Happy Days Trivia
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48 free Happy Days trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
43 free Happy Days trivia questions with answers. Happy Days ran on ABC for eleven seasons and gave the world the Fonz, Arnold's Drive-In and the phrase "jumping the shark". This quiz covers the whole run: the Cunningham family and the brother who vanished, Fonzie's real name and the jacket ABC would not let him wear, Potsie, Ralph and Chachi, the theme songs, the drive-in, Robin Williams's debut as Mork, and the spin-offs from Laverne & Shirley to Joanie Loves Chachi. It starts with questions any fan can get (which city? what does Mr. C sell?) and works up to the trivia only devotees know: who invented "Sit on it", which Monkee auditioned to play Fonzie, and how Richie got married from Greenland. Difficulty is marked on every question. Every answer has been checked against the Wikipedia articles on the show, on Fonzie and on the spin-offs, and each question shows its citation.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Happy Days is set in which Midwestern city?
Milwaukee
Milwaukee was the hometown of co-producer Tom Miller; Arnold's Drive-In was modelled on the Milky Way Drive-In in suburban Glendale, Wisconsin.
Q 02On which network did Happy Days air from 1974 to 1984?
ABC
ABC premiered Happy Days on January 15, 1974 and ran it, mostly on Tuesday nights, until 1984; the Fox network did not launch until 1986.
Q 03Who created Happy Days?
Garry Marshall
Garry Marshall, who had already adapted The Odd Couple for television, created the show; he later cast his sister Penny Marshall as Laverne in the spin-off Laverne & Shirley.
Q 04Happy Days began life as an unsold pilot shown on which ABC anthology series?
Love, American Style
Love, American Style aired the pilot on February 25, 1972 as the segment 'Love and the Television Set'; ABC passed on a series until Ron Howard's next film made 1950s nostalgia bankable.
Q 05Which 1973 George Lucas film, starring Ron Howard, revived ABC's interest in the Happy Days pilot?
American Graffiti
American Graffiti, set over one night in 1962, grossed more than $100 million on a $777,000 budget; its success, and Ron Howard's role as Steve, sent ABC back to the shelved pilot.
Q 06What business does Richie's father Howard Cunningham own?
A hardware store
Howard runs Cunningham Hardware, the family hardware store; a member of the Leopard Lodge, he is usually found after work in his armchair with the newspaper.
Q 07What is Fonzie's real first name?
Arthur
Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, played by Henry Winkler, grew from a minor first-season character into the star; ABC once floated retitling the series Fonzie's Happy Days, which Ron Howard opposed.
Q 08Where does Fonzie live once he becomes part of the Cunningham household?
In the flat over their garage
He hands his old flat over to Grandma Nussbaum, who had raised him.
Q 09Which actress played Richie's sister Joanie Cunningham?
Erin Moran
Erin Moran played Joanie Cunningham from the 1974 premiere through the 1984 finale and headlined the 1982 spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi with Scott Baio.
Q 10Which former Monkee auditioned for the role of Fonzie?
Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz, the Monkees' drummer, was a finalist for Fonzie but was judged too tall beside Ron Howard; the shorter Henry Winkler got the part.
Q 11Which museum asked Henry Winkler to donate one of Fonzie's leather jackets in 1980?
The Smithsonian
The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History accepted the jacket in 1980 for its popular-culture collection; Winkler had earned three Emmy nominations and two Golden Globes as Fonzie.
Q 12What is Fonzie riding when he makes the leap that gave us 'jumping the shark'?
Water-skis
Fonzie jumps the shark on water-skis, leather jacket and all, in 'Hollywood: Part 3' (September 1977); the phrase was coined in 1985 by Sean Connolly and popularised by his roommate Jon Hein's 1997 website.
Q 13Robin Williams's breakout role came on Happy Days in 1978 playing which character?
Mork
Q 21Ted McGinley joined the cast in 1980 as Roger Phillips, who is related to the Cunninghams how?
He is Marion's nephew
Marion's nephew: Roger, played by Ted McGinley from the 1980 season-eight premiere, is a young teacher and basketball coach who later becomes principal of Patton Vocational High.
Q 22Which school do Richie, Potsie and Ralph attend?
Jefferson High
Jefferson High is where Richie, Potsie and Ralph spend the early seasons; the 1977 two-part 'Graduation' sends them on to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Q 23Fonzie's nemesis, the officious lawman forever hunting delinquents and "pinkos", is called what?
Officer Kirk
Mork from Ork first appeared in 'My Favorite Orkan' in February 1978; Williams won the audition by sitting on his head when asked to take a seat, and Mork & Mindy premiered that September.
Q 14Richie's older brother, who vanished without explanation after season two, was named what?
Chuck
His disappearance gave TV writers the term "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome".
Q 15What is Potsie Weber's real first name?
Warren
Warren 'Potsie' Weber, played by Anson Williams, was Richie's best friend from the pilot onward and the singer in the boys' band at Arnold's.
Q 16Which actor played the original Arnold of Arnold's Drive-In?
Pat Morita
Pat Morita played Arnold, whose real surname was Takahashi, in season three; when Al Molinaro's Al left for Joanie Loves Chachi in 1982, Morita came back for season ten.
Q 17Chachi Arcola, played by Scott Baio, is Fonzie's what?
His younger cousin
His younger cousin: Chachi arrived in season five (1977) as a teenage protégé who copied Fonzie's swagger, later dating Joanie and marrying her in the 1984 finale 'Passages'.
Q 18What nickname does Fonzie give Richie's little sister Joanie?
Shortcake
Shortcake is Fonzie's pet name for Joanie, the kid sister who idolises him and grows from a preteen in the pilot to a bride in the 1984 finale.
Q 19How was Richie Cunningham written out when Ron Howard left the show in 1980?
He joined the Army
He joined the Army: Ron Howard and Donny Most both left in 1980, so Richie and Ralph were written off to military service, returning only for guest spots and the 1984 finale.
Q 20Richie marries his girlfriend Lori Beth in season eight by what unusual means?
By telephone
By telephone: with Richie stationed overseas, the 1981 ceremony was conducted over a long-distance line, Fonzie standing beside Lori Beth as the stand-in groom.
Officer Kirk, played by Ed Peck from 1975 onward, is the humourless local policeman who treats Fonzie as Public Enemy Number One and the Cunningham kids as fellow travellers.
Q 24Fonzie's old flame Pinky Tuscadero has what unusual job?
Demolition derby driver
Demolition derby driver: Pinky, played by Roz Kelly, roared into the 1976 three-parter 'Fonzie Loves Pinky' for a derby against the Malachi Brothers, who tried to wreck her.
Q 25Which real-life rock singer played Leather Tuscadero?
Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro, the Detroit-born bassist then a star in Britain, played Leather Tuscadero from 1977 to 1979, fronting Leather and the Suedes at Arnold's.
Q 26Season one of Happy Days opened with which 1950s Bill Haley classic as its theme?
Rock Around the Clock
'Rock Around the Clock' opened the first two seasons; the exposure sent Bill Haley's original 1954 Decca recording back onto the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, reaching number 39.
Q 27The "Happy Days" theme song, a Top 5 single in 1976, was recorded by which duo?
Pratt & McClain
Pratt & McClain, Truett Pratt and Jerry McClain, took the Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel song to number five on the Hot 100 in 1976, after it became the opening theme in season three.
Q 28When Happy Days finished the 1976–77 season at number one, whose five-year run at the top did it end?
All in the Family
All in the Family had led the Nielsens for five straight seasons, 1971-72 through 1975-76; Happy Days, retooled around Fonzie and shot before an audience, took the crown for 1976-77.
Q 29From season three onwards, whose voice usually announced "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience"?
Tom Bosley's
Tom Bosley, Howard Cunningham himself, voiced the line; the first two seasons had used a single camera and a laugh track, and 1975's 'Fonzie Gets Married' was the three-camera test run.
Q 30Which director of The Dick Van Dyke Show helmed nearly every Happy Days episode from season three on?
Jerry Paris
Jerry Paris, who had played dentist neighbour Jerry Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show and won an Emmy directing it, directed nearly every episode from season three until the series ended in 1984.