On Thursdays, I take a critical look at a TV show by season. Here's a look at Season 8 (Part 1) of Happy Days!
HAPPY DAYS: SEASON EIGHT
1980-1981
22 episodes
1980-1981
22 episodes
Happy Days embarks on a new era for its eighth season with the show soldiering on after the departure of Ron Howard (& Don Most). I think many would have assumed it just became "The Fonzie Show" but let's be honest, that was sort of the approach even in the later years of Ron Howard's run. Sure, Fonzie remains a dominant character but the show also clearly bulks up the Joanie & Chachi material and it even feels like Howard & Marion start to get more stories. Those changes help the show not crater completely but there are also bad choices like the addition of Cathy Silvers and Ted McGinley. It definitely feels like the beginning of the end.
Starring
Henry Winkler as Arthur Fonzarelli (22 episodes)
Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham (22 episodes)
Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham (20 episodes)
Anson Williams as Potsie Webber (20 episodes)
Erin Moran as Joanie Cunningham (21 episodes)
Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio (22 episodes)
Scott Baio as Chachi Arcola (21 episodes)
Scott Baio as Chachi Arcola (21 episodes)
Lynda Goodfriend as Lori Beth Allen (11 episodes)
Cathy Silvers as Jenny Piccolo (18 episodes)
Ted McGinley as Roger Phillips (15 episodes)
Harris Kal as Bobby (5 episodes)
Dennis Mandel as Eugene Belvin (5 episodes)
Kevin Sullivan as Tommy (2 episodes)
Joanie and Chachi sneak away to a Beach Boys concert after Howard tells them they can't date for two weeks but end up stuck at a motel after their car breaks down.
The post-Richie and Ralph era of Happy Days kicks off with a letter from Richie that helps explain to the audience that the character is in the army. But then the show quickly segues into a plot driven by Joanie and Chachi in an clear indication of the direction the show is heading. The episode is a pretty funny one though with a plot that keeps moving throughout the episode especially once the chaste Joanie and Chachi (it was a family sitcom after all) get to the motel and Fonzie shows up (of course). I think it crescendos a bit too quickly but it's a solid first post-Ron Howard effort.
RATING: 8/10
169. Live and Learn (11/18/80)
Fonzie returns from a trip to Italy with a beard and takes a job teaching auto mechanics at Jefferson High School.
The previous episode dealt with Joanie and Chachi and this episode deals with the other major direction the show goes in during the post-Richie years: turning Fonzie into a character ready to settle down. Here he drops the leather jacket for a suitcoat as he takes a teaching job. I don't have a big problem with taking the character in that direction especially because now there's no longer a character like Richie to serve as a counter balance to Fonzie. It's nice to see the show realizing they had to make some changes to freshen up the show.
RATING: 7.5/10
170. Dreams Can Come True (11/25/80)
Richie proposes to Lori Beth by letter and she tries to come up with $800 to get to Greenland so she can marry him so Marion helps by going on a "Dreams Can Come True" TV show.
I don't think I remembered until watching these episodes again how strongly Happy Days started its post-Richie era because I think about how the show went into a decline in its final years but it's clear it doesn't happen right away. This is another strong entry with a funny premise that ties Richie into the story without him appearing. It's a good showcase for Marion Ross with her over-the-top performance on the "Dreams Can Come True" TV show. Poor Anson Williams though. The show has absolutely no idea what to do with him.
RATING: 7/10
171. Hello, Roger (12/2/80)
A cousin of the Cunninghams comes to town as the school's new basketball coach but immediately gets off on the wrong foot with Fonzie.
This episode introduces noted show killer Ted McGinley as Roger Phillips. McGinley has famously appeared on several shows towards the end of their run and he certainly is associated with the downfall of Happy Days in its final seasons. Unlike the first couple episodes of the season, an emphasis on this new character who is very clearly an attempt to get a Richie dynamic back on the show just doesn't work very well because McGinley is so bland. His character is the sort of "humdrum" character that people made fun of Richie for being even though he wasn't.
RATING: 3/10
Joanie decides to go against her father's wishes and gets a car but then needs to hide it from him.
We had two different episodes with Richie getting a car so why not an episode with Joanie getting a car? This episode is pretty similar to the Richie stories with a car. Erin Moran is solid in a lot of parts of Happy Days but she's not usually very strong when she has to be super flustered. For example, the scene at the movie theater doesn't play very well because she's not very believable. However, there is a very funny reference about Ron Howard when Howard and Marion plan to see The Music Man. It's a fine episode but nothing special.
RATING: 6/10
173. White Christmas (12/16/80)
Marion is sad that Richie isn't home for Christmas and everyone ends up snowbound in different places.
I love a good snowbound episode and this one feels a whole lot like Christmas. It's a little bit sappy in places but I'm more forgiving of that in a Christmas episode. I like that the show doesn't just ignore Richie. He's been mentioned in pretty much every episode to this point and that's fitting, especially in a Christmas episode, that they would be talking about him. The "Christmas Lunatic" stuff is a little bit silly but it works for the most part while the Potsie stuff with his Dad at least gives him a little bit more to do. It's not as strong as "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas?" or "Christmas Time," but it's still a good episode.
RATING: 8/10
174. And the Winner Is... (12/30/80)
Fonzie hopes to win the Teacher of the Year Award but then embarrasses himself when Roger ends up winning.
This episode follows a predictable pattern for any episode like this where a character expects to win an award. I can't think of a scenario ever happening in real life where someone doesn't listen to who wins the award and goes up to begin their acceptance speech. That seems to be something that very much only happens in sitcom land. It also gets unnecessarily sappy at the end of the episode when the class (which, by the way, we've only seen once before) strokes Fonzie's ego by telling him what a great teacher he is. Yawn.
RATING: 2/10
175. If You Only Knew Rosa (1/6/81)
With a class reunion coming up, Al tries to lose weight and impress Rosa Coletti, who stood him up 20 years ago.
Al is one of those characters who works really well as a supporting character but is not a great one to build an episode around despite Al Molinaro's best attempts. It attempts to be a sweet episode and we have heard about Rosa Coletti from time to time, but it just doesn't feel like a story worthy of building an entire episode around. Many of the other characters are pretty incidental in this one too and it's a rare episode where Marion Ross doesn't appear. Also, how did Ted McGinley already get to a point where he gets entrance cheers to the same level of Henry Winkler and Scott Baio?
RATING: 4/10
The gang tries to help Fonzie buy a new bike for his birthday but when they take his money to make the purchase, Fonzie suspects Al's new cook stole the money.
This is a fun episode that deals with a misunderstanding (like so many sitcom episodes throughout history). But there's also a fun twist to the end of the episode that makes it a little more clever than an average episode where a character learns their lesson. The episode works all the way through with a more clever plot than we often see from Happy Days at this point in the run. They sow the seeds early on with Fonzie's distrust of the new cook but then seemingly move away from that plot for a good portion of the middle of the episode only to return to it later. It all works.
RATING: 8.5/10
177. It Only Hurts When I Smile (1/27/81)
Fonzie has a very bad toothache but doesn't want to go to the dentist.
This is the second guest appearance in 16 episodes by Warren Berlinger after he had a memorable guest turn in "The Hucksters" in Season Seven. He plays a different character here - a dentist - and he's still solid but not as memorable. What I don't like about this episode is it plays into some of the worst instincts with the Fonzie character - when they make him an insufferable child. The bad Fonzie personality traits are when he's very infantile about certain things and that's certainly the case here with going to the dentist (not that he's the first sitcom character to be nervous about the dentist).
RATING: 3.5/10
178. Welcome to My Nightmare (2/3/81)
While sick with the flu, Fonzie thinks about everyone needing things from him and has a nightmare that is reminiscent of the Frankenstein story.
Happy Days went to a weird place with this episode. The show hasn't been nearly as wacky as it was in Season Six so while I am not a fan of this episode, I'm glad it isn't part of a trend in the current season. It seems like once in awhile shows just feel the need to do something outrageous with elaborate fantasy sequences and fanciful costumes and props. Maybe some people love to see their favorite shows do something totally different like this, but I always find episodes like this (not just on Happy Days) to be incredibly self-indulgent and an excuse to break out of the norms they have created for themselves. They almost never work for me. This is no exception.
RATING: 1.5/10
Tomorrow: The Friday Five - A look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!
Next Thursday: A look at Season 8 (Part 2) of Happy Days!
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