Is It Just Me?

[Artfiore1]

Hi all,
Is it just me, or is anybody else SICK TO DEATH of these *idiots* who blame Fonzie's waterskis for the fact that
Richie, Potsie and Ralph didn't spend 11 years in high school trying to pick up chicks?

For some unknown reason, a brief segment of a "Happy Days" episode from 27 years ago is now synonymous with a TV show having lost it -- having "passed its peak," being in the beginning of a downward slide.

When Dick Sargent replaced Dick York, they say "Bewitched" "jumped the shark."

When the setting of Felix and Oscar's apartment changed, they say "The Odd Couple" "jumped the shark."

When Jeannie and Maj. Nelson got married, they say "I Dream Of Jeannie" "jumped the shark."

Without Sharona, they say "Monk" is about to "jump the shark."

And even though the phrase "jump the shark" was derived from an action which occurred on a 1977 episode of "Happy Days", there are those who feel that the show really "jumped the shark" several years earlier when the character Chuck Cunningham disappeared without explanation. That makes sense, doesn't it? Maybe when we feel a show has passed its peak and reached the point from which it's all downhill, instead of saying it's "jumped the shark", we should say it's "lost its Chuck."

The third season of "Happy Days" -- the first one in which every episode was filmed before a live audience -- was arguably the best season of the entire series. Practically each episode of that season is unquestionably a classic ("Fearless Fonzarelli", "Richie Fights Back", "Beauty Contest", the one about Mr. C's 45th birthday, the one about Fonzie's pigeons and the roof caving in, the one about Fonzie & Richie's date with Laverne & Shirley, the one about Spike robbing Arnolds, the one in which Joanie has a crush on Potsie, the Sticks Downey episode, the one about Ralph Malph wanting to join the French Foreign Legion, etc., etc.) The show was really in its stride that year. That was the year in which Fonz became a national sensation. One of the first shows of that priceless season was one in which Ralph accidentally smashed up Fonzie's motorcycle. So, why is it, then, that when a show has really become great and has entered a period during which every episode is a gem, we don't say that that show has "smashed the motorcycle"? The reason is -- it's more natural for worthless, lowlife imbeciles like whoever started this "jump the shark" nonsense to be negative rather than positive.

It might surprise these idiots to learn that even in the fictional world of TV, time moves on, situations change and people's lives get different. And, even though the initial "magic" may have been gone from "Happy Days" by September of 1977, there were still some EXCELLENT episodes in that series which came AFTER the
three-part "Hollywood" episode! It WASN'T "all downhill from there", obnoxious scum!



Later,
Art

[robyrob]

i dont share the "shark-jumping" opinion of some people when it comes to Happy Days, but i do find humor in the whole phenomenon. While I liked the show from beginning to end, some episodes had some really ridiculous, painful to watch scenes, most notably the aforementioned shark-infested one.

My advice - let 'em have their fun, WE know its still a great show

[TheGreatPretender]

I actually liked the last few seasons, Fonzie was alot less cocky and Joanie was alot more independent. Plus there was more Chachi. You are right on the first sentence you said, it would be boring if it had the same plotline for all 11 years it ran the show had to evolve or it would get boring.

[Artfiore1]

skyhigh25789,
Thank you very much. When this series began, it was about two -- sometimes three, but primarily two -- high school boys trying to score with girls, occasionally getting bullied by big guys and being rescued by their super cool older friend. It was also about the typical American middle class family in the 1950s. And, in those early years, the show was pure gold. But, it couldn't last forever like that. There are periods of my life I now wish could've lasted forever. But hey, that's life. Richie, Potsie and Ralph couldn't spend their entire lives in high school. The family had to grow. The 1950s had to end. I guess some people wanted to see the guys never graduate and Joanie being a 20-something-year-old Chipmunk.

In the later years of "Happy Days", it became a very different show, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good one -- it was just different. Characters changed. Arnolds changed. Fonzie became a little more like Henry Winkler than Arthur Fonzarelli -- older and more mature, less invincible but still cool. By the mid 1960s, Fonz was a slightly out-of-touch aging greaser.

Ever notice that these people who criticize, "This jumped the shark" or "That jumped the shark", etc., also happen to be people who've never had a worthwhile creative idea in their lives, and couldn't write a decent TV show if their lives depended on it?



Later,
Art

[PracTz]

Actually, I think it was when they started shooting the show before the live audience that it 'jumped the shark'! I mean I watched the WHOLE saga from beginning to end over the course of a few months on TVLAND and saw that with the live audience every character (especially Howard and Marion) instantly transformed from believable but subtly humourous to loud and broad! They no longer had quiet talks but just SHOUTED every line to each other so the studio audience would hear, laugh and applaud on cue!

[Artfiore1]

PracTz,
Okay. We're talking about when the show ceased to be filmed like a movie and began being shot like a stage play, which are generally not designed to look "believable." To you, that's when the show "jumped the shark." I'll always say that's when it "smashed the motorcycle." (A good thing)




Later,
Art

[Moonlight Lady]

I liked Happy Days better when they started filming like a stage play. To me it "Smashed the Motorcyle" too. I think that's when they remodeled the downstairs of the Cunningham's house.

[Stormtracker TF]

The first two seasons of Happy Days are like a different show to me, same with the last four seasons. But that's why it never got boring. To me, it was like it went through three stages. The first two seasons really depicted the 50's and was almost movie-like, season 3-7 were the "Classic Happy Days" seasons, the episodes you think of when you think "Happy Days" and the last few seasons had alot of new cast members, the remaining cast members from the seasons before were older. It added a new dimension to the series. Some of the last episodes are my favorites.

What I'm saying is, it was all good. That's why its my favorite show.

[Artfiore1]

Stormtracker TF,

Exactamundo! Wonderful assessment.







Later,
Art

[Artfiore1]

Stormtracker TF,
When, at the end of Season Nine, Scott Baio (Chachi), Erin Moran (Joanie) and Al Molinaro (Al) all left "Happy Days" and began working on the spinoff series "Joanie Loves Chachi", it left quite a tremendous void to fill on "Happy Days." I admit that I could've happily done without some of the replacement characters such as K.C., "Flip" and some of Fonz's shop students. I also admit that I probably couldn't have written and/or casted any better ones. So, I never critcize. Don't forget that, when Scott, Erin & Al left the show, Don Most (Ralph) and Ron Howard (Richie) hadn't really been gone all that long, only two years. And, Ted McGinley (Roger) and Cathy Silvers (Jenny) could only go *so far* in filling Ron and Don's shoes. When you really think about it, this show did a *miraculous* job of carrying on . . . considering the heavy blows it took in such a relatively short period of time!

Meanwhile, it was nice to see Arnold back again in Season Ten. Isn't it funny that Fonz's Season Ten steady girlfriend, Ashley, was played by the same actress who had been Richie's girl, Gloria, in Season One? Nearly ten years older and playing a much more mature, responsible character, she was almost unrecognizeable. And of course, it was a plus when Scott and Erin returned to "Happy Days" following the demise of the shortlived "Joanie Loves Chachi." It was also nice to see Al Molinaro put in a couple of appearances near the end of the series as both Al and his twin brother "Father Anthony", as well.





Later,
Art

[anglemark10]

Originally posted by Artfiore1
Isn't it funny that Fonz's Season Ten steady girlfriend, Ashley, was played by the same actress who had been Richie's girl, Gloria, in Season One?

It was season two. Why does nearly everyone think Gloria was there during the first season? I'm certainly not attacking you personally, Art - I just don't understand why so many people get this wrong.

You do make a great point about the tenth season - after the loss of Joanie, Al, and Chachi. It's amazing they were able to keep the show going.

[spunkygirl]

I hate the term "jump the shark" it's just an excuse for people who hate certain shows to bash those shows and give "reasons"

I wonder if half the people who use the term "jump the shark" as an excuse to bash a show even know what the term means, and where it came from

[Artfiore1]

anglemark10
You're absolutely right -- Gloria didn't appear until the first episode of Season Two. Sorry about that.

As for why I, and apparently a significant amount of others, get this wrong, what can I say but . . . perhaps it's because Seasons One and Two were both filmed on the original sets (with the exception of one episode, pre-live audience) and do tend to blend together as *one* phase the show was in?

I certainly appreciate your not attacking me personally over my GIGANTIC four-month mistake, and do hope that the other 98.8% of my reply contained no such glaring errors.



Later,
Art

[Artfiore1]

Angela,
I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people you're referring to know only that it has something to do with some old TV show, and some scene in it which they've been told was awful.



Later,
Art

[Stormtracker TF]

Originally posted by Artfiore1
Stormtracker TF,
When, at the end of Season Nine, Scott Baio (Chachi), Erin Moran (Joanie) and Al Molinaro (Al) all left "Happy Days" and began working on the spinoff series "Joanie Loves Chachi", it left quite a tremendous void to fill on "Happy Days." I admit that I could've happily done without some of the replacement characters such as K.C., "Flip" and some of Fonz's shop students. I also admit that I probably couldn't have written and/or casted any better ones. So, I never critcize. Don't forget that, when Scott, Erin & Al left the show, Don Most (Ralph) and Ron Howard (Richie) hadn't really been gone all that long, only two years. And, Ted McGinley (Roger) and Cathy Silvers (Jenny) could only go *so far* in filling Ron and Don's shoes. When you really think about it, this show did a *miraculous* job of carrying on . . . considering the heavy blows it took in such a relatively short period of time!

Meanwhile, it was nice to see Arnold back again in Season Ten. Isn't it funny that Fonz's Season Ten steady girlfriend, Ashley, was played by the same actress who had been Richie's girl, Gloria, in Season One? Nearly ten years older and playing a much more mature, responsible character, she was almost unrecognizeable. And of course, it was a plus when Scott and Erin returned to "Happy Days" following the demise of the shortlived "Joanie Loves Chachi." It was also nice to see Al Molinaro put in a couple of appearances near the end of the series as both Al and his twin brother "Father Anthony", as well.





Later,
Art

You make a good point there, I agree with that.