On Thursdays, I take a critical look at a TV show by season. Here's a look at Season 7 (Part 2) of Happy Days! For Part 1, click here!
With their anniversary coming up, Marion wants to have a real wedding after revealing their first wedding wasn't very romantic.
This episode features a mostly forgotten comedy duo named Bob and Ray as guest stars. They aren't a duo you hear about very often these days but they were apparently well known enough in 1979 to get entrance applause. This is Happy Days doing surreal stuff in a much better way than the campy fantasy episodes. This episode is based on a sweet and completely normal concept (a renewal of vows) but it peppers the entire affair with some surreal elements courtesy mainly of the two guest stars. It makes it funny, not stupid and this is a strong episode.
RATING: 9/10
157. Ah, Wilderness (1/8/80)
Richie, Potsie and Ralph bring dates on a camping trip for Spring Break and Fonzie wants to come too while Richie wants to be in charge.
Happy Days seems to want to do nature-based episodes once in awhile and we once again see very little attention paid to the calendar year in relation to the episode airing as this takes place during Spring Break but aired in January (and I guarantee Wisconsin would not look that green in January). Either way, it's a so-so camping episode and I'm usually a fan of that trope. I think the show sort of played into Richie and Fonzie reversing roles but didn't really sustain that through the episode. Marion Ross doesn't appear in this episode and Tom Bosley and Erin Moran are only in the final tag scene.
RATING: 4.5/10
158. Joanie's Dilemma (1/15/80)
Marion accidentally gets drunk on wine sauce during a mother-daughter discussion with Joanie about her dating life just as Howard is about to accept a Father of the Year award.
Continuity is so funny in shows from this era. In this episode, Richie asks Marion if she's ever heard of Inspiration Point. As if there wasn't just an entire episode dedicated to that place where Richie and Marion interacted quite a bit about it. TV shows are more careful about stuff like that now. This episode is a little bit all over the place and it feels like we've already seen similar mother-daughter talks between Marion and Joanie. But there are some funny things because Marion Ross plays a good drunk and there's some good visual sight gags when Howard and Richie arrive home.
RATING: 6/10
Chachi gets promoted at Arnold's but forgets to turn off the grill when leaving on a date with Joanie and Arnold's burns to the ground.
This is a pretty famous episode of Happy Days and the end of an era. It was actually a pretty gutsy choice of a 70s-80s happy sitcom to destroy an iconic set of the show. The episode is a little bit heavy-handed at times but it's handled better than other heavy-handed episodes because the development of how it happens doesn't feel forced and we, as audience members, can also mourn the building burning down. It also manages to not lose all the comedy especially as the burning is actually happening and Fonzie, Ralph and Potsie are stuck in the bathroom. Happy Days is never quite the same after this but I understand the decision to do this because the original Arnold's was so quintessentially 50s and the show has now moved into the 60s.
RATING: 8.5/10
160. The New Arnold's (1/29/80)
Al and Fonzie prepare to re-open Arnold's but start fighting over many things, including the name of the place.
Happy Days ends its latter era with the arrival of the new Arnold's which definitely doe snot have the 50s feel of the original. I always associate this with the post-Richie and Ralph era but there are a few episodes that overlap. A lot of this episode is about the fight between Fonzie and Al that we all know will resolve itself by the end of the episode. It follows a lot of the tropes of friends going in together as business partners (have there ever been a sitcom episode about this topic that didn't have a fight about the name of the proposed business?) But the reveal of the new Arnold's is a pretty big moment.
RATING: 6.5/10
161. The Hucksters (2/5/80)
Howard decides to bolster business for the hardware store by hiring an advertising expert but ends up feeling uncomfortable with what he wants to do.
This is a great episode that focuses on the Cunningham family and puts them in a really funny situation. From Marion's incredibly stilted delivery in the commercial's first run through to the replacement of each family member (including Joanie getting replaced by a dog), the whole premise is pretty hilarious. There's a stunt casting of Hank Aaron but the episode uses him well and it doesn't feel like a gratuitous moment. I could also be annoyed by the "aww" moment that ends the charade but even that is handled with humor. This is just a strong episode all the way through.
RATING: 9.5/10
162. Allison (2/12/80)
While sorting out an electric bill issue, Richie and Fonzie encounter a deaf computer programmer and Fonzie falls for her.
Sitcoms of the 70s and 80s were so, so clunky when they tried to deal with the differences among people. I am not saying that there shouldn't be episodes about deaf people but too often a sitcom in this era made it feel like an episode of Sesame Street. I do think it sort of shows how Fonzie is ready for a real relationship though, which the show eventually explores a few seasons later. Henry Winkler plays it well when he realizes he's getting dumped and not in charge of the relationship. Most of the other characters, besides Richie, have very little to do in this episode.
RATING: 4/10
Joanie and Chachi have been casually dating and they both seek advice from others on moving the relationship forward.
Happy Days makes a choice here to really lean into the Joanie and Chachi relationship. It has sort of hinted that the two of them have been dating a little bit in early episodes but this is when the show clearly has its eye on the post-Richie era in making Joanie and Chachi the new focal point (besides the Fonz of course). It's only a so-so episode that is somewhat unfocused (the Howard & Marion stuff is not all that funny) but Scott Baio and Erin Moran do have chemistry and it's nice to see the show finally bring them together.
RATING: 6/10
164. Father & Son (3/4/80)
Howard tries to bond with Richie at a Leopard Lodge convention but Richie has other plans for the weekend.
Although it's very true to the time period, I'm always a little meh about the stories involving Howard's leopard lodge. This episode just gets a little weird and I hate to be that guy, but it's also more misogynistic than the average Happy Days episode. The guys throughout this episode are pretty obnoxious though there are some nice father and son moments between Howard and Richie. I would just prefer to see those father and son moments in a different setting. I wonder if this a sort of goodbye episode for Ron Howard since his relationship with Howard (the character) was always key.
RATING: 2/10
165. A Potsie is Born (3/11/80)
Potsie lands an audition to be a performer at a local club and it ends up going to his head, which frustrates his friend.
It's been awhile since there's been a Potsie-centric episode and I'm never a big fan of Potsie episodes. This one follows the standard sitcom trope of someone having success go to his head, upsetting his friends and then getting his comeuppance. But Potsie isn't really an interesting enough character for that to happen to. Once the show moved towards its broader style in Season Three, literally every character became more interesting than Potsie, who was such a key character in the first couple seasons. So this just feels like throwing the character a bone and giving Anson Williams more chances to sing.
RATING: 4/10
166. The Roaring Twenties (3/25/80)
Richie's Uncle Joe visits and tells him about the Roaring Twenties and his cousin, Cecil Cunningham.
This episode is a break from form as the episode takes place almost entirely in the 1920s with the actors playing different characters. I can appreciate the ambition of the episode. It is more acceptable to me to be outrageous with a complete fantasy sequence than shoehorning the characters into fantasy scenarios like they did in Season Six. The setting is fun and it's clear the cast is having a good time but I don't think the specific 20s-era plot is all that interesting and it's hurt by an over the top performance from Al Molinaro, who usually is more reserved.
RATING: 6/10
Ralph finds out from his father that his parents are getting a divorce.
This is the final episode for both Ron Howard and Donny Most as series regulars and while it is a Ralph-centric episode, there's absolutely no indication that the two very important characters are leaving the show. In fact, Ron Howard barely appears in the episode and considering the old Arnold's is one of the sets, this clearly was filmed earlier in the season. I haven't been able to find out if the Happy Days producers knew while filming Season Seven that Howard and Most were leaving but I also know shows operated differently back then about character departures. It's a decent Ralph episode but it's just weird as a finale for the two characters.
RATING: 6.5/10
AVERAGE RATING FOR SEASON SEVEN:
5.7/10
The Best Episodes:
1. "The Hucksters" (#161) - 9.5/10
2. "King Richard's Big Night" (#152) - 9/10
3. "Here Comes the Bride Again" (#156) - 9/10
4. "Hot Stuff" (#159) - 8.5/10
5. "Richie Falls in Love" (#148) - 8.5/10
The Worst Episodes:
1. "The Mechanic" (#154) - 1.5/10
2. "Fonzie Meets Kat" (#145) - 1.5/10
3. "Chachi Sells His Soul" (#144) - 2/10
4. "Burlesque" (#150) - 2/10
5. "Father and Son" (#164) - 2/10
Tomorrow: The Friday Five - A look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!
Next Thursday: A look at Season 8 (Part 1) of Happy Days!
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