Happy Days Boned the Fish When... - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 09-28-2013, 02:37 AM

http://www.bonethefish.com/viewtopics.php?76#

Quote:

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1974 to 1984 on ABC. The show presents an idealized vision of life in 1950s and early 1960s America. The family consists of Howard Cunningham, a hardware store owner, his homemaker wife Marion and the couple's two children, Richie, an optimistic if somewhat naive teenager, and Joanie, Ritchie's sweet but feisty younger sister. The Cunninghams also had an older son named Chuck, a character who disappeared during the second season. The earlier episodes revolve around Richie and his friends, Potsie Weber, Ralph Malph and local dropout Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli, but as the series progressed, "Fonzie" proved to be a favourite with viewers and soon more story lines were written to reflect his growing popularity. Soon Fonzie befriended Richie and the Cunningham family. The focus would also occasionally shift to other additional characters, such as Fonzie's cousin Chachi, who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham. This long-running show spawned several other television series, including Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and Joanie Loves Chachi.

treky · 10-01-2013, 01:58 AM

I put when they switched to a live audience, but it also "boned" when it became "the Fonzie show" and when it stopped being set in the 50s and changed the setting to the 70s with a small sprinkling of the 50s.

Torgo · 10-01-2013, 09:27 AM

"Al Delvecchio - Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah..."

lj01 · 10-03-2013, 03:15 PM

Interesting (maybe not) but I was reading in a newspaper archive article from summer 1980 that there was anticipation that HD would bring back the Chuck character for the 1980-81 season (the one where Richie & Ralph had departed). I think it mentioned the specific actor who had earlier played Chuck. I guess those plans (if they were) got scrapped and ended up bringing in the new character Roger.

Marvo301 · 10-04-2013, 01:51 PM

The departure of Ron Howard and Don Most!

loaferman · 10-04-2013, 04:01 PM

Too much Fonzie. It changed the whole tone of the show. The screaming audience did not help matters either.

Mr. Television · 10-04-2013, 06:37 PM

Fonzie is what made the show. HD probably would have been cancelled after season 2 if it wasn't retooled.

LittleRickyII · 10-05-2013, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by treky

I put when they switched to a live audience, but it also "boned" when it became "the Fonzie show" and when it stopped being set in the 50s and changed the setting to the 70s with a small sprinkling of the 50s.

Wow, I agree with everything you said here. I think it was a wonderful show the first two seasons. Loved it! It felt like an authentic portrayal of family life in the '50s, and really took the viewer back to that time. It made the era almost feel tangible. It had warmth, it had heart and it was well written. But then the brought in the hooting and hollering teenybopper studio audience and turned the show into a grotesque caricature of itself, all in an attempt to draw in hoards of kids and young viewers. Fonzie was made into an over-the-top superhero/magician, no longer a "real" character. And the whole flavor of the '50s was all but completely lost. They no longer seemed to care. They just wanted noise and reactions. The women on the show were wearing 1970s/1980s hairstyles. Characters like Leather Tuscadero came on the show singing 1970s music. It was all kitsch and no substance. I believe the producers made a deal with the devil, forsaking quality and substance in exchange for high ratings from juiced up teenage viewers wanting to be part of a cool new thing.

Skywalker · 10-05-2013, 02:49 PM

When Richie and Ralph left the show. I used to think the show was unwatchable after they left but I've been watching episodes from the last few seasons the past few months and it's really not as bad as I once thought it was. The episode where Fonzie meets a woman who he thinks is his mom was great and I also loved the episode where Jenny thinks she is married to Fonzie. Still, the show lost a lot of magic when Richie left. Just too much Joanie and Chachi and the addition of Roger, otherwise it's ok.

Adamantium · 10-06-2013, 08:44 AM

Happy Days "Boned the Fish" in the episode where Fonzie literally boned a fish. LOL, kidding of course. With this new term, Fonzie is no longer the face of when a show goes bad.

This is actually a tough one for me. I liked it all the way through. It definitely changed. There's no denying that but I like all the seasons. So I don't actually have an answer for this one. "Never Boned" doesn't seem right either. I don't know.

Dianne3 · 10-10-2013, 03:53 PM

Ritchie, Ralph and Potsie were outgrowing their roles by the time Ron Howard and Don Most left.
That is why I believe Chachi was introduced the year before.

So even though the show was not the same after Ron Howard left, the final 2years with him weren't that great either, IMO.

So, I say when RH started to outgrow the part of Ritchie.

TMC · 10-10-2013, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleRickyII

Wow, I agree with everything you said here. I think it was a wonderful show the first two seasons. Loved it! It felt like an authentic portrayal of family life in the '50s, and really took the viewer back to that time. It made the era almost feel tangible. It had warmth, it had heart and it was well written. But then the brought in the hooting and hollering teenybopper studio audience and turned the show into a grotesque caricature of itself, all in an attempt to draw in hoards of kids and young viewers. Fonzie was made into an over-the-top superhero/magician, no longer a "real" character. And the whole flavor of the '50s was all but completely lost. They no longer seemed to care. They just wanted noise and reactions. The women on the show were wearing 1970s/1980s hairstyles. Characters like Leather Tuscadero came on the show singing 1970s music. It was all kitsch and no substance. I believe the producers made a deal with the devil, forsaking quality and substance in exchange for high ratings from juiced up teenage viewers wanting to be part of a cool new thing.

I posted an article here not to long ago about how Happy Days basically became the #1 rated TV show in America through "selling out". If you look at the early episodes of Happy Days (when it was shot w/ a single camera) to the latter episodes (when it was a multi-camera show in front of a live-studio audience), they're absolutely different shows. The early Happy Days for better or for worse, felt more like an authentic period piece/nostalgia program and not a cartoon. The problem w/ multi-camera sitcoms when compared to single camera ones is that they some how feel cheaper, more formulaic or artificial, and overall, studio bound.

MikeLutton · 10-10-2013, 06:03 PM

there was to much joanie and chichi storylines that got out of control and potsie was like a background character to barley being there at all.

Dianne3 · 10-11-2013, 03:17 PM

Happy Days was on ABC.
ABC was always a distant third in the ratings until the mid-to late seventies.
So from that standpoint, it is understandable why HD did whatever it took to increase their viewership.

What made Happy Days popular, IMO, was the relationship between Richie & Fonz. The Fonz was like a big brother to Richie. Of course, that was Richie's actual big brother Chuck disappeared.
That relationship worked when Richie was coming of age. However, once Richie was older he didn't need to always be running to the Fonz.
I cringe at a later episode where Richie is drugged at some party, and later the Fonz had to come to his rescue.

Torgo · 10-11-2013, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dianne3

Happy Days was on ABC.
ABC was always a distant third in the ratings until the mid-to late seventies.
So from that standpoint, it is understandable why HD did whatever it took to increase their viewership.

What made Happy Days popular, IMO, was the relationship between Richie & Fonz. The Fonz was like a big brother to Richie. Of course, that was Richie's actual big brother Chuck disappeared.
That relationship worked when Richie was coming of age. However, once Richie was older he didn't need to always be running to the Fonz.
I cringe at a later episode where Richie is drugged at some party, and later the Fonz had to come to his rescue.

Yeah, I've never liked it when Richie is scared, then when Fonzie shows up Richie suddenly acts like a tough guy, Fonz also had to come to Richie's rescue when Richie got the job at the newspaper.

View Poll Results: Boned When...
Fonzie Jumped The Shark - Lame Attempt To Reinvigorate Show	4	11.43%
Richie and Ralph - Lost Two Central Characters	14	40.00%
Filmed Before Studio Audience - Suddenly All The Performers Screamed Their Lines	6	17.14%
Day 1	0	0%
New Characters, Later Seasons - Roger, KC, Flip, Jenny Picalo, etc.	4	11.43%
Al Delvecchio - Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah...	0	0%
Singing - Potsie sounds like the whitest person in the world	2	5.71%
Never Boned	4	11.43%
Exit Stage Left...Chuck Cunningham	1	2.86%
Ralph's Parents Divorce - Beginning of the end. 70s themes in 50s show.	0	0%
Voters: 35. You may not vote on this poll

10-01-2013, 01:58 AM	#2
treky star trek fan Eternal Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 25, 2002 Location: Conshohocken, pennsylvania Posts: 14,490	I put when they switched to a live audience, but it also "boned" when it became "the Fonzie show" and when it stopped being set in the 50s and changed the setting to the 70s with a small sprinkling of the 50s.
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10-01-2013, 09:27 AM	#3
Torgo Omaha & Fritz Forum Star Join Date: Mar 06, 2004 Location: Oregon Posts: 19,050	"Al Delvecchio - Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah..."
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10-04-2013, 01:51 PM	#5
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,460	The departure of Ron Howard and Don Most!
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10-04-2013, 04:01 PM	#6
loaferman Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 23, 2011 Location: Virginia Posts: 642	Too much Fonzie. It changed the whole tone of the show. The screaming audience did not help matters either.
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10-03-2013, 03:15 PM	#4
lj01 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 14, 2008 Posts: 88	Interesting (maybe not) but I was reading in a newspaper archive article from summer 1980 that there was anticipation that HD would bring back the Chuck character for the 1980-81 season (the one where Richie & Ralph had departed). I think it mentioned the specific actor who had earlier played Chuck. I guess those plans (if they were) got scrapped and ended up bringing in the new character Roger.

10-04-2013, 06:37 PM	#7
Mr. Television 23 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,132	Fonzie is what made the show. HD probably would have been cancelled after season 2 if it wasn't retooled.
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10-05-2013, 02:49 PM	#9
Skywalker Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Apr 04, 2003 Posts: 14,204	When Richie and Ralph left the show. I used to think the show was unwatchable after they left but I've been watching episodes from the last few seasons the past few months and it's really not as bad as I once thought it was. The episode where Fonzie meets a woman who he thinks is his mom was great and I also loved the episode where Jenny thinks she is married to Fonzie. Still, the show lost a lot of magic when Richie left. Just too much Joanie and Chachi and the addition of Roger, otherwise it's ok.

10-06-2013, 08:44 AM	#10
Adamantium TVAdam No More Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 11, 2002 Location: Springfield, Ohio Posts: 7,840	Happy Days "Boned the Fish" in the episode where Fonzie literally boned a fish. LOL, kidding of course. With this new term, Fonzie is no longer the face of when a show goes bad. This is actually a tough one for me. I liked it all the way through. It definitely changed. There's no denying that but I like all the seasons. So I don't actually have an answer for this one. "Never Boned" doesn't seem right either. I don't know.

10-10-2013, 03:53 PM	#11
Dianne3 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2002 Posts: 1,060	Ritchie, Ralph and Potsie were outgrowing their roles by the time Ron Howard and Don Most left. That is why I believe Chachi was introduced the year before. So even though the show was not the same after Ron Howard left, the final 2years with him weren't that great either, IMO. So, I say when RH started to outgrow the part of Ritchie.

10-10-2013, 06:03 PM	#13
MikeLutton Mike Lutton DVD Legend! Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 05, 2005 Location: usa pennsyvania Posts: 6,888	there was to much joanie and chichi storylines that got out of control and potsie was like a background character to barley being there at all.
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10-11-2013, 03:17 PM	#14
Dianne3 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2002 Posts: 1,060	Happy Days was on ABC. ABC was always a distant third in the ratings until the mid-to late seventies. So from that standpoint, it is understandable why HD did whatever it took to increase their viewership. What made Happy Days popular, IMO, was the relationship between Richie & Fonz. The Fonz was like a big brother to Richie. Of course, that was Richie's actual big brother Chuck disappeared. That relationship worked when Richie was coming of age. However, once Richie was older he didn't need to always be running to the Fonz. I cringe at a later episode where Richie is drugged at some party, and later the Fonz had to come to his rescue.