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 Premiere Date:January 15, 1974 Finale Date:July 12, 1984 Avg. user rating: 4 ratings Description:Set in 1950's Milwaukee, Wis., "Happy Days" tells the story of the Cunningham family -- father Howard (Tom Bosley), mother Marion (Marion Ross), son Richie (Ron Howard) and daughter Joanie (Erin Moran). When the series started, the family also included older son Chuck (played by two different actors) -- but he (mercifully) only lasted one season. Howard owned a hardware store and was active in a local lodge, while Marion (like most '50s housewives) stayed at home to care for the family. Richie... Read more attended Jefferson High School, where he got into various jams with best friends Potsie (Anson Williams) and Ralph Malph (Donny Most). Most nights, you'd find the trio hanging out at a local diner, Arnold's, with their mentor/friend/surrogate brother Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli -- a motorcycle-riding high school drop-out who filled his days with fixing cars and dating girls. Fonzie was the epitome of "cool," and the three guys wanted to be just like him. Usually, they failed. As the series continued, Richie, Potsie and Ralph graduated high school and started classes at the University of Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Joanie became a Jefferson High student and began dating Fonzie's cousin, "Chachi" Arcola (Scott Baio). In later years, Richie and Ralph joined the army, Fonzie became a teacher at Jefferson High and Joanie and Chachi -- who'd left Milwaukee to pursue a music career, but later returned -- married. Show History:"Happy Days," created by prolific TV/film producer Garry Marshall, began as a 1971 pilot for ABC called "New Family in Town." The network wasn't interested, but later used the pilot as an episode of their show "Love, American Style." Aired in 1972, it was re-titled "Love in the Happy Days." It featured Ron Howard, Marion Ross (both of whom would end up in the series), Harold Gould and Susan Neher as a '50s family getting their first TV set. Legend has it that George Lucas saw this episode of "Love, American Style" and used it as inspiration for his film "American Graffiti" (also featuring Ron Howard!). ABC finally picked up the series in 1974.<#$>The series spawned several spin-offs, including "Laverne & Shirley," "Joanie Loves Chachi" (its failure resulting in the characters' return to "Happy Days") and "Mork and Mindy." Close
Fonzie, Roger and Potsie become Leopards to help Howard.
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