Podcast Tuesday: "America's Next Top James Dean"

Henry Winkler and Ron Howard relax on the beaches of Malibu.

James Daughton on Happy Days.

Okay, let's just get this out of the way. In today's installment of These Days Are Ours, we are covering the episodes "Hollywood (Part One)" and "Hollywood (Part Two)" from the beginning of Happy Days' fifth season in September 1977. The story has Fonzie (Henry Winkler) going to Hollywood for a screen test at Paramount. Along the way, he develops a rivalry with an arrogant young man named Harold (James Daughton of Animal House) who eventually challenges him to jump over a shark on water skis.

The term "jump the shark" has since become synonymous with creative decline, largely thanks to a radio personality named Jon Hein. Remembering a conversation he had with his college roommate in the '80s, Hein created a popular Jump the Shark website devoted to TV shows that had overstayed their welcome, using Happy Days as the poster child. Because the internet loves a catchphrase, especially a snarky one, "jump the shark" entered the lexicon. Thanks to Jon Hein, Henry Winkler now has to answer at least one question about shark-jumping in seemingly every interview.

But do these episodes actually deserve the scorn that Hein has heaped upon them? Well, it's complicated.

The "Hollywood" story arc certainly did not signal the decline of Happy Days' popularity. The episodes were highly rated, and the sitcom itself remained on the air until September 1984. As for whether the show was "never as good again," that's debatable. The show had already done multi-part stories like "Fearless Fonzarelli," in which Fonzie jumps over garbage cans on his motorcycle, and "Fonzie Loves Pinky," in which Fonzie competes in a demolition derby against the cartoonish villains the Malachi Brothers. Was "Hollywood" really that much of a departure?

We talk about these issues and many more in today's brand new podcast. Enjoy!