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| Anson Williams, Ron Howard, and Don Most on Happy Days. |
The idea of dividing a room—or even a whole house—in two with a line is one that I've seen in plenty of TV shows and cartoons. Lucy and Ricky did this on I Love Lucy, for instance. There's even a whole page devoted to this plot at TV Tropes. I've never known anyone to do this in real life, but I'd have to imagine someone has at least tried it. After all, kids are impressionable. They might see it on, say, The Brady Bunch and then attempt it with their brother or sister. I only have one sibling, an older sister, so I never had the experience of having to share a bedroom. But it's possible we drew an invisible line down the middle of the car on long trips.
"Ralph Vs. Potsie" (season 6, January 1979) is Happy Days' version of this classic sitcom plot. Ralph (Don Most) and Potsie (Anson Williams) share a slovenly bachelor apartment near the college they both attend. They find themselves bickering constantly, however, so they write to a local newspaper advice columnist named "Aunt Fanny" for help. "Fanny" suggests dividing the apartment in two. Idiots that they are, Ralph and Potsie actually follow this advice. Little do they know that "Aunt Fanny" is actually just their friend Richie (Ron Howard) using a pseudonym.
How does it all turn out? You can find out by listening to the latest episode of These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast.