Podcast Tuesday: "The Ballad of Joan-bone and Chach-crotch"

Erin Moran and Scott Baio on Happy Days.

Over the course of reviewing 11 seasons of Happy Days, I've really come to respect Erin Moran (1960-2017) as an actress. Some viewers may not know that she was the third Joanie Cunningham, after Susan Neher (a redhead from the first pilot) and Audrey Pfeiffer (a blonde from the second). The kid sister of protagonist Richie (Ron Howard), Joanie could easily have been a nothing character, doomed to live in the shadow of her more celebrated sibling and only occasionally allowed to crack wise at the dinner table. Joanie didn't even make it into the opening credits until Season 3! I'm convinced it was Erin's spirited portrayal that made Joanie an important part of Happy Days. She carved out a place for herself on this overcrowded series, episode by episode.

I don't feel that the show always treated Joanie well, however. Like I said, they didn't even bother to add her to the opening credits for the first two seasons! During the early years of Happy Days, most of the good stories went to either Richie or Fonzie (Henry Winkler), though Joanie got occasional spotlight episodes like "Smoking Ain't Cool" and "Joanie's Weird Boyfriend." Starting in Season 5, Joanie became romantically involved with Fonzie's slightly sleazy cousin Chachi (Scott Baio), and this drastically altered the course of her character. She was no longer just Richie's sister; she was now Chachi's girlfriend.

But what if she weren't? This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, we're talking about the Season 11 episode "The Ballad of Joanie and Chachi," in which our two lovebirds realize  that they're just not compatible for each other because they want different things out of life. It's a more dramatic, downbeat episode than Happy Days usually does. Is this change of pace good for the show or not? Let's find out together.

Podcast Tuesday: "College is for Suckers!"

Tom Bosley, Henry Winkler, and Marion Ross on Happy Days.

In March 1982, Happy Days launched the fifth and last of its spinoffs, the short-lived and much-mocked Joanie Loves Chachi. By then, Happy Days itself was in its ninth season and drifting slowly but surely into total irrelevance. The Grim Reaper was looming. Two successful Happy Days spinoffs, Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley, were both nearing their ends as well, expiring in May 1982 and May 1983 respectively. 

Producer Garry Marshall must have figured that the only way to keep his TV empire alive was to make a Hail Mary play for the youth audience with a new series focusing on teenage lovebirds Joanie Cunningham (Erin Moran) and Chachi Arcola (Scott Baio) and their suspiciously 1980s-sounding music.  Don't forget that the MTV cable network had just launched in August 1981. This was definitely the golden age of music videos, and Garry wanted a piece of the action.

In retrospect, Marshall and company spent much of Season 9 of Happy Days setting up Joanie Loves Chachi. So many of the plots that year were about the young couple that even Fonzie (top-billed Henry Winkler) seemed to take a backseat to them. This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, we're reviewing "To Beanie or Not to Beanie," an episode in which Joanie makes some crucial decisions about her future, including taking a gap year between high school and college. Her parents, Howard (Tom Bosley) and Marion (Marion Ross), are horrified, but Fonzie tries to argue on Joanie's behalf.

"To Beanie or Not to Beanie" originally aired in January 1982, just two months before the start of Joanie Loves Chachi. The spinoff must have already been in the planning and production stages by then, so I'm guessing "To Beanie" was intended to ease viewers into the new show. Appropriately, then, the episode includes one of Joanie and Chachi's many, many musical numbers: an uptempo rock number called "Call." Joanie Loves Chachi would likewise feature many songs by the duo and their newly-formed band.

But does any of this make "To Beanie or Not to Beanie" a good episode? You can find out by listening to the latest installment of These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast.

Podcast Tuesday: "A Simple Desultory Phil Silvers (or How I Was Sgt. Bilko'd into Submission)"

Phil Silvers and Cathy Silvers on Happy Days.

After Ron Howard and Don Most left Happy Days in 1980, taking the characters of Richie Cunningham and Ralph Malph respectively with them, the producers brought in some replacements to round out the cast, namely Ted McGinley as Roger Phillips and Cathy Silvers as Jenny Piccalo. Roger, a straight-laced, preppie basketball coach, was an obvious substitute for the very square Richie Cunningham. But does that mean gossipy, boy-crazy Jenny Piccalo was somehow the new Ralph Malph?

At first, these characters would not seem to have much in common. Were they to meet, the conversation would probably be a little awkward. But, upon closer inspection, I can see how Jenny Piccalo became the show's new Ralph Malph during its final seasons. After all, Ralph is the wacky, wisecracking sidekick to the more responsible, pragmatic Richie, just as Jenny is the wacky, wisecracking sidekick to the more responsible, pragmatic Joanie (Erin Moran). 

It's important to remember here that Joanie's personality changed subtly over the course of nine seasons. She started out as the somewhat bratty, insult-slinging kid sister whose main job was to keep Richie's ego (and those of his idiot friends) in check. She was even the first character to utter the show's immortal catchphrase, "Sit on it!" But as the sitcom wore on, Joanie matured, toned down her personality, and even settled into a long-term relationship with Chachi (Scott Baio). She was in danger of losing her edge, but the wilder Jenny Piccalo was able to tempt her into various hijinks and shenanigans, just as Ralph once did with Richie.

Jenny's relationship with her father Roscoe (played by Cathy's real-life father, Phil) is even similar to Ralph's relationship with his father Mickey (Jack Dodson). In the Season 4 episode "Last of the Big Time Malphs," Ralph runs up a gambling debt but can't talk seriously about the problem with Mickey because the latter is such a zany jokester. Jenny runs into a similar problem during "Just a Piccalo," the Season 9 episode we're reviewing this week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast. She's facing vandalism charges after trying to steal a statue from the park, but she doesn't feel she can go to Roscoe for help. How interesting that both Mickey and Roscoe are played by classic sitcom stars: Jack Dodson from The Andy Griffith Show and Phil Silvers from Sgt. Bilko.

I hope you'll join us for our review of "Just a Piccalo." As usual, this episode let us talk about a whole bunch of topics, including the brilliant career of Phil Silvers. This one was a real treat to record.