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| David Hubbard, Gary Grubbs, Henry Winkler, and Al Molinaro on Happy Days. |
Black characters rarely have much fun on Happy Days, largely because the sitcom only seems to bring them on when it wants to make a point about racism.
As early as Season 1, there was "The Best Man," an episode in which Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley) has misgivings about being the best man at the wedding of his Black former army buddy, Fred (Nashville star Robert DoQui). In Season 3, there was "Fonzie's New Friend," in which a young drummer named Sticks Downey (Jack Baker) can't perform with Richie's band at Arnold's because of the color of his skin. And Season 5 gave us "Fonzie for the Defense," in which Fonzie (Henry Winkler) and Howard serve as jurors at a trial where the defendant, Jason (Ralph Wilcox), has been falsely accused of robbery at least partially because of his race.
Then, in Season 9, Happy Days made its ultimate statement about racism: "Southern Crossing," an episode in which Fonzie and his business partner Al (Al Molinaro) head down South in 1962 to protest segregated lunch counters. There, in some unspecified city, they clash with but ultimately befriend a young Black man named Charles (David Hubbard aka David Raynr), who wonders what these meddling white folks from Milwaukee are really trying to accomplish.
On the one hand, it's understandable that Happy Days would want to do an episode like this. After all, Season 9 of the show is set in the early 1960s, a time when the headlines were dominated by stories of the civil rights movement and protests in the South. If you're really looking back on this era of American history, you have to acknowledge this subject matter to some extent.
On the other hand, Happy Days is a featherweight family comedy that has done such amusing but less-than-realistic episodes as "My Favorite Orkan," "The Evil Eye," "Fonzie's Funeral," and "Hollywood (Part 3)." How do you go from shark jumping to civil rights? Can you?
This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, we try to find out as we review "Southern Crossing." We hope you join us for what should be a very interesting episode.