In Defense of Ted McGinley

[howilu]

Over the years, there's been a lot of negative posts about Ted McGinley on this site as a "show killer" and the patron saint of the Jump the Shark website. But on Happy Days, I felt that his character of Roger Phillips was an important addition to the show after Ron Howard and Donny Most left the show.

His character, who graduated from Yale was very bright and also coached Chachi in basketball. But he did work well with Fonzie since they both taught at Jefferson High School. Even better, in the show's final season, they both worked together at George S. Patton Vocational School. Roger was the principal and Fonzie Dean of Boys.

Unfortunately, his brother Flip, played by Billy Warlock only lasted a season since he filled the void left by Scott Baio and Erin Moran when they left for their short lived spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi. But Warlock's career thrived after Happy Days on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and General Hospital.

So that's why Ted McGinley was a vital part to the later run of Happy Days.

[TVFactFan]

I would have to rewatch those seasons after Richie and Ralph left the show because I never been a fan of replacements. Its not the replacement fault its just how it is

[Fallon97]

I liked Roger.

[TMC]

I don't think that Ted McGinley was so much a "show killer" since Happy Days and Married...with Children ran a good few more years after he joined the cast. But I think that he's arrival (not just on those two shows, but on The Love Boat also, in its final few years) all but officially signified the point that a hit TV show was now past its creative peak. So Ted was really more of a "show closer" if that makes sense.

[Elvis Fonzie Dean]

Roger was great. Also Chachi was at his peak in the last season. The show itself was great in the last season, but with all the changes and the amount of time the show was on people might have just not given it a true chance. I understand that because I used to not care for the later seasons that much, partly because Richie and Ralph were gone, and partly because the show didn't stick to the time periods. Aside from the time periods thing I can still enjoy the show. In the last couple of seasons they got a lot of their creativity back.

[TVFactFan]

If the seasons after Richie ever became available on DVD or Streaming I would sample the Roger years

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I would have to rewatch those seasons after Richie and Ralph left the show because I never been a fan of replacements. Its not the replacement fault its just how it is

I wonder if the apparent aversion towards Ted McGinley in those days was mainly because he was the prototypical "push actor". In other words, Ted was someone who was pushed upon the public and given opportunities time after time after time (even with several failures). Plus, Ted was a bland, blond, all-American type. So it was right there, hard to see him as some sort of underdog or everyman.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by TMC

I wonder if the apparent aversion towards Ted McGinley in those days was mainly because he was the prototypical "push actor". In other words, Ted was someone who pushed upon the public and given opportunities time after time after time (even with several failures). Plus, Ted was a bland, blond, all-American type. So it was right there, hard to see him as some sort of underdog or everyman.

Since he was supposed to be a replacement for someone who was on the show for 6 years, it never was going to work. Im just glad they didnt bring in a replacement for Ralph lol

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Since he was supposed to be a replacement for someone who was on the show for 6 years, it never was going to work. Im just glad they didnt bring in a replacement for Ralph lol

I though that Jenny Piccolo was for all intent and purposes, Ralph's replacement.

[biffbronson]

Regarding Jenny, I was always intrigued when Joanie talked about her in the earlier seasons but we never, ever saw her. I don't know that it was a mistake to end the mystery later by casting her, but it was a surprise to me for sure.

I wonder if we can say that the additions of actors like McGinley and Linda Purl as cast members were conscious efforts to bring in viewers to be hooked on them because they were very attractive. It worked on me with Linda, I'm a big fan and thought she looked her best at that time. (To this day I will buy any DVD with one of Linda's appearances, even if it was just 1 episode of a TV series.)

[PracTz]

Was Ted McGinley related to any big wigs? I've often wondered that. . .

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by PracTz

Was Ted McGinley related to any big wigs? I've often wondered that. . .

sure seemed like it

[Edward216]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

sure seemed like it

I don't think so.

Ed.

[TMC]

Roger Phillips on Happy Days Should Have Been a Returned Chuck Cunningham

In a new feature explaining relatively simple plot changes, Brian explains why Chuck Cunningham should have returned to Happy Days instead of having Roger Phillips join the series.



Today, we look at why Roger Phillips on Happy Days should have just been a returned Chuck Cunningham.

This is a brand-new feature, “Could Have Done Better,” where I note an alternate route that a TV series or film should have gone (and could have easily gone, so no, like, “ER should have not let George Clooney leave”).

While I was writing earlier today about how the original oldest sibling on Happy Days, Chuck Cunningham, was retconned out of existence on the series in the final episode, I recalled something that apparently my buddy Bill Walko told me (I know someone brought it up, but when I put that post up today, Bill brought this idea up again, so it must have been Bill who first mentioned this), which is that Happy Days really flopped in a wonderful opportunity to bring Chuck Cunningham back into the series.

As you may or may not recall, Ron Howard left Happy Days after seven seasons to concentrate on his nascent career as a film director (his first major studio film, Night Shift, actually starred his longtime Happy Days co-star, Henry Winkler). His character, Richie Cunningham, enlisted in the military. He was replaced by Ted McGinley (in his first major role) as Roger Phillips, Richie’s cousin who was a recent college graduate who came to Milwaukee to become a teacher and basketball coach.

Roger filled the role as someone for Fonzie to hang out with on the series, as Roger was sort of like Richie, only a bit more sophisticated with the ladies. Roger only recurred in Seasons 8-9 before becoming an official cast member in the final two seasons (he was pretty much a regular cast member, though, as he was in 60 episodes in those four seasons, and that was with him not debuting until four episodes into Season 8). Roger later became the principal of a vocational school, bringing Fonzie along with him, giving them new plots to deal with (and later giving Joanie a plot as she becomes a teacher in training at the school).

Here’s the thing, though, Chuck Cunningham WAS A BASKETBALL PLAYER IN COLLEGE! Why not just have McGinley play a recast Chuck Cunningham, out of college and back in Milwaukee as a teacher and basketball coach? Wouldn’t that have made a whole lot more sense than introducing a cousin like Roger? Having another Cunningham sibling would have given the whole Cunningham family unit more of a logical setup, rather than just Marion’s nephew, especially when they lost Joanie after Season 9. Heck, he’s not even a CUNNINGHAM! And, again, Roger was a former college basketball star and was now a basketball coach – CHUCK WAS A COLLEGE BASKETBALL STAR! That was, like, Chuck’s ENTIRE PERSONALITY!

McGinley was only 24 when he started, but you could have just had McGinley play Chuck at an undetermined age. Yes, Ron Howard was 27 when he left, but Howard’s whole deal was that he looked much younger than his actual age, so I think McGinley could have easily pulled off being Richie’s older brother, especially considering he was only supposed to be a few years older (as Richie was already a junior in high school when the series began, so Chuck would have been five years older than Richie at MOST) and, of course, Howard wasn’t even there to compare against.

I think this would have made so much more sense. This was a real missed opportunity.