Happy Days: Was the Third Season a soft reboot?

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by Avilos

Soft reboot or revamp. I guess. Keep in mind terms like that did not exist at the time. More importantly television writers did not feel tied to any sort of continuity at all. They only referenced the past when it suited new episodes. Ignored the rest and hoped audiences would too. “If we do not remind you of something, it does not matter anymore”.

So soft reboots and revamps would happen on shows all the time. Rare references to old episodes were a huge anomaly. Forgetting episode name - the one where Richie’s old girlfriend from the original “Love America Style” episode came back really stood out when I first saw it as a kid in reruns.

Would not surprise me if part of the reason that episode was made was to save money. It was in a way a “Clip show”. The flashbacks were from the original Pilot. Which many people at the time had never seen. Howard and Joanie were recast so it would never be part reruns. They got original actress back and there is new scenes in the present. Using Pilot scenes as flashbacks meant less new footage had to be filmed for that episode.

Back then, nothing was wasted. Unsold pilots were aired as one shot telecasts -- or, in the case of the original Happy Days pilot, recycled as a Love, American Style episode and, as you stated, a Happy Days episode itself.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

I was listening to a Happy Days podcast where one of the hosts wondered if the 3rd season was a soft reboot of the show.

Between the change to a live audience and the changing of the set, and no longer acknowledging Chuck, etc, they posed the theory that the third season was their way of rebooting the show.

I think it has some merit because the show did make a big change and certain elements of the first two season were gone forever.

What do you guys and gals think...?

Was the podcast in question the "These Days Are Ours" podcast?

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by TMC

Was the podcast in question the "These Days Are Ours" podcast?

Yes.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by eddie146

If you notice Garry Marshall did the same with The Odd Couple's first season and then changed to a live audience, with different camera angles and different settings.

I a long time ago, posted an article that flat out said that Garry Marshall was willing to "sell out" if it meant that Happy Days would be guaranteed to get better ratings. To put it in another way, it appeared that Marshall didn't have many qualms with sacrificing the show's integrity if it meant pandering to what he perceived the audience really wanted at the time.

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by TMC

I a long time ago, posted an article that flat out said that Garry Marshall we willing to "sell out" if it meant that Happy Days would be guaranteed to get better ratings. To put it in another way, it appeared that Marshall didn't have many qualms with sacrificing the show's integrity if it meant pandering to what he perceived the audience really wanted at the time.

I believe it, because Happy Days got sillier and sillier as time went on, sometimes to the point where even for a sitcom, they were stretching it kind of thin.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

I believe it, because Happy Days got sillier and sillier as time went on, sometimes to the point where even for a sitcom, they were stretching it kind of thin.

I was just reading this discussion on Reddit and the messages in it agree that Happy Days as so much better in its first two seasons, when it was a single camera show. The show lost a lot of its authenticity when it switched over to being a multi-camera show.

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by TMC

I was just reading this discussion on Reddit and the messages in it agree that Happy Days as so much better in its first two seasons, when it was a single camera show. The show lost a lot of its authenticity when it switched over to being a multi-camera show.

I respect the first two seasons, but I didn't become aware of HD until the third season, which was the point that everyone jumped on the bandwagon.

I remember seeing episodes from the first two seasons back in 1976 (ABC ran reruns during weekdays) and thinking that there was something different about them. It had a different feel but I didn't understand why at the time.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

I respect the first two seasons, but I didn't become aware of HD until the third season, which was the point that everyone jumped on the bandwagon.

I remember seeing episodes from the first two seasons back in 1976 (ABC ran reruns during weekdays) and thinking that there was something different about them. It had a different feel but I didn't understand why at the time.

https://polishamericanguyreviews.blo...ham-child.html

Part of the problem is that Happy Days, for its first two seasons, has an ensemble cast but is not an ensemble show. It's really all about Richie. No one else gets too much spotlight. And Chuck barely gets any. If Chuck had been there from Season 3 on, when the show became multi-camera and was filmed in front of a live audience and everyone began to get episodes to themselves, then he may have survived and been developed. Heck, Chuck doesn't even have friends to speak of. Richie has a ton of pals. Joanie constantly talks about her friends. Chuck has nothing. Flashes of a character come out every once in a while but no one seemed to care.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

I respect the first two seasons, but I didn't become aware of HD until the third season, which was the point that everyone jumped on the bandwagon.

I remember seeing episodes from the first two seasons back in 1976 (ABC ran reruns during weekdays) and thinking that there was something different about them. It had a different feel but I didn't understand why at the time.

The first two seasons, when Happy Days was shot with a single camera, may have also especially with the benefit of hindsight, aged and held up better than when the series went with a multi-camera/studio audience format. The first two seasons had pretty accurate clothing and hair stylings (nobody had feathered and permed hair), and the storylines were funny, touching, and clear. They were like small films about life in the 1950s.

But once the series changed formats come Season 3, Happy Days became less about storylines and more about broad characterizations, one-liners, and catch phrases. The audience would also hoot and holler whenever any main character made an entrance.

[Sgt. Saunders]

Originally Posted by TMC

The first two seasons, when Happy Days was shot with a single camera, may have also especially with the benefit of hindsight, aged and held up better than when the series went with a multi-camera/studio audience format. The first two seasons had pretty accurate clothing and hair stylings (nobody had feathered and permed hair), and the storylines were funny, touching, and clear. They were like small films about life in the 1950s.

But once the series changed formats come Season 3, Happy Days became less about storylines and more about broad characterizations, one-liners, and catch phrases. The audience would also hoot and holler whenever any main character made an entrance.

Yes, The first two seasons of Happy Days were superb. Those episodes were thoughtful, engaging, true to the spirit of the 1950s and, of course, very funny.

The episodes were like short films each as you have pointed out. The HD writers addressed such serious subjects as racism, the rising tensions of the Cold War in the 1950s, the tv game show scandals of the 1950s and how fathers and sons could disagree on whom was the best candidate to serve as POTUS.

After the late Garry Marshall changed the show’s format starting with season three, he absolutely ruined what had been a thought-provoking and accurately nostalgic look back at life in the United States during the 1950s.

Chachi Arcola, Pinky Tuscadero, the groovy and anachronistic 1970s hair styles and those insufferably loud, pre-pubescent teeny-boppers in the studio tv
audience. “Thank you,” Mr. Marshall. Ugh!

Beam me up, Chuck Cunningham!

[opus]

Brian Levant and Fred Fox Jr. (names you should recognize if you’re a fan of the show) call it a revamp in a desperate bid to avoid cancellation due to ratings

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Saunders

After the late Garry Marshall changed the show’s format starting with season three, he absolutely ruined what had been a thought-provoking and accurately nostalgic look back at life in the United States during the 1950s.

Just one quibble: I think they did have one very good multi-cam season. Three episodes of Pinky and the Malachi Brothers to kick off Season 4 was the real killer.

[Sgt. Saunders]

Those screaming and overly enthusiastic kids, who shouted out whenever Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Donny Most, Tom Bosley, Marion Ross and Erin Moran (but, unfortunately, NOT poor Anson “Potsie Weber” Williams) walked out onto the set, are probably now well into their sixties.

I wonder if they happen to watch an old episode of “Happy Days” today, they cringe in
reaction to just how badly and annoyingly they acted at that taping of HD many years ago?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Saunders

Yes, The first two seasons of Happy Days were superb. Those episodes were thoughtful, engaging, true to the spirit of the 1950s and, of course, very funny.

The episodes were like short films each as you have pointed out. The HD writers addressed such serious subjects as racism, the rising tensions of the Cold War in the 1950s, the tv game show scandals of the 1950s and how fathers and sons could disagree on whom was the best candidate to serve as POTUS.

After the late Garry Marshall changed the show’s format starting with season three, he absolutely ruined what had been a thought-provoking and accurately nostalgic look back at life in the United States during the 1950s.

Chachi Arcola, Pinky Tuscadero, the groovy and anachronistic 1970s hair styles and those insufferably loud, pre-pubescent teeny-boppers in the studio tv
audience. “Thank you,” Mr. Marshall. Ugh!

Beam me up, Chuck Cunningham!

I do wonder how Happy Days' legacy would've been viewed had it maintained the single-camera format, even if it resulted in the series not having a longer run. I can't help but think that Happy Days' critical legacy at least, would be considered much more favorable even if it was reduced to being more of a "cult classic".

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

That was at the urging of Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, who wanted to feed off the energy of the live audience. Shooting it one-camera style wasn't working for them, as they'd both been stage actors.

The Odd Couple already had stage origins, so switching to a multi-camera format just seemed far more rational or organic than what Happy Days was trying to do. With Happy Days, it wasn't exactly embedded in its natural DNA like The Odd Couple to put it in another way. So, what Garry Marshall was doing, only at the end of day, serving him well in the very short-term. While Happy Days became the #1 show on television, it did so by trading away its integrity along the way.