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| Erin Moran and Henry Winkler on Happy Days. |
Joanie Loves Chachi is remembered as one of the biggest bombs in TV history, but the infamous Happy Days spinoff had a surprisingly strong start in the prime time Nielsen ratings. ABC gave the new show a four-episode test run at the tail end of the 1981-82 season and promoted the hell out of it. With very little or no competition from the other networks, which had already switched to reruns for the summer, those first four episodes were big ratings winners. Technically, Joanie Loves Chachi was the fourth most popular show of the 1981-82 television season. Happy Days itself was only 18th.
However, the fledgling spinoff was truly put to the test when it came back for its second season in the fall of 1982. Paired with the rookie comedy Star of the Family on Thursday nights, JLC was no match for CBS' powerhouse Magnum P.I. (I mean, would you watch Scott Baio instead of Tom Selleck?) ABC did everything it could to save Joanie Loves Chachi, however. For one thing, they had Henry Winkler guest star on the September 30, 1982 episode, "Fonzie's Visit." Then, just twelve days later, Joanie and Chachi themselves made a crossover appearance on Happy Days in a surprisingly somber episode entitled "Letting Go."
This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, we're talking all about "Letting Go" and our general feelings about Joanie, Chachi, and Joanie Loves Chachi. If that sounds like a good time, you know exactly what to do.