The once-mighty Happy Days empire was in definite decline by the end of the 1981-82 television season. Two of its spinoffs, Blansky's Beauties and Out of the Blue, had failed outright by then. A third, Mork & Mindy, was ending after four tumultuous seasons. That left only Happy Days itself and the most successful of its spinoffs, Laverne & Shirley, still on the air. Neither was a ratings powerhouse anymore, though, and Laverne was in its death throes due to the imminent departure of costar Cindy Williams. (That show limped along for one last season without Williams before expiring in 1983.)
Nevertheless, Happy Days still managed to end the 1981-82 season in the Nielsen Top 20, which meant someone was still tuning in. Was there any juice left in this turnip? If so, it was mostly due to Scott Baio, who had become a second-tier teen heartthrob as the wisecracking Chachi Arcola. The producers of Happy Days, no doubt prompted by network executives, decided to give Chachi his own show. Naturally, he brought his girlfriend Joanie (Erin Moran) along with him. Joanie Loves Chachi, the last and most infamous of the Happy Days spinoffs, premiered to great fanfare on March 23, 1982, immediately after the Happy Days Season 9 finale.
When Joanie and Chachi departed Milwaukee for Chicago and a show of their own, they took two of Happy Days' supporting players, Al Molinaro and Ellen Travolta, with them. Ellen had only appeared a couple of times as Chachi's loving mother, Louisa, so her exit was no great shock. But Al had been a mainstay of the show since Season 4 as local restauranteur (and perennial bachelor) Al Delvecchio. Why would Al ever leave Milwaukee and his beloved hamburger joint, Arnold's? Simple: to marry Louisa and become a stepdad to Chachi on the new show.
This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, we review "Love and Marriage," the episode that (sort of) sets up Joanie Loves Chachi. The plot centers around Al and Louisa getting hitched after only a month of dating. Talk about a whirlwind romance! But does it make for a good episode? Only one way to find out...