On Thursdays, I take a critical look at a TV show by season. I'm picking up where I left off last spring with Happy Days and its sixth season!
HAPPY DAYS: SEASON SIX
1978-1979
1978-1979
27 episodes
Season Six of Happy Days starts to lean in quite a bit to some surreal elements. It was almost as if they were emboldened by how well the "My Favorite Orkan" episode in Season Five was received and decided to do a whole lot more fantasy episodes were Fonzie gets to be the hero. As a result, we get downright strange episodes like "The Evil Eye," "The Claw Meets the Fonz" and the "Fonzie's Funeral" two part episode which, while very funny at times, is absolutely ridiculous. There's a pretty big drop off from the previous season and the show doesn't resemble the very realistic and gentle 1950s show it started as in the first couple seasons. But luckily it will recover a bit for Ron Howard's final season in 1979-80.
Starring
Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham (27 episodes)
Henry Winkler as Arthur Fonzarelli (27 episodes)
Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham (27 episodes)
Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham (27 episodes)
Anson Williams as Potsie Webber (27 episodes)
Don Most as Ralph Malph (26 episodes)
Erin Moran as Joanie Cunningham (25 episodes)
Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio (27 episodes)
Scott Baio as Chachi Arcola (11 episodes)
Scott Baio as Chachi Arcola (11 episodes)
Lynda Goodfriend as Lori Beth Allen (7 episodes)
Lorrie Mahaffey as Jennifer Jerome (4 episodes)
Suzi Quatro as Leather Tuscadero (2 episodes)
Ed Peck as Officer Kirk (1 episode)
Pat Morita as Arnold Takahashi (1 episode)
The Cunninghams have to help run a dude ranch in Colorado for an ailing relative and bring the crew with them but then find out the ranch is in financial trouble.
Once again, Happy Days kicks off its season with a big event episode. That's not too surprising considering it was one of the hottest shows on TV at the time. It's a really fun setting but it definitely seems like the idea in the writer's room was simply "let's take them to a dude ranch!" and then they actually developed a plot. It's all in service of spectacle instead of story. The episode seems to be consciously trying to outdo Fonzie jumping the shark in the Hollywood episodes while the characters marvel multiple times at how amazing "the great outdoors" is. It's fun but it's oh so thin and... it has an Anson Williams song with a montage so that's pretty cringeworthy.
RATING: 6/10
118. Westward Ho! Part 3 (9/19/78)
The Cunninghams and friends continue to work at the dude ranch and come up short on money so Fonzie decides to ride a bull to help out. Richie saves Joanie from a runaway wagon.
The first part of this episode is a laughable conclusion to an overdramatic cliffhanger from the previous episode with Joanie stuck on a runaway wagon pulled by horses. Though it is nice that it's Richie instead of Fonzie who gets to play the hero, Fonzie comes across as a complete baby when he pouts about it. Of course Fonzie does get to play the hero with the ridiculous bull riding bit that might be actually more of a "jump the shark" moment than jumping the shark because it's such an obvious attempt at a big moment. I remember seeing these episodes for the first time over three consecutive nights on Nick at Nite and it really felt like an event so I'm sure that was the case in 1978. These kind of events just don't seem as exciting from an adult point of view.
RATING: 4/10
119. Fonzie's Blindness (9/26/78)
After an accident at Arnold's with a tray, Fonzie experiences blindness and worries it may be permanent.
Happy Days was so clunky when it tried to be serious. This episode is absurd in every way. The plot (a tray makes Fonzie's blind?), the insane shouting match between Richie and Fonzie (Ron Howard and Henry Winkler try their best with it, but yikes) and Fonzie's very melodramatic plea for help as he grapples with his blindness. TV shows have gotten much better over the years at blending comedy and drama to the point that many of the most successful shows these days are dramedies. But in the 70s, shows that had no business doing that like Happy Days still tried to too often.
RATING: 2/10
Richie has to date a baton twirler for his fraternity and tries to hide it from Lori Beth.
This episode is a much better example of the type of "drama" that the show should be dabbling in. There's some sweet moments and dramatic beats, but it's not a plot that's above the show's pay grade. Instead, it's a completely appropriate exploration of Richie and Lori Beth's relationship. Ron Howard is really underrated as a comedian and as the show became more Fonzie-centric, it didn't showcase those abilities as frequently. Erin Moran doesn't appear in this episode.
RATING: 8/10
121. Kid Stuff (10/10/78)
Fonzie dates a woman and becomes attached to her young son but it gets complicated when the boy's father re-enters the picture.
For a third episode in a row, Happy Days seems intent on going for an "aww" moment like it's a show like Full House or something. This one works better than "Fonzie's Blindness" but not as well as "Casanova Cunningham." It veers a little too melodramatic for me but it at least is less outrageous and more true to the show than Fonzie going blind. I also don't know what the show's obsession is with little boys dressed like Fonzie and this one is a less appealing character than Spike.
RATING: 3.5/10
122. Sweet Sixteen (10/17/78)
Joanie gets ready for her Sweet Sixteen but feels sad after breaking up with her boyfriend, the star quarterback.
This episode is the first one in awhile that seems to place itself firmly in the 50s. That was a hallmark of early Happy Days episodes so it's nice to have that back. I also like that this episode doesn't go where you would expect it to go. It seems like one of the many episodes where Fonzie is going to save the day and there's a scene where it looks like that will happen. But it goes a different direction and actually makes Joanie's nerdy date the hero of the episode while ending with a sweet father-daughter moment for Howard and Joanie.
RATING: 8.5/10
As part of a story Richie is doing, Ralph agrees to get hypnotized to get rid of all his fears.
This is a very bizarre episode in terms of plot but there is some funny execution. Watching this episode, I realized that I can't even think of the last time there were extended scenes with either Ralph or Potsie, but not the other and that continues here. The scene at Arnold's late in the episode has a couple funny moments including Potsie's failure to incite panic and Fonzie getting pushed around by Ralph. The stuff with the professor doesn't work quite as well and feels closer to an animated cartoon than a primetime sitcom.
RATING: 6/10
124. The Evil Eye (10/31/78)
On Halloween, Al worries he has been cursed by an old lady with an evil eye so the gang performs an exorcism.
The second straight super bizarre episode, Happy Days really veers into cartoon territory in its sixth season. The performances are so over the top in this episode from Al Molinaro and guest star Mary Betten. The eerie feeling is fun for an episode that actually aired on Halloween night but it would be shocking to put this episode up against the classic "Haunted" episode from Season 2 and see how much things have changed. The show has gone from subtle slice of life stories to outrageous and campy stories and this is one of the campiest so far.
RATING: 2/10
125. The Claw Meets the Fonz (11/7/78)
Al gets involved with some bad businessmen who want to franchise Arnold's and needs help from others to take them down.
This is another episode with a larger than life, practically cartoon character. It's also the second straight episode with Al at the center. Clearly the show thought they needed to make Al Molinaro more of a central character than he had been before. And as great as Molinaro is, he probably shouldn't be at the center of an episode. He does the most he can with the material but his character just works much better as a supporting one. The entire scene where Fonzie and the guys are playing exaggerated mobsters is just absurd and stupid.
RATING: 3/10
Fonzie worries he is allergic to girls after he develops sneezing fits during kissing.
Scott Baio returns to the show for the first time in Season Six. After becoming pretty prominent in the fifth season, Baio was absent for the first ten episodes of the season as he was in another Garry Marshall sitcom, Who's Watching the Kids? This episode has a slightly absurd premise but it's not nearly as ridiculous as the last couple episodes and it's also a lot more organic to the characters. Sure, Fonzie thinking he's allergic to girls is a little silly but with all we know about Fonzie, it's not out of the realm of possibility. With a less cartoony premise, the episode works much better than the recent string of crazy ones.
RATING: 7.5/10
127. The First Thanksgiving (11/21/78)
On Thanksgiving, Marion worries the gang has forgotten about the first Thanksgiving and teaches them about it as they imagine being back in time at the first Thanksgiving.
This is certainly an ambitious episode but it's yet another over the top episode in a season full of them. It's one thing when a show like Bewitched does it. The very nature of that show makes an episode going back to the first Thanksgiving very organic. I think I would be more forgiving of Happy Days doing an episode like this if there hadn't been a string of absurd episodes. There was nothing the show had to add to the story of the first Thanksgiving so why do it? There were tons of other options for a Happy Days Thanksgiving episode. For example, Marion's stresses at the beginning and end of the episode could have been the entire plot and it probably would have gone better.
RATING: 4/10
128. The Kissing Bandit (11/28/78)
Richie is arrested on suspicion of being the kissing bandit and has to deal with fame and legal issues.
The silliness continues for another episode and I hate to keep harping on the same point, but it just frustrates me. I know the show evolved from its sweet early days to a broader show but we saw in the first couple "live audience" years that it could be broad without being too silly and then in Season Six, there's a hard turn towards even broader and sillier plots. It's not wonder that the show started to slip in the ratings this season, albeit very slowly. But it's like they forgot what got them to #1 in the ratings and instead thought they needed to do even more. They didn't.
RATING: 3/10
129. The Magic Show (12/5/78)
When a magician actually gets drunk for a charity show, Fonzie steps in to save the day.
I think I would have been a little harder on this episode if it had come in an earlier season because it is a typical "Fonzie saves the day" episode that has him doing something a little bit outrageous. But after the string of completely absurd episodes, this at least feels a little less ridiculous. The voiceover at the beginning told us all the magic shown was done live with no TV tricks so it was probably fun to be in the studio audience for this episode. It's an average episode but a fun way to get the whole cast involved and an improvement in the recent trend.
RATING: 6/10
Tomorrow: The Friday Five - Top 5 TV news stories of the week!
Next Thursday: A look at Season Six (Part 2) of Happy Days!
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