50 Fun Facts About Happy Days

Happy Days is set in which Midwestern city?

The Milky Way Drive-In in suburban Glendale, Wisconsin, was the model for Arnold's.

On which network did Happy Days air from 1974 to 1984?

It ran for 255 half-hour episodes across eleven seasons.

Who created Happy Days?

He later put his sister Penny Marshall in the spin-off Laverne & Shirley.

Happy Days began life as an unsold pilot shown on which ABC anthology series?

The 1972 segment was called "Love and the Television Set"; George Lucas saw it and cast Ron Howard in American Graffiti.

Which 1973 George Lucas film, starring Ron Howard, revived ABC's interest in the Happy Days pilot?

The 1950s-nostalgia boom of the early 1970s made a period sitcom suddenly look like a good bet.

What business does Richie's father Howard Cunningham own?

Howard and Fonzie are the only two characters to appear in every episode of the series.

What is Fonzie's real first name?

Only Marion Cunningham is allowed to call him by it, and only his grandmother calls him "Skippy".

Fonzie's put-down catchphrase "Sit on it" was invented by whom?

Brunner also came up with the "Fonzie" nickname itself.

Where does Fonzie live once he becomes part of the Cunningham household?

He hands his old flat over to Grandma Nussbaum, who had raised him.

In the first season, ABC made Fonzie wear what instead of his black leather jacket?

The network thought leather looked criminal; the writers won an exception for scenes with his motorcycle, then put the bike in every scene until ABC gave up.

Which former Monkee auditioned for the role of Fonzie?

The creators had pictured a blond Hollywood-idol type; Winkler pitched something different and got the part.

Which museum asked Henry Winkler to donate one of Fonzie's leather jackets in 1980?

Winkler received three Emmy nominations and two Golden Globes for the role.

What is Fonzie riding when he makes the leap that gave us 'jumping the shark'?

Jon Hein coined the term in 1985 for the moment a show starts grasping for attention; the episode was "Hollywood: Part 3".

Robin Williams made his screen debut on Happy Days in 1978 playing which character?

He won the audition by sitting on his head when asked to take a seat, and got his own show, Mork & Mindy, that year.

Richie's older brother, who vanished without explanation after season two, was named what?

His disappearance gave TV writers the term "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome".

What is Potsie Weber's real first name?

Anson Williams played the aspiring singer, Richie's best friend from the pilot onwards.

Which actor played the original Arnold of Arnold's Drive-In?

His character's full name was Mitsumo Takahashi; Morita later returned after Al Molinaro left in 1982.

Chachi Arcola, played by Scott Baio, is Fonzie's what?

His catchphrase was "wah wah wah", and he drummed in the boys' band.

What nickname does Fonzie give Richie's little sister Joanie?

Erin Moran played Joanie for the whole run and later starred in the spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi.

How was Richie Cunningham written out when Ron Howard left the show in 1980?

He later marries Lori Beth by telephone from his posting in Greenland, with Fonzie standing in at the ceremony.

Richie marries his girlfriend Lori Beth in season eight by what unusual means?

It let her join him at his Army post in Greenland; Fonzie stood in for the groom.

Ted McGinley joined the cast in 1980 as Roger Phillips, who is related to the Cunninghams how?

Roger coaches at Jefferson High before becoming principal at Patton High.

Which school do Richie, Potsie and Ralph attend?

"Bag" Zombroski, drummer of Richie's band, led a jacket club there called The Demons.

Fonzie's nemesis, the officious lawman forever hunting delinquents and "pinkos", is called what?

Ed Peck played him for eight seasons; he becomes acting sheriff when Sheriff Flanaghan dies.

Fonzie's old flame Pinky Tuscadero has what unusual job?

Her sister Leather Tuscadero, played by a real rock singer, fronted the band Leather and the Suedes.

Which real-life rock singer played Leather Tuscadero?

Leather was a former juvenile delinquent who formed her own girl group on the show.

Season one of Happy Days opened with which 1950s Bill Haley classic as its theme?

Bill Haley & His Comets re-recorded it in 1973 for the show, and the original 1954 record went back into the charts.

The "Happy Days" theme song, a Top 5 single in 1976, was recorded by which duo?

Charles Fox wrote the music and Norman Gimbel the lyrics; it replaced Rock Around the Clock from season three.

When Happy Days finished the 1976–77 season at number one, whose five-year run at the top did it end?

That was the season after Garry Marshall retooled the show around Fonzie.

From season three onwards, whose voice usually announced "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience"?

The first two seasons had been shot single-camera with a laugh track; "Fonzie Gets Married" was the three-camera test run.

Which director of The Dick Van Dyke Show helmed nearly every Happy Days episode from season three on?

He had played neighbour Jerry Helper on Van Dyke's show; he skipped only three season-three episodes.

Laverne and Shirley first appeared on Happy Days as dates for which of the guys?

Their season-three episodes led straight to a spin-off that ran eight seasons.

In their own series, Laverne and Shirley work as bottle-cappers at which fictional company?

Their neighbours Lenny and Squiggy were played by Michael McKean and David Lander.

The spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi followed the couple to which city as they chased a music career?

It was cancelled after 17 episodes and the pair came back to Happy Days.

Which failed Happy Days spin-off starred Nancy Walker as Howard's cousin?

The show spawned seven spin-offs in all, three of them Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

Hanna-Barbera's animated spin-off starring Fonzie was called what?

It ran from 1980 to 1982 and was later folded into an hour with the animated Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy.

A public statue known as the Bronze Fonz was unveiled in 2008 where?

Artist Gerald P. Sawyer made it; the show is also the basis for a touring stage musical.

Michael Eisner says the 1950s show idea came while snowed in with Tom Miller at which airport?

Their first treatment failed to sell; market research insisted the 1950s were not interesting.

Which season-two episode is set during the 1956 election, with Richie campaigning for Adlai Stevenson?

Fonzie backed Ike instead: "I like Ike! My bike likes Ike!"

What was the leftover Happy Days episode aired in September 1984, after the finale "Passages", called?

ABC ran out of season because of the Winter Olympics and the show a.k.a. Pablo.

What does Fonzie's grandmother, and only she, call him?

Grandma Nussbaum, who raised him, is also Chachi's grandmother.

In 2011 several Happy Days cast members sued CBS over unpaid what?

Lunch boxes, dolls and trading cards were among the items; each actor settled for $65,000 in 2012.

At his 1956 campaign rally, Fonzie shouts "I like Ike! My bike likes ___!"

Eisenhower carried Wisconsin with 62% of the vote, in the show and in real life.

How many half-hour episodes of Happy Days aired over its 11 seasons?

Happy Days ran 255 episodes on ABC from January 15, 1974 to July 19, 1984.

Which character is the only one allowed to call Fonzie by his real first name, Arthur?

Marion affectionately calls him Arthur; nobody else on the show gets away with it.

Which two characters appear in every single episode of Happy Days?

Howard Cunningham and Fonzie are the only characters in all 255 episodes; Ron Howard left after season seven.

Richie marries Lori Beth by phone so she can join him at his Army post in which place?

Fonzie stands in for Richie at the phone wedding so Lori Beth can join him in Greenland.

Which Weezer music video, set at Arnold's Drive-In, features Al Molinaro reprising his role as Al?

The 'Buddy Holly' video splices footage of Richie, Potsie, Ralph, Joanie and Fonzie with the band playing at Arnold's.

Why were five Happy Days episodes left unaired at the end of the 1983–84 season?

ABC ran out of room because of the Winter Olympics and the spring run of a.k.a. Pablo; four aired in summer 1984 and one in September.

Howard's niece K.C. moved in during season 10 after her boarding school in which state closed?

Crystal Bernard played K.C., who left an all-girls boarding school in Texas after it shut down.