Just for Fun- Happy Days TV Show Timeline
Posted on April 24th, 20091971, Happy Days began as a pilot called “New Family in Town” produced by Garry Marshall for ABC. For the pilot, Harold Gould played Mr. Cunningham.
1972, ABC decided not to turn “New Family in Town” into a series. Instead it used it as a segment for their TV series, “Love American Style.” They called the episode “Love and the Happy Days.”
1972, George Lucas’s hit film “American Graffiti” starring Ron Howard brought about a wave of 1950s nostalgia. ABC decided to cash in on this by asking Garry Marshall to make some changes from his original concept by adding the character of Arthur Fonzarelli, originally to toughen up the show, but “Fonzie” soon became a kind person.
1973, Thanksgiving Day, ABC decides to pick up the show.
1974, January 15, Happy Days premieres on ABC. Tom Bosley is now playing Mr. Cunningham. Actor Gavan O’Herlihy was hired to play Richie Cunningham’s older brother, Chuck Cunningham.
1974, Gavan O’Herlihy quit the show and actor Randolph Roberts took over the part of Chuck Cunningham. Soon, producer Garry Marshall and writers realizes Richie Cunningham didn’t need an “older brother,” he had Fonzie, so they just started to leave that character out of the stories never mentioning what happened to him.
1974, mid-season, Fonzie starts wearing his famous leather jacket but the network worried he’d come off like a hoodlum. To get around this, for safety reasons, he could wear his leather jacket only when he was with his motorcycle.
1974, the original Happy Days theme song for the series written by Jimmy DeKnight (James E. Myers) and Max C. Freedman and performed by Bill Haley and the Comets’ 1955 hit record “Rock Around the Clock” becomes a hit record again.
1975, Laverne DeFazio (Garry Marshall’s sister, Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) first appeared in a Happy Days episode.
1976, Laverne & Shirley were given their own TV series.
1976, The new original Happy Days theme song written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox and performed by Pratt & McClain reaches the charts to #5.
1976-77, Happy Days was the number one rated show in America.
1976, Actor Al Molinaro as becomes a regular on the show playing Al Delvecchio, the owner of Arnold’s.
1977, Scott Baio joins the cast of regulars as Charles ‘Chachi” Arcola.
1978, Robin Williams’ space alien, Mork from Ork, first appeared on “Happy Days.”
1978, Rob Williams was given his own TV series “Mork and Mindy.”
1980, the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C, put one of the Fonz’s leather jackets on display.
1980, “The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang” animated Saturday morning cartoon series premiered.
1982, Erin Moran and Scott Baio would leave Happy Days for their own sitcom, “Joanie Loves Chachi.”
1984, a new Happy Days theme, performed by Bobby Arvon, and written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, was used.
1984, after 11 seasons and 255 episodes, Happy Days finished its network run.
1992, ABC aired a Happy Days reunion show.
1996, Nick-at-Nite aired a week-long “Happy Days Top 40 Marathon” becoming one the cable network’s highest-rated programs.
Broadway Theatre League on YouTube
Posted on April 13th, 2009Check out BTL’s fun Happy Days sing-a-long on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onTKWBozvho&feature=email
Share it with your friends. Get your Happy Days - A New Musical tickets today by calling BTL at 25-518-6155.
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INTERVIEW WITH GARRY MARSHALL
Posted on April 7th, 2009After such a successful and illustrious career in TV (“Happy Days,” “Laverne and Shirley,” “Mork and Mindy”) and Film (Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, The Princess Diaries), what is the impetus to bring Happy Days to the stage?
GARRY MARSHALL: Well, I always loved those characters. No matter what happened during the eleven seasons of doing the TV show… we kept going. We filmed the show with one camera then went to three in the second season… We had cast changes, stage changes, but through it all, the characters held. People love them. [Songwriter] Paul Williams and I are old friends…We said, why not make a musical with these characters? These characters have held up well throughout the year, people like them … Character whose names you put on clothing is a good sign of that these characters are loved.
What is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of recreating a hit TV series into a stage musical?
GARRY: One was to find actors to play Fonzie… It’s hard to find an actor who can play tough and also sing and dance. Also: we had to come up with a whole new story - an episode wouldn’t work - and write the show paying attention to the rules of musical theater writing. We have lots of songs and lots of funny scenes, but they have to come together. And it’s not something you can do in a week…It has taken Paul and me over three years and we’re still making it better and better — integrating our work together. Paul calls the writing of this musical, “Our Lifetime Job.” Every time we see it, we want to make it better.
What was it like writing the stage musical Happy Days with songwriter Paul Williams? How did you both work out where the songs should go? What the songs should be about?
GARRY: We thought we could meet a couple times and go off and write separately. Wrong. We had to meet a lot together – be in the same room. And over the years we’ve been in many different rooms… I have an idea for a scene; he has an idea for a song. We work pretty good together. We both write fast and we don’t have ego problems when it comes to agreeing to change what the other has written if it makes the show better. We’ve made lots of changes. And audiences are loving it, so we must be doing something right.
What do you attribute to the success of “Happy Days,” the TV series and do you believe that audiences of today will embrace it as they did in the 1970’s?
GARRY: Basic emotions don’t change through the years. Boys still want to meet girls; girls still want to meet boys. We still like our heroes and Fonzie is one. Everyone needs a hero… sports, politics. They cheer him a lot in our show. The characters in the TV show and the musical are the kind of people you really meet in life. What makes it all go together is the music… the big rock beat …Paul wrote, sprinkled with a couple of beautiful ballads.
You once said that “you wanted to make shows that both kids and parents could watch.” So is your new creation of Happy Days - A New Musical considered family entertainment?
GARRY: The TV show was a program that parents never had to cover their kids’ eyes when watching. It was always a family show. A show parents, kids, grandparents can all watch together. That’s the same way with the musical version. Family entertainment. Audiences have been gracious. We get a lot of standing ovations.
Happy Days - A New Musical
Posted on April 2nd, 2009So sorry folks, that we haven’t posted in a while. Broadway Theatre League has had a great season so far, with a lot of laughs, high-flying adventure, romance and fun.
The last show of the season is Happy Days - A New Musical, May 1 - 3. Good bye gray skies, hello blue! Everyone has fond memories of one of America’s best-loved sitcomes - Happy Days. Now the Cunninghams, The Fonz and the rest of the gang revisit Arnolds for a rockin and rollin great new show!
Great seats are available, so call BTL at 518-6155 today for the best seats.