About Happy Days the Complete Seasons 1-4
SEASON ONE:
Happy Days: The Complete First Season is a sweet trip back to the Garry Marshall-produced sitcom's 1974 entry in primetime television, before political correctness would make stories about clean-cut boys fixated on seducing girls unthinkable, and long before older kids were defined by angst on the WB and Fox TV. At least in its first year, before Happy Days developed more of a comic-book feel and energy, the show was about Richie's all-too-human inclination to grow up too fast, to bite off more than he could chew and learn poignant lessons in the process. He was a sympathetic naif, not the charming braggart he later became, and major characters appear to have been created to provide both ballast and motivation. Among them is best friend Potsie (Anson Williams), a superficial hustler who typically incites Richie's enthusiasm for booze, reputed nymphomaniacs, and sophisticated, older girls, and fast-talking Ralph Malph (Donny Most), owner of a fantastic, yellow hot rod. More important are counterparts Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), a vaguely dangerous drop-out, and Richie's exasperated father, Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley), each of whom provides Richie the validation of an experienced male: Fonzie's raw worldliness versus Mr. C's seasoned view of a man's responsibilities. First-season highlights include the pilot episode (co-written by Rob Reiner), "All the Way," in which Richie's typical decency allows him to see past the sex-mad reputation of an amiable girl from school. Season closer "Be the First on Your Block" finds the Cunninghams' plans to build a bomb shelter turning into a popularity contest as Richie's friends vie for a guaranteed spot in the event of nuclear war.
SEASON TWO:
Happy Days: The Complete Second Season finds Garry Marshall’s immortal, 1970s sitcom hitting its stride with 23 episodes that continue to be built around Milwaukee native Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his family and friends. But there’s also a clear strengthening of one of the show’s eventual, major elements: the close, if unlikely, friendship between Richie and Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler). As always, Richie is angling for a way to grow up faster, often getting in over his head. In "Richie Moves Out," the red-haired teen tires of trying to kiss his girlfriend in the goldfish bowl of his house, so he agrees to live with his older brother while finishing high school and holding down a job. The result: there’s no time for making out when one is that busy. A similar scheme backfires in "Richie’s Car," when the Fonz converts a racing vehicle into a family-friendly, second car for the Cunninghams, only to find after the fact that it’s probably stolen. "Fonzie Joins the Band" sees Richie having to stand up to, and disappoint, his greaser pal when non-musical Fonzie presumes to join Richie’s band in exchange for outfitting them in slick tuxedoes. Fonzie looks surprisingly downhearted, too, in "Richie’s Flip Side," in which straight-arrow, young Cunningham gets a job as a disc jockey and develops an unbearable ego. In "Goin’ to Chicago," Richie, Potsie (Anson Williams) and Ralph (Don Most) go on an overnight field trip to the Windy City and discover that stepping into the adult world (they visit a nightclub and end up with a whoppping check they can’t pay) takes some preparation and experience they don’t yet have. Tom Bosley and Marion Ross still look, in retrospect, as wonderful in the roles of Richie’s parents as they did in the early ‘70s.
SEASON THREE:
The 1975-76 season of the highly successful Happy Days is largely defined by the placement of the Fonz (Henry Winkler) in even closer proximity to the Cunningham family--making him, tacitly and literally, a member of best friend Richie’s household. When Fonzie's grandmother moves into the ultra-cool, womanizing biker’s apartment, he takes a room over the Cunningham’s garage, making Richie (Ron Howard), his mom Marion (Marion Ross), and sister Joanie (Erin Moran) happy, but leaving cantankerous-but-lovable dad Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley) something more than ambivalent. While several episodes deal with one or another conflict between strong-willed Fonzie and stubborn Howard--at one point, the two sue each other over a roof that collapses from the weight of Fonzie's pigeon coop--life otherwise lurches along for Richie and his gang. In "The Other Richie Cunningham," Richie tries an end run around his dad's expectation that he take a business associate's daughter out for a date. Enlisting pal Potsie (Anson Williams) to pretend to be Richie, the Howdy Doody-faced teen finds the plan backfiring when Potsie proves to be less than a gentleman to the unfortunate girl. "Jailhouse Rock" finds Richie and Howard sharing a jail cell after protesting an arbitrary curfew by police on teens, while "Tell It to the Marines" concerns a desperate attempt by Ralph (Donny Most) to earn respect by threatening to join military service. Not surprisingly, however, most of Happy Days: The Third Season follows the exploits of Fonzie as he constantly lives up to the reputation that inevitably precedes him. The two-part "Fearless Fonzarelli" begins with the Fonz so worried he's losing his cool that he agrees to jump 14 garbage cans on his motorcycle for a television show--and ends up with a serious leg injury. "Fonzie the Superstar" is a popular episode in which the Fonz agrees to substitute for Potsie as vocalist in Richie's band, then freezes up with stage fright on the night of a show at Arnold's. (Winkler's performance on "Heartbreak Hotel," while not exactly singing, is so charged with energy one can tell the actor was probably breaking through his own inhibitions during the scene.) "Bringing Up Spike" focuses on Fonzie's first encounter with child-rearing when his visiting, little delinquent cousin gets into a jam with the law.
SEASON FOUR:
Life in Milwaukee's Cunningham household and Arnold's Drive-In goes on as normal in Happy Days: The Fourth Season. With one important exception: Richie (Ron Howard) and his pals Potsie (Anson Williams) and Ralph (Don Most) are heading toward high-school graduation and their collective future as young men. Thus, when each receives a notice from the draft board to appear for a physical, they go. When all of them fail a senior-year class, jeopardizing graduation requirements, they spend a long night studying so they can secure their freedom. When Richie gets tired of living in his family's home and wants some privacy with a girl, he arranges to borrow a friend's apartment for an evening. That friend, no surprise, is Fonzie (Henry Winkler). More than ever, Winkler is the star of Happy Days (along with Howard), with every storyline deeply involving Fonzie and his playful arrogance. Most of the episodes in The Fourth Season are built around Richie slowly moving into the adult world while Fonzie hovers nearby, providing his version of guidance and support. In "A Place of His Own," Richie begs Fonzie (who rents a room above the Cunninghams' garage) to let him use that space to impress a girl--an arrangement that goes haywire when Mr. Cunningham (Tom Bosley), Mrs. Cunningham (Marion Ross), and Joanie (Erin Moran) come home too soon and catch the Fonz sleeping in Richie's room (and in Richie's pajamas). "Richie Branches Out" finds the titular redhead falling for an attractive model on a poster, then going to great lengths to meet her under false pretences. Seeing the folly of Richie's ploy but understanding his temporary insanity, Fonzie gives Richie room to fail but then bucks him up like a pal. "Time Capsule" is a frenzied episode in which Richie, Potsie, Ralph and several girls get locked inside the vault at Mr. Cunningham's hardware store. Only Fonzie's manifest cool (whether real or projected) helps Richie save his sanity while the others fall apart. Certainly there are times when Richie helps Fonzie, too: when the latter can't stop picking fights in "A Mind of Their Own," Richie encourages him to see a shrink, with unexpected results. In "Fonzie's Old Lady," Richie has to break the news to his friend that the older woman he's seeing is, in fact, married. Other good episodes include "A Shot In the Dark," in which Richie wins a basketball game at school with a lucky shot that he can't replicate later. "Marion Rebels" finds Mrs. Cunningham frustrated with Howard's expectations of her, resulting in Mrs. C taking a job at Arnold's. This box set ends with a third anniversary episode, basically an obligatory clip show derived from past episodes.
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