Damm, that is shocking I would think it would be out of the top 30 for sure.

Jenny Picalo?
Roger?
Goofy Potsie?


I guess the Fonz was still enough for people to tune in

The sitcoms that dominated the 70s were gone or rapidly fading, replaced by nighttime soaps and gimmicky detective shows. No good reason for people to change the channel.


Is there a episode that sets up the Joanie Loves Chachi Spinoff?

Is there a episode that sets up the Joanie Loves Chachi Spinoff?

Funny... isn't that Chachi, the actor who played him, with Dick Van Dyke on the Diagnosis Murder series, which just began on MEtv's morning schedule?

Sure looks like him.

Funny... isn't that Chachi, the actor who played him, with Dick Van Dyke on the Diagnosis Murder series, which just began on MEtv's morning schedule?

Sure looks like him.

Yep, that's him. He left Diagnosis Murder after the first season I think because he said he was more into comedy than drama.

Is there a episode that sets up the Joanie Loves Chachi Spinoff?

Yes, "Letting Go":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Days#Characters

"For years, Fonzie's cousin, Chachi, had been chasing her until she eventually agreed to a date with him. She and Chachi would eventually form a band together; and in "Letting Go", they leave for Chicago to pursue their music career (which spun off the short-lived series Joanie Loves Chachi). Joanie, however, eventually left the band to return home to pursue a teaching career. She and Chachi then broke up for a time until Chachi proposes to her and they get married in the series finale..."

[...]

"...Joanie Loves Chachi was a short-lived show about Richie's younger sister Joanie and Fonzie's younger cousin Chachi's relationship during their years as musicians in Chicago. While commonly believed that the show was canceled due to low ratings, the program finished in the Top 20 its first season, but ABC determined that the show was losing too much of its lead-in, suggesting low appeal if the show were moved (a suggestion that came to be realized, as the show's ratings dropped dramatically after a move to another time slot in its second season). This type of cancellation seemed strange in the early 1980s, but soon became a commonplace part of TV audience research..."

Yep, that's him. He left Diagnosis Murder after the first season I think because he said he was more into comedy than drama.

This is the first episode of the series I've seen, and is pretty much okay, if just a bit bland.

This is the first episode of the series I've seen, and is pretty much okay, if just a bit bland.


Only watchable ep to me is the one with Fonzie and Howard and Marion


The show did have a nice theme song though lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w13Vpt074Qc

Joanie Loves Chachi was an ill advised flop. It was terrible. They were not capable of carrying a show. They were back on the 11th and last season of Happy Day. Scott and Erin were fortunate because many times when characters are spun off they do not return to the original show. Happy Days was really going down for the count so I can see why the were welcomed. The show from 1980-84 was full of interlopers and unnecessary additions.

Joanie Loves Chachi was an ill advised flop. It was terrible. They were not capable of carrying a show. They were back on the 11th and last season of Happy Day. Scott and Erin were fortunate because many times when characters are spun off they do not return to the original show. Happy Days was really going down for the count so I can see why the were welcomed. The show from 1980-84 was full of interlopers and unnecessary additions.


Was Mr. and Mrs C seen a lot during 1982-83 season since there was no Joanie or Richie?

Joanie Loves Chachi was an ill advised flop. It was terrible. They were not capable of carrying a show. They were back on the 11th and last season of Happy Day. Scott and Erin were fortunate because many times when characters are spun off they do not return to the original show. Happy Days was really going down for the count so I can see why the were welcomed. The show from 1980-84 was full of interlopers and unnecessary additions.

:bouncers

wonder if would have been a need for Ted Mckinley's character if Donny Most never left the show and just ron howard left

wonder if would have been a need for Ted Mckinley's character if Donny Most never left the show and just ron howard left
Good question. Potsie without Ralph Malph made no sense for sure.

It was still good. Even without Ralph or Richie. I don't really care for Ralph but I liked Richie. I think the show still carried well without them

wonder if would have been a need for Ted Mckinley's character if Donny Most never left the show and just ron howard left

Roger was really a substitute for Richie, albeit a poor one.

He more of a straight arrow and not a joke machine like Ralph.

Roger was really a substitute for Richie, albeit a poor one.

He more of a straight arrow and not a joke machine like Ralph.


Yeah I forgot that, and he was definitely a poor one

^ He wasn't actually too bad at least IMO, but he definitely had some character flaws

^ He wasn't actually too bad at least IMO, but he definitely had some character flaws

The worst sin that the Roger character committed was that he was bland.

Richie was a good guy, but he rebelled a little here and there and there was definitely some fire in him when it came to girls. Richie and Fonzie complemented each other well as characters.

Roger was just...there.

The worst sin that the Roger character committed was that he was bland.

Richie was a good guy, but he rebelled a little here and there and there was definitely some fire in him when it came to girls. Richie and Fonzie complemented each other well as characters.

Roger was just...there.


No long time running TV character should ever be replaced. Never understood why the TV shows below did that because it never made sense

Welcome Back Kotter
Alice
Happy Days
The Office
Married with Children

^ Sometimes they have to. Ron Howard deliberately quit Happy Days and John Travolta quit WBK.

Right, if a show stays on long enough, more than likely, some people are going to leave before it goes off the air. They have to replace the characters because, otherwise, there may not be much with which to work with the people that are left.

Happy Days' worst sin was replacing their core characters with weak clones like Roger. A sort of Richie-lite.

M*A*S*H, on the other hand, would replace characters with ones who were different. It added new life to the show and gave the writers new characters to work with who needed to be explored and sketched out.

Happy Days just got watered down with the add-on characters from the last four seasons. The show was originally seen through Richie's eyes. That changed when the Fonzie character was given more of a starring role, but the show was largely centered on the brotherly dynamic between the two characters. And also how Fonzie would rescue Richie, Potsie and Ralph from their various escapades.

For years, we heard about, but never saw, Jenny Piccolo. I envisioned her differently than the way she was depicted on the show. She seemed more dangerous and worldly based on the way Joanie described her in the earlier seasons. When she finally did surface onscreen, she was silly more than anything else.

Ted McGinley takes some of the blame for Happy Days "jumping the shark," but it really fell to Garry Marshall and the writers, who came up with these second generation characters. Ted McGinley was just a guy who needed a job and when he was offered the role of Roger, took it.