Grading the 'Replacement' Characters

[TMC]

*The most obvious one, Al was a replacement for Arnold, who would replace Al when he went off to Joanie Loves Chachi

*Roger was a replacement for Richie

*Jenny was a replacement for Ralph

*KC was a replacement for Joanie during the Joanie Loves Chachi period

*Flip was a replacement for Chachi (whom in himself, replaced Spike) during the Joanie Loves Chachi period

*You can argue that the Fonz was a replacement for Chuck

[Dr. Thong]

Jenny was not a replacement for Ralph. She didn't hang around with Potsie. She was Joanie's friend.

Fonzie was not a replacement for Chuck, as both characters were on the show at the same time. However, it can be argued that Fonzie filled the role of an older brother for Richie, as a protector and adviser.

And while Al was great, Arnold will always be the man for me.

And Arnold replaced Al when he left to do Joanie Loves Chachi.

[tmac81s]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

Jenny was not a replacement for Ralph. She didn't hang around with Potsie. She was Joanie's friend.

Fonzie was not a replacement for Chuck, as both characters were on the show at the same time. However, it can be argued that Fonzie filled the role of an older brother for Richie, as a protector and adviser.

And while Al was great, Arnold will always be the man for me.

And Arnold replaced Al when he left to do Joanie Loves Chachi.

They never really had a "replacement" for Ralph....poor Potsie was left with little to do and no one to really hang out with for the rest of the show. Maybe that's why he left halfway through season 11? I remember reading somewhere he wasn't crazy about how Potsie kept getting more and more "dumbed down" as time went on.

Lori Beth certainly got more to do AFTER her boyfriend Richie left the series. They get married and she has a baby!

I was glad they finally had Jenny appear on-screen, after so many years mentioning her. I liked Roger too, I know he was more-or-less a "replacement" for Richie, but they did make his character different. Him and Fonzie were not best friends like Richie and Fonzie were (in fact Fonzie didn't even like him all that much), and they never really hung out together like Richie and Fonz did.

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by tmac81s

They never really had a "replacement" for Ralph....poor Potsie was left with little to do and no one to really hang out with for the rest of the show. Maybe that's why he left halfway through season 11? I remember reading somewhere he wasn't crazy about how Potsie kept getting more and more "dumbed down" as time went on.

It also seemed that the writers didn't know what to do with Potsie, either. There were scenes that were obviously written just to give him a line in the show, but oftentimes had nothing to do with the storyline.

They tried making him a surrogate son to Howard, taking a job at the Hardware store, but it never really rang true.

Anson Williams said that when Ron Howard left, "The magic was gone."

I agree.

[robyrob]

- Al and Arnold are two of my favorite characters, and they even work great together in the few episodes they were both in

- Roger didn't really do much for me, but he wasn't all that bad

- Jenny was a great character, I think they should have brought her in much sooner

- KC was OK, but the cast was a little bit thin when she was on

- Flip was one of my least favorite characters

- the background characters in the later seasons like Bobby, Eugene, Melvin, and Tommy weren't really the best replacement characters for the gang as a whole - I think it would have been better if they had added more secondary characters earlier on to build on them better

- if you consider Leather as a replacement for Pinky, I think she was a good replacement and a much better character, and I would've liked her to stay on longer and be a real love interest for Ralph (maybe he would've even stayed after Ron Howard left if he had had a bigger part?)

[biffbronson]

I liked when they had Al Molinaro play the dual roles of Big Al and Father Delvecchio. As Al, he was a good presence at Arnold's while so much other change was happening.

I wasn't too big of a fan of the Roger character, but he did provide a contrast to Fonzie and filled out the quartet of Fonz, Potsie, Chachi, and Roger. To me, they were the replacement of the earlier seasons' foursome: Rich, Potsie, Ralph, and Fonzie.

I enjoyed seeing KC, Jenny, and Lori Beth for the most part -- I think the actresses did pretty well despite the material not always being the best.

[WalrusIsPaul]

Maybe im in the minority but i liked all new charcters except for Roger,other newbies yes. They should have gradually eased Fonzie into a relationship, instead of one season he's in one and next season he's not. Espically in waning last 2 seasons ease into it.maybe have him get married when he adopts the boy( forgot his name) Other than adopting the boy and not counting Potsie, i don't thnk his charcter loose ends were tied up at all. Unless i don't remember correctly,beena while since i seen the last one

[70s show watcher]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

It also seemed that the writers didn't know what to do with Potsie, either. There were scenes that were obviously written just to give him a line in the show, but oftentimes had nothing to do with the storyline.

They tried making him a surrogate son to Howard, taking a job at the Hardware store, but it never really rang true.

Anson Williams said that when Ron Howard left, "The magic was gone."

I agree.

so do i

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

Jenny was not a replacement for Ralph. She didn't hang around with Potsie. She was Joanie's friend.

Fonzie was not a replacement for Chuck, as both characters were on the show at the same time. However, it can be argued that Fonzie filled the role of an older brother for Richie, as a protector and adviser.

And while Al was great, Arnold will always be the man for me.

And Arnold replaced Al when he left to do Joanie Loves Chachi.

Jenny seemed to be Ralph's replacement in the sense that she was the "comic relief" friend to Joanie. My point is that after Richie and Ralph left, they seemed to transition all of the youth stories to Joanie, Chachi and their inner circle.

[Dr. Thong]

Gotcha. Yeah, they did focus more on the Jefferson High crowd and I think the show suffered for it. It was really Happy Days: The Next Generation in a sense.

I had no interest in Chachi as a lead character. Even less so for Roger.

[dave insinga]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

Gotcha. Yeah, they did focus more on the Jefferson High crowd and I think the show suffered for it. It was really Happy Days: The Next Generation in a sense.

I had no interest in Chachi as a lead character. Even less so for Roger.

Never looked at those characters has replacements yeah maybe roger was a tiny bit like richie but jennie for ralph i don't see that at all.i think happy days the next generation was more the idea new characters not replacements.