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| Cassandra Peterson, Irving Benson, and Ron Howard on Happy Days. |
What rotten timing, huh? Two days after Halloween, our podcast covers an episode of Happy Days featuring Cassandra Peterson, better known as horror hostess Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Where were you last week, Cassandra? Then again, we've covered a Christmas episode in March and a Thanksgiving episode in May, so I guess our listeners should be used to this kind of thing by now. At least this time, we were kind of close to the target.
The episode in question, "Burlesque" from November 6, 1979, is quite a curio. The thin plot has Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley) staging an old-fashioned burlesque show to raise money for his beloved Leopard Lodge. It's really just an excuse for the cast of Happy Days to sing, dance, and perform a few very corny, old-fashioned skits, accompanied by a bevy of scantily-clad cuties supposedly recruited by Fonzie (Henry Winkler). Besides Cassandra Peterson, the main guest star is comedian Irving Benson, basically playing himself. In real life, Irving was a comedian in vaudeville and burlesque, so he probably could have done this Happy Days episode in his sleep.
Why would Happy Days do an episode like this? Well, during the 1979-80 TV season, the show's ratings were faltering. In particular, NBC's The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo was giving Happy Days the most fearsome competition it had faced since Good Times during the 1974-75 season. At the direction of ABC, Happy Days experimented with some slightly racier, more salacious episodes in an effort to win back viewers. "Burlesque" did well in the ratings, and Happy Days ultimately outlasted Sheriff Lobo, but the squeaky-clean family sitcom did get some negative publicity in the process.
Was it worth it? Is "Burlesque" a hidden gem in the Happy Days back catalog? Find out this week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast.