why'd they have to make all those changes after season 1 and ruin the show? You know: add that live audience, make it "the Fonzie show", change the Cunninghams living room, etc!

Ratings were low nearly to the point of cancellation.

I wouldn't say ratings were "nearly to the point of cancellation". Happy Days was tied (with Petrocelli) for 48th place, but Petrocelli (on NBC) was renewed, as were The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 51st place), Marcus Welby MD (ABC, 53rd place), Barretta (ABC, 62nd place), and Barney Miller (ABC, 68th place). In fact, all of ABC's series ranking in the 40s and 50s were kept. You can see the full season rankings here (http://web.archive.org/web/20171022075845/http://www.tvratingsguide.com/2017/08/1974-75-top-30-gunsmoke-ends-20-year.html).

Ratings were really low late in the 2nd season. You had a character that audiences identified with (like Flo on Alice), so you elevate them to get more of an audience.

why'd they have to make all those changes after season 1 and ruin the show? You know: add that live audience, make it "the Fonzie show", change the Cunninghams living room, etc!

Those changes happened after season 2.

I saw an interview with Ron Howard about some of that once. It was strange to him at first because Andy Griffith had no studio audience. But others of the cast with stage experience liked it since they liked having the audience.

I always guessed they changed the living room so all entrances were focused in one area of the stage. But it made no logical sense when comparing inside to outside. It made even less sense when the kitchen door sometimes went to the garage like in the early seasons, and other times led to a backyard.

Fonzie was popular, so you give him more airtime so the show can stay on the air. I did think they went too far with his feats.

I read somewhere once that Gary Marshall decided to do the live audience because he did it on THE ODD COUPLE and it boosted that shows ratings.

The fortunes of the show definitely turned around when they did. The audience helped the atmosphere and excitement of the show. Then they realized how popular the Fonz was and they started the catchphrases. Happy Days was red hot from 1975 to 1978. You had The lunch box's, trading cards , Fonzie doll's. Lol

They said on the Live Web Show the other night that it was almost cancelled after season 1. And the studio audience started in season 3. I read they got rid of Chuck because they didn't need him. Fonzie became the "big brother" to Richie. They also wanted to change the name of the show to "The Fonz" or something like that but Ron Howard and someone else threatened a boycott or something like that.

Happy Days was one of my favorite shows when I was a youngster. I thought Fonzie was the coolest guy around. It's weird that I liked the live audience shows best in those days, but now, I love watching the first two seasons. The first two have more of a feel from the time period. I thought it started feeling like a 70s show as time went on.

Seems the 1st year was a bit more sexually racy but that went way over time ...

First (and second) seasons: The characters spoke to each other in normal tones and were somewhat realistic with the potential for growth (except maybe Chuck).

3rd to last seasons: Everyone YELLED at each other so even the Studio Audience members in nosebleed sections could hear them- and they quickly became cartoons with SuperFonz and Cha-Wah-Wah-Wah-Chi getting hysterical audience screams EVERY time they made an entrance.

Guess which format I like better.

I think pretty much everyone prefers the original format. I mean it's okay if you don't, I'm not passing judgment on anyone or trying to put people down. But I think the qualities of the first 2 seasons speak for themselves, and amounted to something people will always miss.