Happy Days as a Dramedy? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

FredV · 01-25-2012, 07:18 PM

One of the things that got me about the final seasons of Happy Days was that Garry Marshall seemed to have been trying to turn the show into a Dramedy. The show was good when it had dramatic episodes like Ritchie almost dying, Fonzie going blind and his dad showing up to leave a Christmas present, etc. But, it got a little heavy on themes like Chachi and Joanie breaking up, Joanie almost getting raped and even the final episode with Fonzie trying to adopt a son. I like the dramatic episodes, one of the best from the final seasons is the Mother & Child Reunion where Fonzie thinks he found his mother, but do others think Marshall was trying to turn Happy Days more dramatic towards the end of the series? What do you think?

robyrob · 01-25-2012, 07:53 PM

i thought that they were trying to find a balance between the heavy and light moments, but there were definitely some storylines that were too dramatic (i never liked the Joanie and Chachi together/apart tug-of-war)

ThomasE · 01-26-2012, 03:31 AM

I liked them. There was no problem with me. It was the beginning/mid 80's. The writing was more intense and flexible which allowed the writers to go further with some ideas for the show.

comedyfreak · 01-26-2012, 06:35 AM

I never gave it a thought and just enjoyed what I seen, to me it was always been a comedy.

dave insinga · 02-10-2012, 11:24 PM

I do see where you are coming from,but i feel that the more dramatic episodes were a natural progression,anyone who watch the show while growing up in the seventies by the eighties were in their upper teens so as we grow things get more dramatic and a little more serious. to keep the show some what believable the episodes had to get a little darker.i mean dont you think that it would have looked sill by the series end the characters telling each other to SIT ON IT or calling each other nerds,it had to go that route i mean they didnt turn the show a complete 360 like they tried to do with THE BRADY BUNCH in the 90s that horrible update called THE BRADYS.I liked the more serious episodes
as well as the more classic lighthearted episodes.

01-25-2012, 07:18 PM	#1
FredV Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 23, 2011 Location: New York City Posts: 13	Happy Days as a Dramedy? One of the things that got me about the final seasons of Happy Days was that Garry Marshall seemed to have been trying to turn the show into a Dramedy. The show was good when it had dramatic episodes like Ritchie almost dying, Fonzie going blind and his dad showing up to leave a Christmas present, etc. But, it got a little heavy on themes like Chachi and Joanie breaking up, Joanie almost getting raped and even the final episode with Fonzie trying to adopt a son. I like the dramatic episodes, one of the best from the final seasons is the Mother & Child Reunion where Fonzie thinks he found his mother, but do others think Marshall was trying to turn Happy Days more dramatic towards the end of the series? What do you think?
	Last edited by FredV; 01-25-2012 at 11:22 PM.

01-25-2012, 07:53 PM	#2
robyrob certified wackball#3 Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Aug 03, 2003 Location: hiding under the third booth at Arnold's Posts: 58,156	i thought that they were trying to find a balance between the heavy and light moments, but there were definitely some storylines that were too dramatic (i never liked the Joanie and Chachi together/apart tug-of-war)
	__________________ * firefox * AdAware * HiJackThis * CoolWebShredder * Spybot * SpywareBlaster * Spyware Terminator * * GeeksToGo * AntiVir * Avast antivirus * Housecall Online * Sysinternals Security Utilities * * ZoneAlarm * Agnitum-firewall * Comodo Firewall * AVG Anti-Rootkit * RootkitRevealer * ParasiteCheck * * Annoyances * FreeCodecs * Mikes-Hosts-File * GRC.com * MSAntispyware * DVD's * TradeList * myspace *

01-26-2012, 03:31 AM	#3
ThomasE Member Moderator Forum Fanatic Join Date: Apr 04, 2000 Location: New York, New York, U.S.A. Posts: 10,857	I liked them. There was no problem with me. It was the beginning/mid 80's. The writing was more intense and flexible which allowed the writers to go further with some ideas for the show.
	__________________ Check out my my "It's A Living" Facebook Fanpage!!! https://m.facebook.com/groups/107208...&source=result

01-26-2012, 06:35 AM	#4
comedyfreak Cheers! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 14, 2005 Location: Sunny California Posts: 11,058	I never gave it a thought and just enjoyed what I seen, to me it was always been a comedy.
	__________________ www.facebook.com/comedyfreak

02-10-2012, 11:24 PM	#5
dave insinga Member Forum Regular Join Date: May 19, 2005 Posts: 590	dramedy,comedy I do see where you are coming from,but i feel that the more dramatic episodes were a natural progression,anyone who watch the show while growing up in the seventies by the eighties were in their upper teens so as we grow things get more dramatic and a little more serious. to keep the show some what believable the episodes had to get a little darker.i mean dont you think that it would have looked sill by the series end the characters telling each other to SIT ON IT or calling each other nerds,it had to go that route i mean they didnt turn the show a complete 360 like they tried to do with THE BRADY BUNCH in the 90s that horrible update called THE BRADYS.I liked the more serious episodes as well as the more classic lighthearted episodes.