The official series finale ("Passages") aired on May 8, 1984. But there were five "leftover" episodes that ABC didn't have time to air during the regular season due to the Winter Olympics and the spring run of "AKA Pablo". Four of these aired on Thursday nights during the summer of 1984; the fifth ("Fonzie's Spots") allegedly aired on Sept. 24, 1984. But I can't find any record of it airing. ABC aired "Call to Glory" and "Monday Night Football" in primetime. Did they drop it into late night or air it on the West Coast only?
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The last episode of Happy Days
- Thread starter 71dude
- Start date
Happy Days ran out of gas several seasons before it finally (thank god) came to an end. The network (ABC) might has well renamed the program "The Fonzie Show" for what its worth.
Ron Howard was smart enough to bail out early. The rest of the cast stayed for the money.
And where are they today? Henry Winkler does some guest TV appearances, as does Marion Ross. Tom Bosley does commercials when he can. Anson Williams directs. The rest of the cast might be living off residuals from Happy Days, but that's about it.
Ron Howard was smart enough to bail out early. The rest of the cast stayed for the money.
And where are they today? Henry Winkler does some guest TV appearances, as does Marion Ross. Tom Bosley does commercials when he can. Anson Williams directs. The rest of the cast might be living off residuals from Happy Days, but that's about it.
Marion Ross voices Grandma Squarepants on SpongeBob Squarepants.
The Voice of Reason said:
After Ron Howard left the show, the network wanted to rename the show as "Fonzie's Happy Days", but the humble Henry Winkler wouldn't allow it. In fact, early on after The Fonz became popular, Winkler preferred to stay at the end of the main cast credits, though by the late-1970s he was second listed in the cast, preferring that Howard got top billing. Winkler did not get top billing after Howard left.
Ron Howard has said in the Archive of American Television Interviews that The producers came to him and wanted to change the focus of the show to Fonzie, abnd the name of the show to "Fonzie's Happy Days"..Ron understood changing the focus would make the show more popular, so he went along with it, but would not go along with changing the show name..Saying that it was not the show he signed up to do..
Winkler, as respectful as he was to Ron Howard, insisted that Howard remain at top billing..
Winkler, as respectful as he was to Ron Howard, insisted that Howard remain at top billing..
Donny Most appeared in a lot of low budget, sex comedies after "Happy Days" went off the air, that made movies such as "Porky's" and "Police Academy" look like Academy Award Winners, the kind that either went straight to video or Cinamax aired late night on weekends.The Voice of Reason said:
The Voice of Reason said:
Winkler has done just fine as a producer and director - most notably as the produce of MacGuyer. Though not nearly as prolific or successful as Ron Howard, he's done OK. He also writes children's books, apparently.
ixnay said:
This was the same episode that featured Peter Marshall, of "Hollywood Squares" fame, as his manager, who actually wanted to kill him.
Of course, by then, CHiPs was on its way out (and concentrating more on episodes that have nothing to do with the open road), and Most was unable to find the same level of celebrity he found on Happy Days.
'Don' Most is involved in the production of a movie to be titled "Majic Men." It's about UFO investigators searching for the truth about the Roswell incident. http://www.coasttocoastam.com/guest/most-don/46893
azumanga said:
Yes, he did. And the proposed name change was around 1977, just after the show hit number 1 in the ratings. Howard was still there, and both he and Winkler objected to changing the title.
Tom Bosley, IIRC, was always listed last in the credits, but he got the 'billing, actor name, character name' treatment: 'And starring Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham.'
I'm kinda surprised that no one has mentioned Chuck Cunningham. In that last episode, in which Joanie and Chachi got married (maybe that was Joanie & Chachi and not Happy Days), Howard mentioned that he had raised two kids, apparently forgetting about Chuck, whose favorite prop was apparently a basketball, since he seemed to always have one in his hands.
The other sticking point about Happy Days (other than the fact that they were the original shark-jumper) is that, at some point, they "time-warped" into present day, which at that time would have been late-'70s-early-'80s. If they had remained in their time period, wouldn't it have been about 1964 or 1965 when their show ended? Seems like even Laverne and Shirley were better able to remain in their show's time period.
The other sticking point about Happy Days (other than the fact that they were the original shark-jumper) is that, at some point, they "time-warped" into present day, which at that time would have been late-'70s-early-'80s. If they had remained in their time period, wouldn't it have been about 1964 or 1965 when their show ended? Seems like even Laverne and Shirley were better able to remain in their show's time period.
Happy Days 'time-warped' slightly, to the mid-60s, not the present day. The confusion results from the fact that the producers never really bothered to make the show 'look' and 'feel' like the '60s, as they'd done with the '50s setting of the earlier seasons. (There were a couple of throwaway lines about Gilligan's Island in one episode...Fonzie and Mrs. C, in separate scenes, asking Mr. C why the Professor couldn't just build a boat ;D)
In the final episode, Chachi wore a T-shirt advertising the Rolling Stones '1965 Tour', and I thoughtt hey actually pinned the show down to 1967 in one of the later seasons. They certainly never acknowledged any of the 'not-so Happy Days',like November 22, 1963, anyway!
In the final episode, Chachi wore a T-shirt advertising the Rolling Stones '1965 Tour', and I thoughtt hey actually pinned the show down to 1967 in one of the later seasons. They certainly never acknowledged any of the 'not-so Happy Days',like November 22, 1963, anyway!
firepoint525 said:
onairb said:
I felt that the show did age naturally over the course of time -- the time period was around the mid-1950s when the show began in 1974; ten years later in actual time, it was ten years later on the show -- it was the mid-1960s when the show ended. Though of course:
onairb said:
The last few years of the show, especially after Joanie and Chachi started a singing career, featured hairstyles, behavior and even the music that was more synonymous with the early 1980s than the early-1960s.
azumanga said:
If I would put an actual "year" that the show ended, it would be 1965...I brought up this same point in another "Happy Days"-related thread here a couple of years ago, but there was an episode in the final season where Howard and Postie were at a Braves baseball game, and one of them mentioned that "it's sad the Braves are leaving Milwaukee". Of course, the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966 from Milwaukee, although the Braves were planning to move a year earlier, but a Wisconsin court forced the Braves to fulfill the final year of their lease at Milwaukee County Stadium.
'Laverne and Shirley' was a lot more explicit about when the '60s 'began' than 'Happy Days' was..or at least, when 'L & S' moved tho California, everyone acknowledged it was the '60s.
'Happy Days' was set whenever the writers wanted it to be, as long as it was the '50s. By the time 1980 rolled around, it seemed like the show was taking place '20 years ago'; episodes aired in 1982 were said to be taking place in '62, and it was definitely early-mid 1963 when the 10th season ended. This was when many thought 'HD' would end; just before some of the 'stuff hit the fan' socially and politically later in '63...which would seemingly make it harder to avoid turning the show into something 'edgier'.
The final season seemed to have just skipped over late '63 and perhaps all of '64; perhaps they were acknowledging that the younger cast members were too old to be playing chaarcters who were supposed to be in their 20s?
'Happy Days' was set whenever the writers wanted it to be, as long as it was the '50s. By the time 1980 rolled around, it seemed like the show was taking place '20 years ago'; episodes aired in 1982 were said to be taking place in '62, and it was definitely early-mid 1963 when the 10th season ended. This was when many thought 'HD' would end; just before some of the 'stuff hit the fan' socially and politically later in '63...which would seemingly make it harder to avoid turning the show into something 'edgier'.
The final season seemed to have just skipped over late '63 and perhaps all of '64; perhaps they were acknowledging that the younger cast members were too old to be playing chaarcters who were supposed to be in their 20s?
I think you missed my point. "Present day" would have, at that time, referred to the mid 1980s, right before the show finally went off the air!onairb said:
This next quote made the same point that I was trying to make, probably even better than I did.firepoint525 said:
azumanga said:
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