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| Al Molinaro prepares to baptize Henry Winkler as Tom Bosley and Marion Ross look on. |
Somehow, we've made it through four entire seasons of Richie, Fonzie, and the gang from Milwaukee and all their wacky adventures on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast. On today's installment, we review the fourth season finale, "Fonzie's Baptism" from March 1977. These were truly the glory days for the nostalgia-based sitcom. Happy Days was the #1 show on American television for the 1976-1977 season. It would never get more popular than this.
"Fonzie's Baptism" is a very quiet and subtle way to end the season, however. The fourth season began with the very over-the-top, almost cartoonish "Fonzie Love Pinky" three-parter. But it ended with a humble, intimate story about Fonzie (Henry Winkler) getting baptized after nearly dying in a car crash. No wacky antics here. The big musical number of the week is "Faith of Our Fathers," if that's any indication. Happy Days left the air for five and a half months after that and returned in mid-September 1977 with the infamous "Hollywood" three-parter.
Reviewing "Fonzie's Baptism" allowed me to revisit my own Catholic upbringing. Whatever my feelings on religion these days, the church was a big part of my childhood. By an odd coincidence, I was going though some old family photos recently when I found some snapshots of my own baptism. Like most baptismal candidates, I was only an infant at the time, so I can't say I remember much (or anything) about that significant day. I strongly remember my First Communion, though. It was likely the first time in my life I was made to wear a suit and tie. My family treated it like a birthday party, and I got some Looney Tunes stuffed animals that day.
Now I'm rambling. Anyway, here's the podcast. Enjoy.