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| Anson Williams on Happy Days. |
Just as movies are often filmed out of sequence, television episodes are often broadcast in a different order than they were originally produced. Ultimately, a TV network decides when (or if) a particular episode will air; the producers of a series have little to no say over this. "A Potsie is Born," a showcase for actor-singer Anson Williams, was the final episode of Happy Days produced during the 1979-80 television season, but it ended up being only the third-to-last (or antepenultimate) episode to air. Isn't it crazy how TV works sometimes?
At the end of that fateful season, the seventh for the nostalgic sitcom, both Ron Howard and Don Most left the show to pursue other career opportunities. Their characters, Richie and Ralph, disappeared instantly from Happy Days with very little explanation or fanfare. They were there, and then they weren't. This was quite a dilemma for Anson Williams. His character, the sweet but dense Warren "Potsie" Webber, was largely defined by his relationships to Richie and Ralph. He and Fonzie (Henry Winkler) are not really friends; they're friends-in-law. Without his buddies, who was Potsie? The show never really found a satisfying answer to this question in its remaining four seasons.
In a way, then, "A Potsie is Born" marks the end of an era for Anson Williams as much as it does for Ron Howard and Don Most. This is the last big Potsie story during the Richie/Ralph era of Happy Days. Does it make for a good episode? Find out when you listen to the latest installment of These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast.