Fonzie (Henry Winkler) enjoys Rome. |
If you were doing a time travel show and had all of history to play with, where would you send your characters? Caveman times? The far future? Ancient Egypt? The Old West? Hanna-Barbera's animated series The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (1980-81) did all of those and more in its first season. It took until Season 2, however, before Fonzie (Henry Winkler) and his pals finally got to Ancient Rome.
This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, we're talking about that episode, "There's No Place Like Rome." It features most of what you'd expect: togas, lions, chariots, centurions, a colosseum, etc. You want men in skirts? You got 'em. Speaking of which, the show has used real historical figures occasionally, including Cleopatra, but this time they substitute a fictional character called Julius Maximus for Julius Caesar. The plot of "No Place" has Maximus trying to conquer some unnamed walled city and marry the king's daughter against her will. Naturally, his plans go up in smoke when Fonzie and friends arrive in their flying time machine.
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