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| Real-life lovers Lorrie Mahaffey (left) and Anson Williams commiserate on Happy Days. |
How did we ever get to a hundred episodes of These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast? It all seems like a blur. My cohost first approached me about doing a Happy Days podcast in September 2018. My father had just died the previous month, and I was looking for something -- anything -- that would serve as a distraction from the grief, so I answered with three fateful words: "Sure. Why not?" In retrospect, this is very similar to how I got involved in the Stephen C. Apostolof book. People come to me with ridiculous projects, and I say yes to them because I can't think of a good reason to say no.
As it turns out, our 100th episode is a review of Season 5's "Potsie Gets Pinned," a lovey-dovey showcase for Anson Williams and his real-life girlfriend Lorrie Mahaffey. Anson and Lorrie had been going together for months by the time of this episode, and they got married shortly after it aired. (They divorced in 1986 after eight years of marriage and one child.) ABC was clearly trying to turn Anson and Lorrie into "a thing." The duo even got their own prime-time variety special in the grand tradition of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Captain & Tennille, and Mel and Susan Together. Unfortunately, there is so little on-camera chemistry between them that they might as well be brother and sister, a la Donny & Marie.
The plot of "Potsie Gets Pinned" has dim bulb Potsie (Wllliams) wanting to marry his new girlfriend Jenny (Mahaffey) after just one date. Fortunately, wise Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley) convinces the overeager lad that, instead of rushing into marriage, Potsie should give Jenny his fraternity pin instead. Meanwhile, Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his girlfriend Lori Beth (Lynda Goodfriend) find themselves squabbling, showing the difficulty of keeping a relationship together over the long haul. More than anything, this episode reminds me of that one MST3K short, Are You Ready for Marriage? (1950). That film also has two contrasting couples -- one racing recklessly toward marriage, the other taking their time to get to know each other, including occasional arguments.
You can hear our review of "Potsie Gets Pinned" below and you can find our 99 other episodes right here.