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| Suzi Quatro guest stars on Happy Days. |
ABC loved the "Fonzie Loves Pinky" three-parter that kicked off Happy Days' fourth season. So did America. Filled with action and romance, the trilogy garnered huge ratings and transformed the Tuesday night sitcom from a mere hit into the biggest thing on TV. But there was a catch. Roz Kelly, the actress who played the central character of Pinky Tuscadero, hadn't gotten along well with the cast and crew. After that three-parter wrapped, she was never asked back to Happy Days, though she did guest star on the ill-fated spin-off Blansky's Beauties.
Unable to repeat "Fonzie Loves Pinky," Happy Days tried other, similar stunts to recapture the Nielsen magic. The fifth season infamously began with the "Hollywood" trilogy, which featured the entire cast decamping for California and Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumping over a shark on water skis. Then, just a few weeks later, the show introduced a new character, Pinky's younger sister Leather Tuscadero. Played by real-life Detroit rocker Suzi Quatro, who was always bigger overseas than in her own country, Leather got her own two-part showcase and made several more appearances on Happy Days over the next few seasons.
Garry Marshall supposedly had the idea to cast Quatro after seeing her poster on one of his kids' bedroom walls. Suzi was no actress and her "glam" appearance was wildly out of sync with the sitcom's quaint 1950s setting, but none of that really mattered. "Fonzie and Leather Tuscadero," also known as "Fonzie: Rock Entrepreneur," was a blast and brought Quatro the mainstream recognition that had long eluded her in America.
Here's our review of the first part of the saga: