 |
| (left to right) Erin Moran, Scott Mitchell Bernstein, Scott Baio, and Kevin Rodney Sullivan on Happy Days. |
Sex education. Even the phrase makes me cringe a little. I remember, back in fifth grade, we had to get a special permission slip signed by our parents before we could take our school's one-day sex ed course. I was too mortified to give my parents such a permission slip, so I just skipped school that day. I can't remember where I hid out (probably home), but I got mercilessly clowned on by my classmates when I returned to school the next day. And they were right: I was a total wuss. So, a year later, I actually got my parents to sign the permission when it was time for our sixth grade refresher course. I remember almost nothing of what we were actually taught that day.
Since it's a sitcom about hormone-crazed teenagers in high school, Happy Days was eventually going to do a sex ed episode of some kind. It was inevitable. Nevertheless, the writers held out until Season 9's "Fonzie the Substitute" aka "Give Me Puberty or Give Me Death." The plot? Fonzie (Henry Winkler) fills in for Roger (Ted McGinley) during the latter's high school health class. The sneaky students trick Fonz into giving an impromptu lesson about puberty, which gets Roger in hot water with the board of education.
This counts as one of Happy Days' many "very special episodes" since it's about the importance of teaching kids the facts of life, and the topic is handled respectfully. Maybe too respectfully. The actual topic of sex is never discussed in any detail onscreen. The only biological fact we get from "Fonzie the Substitute" is that you can't get pregnant by making out while wearing a bathing suit.
Other than that, how is the episode? Find out by listening to the latest installment of These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast.