in syndication. Best of all, unlike DVD sets of some TV shows, none of the music appears to have been changed.

This, of course, is the "good" Happy Days: filmed one-camera, with no studio audience, going for the look and feel of a '50s show to match the '50s setting, and focusing on Richie Cunningham, a smart, shy teenager dealing with the minor tribulations of growing up: buying a car, getting drunk for the first time, breaking up with a girlfriend. The first two seasons of the show are genuinely excellent; Marshall toned down the New York wisecracking farce style he had brought to other shows, and created a quiet, sweet, leisurely show that had more in common with The Andy Griffith Show than American Graffiti. I especially like the fact that it centred on the smart, kind of nerdy kid who gets good grades and plays chess; in most sitcoms, that kind of character is the sidekick at best.

Of course, most of you know what happened after the second season: after two seasons of unspectacular ratings, the show was completely revamped, with more of an emphasis on Fonzie, a corresponding de-emphasis on Richie, and perhaps most importantly, a complete change in format: the show switched from single-camera, no audience, to being filmed with three cameras in front of a studio audience. (There was actually one episode in the second season, "Fonzie's Getting Married," that was shot with a studio audience as a test; not co-incidentally, it's the worst episode of that season.) This led to the audience cheering whenever Fonzie walked in (and eventually, whenever anyone walked in), but it also changed the style and look of the show. They had to use mostly interior sets, redesign the Cunninghams' house, and, most importantly, change the acting and directing style to a more "theatrical" style to play to the live audience. Fonzie was originally a low-key character whose coolness came from the fact that he didn't say much or speak loudly when he did say something. But you can't do that with a stageplay-style, three-camera sitcom, so Fonzie became a loud showboat, posing and yelling so he could be heard and seen by the last person in the last row of the studio. Ron Howard, who had never performed before a live audience before, was clearly uncomfortable and it took him a while to adjust. It's actually a fascinating study in how the style of shooting changes a show, because the writing staff was still the same as it had been in the first two seasons, as was the primary director (Jerry Paris), but the feel of the show changed almost completely because of the difference between one-camera and live-audience performing.

Interestingly, Garry Marshall had previously saved a show by making the same switch: "The Odd Couple" was one-camera in its first season, but at Tony Randall's insistence, they went to a multi-camera, live-audience format in season two -- and it worked great. But that was different, because the material was based on a play and it starred two guys with stage experience; it was more appropriate with that "theatrical" style. The nostalgic charm and period feel of Happy Days was just all wrong for multi-camera.

Then again, if it hadn't been for the revamp, Happy Days would have gone off the air after two or three seasons and would be a fondly-remembered "lost classic." I suppose most of us would have done the same, if we'd been in Garry Marshall's position of having to choose between a succes d'estime and just a plain old success. But it's the first two seasons that I would recommend, so get the first season and hope that season two, when it comes, has a few extras.

We Got It Made In the Shade! (http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2004/08/we-got-it-made-in-shade.html)

I came onboard as season 3 was underway in 1975. When I saw the reruns from the first two seasons, they seemed "different" to me, but I didn't know why because I was 9 years old and didn't know all this stuff about how the show was filmed originally.

While there are some great episodes in the first two seasons, I prefer the live audience version, even though I will agree that sometimes the audience cheering every character's entrance -- which results sometimes in the actors waiting to deliver a line -- a bit over the top.

But changing the format did save the show and we got seven great seasons of the show, plus four that...well, wasn't always so great. Even though the character of Richie wasn't the series' main focus after season 3, the show was largely built around the relationship between his character and Fonzie's.

When Ron Howard and Donny Most left after season 7, it wasn't the same show for me and in retrospect, they should have ended it there and maybe used that as a springboard for a spinoff called Jefferson High.

But Happy Days was still garnering decent ratings, and the actors needed the work, so i understand why they continued on.

We Got It Made In the Shade! (http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2004/08/we-got-it-made-in-shade.html)

I would rank the live audience third in line of importance with respect to the changes made. The switch making Fonzie the lead character was the most important change. Second in line was the deemphasis of the 1950's setting. Culturally the 1950's revival craze peaked around 1975 so that switch was critical in the creation of an alternate reality, "if the 1950's took place in the 1970's". With respect to the title:

"Happy Days became one of the biggest hits on TV by selling its soul"

I wouldn't call it "selling its soul", I'd call it figuring out what was wrong, and fixing it, so let's call it "keeping the customer satisfied". It was the customer (viewer) that made the changes necessary, simply put fewer and fewer were tuning in each week.

The Odd Couple was actually two different TV series. The first season is really an adaptation of the movie The Odd Couple. The show is filmed on the same set as the movie, the Pigeon sisters were from the movie, the poker game such an important part of the movie had a significant presence in the first season, and Tony Randall's portrayal of Felix was similar to the way Jack Lemmon played the character. The second season is almost a completely new show, the Felix character has been reimagined to a certain extent, Murray is now a stand alone character, the Pigeon sisters are gone, the set has changed, and the poker game is an insignificant part of the series.

I would rank the live audience third in line of importance with respect to the changes made. The switch making Fonzie the lead character was the most important change. Second in line was the deemphasis of the 1950's setting. Culturally the 1950's revival craze peaked around 1975 so that switch was critical in the creation of an alternate reality, "if the 1950's took place in the 1970's". With respect to the title:

"Happy Days became one of the biggest hits on TV by selling its soul"

I wouldn't call it "selling its soul", I'd call it figuring out what was wrong, and fixing it, so let's call it "keeping the customer satisfied". It was the customer (viewer) that made the changes necessary, simply put fewer and fewer were tuning in each week.

The Odd Couple was actually two different TV series. The first season is really an adaptation of the movie The Odd Couple. The show is filmed on the same set as the movie, the Pigeon sisters were from the movie, the poker game such an important part of the movie had a significant presence in the first season, and Tony Randall's portrayal of Felix was similar to the way Jack Lemmon played the character. The second season is almost a completely new show, the Felix character has been reimagined to a certain extent, Murray is now a stand alone character, the Pigeon sisters are gone, the set has changed, and the poker game is an insignificant part of the series.

I also prefer the live audience Odd Couple too. I think it's where Kiugman and Randall made the characters their own.

I think it's worthwhile to note that in addition to ratings considerations, the emergence of the Fonzie character REALLY bolstered merchandising for the series -- I believe among all '70s sitcoms, Happy Days had to be among the most heavily merchandised. Likely we still could've had Richie and Potsie T-shirts amid "group" ones of the cast had the original concept continued, though probably not very prevalent (a "Mr. C" shirt with Tom Bosley exists!), but the emergence of the Fonz was parlayed into a cash cow merchandising juggernaut of sorts. Lucrative high production for certain.

284387

I think it's worthwhile to note that in addition to ratings considerations, the emergence of the Fonzie character REALLY bolstered merchandising for the series -- I believe among all '70s sitcoms, Happy Days had to be among the most heavily merchandised. Likely we still could've had Richie and Potsie T-shirts amid "group" ones of the cast had the original concept continued, though probably not very prevalent (a "Mr. C" shirt with Tom Bosley exists!), but the emergence of the Fonz was parlayed into a cash cow merchandising juggernaut of sorts. Lucrative high production for certain.

284387

As a kid, I had a Fonzie poster on my wall and even Cracked magazine did a special issue that spoofed Fonzie and Happy Days. And of course, I got the Fonzie action figure as well.

You might say I was a fan.

Regarding the live tapings of Garry Marshall’s two successful shows, “Happy Days” and “The Odd Couple,” there was a significant difference. While “The Odd Couple,” like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Bob Newhart Show,” was taped in front of much older and, naturally, more subdued audiences, “Happy Days” was taped in front of a largely loud, raucous and unsophisticated audience of kids. The word “subtlety” or the concept of droll humor could never be ascribed to either the comedic writing or the prepubescent studio audience participation of “Happy Day’s” seasons 3 through its final dreary season.

What had been a thoughtful and, at times an affectionate, yet, also wry look at American life in the 1950s had in Season 3, become about as “subtle” and “witty” as such later television shows as “Married With Children” or “The Maury Povich Show.” (Beam me up, Pinky Tuscadero!)

Apparently, the producers of “That ‘70s Show” realized just how disruptive and grating a largely youthful tv studio audience could be during a live taping so it appeared as if the studio audience’s overly exuberant cheers and responses were toned down considerably by the show’s sound engineers.

“Happy Days,” during its first two seasons, was a wonderful and thoughtful comedy series. After that, the show devolved into a loud, crass and decidedly kitschy production.

Regarding the live tapings of Garry Marshall’s two successful shows, “Happy Days” and “The Odd Couple,” there was a significant difference. While “The Odd Couple,” like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Bob Newhart Show,” was taped in front of much older and, naturally, more subdued audiences, “Happy Days” was taped in front of a largely loud, raucous and unsophisticated audience of kids. The word “subtlety” or the concept of droll humor could never be ascribed to either the comedic writing or the prepubescent studio audience participation of “Happy Day’s” seasons 3 through its final dreary season.

What had been a thoughtful and, at times an affectionate, yet, also wry look at American life in the 1950s had in Season 3, become about as “subtle” and “witty” as such later television shows as “Married With Children” or “The Maury Povich Show.” (Beam me up, Pinky Tuscadero!)

Apparently, the producers of “That ‘70s Show” realized just how disruptive and grating a largely youthful tv studio audience could be during a live taping so it appeared as if the studio audience’s overly exuberant cheers and responses were toned down considerably by the show’s sound engineers.

“Happy Days,” during its first two seasons, was a wonderful and thoughtful comedy series. After that, the show devolved into a loud, crass and decidedly kitschy production.

I wouldn't equate Happy Days as being as crass and crude as Married With Children. It was still relatively wholesome, given the censorship applied to sitcoms back in the 70s.

When it premiered in 1987, Married With Children was shocking because of the language and blatant sexual gags and Garry Marshall himself might have blushed at that type of humor.

As was discussed before in this thread, HD had no choice but to go the three camera live audience setup because if it hadn't...it wouldn't have run for 11 seasons.

Seven of which I'm still fond of to this day.