Final ABC Network Airing of "Happy Days"

[James28]

September 24, 1984 is commonly cited as the end-date for Happy Days's original run on ABC Network, even though the official series finale of Happy Days, "Passages", aired on May 8 of 1984. However, TVTango does not mention anything regarding an original episode of Happy Days airing on September 24 of 1984; the ABC lineup for that day just has a new episode of the short-lived Call to Glory ("Go / No Go"), and a Los Angeles Rams/San Diego Chargers matchup on Monday Night Football. It is possible that any airing of Happy Days on that date was a syndication airing, meaning "Fonzie's Spots" never aired on ABC Network at all. It also, in turn, means the four burnoff episodes of HD's 11th season were its real last network airings, the last of which was on July 19 of 1984.

[SarahBellum]

That is one series that continued way longer than it should have.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by James28

September 24, 1984 is commonly cited as the end-date for Happy Days's original run on ABC Network, even though the official series finale of Happy Days, "Passages", aired on May 9 of 1984. However, TVTango does not mention anything regarding an original episode of Happy Days airing on September 24 of 1984; the ABC lineup for that day just has a new episode of the short-lived Call to Glory ("Go / No Go"), and a Los Angeles Rams/San Diego Chargers matchup on Monday Night Football. It is possible that any airing of Happy Days on that date was a syndication airing, meaning "Fonzie's Spots" never aired on ABC Network at all. It also, in turn, means the four burnoff episodes of HD's 11th season were its real last network airings, the last of which was on July 19 of 1984.

You know this makes sense because May 24th 1984 was the 2nd week of the new TV season so its no way Happy Days would have aired that week. So looks like that listed air date of 9/24/84 was inaccurate and the last episode of Happy Days was in July. I cant see ABC airing a cancelled show during the 2nd week of a new tv season. The TV Book Complete directory of Primetime tv shows has the last airing of Happy Days as July 12, 1984. So looks like the actual last airing was July 19th 1984

[PracTz]

That show definitely went out with a wheez instead of a bang!

Even the Joanie/Chachi wedding was more like 'Who else would either of them have found dumb enough to marry them?' instead of 'HOORAY! These adorable favorite characters capped their true wuv!'

[James28]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Maybe it wasn't played in the whole country? On the West Coast, the football game would wrap up around 9:00.

There is NO WAY a network is going to air a TV show's new episode on just ONE coast. Plus on the October 8, 1984 issue of Broadcasting magazine, Happy Days is NOT mentioned in the Weekly National Nielsen Ranking list for the week of September 24-30 (or anywhere else on that issue, for that matter). Another source putting the 9/24/1984 end date in doubt...

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by James28

There is NO WAY a network is going to air a TV show's new episode on just ONE coast. Plus on the October 8, 1984 issue of Broadcasting magazine, Happy Days is NOT mentioned in the Weekly National Nielsen Ranking list for the week of September 24-30 (or anywhere else on that issue, for that matter). Another source putting the 9/24/1984 end date in doubt...

And a cancelled show would not air during a new tv season so lots of sites are wrong like IMDB

[DEH55]

If the show had ended when Ron Howard and Don Most left it would have been a huge deal. But by 1984 the show was a afterthought. A long way from it's glory days. Remember how hot the show was at one point? Lunch Boxes, Dolls, trading cards. It was crazy.

[anglemark10]

Even the CBS Television Distribution Syndication Bible (http://synbible.cbstvd.com/syndicationbible.htm) lists "Fonzie's Spots" as September 24. I would be very interested to get confirmation regarding the circumstances of this. I would have to believe that OP's speculation that it first aired in syndication, as opposed to the ABC network, is correct.

[paul.austin]

Smell yah later, Chachi! I wish I’d kept that fanfic where Chachi gets forcibly turned into an adult baby. There was one done about it happening to Madonna that was even better.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by anglemark10

Even the CBS Television Distribution Syndication Bible (http://synbible.cbstvd.com/syndicationbible.htm) lists "Fonzie's Spots" as September 24. I would be very interested to get confirmation regarding the circumstances of this. I would have to believe that OP's speculation that it first aired in syndication, as opposed to the ABC network, is correct.

Have the TV guide issue from Sept 22-28, 1984 in front of me and on the night of September 24th, ABC drama called "Call to Glory" at 8pm/7pm central followed by ABC monday night football at 9pm/8pm

No airing of Happy Days at all.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by James28

September 24, 1984 is commonly cited as the end-date for Happy Days's original run on ABC Network, even though the official series finale of Happy Days, "Passages", aired on May 8 of 1984. However, TVTango does not mention anything regarding an original episode of Happy Days airing on September 24 of 1984; the ABC lineup for that day just has a new episode of the short-lived Call to Glory ("Go / No Go"), and a Los Angeles Rams/San Diego Chargers matchup on Monday Night Football. It is possible that any airing of Happy Days on that date was a syndication airing, meaning "Fonzie's Spots" never aired on ABC Network at all. It also, in turn, means the four burnoff episodes of HD's 11th season were its real last network airings, the last of which was on July 19 of 1984.

Have the TV guide issue from Sept 22-28, 1984 in front of me and on the night of September 24th, ABC drama called "Call to Glory" at 8pm/7pm central followed by ABC monday night football at 9pm/8pm

No airing of Happy Days at all.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by DEH55

If the show had ended when Ron Howard and Don Most left it would have been a huge deal. But by 1984 the show was a afterthought. A long way from it's glory days. Remember how hot the show was at one point? Lunch Boxes, Dolls, trading cards. It was crazy.

Happy Days' sister show, Laverne & Shirley, which ended its run a season prior, was another show that didn't seem to know when to wrap it up. I don't even consider that final season, which didn't have Cindy Williams involved (outside of the very early part of the season) to be a part of the same show, but more of a solo spin-off concerning Laverne's adventures in California.

[James28]

You know what could worsen matters for anyone trying to verify that late-September-of-1984 airdate for "Fonzie's Spots"? A weird practice known as "bicycling"; The actual "original" broadcast date of a particular episode of a broadcast TV show that airs in syndication instead of network may vary from market to market, due to the technique of shipping tapes of that show between stations at that time.

[TMC]

Here's why the Happy Days finale was not the actual Happy Days finale

Everyone knows that bundle of mixed emotions that arrive when a television show ends.

You prepare yourself to feel closure, enjoying the bittersweet final moments of a series you might have been watching with delight for a decade, or more.

For Happy Days fans, that was the case. The series ran for 11 seasons, from 1974–1984. For the series finale, series creator Garry Marshall knew he needed something special, and the final note he decided on, according to star Tom Bosley, wound up being, unexpectedly, quite a controversial decision.

Bosley told Emmy TV Legends that the network had a "big cry" over Marshall’s decision to have Bosley deliver an incredibly resonant line directly to the audience.

"At the end of the show, I look right in the camera," Bosley said. "It's the end of a wedding."

The intended finale was a two-part episode called "Passages." In it, Joanie marries Chachi, and Mr. Cunningham gives a toast. The scene is set where Mr. and Mrs. C are in the center of a crowd that has gathered in a circle. The camera is aimed dead-on Mr. C and when he speaks, he speaks directly to the audience, both his audience at the wedding and the audience at home:

"Thank you all for being part of our family. To happy days!"

Bosley said the network asked Marshall, "How could you break the fourth wall?"

But Bosley argued that for everybody watching, the series had concluded, and in his opinion, Marshall made the right decision. "It was much more meaningful to do," Bosley said.

Usually, when a series ends – and especially when it's a series like Happy Days, and the conclusion is so absolutely final and tied up with a bow as it was in "Passages" – that's all, folks.

However, a funny thing happened in 1984, and after the scripted Happy Days finale aired, ABC still had "leftover," unaired episodes to burn.

How does that happen?

Well, the '84 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo had taken place in February of that year, and the Games aired on ABC, temporarily knocking Happy Days out of its time slot, and messing with the timing for the series finale. Instead of moving the finale back by months, they decided to air it early and stash the episodes that would've aired in between.

Then, once the Happy Days ended in spring, ABC had these extra episodes just lying around. The network decided that there was nothing wrong with ending a series and then giving fans a few more bonus episodes. Consider it a parting gift, right?

The timing of it for those watching live went like this: "Passages" aired in May 1984, ending the series.

Then, at the end of June through the end of July, the bonus episodes arrived. "So How Was Your Weekend?" aired first, an episode that saw Mr. and Mrs. C spending a weekend away from each other. For the next three weeks, there were three more episodes: "Low Notes," 'School Dazed" and "Good News, Bad News."

In "Good News, Bad News," Chachi deals with some disappointing medical news just after getting invited to tour with the Beach Boys. Watching this chronologically, Happy Days fans watched Joanie's husband wrestle with these situations without questioning his marriage. Because, of course, he was not supposed to have been married yet! And then, just like that, the series was gone again.

Or so it seemed.

For there was still one episode left, and that aired randomly toward the end of September.

Titled "Fonzie"s Spots," the episode found Fonzie being tortured by Potsie while doing Mr. C a favor and signing up as a Leopard Lodge recruit.

It's a last laugh for fans, not all fans call it the series finale. Yet it was the last episode ever aired. Henry Winkler agrees with Bosley that the actual series finale, which was the last episode they filmed — "Passages" — was a much more emotional moment.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by TMC

Here's why the Happy Days finale was not the actual Happy Days finale

Must have only aired in certain markets