“Sunday, Monday, Happy Days.”
Hear these lyrics and a) you can’t help but start singing and b) you know that it’s the theme song to the iconic ABC series, Happy Days .
It had everything you could want in a hit show: humor, family drama, the Fonz, and Robin Williams.
It even has these 10+ behind-the-scenes secrets!
1. It’s one of ABC’s longest-running series.
The hit show ran for 10 years from 1974 to 1984 .
It even spawned five spinoffs, including Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy . While these two were successful, these three other spin-offs weren’t: Joanie Loves Chachi , Blansky’s Beauties , and_ Out of the Blue_.
2. It was created by the same director of *Pretty Woman*.
The late Garry Marshall was a legend in the entertainment world.
In addition to Pretty Woman and Happy Days , he directed Beaches , The Princess Diaries , Never Been Kissed , as well as adapting a play into The Odd Couple for television.
3. The show helped Robin Williams jumpstart his career.
When Marshall was having a lot of trouble casting the role of Mork from Ork, he turned to his sister.
She ended up recommending a comedian she had seen on the street: Mr. Robin Williams.
This ended up changing the actor’s life forever.
Robin was such a hit from the start.
Winkler even once said on Home & Family that he was unable to stop himself from laughing while they were filming the “My Favorite Orkan” episode.
4. John Lennon once visited the set.
The late singer visited the set with his dad since he was such a huge fan of the show.
While he was there, he signed autographs and even drew doodles for the cast and crew.
5. Ron Howard joined the show to avoid being drafted in the military.
The actor had just enrolled in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts to fulfill his dream of being a director.
But since going to college was no longer considered a deferment for the war, he chose employment deferment .
By working with Paramount and becoming the star of a TV show, he was untouchable.
While the pilot never sold in the end, it did buy him enough time for President Nixon to end the draft shortly after filming had wrapped.
6. Henry Winkler almost didnt get the role of Arthur Fonzarelli.
That’s because the Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz was the Marshall’s first choice .
But since he was so tall and towered over Ron Howard, Winkler was a better fit (literally).
7. The cast and crew formed their own softball team.
The cast that acts together, plays together! At least that was Marshalls thought process when he formed the Happy Days All-Star Softball Team.
The team would promote the show and raise money for charity.
8. A lot of the character names were inspired by Marshall’s real life.
For instance, he originally named Arthur “Arthur Masciarelli” after his original surname. In the end, he changed it to create the Fonz.
Plus, the first home the Marshalls purchased was on Arcola Street.
9. Bill Haley recorded a new version of his hit song just for the show.
After “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets worked so well on the first episode of the show, he recorded a new version of his single.
This went on to be the theme song for two seasons.
10. Henry Winkler’s dyslexia made it difficult for him to read the scripts.
The actor even made up his lines for his audition since he couldn’t read them
“That’s not in the script,” the producers would point out. To this, Winkler replied: “I know but I’m giving you the essence of the character and if I get the part I’ll do it verbatim.”
11. Pinky Tuscadero, played by Roz Kelly, was added onto the show to be the “female Fonzie.”
The daredevil cyclist played Fonzie’s love interest in Season Four.
Due to their similarities, their on-screen romance got a lot of attention off-screen.
But in the end, this romance didn’t last as Kelly didn’t mesh well with the cast.
“I grew up on welfare, so I don’t relate to rich kids,” she told People magazine in 1976 about how she struggled to connect with Winkler.
She was soon removed from the show.
12. The Fonz wasn’t initially allowed to wear his signature leather jacket.
If you rewatch Season One, you’ll notice that he was only wearing the leather jacket when he was standing next to a motorcycle.
This was because the network was worried the jacket would make him look too rough.
Marshall soon found a loophole: write the motorcycle into a lot of scenes.
Yes, this is why he rode through the front door of Arnold’s in each episode!
This eventually became a long-running gag.
13. Ron Howard was cast in *American Graffiti* because of his work in the *Happy Days* pilot.
Before George Lucas made Star Wars , he created the box office hit, American Graffiti .
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It’s even responsible for Happy Days since ABC picked up the series due to the film.
14. The “Mork” episode was created because Gary’s son loved *Star Wars*.
After Marshall’s son saw the movie, he asked his dad one simple request: create a martian episode.
While the sentiment was sweet, the cast did not like the script to “My Favorite Orkan.”
Two actors even quit due to how bad the script was! Thank goodness for Robin.
“[It] was like the worst script in the history of Happy Days,” Anson Williams, who played Potsie Weber, told Hallmark’s Home & Family .
Yikes!
