Editing Happy Days (section)

== Production ==
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2014}}
''Happy Days'' originated during a time of 1950s [[nostalgic]] interest as evident in 1970s film, television, and music. In late winter of 1971, [[Michael Eisner]] was snowed in at Newark airport where he bumped into Tom Miller, head of development at Paramount. Eisner has stated that he told Miller, "Tom, this is ridiculous. We're wasting our time here. Let's write a show." The script treatment that came out of that did not sell. But in spite of the market research department telling them that the 1950s theme would not work, they decided to redo it, and this was accepted as a pilot.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5esuQOE69s Michael Eisner on the development of "Happy Days"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704205435/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5esuQOE69s |date=July 4, 2017 }} with EmmyTvLegends.org (posted to YouTube on Nov8, 2011) Note: Eisner states that snowstorm happened when his son was three months old. [[Breck Eisner]] was born on December 24, 1970, so this means that the first treatment was written in late winter of 1970 (~March or April).</ref> This unsold pilot was filmed in late 1971 and titled ''New Family in Town,'' with [[Harold Gould]] in the role of Howard Cunningham, [[Marion Ross]] as Marion, [[Ron Howard]] as Richie, [[Anson Williams]] as Potsie, [[Ric Carrott]] as Charles "Chuck" Cunningham, and [[Susan Neher]] as Joanie. [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] passed on making it into a weekly series, and the pilot was recycled with the title ''Love and the Television Set'' (later retitled ''Love and the Happy Days'' for syndication), for presentation on the television [[anthology series]] ''[[Love, American Style]].''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioDxCd4tfn8&t=28s Charles Fox discusses writing the Happy Days theme] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308160004/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioDxCd4tfn8&t=28s |date=March 8, 2021 }} with EmmyTvLegends.org (posted to YouTube on June 16, 2015)</ref> Also in 1971, the musical ''[[Grease (musical)#Original productions and Broadway|Grease]]'' had a successful opening in Chicago, and by the following year became successful on Broadway. In 1972, [[George Lucas]] asked to view the pilot to determine if Ron Howard would be suitable to play a teenager in ''[[American Graffiti]],'' then in pre-production. Lucas immediately cast Howard in the film, which became one of the top-grossing films of 1973. With the movie's success generating a renewed interest in the 1950s era (although the film was set in 1962), TV show creator [[Garry Marshall]] and ABC recast the unsold pilot to turn ''Happy Days'' into a series. According to Marshall in an interview, executive producer [[Thomas L. Miller|Tom Miller]] said while developing the sitcom, "If we do a TV series that takes place in another era, and when it goes into reruns, then it won't look old." This made sense to Marshall while on the set of the show.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTDz6nDJh2E&t=1m42s Garry Marshall discusses creating Happy Days] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311224942/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTDz6nDJh2E&t=1m42s |date=March 11, 2021 }} with EmmyTvLegends.org (posted to YouTube on July 13, 2012)</ref>

Gould had originally been tapped to reprise the role of Howard Cunningham on the show. However, during a delay before the start of production he found work doing a play abroad and when he was notified the show was ready to begin production, he declined to return because he wanted to honor his commitment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McLellan |first=Dennis |date=September 14, 2010 |title=Harold Gould dies at 86; veteran character actor |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-harold-gould-20100914,0,1952380.story}}</ref> Bosley was then offered the role.

=== Production and scheduling notes ===
* [[Jerry Paris]], who played next-door neighbor Jerry Helper on ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'' and directed 84 episodes of that series,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jerry Paris |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0661577/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821105625/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0661577/ |archive-date=August 21, 2019 |access-date=August 20, 2019 |website=Internet Movie Database}}</ref> directed every episode of ''Happy Days'' from season three on, except for three episodes in season three ("Jailhouse Rock", "Dance Contest", and "Arnold's Wedding").<ref>{{Cite web |title=Happy Days Season 3 Episode Guide |url=http://www.tv.com/happy-days/show/270/episode_guide.html?season=3&tag=season_dropdown;dropdown;2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215130846/http://www.tv.com/happy-days/show/270/episode_guide.html?season=3&tag=season_dropdown;dropdown;2 |archive-date=February 15, 2009 |access-date=June 10, 2010 |publisher=TV.com}}</ref>
* Producer and writer [[Bob Brunner]] created Arthur Fonzarelli's "Fonzie" nickname and his iconic comeback phrase, "Sit on it."<ref name="variety" /><ref name="dspy" /><ref name="thr" />
* Beginning in September 1979 until the show went out of production, reruns of the show were [[television syndication|syndicated]] under the title ''Happy Days Again''.
* ''Happy Days'' was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions, a teaming of Thomas L. Miller with former film editor Edward K. Milkis, which became Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions when Robert L. Boyett joined the company in 1980, and was the first-ever show to be produced by the company's most recent incarnation, [[Miller-Boyett Productions]], which followed Milkis's resignation from the partnership. It was also produced by Henderson Productions and was one of the popular shows produced in association with [[Paramount Television]].
* In its 11 seasons on the air, ''Happy Days'' is the third-longest-running sitcom in [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s history{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} (behind ''[[The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet]],'' which ran 14 seasons, from 1952 to 1966), and one of the longest-running primetime programs in the network's history. It is also unique in that it remained in the same time slot, leading off ABC's Tuesday night programming at 8:00&nbsp;p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern]]/[[Pacific Time Zone|Pacific]] (7:00&nbsp;p.m. in the [[Central Time Zone|Central]] and [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain]] zones) for its first ten seasons. That half-hour became a signature timeslot for ABC, with ''[[Who's the Boss?]]'' instantly entering the top 10 when it was moved from Thursdays and staying in that time slot for six seasons, followed by the equally family-friendly sitcom ''[[Full House]]'' (another Miller-Boyett co-production). That sitcom also hit the top 10 immediately after inheriting the Tuesday at 8:00/7:00&nbsp;p.m. slot and then stayed there for four seasons.
* ''Happy Days'' also proved to be quite popular in daytime reruns; the show joined the [[ABC Daytime|ABC daytime]] schedule in September 1975, airing reruns at 11:30&nbsp;a.m. ET (10:30&nbsp;a.m. CT/MT/PT), being moved to 11:00/10:00&nbsp;a.m. in April 1977, paired with ''[[Family Feud]]'' following at 11:30/10:30&nbsp;a.m. It was replaced on the daytime schedule by reruns of its spin-off, ''Laverne & Shirley,'' in April 1979.
* [[CBS]] programming head [[Fred Silverman]] scheduled the ''[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]'' spin-off ''[[Good Times]]'' directly against ''Happy Days'' during their respective second seasons in an attempt to kill the ABC show's growing popularity. In a way this move backfired on Silverman, as he was named president of ABC in 1975, thus forcing him to come up with a way to save the show he tried to kill the year before. After having knocked ''Happy Days'' out of the top 20 programs on television his last year at CBS, Silverman had the series at the top of the [[Nielsen ratings]] by 1977 (see below). ''Good Times'' was later ended in 1979.
* Ron Howard later revealed that many of the exterior scenes filmed in ''Happy Days'' were actually shot in [[Munster, Indiana]].
* The official series finale ("Passages") aired on May 8, 1984. But there were five "leftover" episodes that ABC did not have time to air during the regular season due to the [[1984 Winter Olympics|Winter Olympics]] and the spring run of ''[[a.k.a. Pablo]]''. Four of these aired on Thursday nights during the summer of 1984; the fifth ("Fonzie's Spots") aired on September 24, 1984.

==== Production styles ====
The first two seasons of ''Happy Days'' (1974–75) were filmed using a [[single-camera setup]] and [[laugh track]]. One episode of season two ("Fonzie Gets Married") was filmed in front of a studio audience with [[Multiple-camera setup|three cameras]] as a test run. From the third season on (1975–84), the show was a three-camera production in front of a live audience (with a cast member, usually Tom Bosley, announcing in voice-over, ''"Happy Days'' is filmed before a live audience" at the start of most episodes), giving these later seasons a markedly different style. A laugh track was still used during post-production to smooth over live reactions.

Garry Marshall's earlier television series ''[[The Odd Couple (1970 TV series)|The Odd Couple]]'' had undergone an identical change in production style after its first season in 1970–71.

==== Sets ====
[[File:Happy days 1976 fonzies apartment.JPG|thumb|left|180px|Richie and Fonzie view his destroyed motorcycle in his living room, 1976. Fonzie's apartment was over the Cunninghams' garage.]]

The show had two main sets: the Cunningham home and Arnold's/Al's [[Drive-In]].

In seasons one and two, the Cunningham house was arranged with the front door on the left and the kitchen on the right of screen, in a triangular arrangement. From season three on, the house was rearranged to accommodate multiple cameras and a studio audience.

The Cunninghams' official address is 565 North Clinton Drive, [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]].<ref>''Wilcox's Soaps & More TV Character Address and Trivia Book'' (2004)</ref> The house that served as the exterior of the Cunningham residence is actually located at 565 North Cahuenga Boulevard (south of Melrose Avenue) in Los Angeles,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-08-21 |title=Iconic Movie and TV Houses of L.A. |url=https://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/iconic-movie-and-tv-houses-of-la-5023914 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111234058/https://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/iconic-movie-and-tv-houses-of-la-5023914 |archive-date=January 11, 2019 |access-date=January 11, 2019 |website=LA Weekly}}</ref> several blocks from the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue.

The Milky Way Drive-In, located on Port Washington Road in the North Shore suburb of [[Glendale, Wisconsin]] (now [[Kopp's Frozen Custard]] Stand), was the inspiration for the original Arnold's Drive-In; it has since been demolished. The exterior of Arnold's was a standing set on the Paramount Studios lot that has since been demolished. This exterior was close to Stage 19, where the rest of the show's sets were located.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

The set of the diner in the first two seasons was a room with the same vague details of the later set, such as the paneling, and the college pennants. When the show changed to a studio production in 1975, the set was widened and the entrance was hidden, but allowed an upstage, central entrance for cast members. The barely-seen kitchen was also upstaged and seen only through a pass-through window. The diner had orange booths, downstage center for closeup conversation, as well as camera left. There were two restroom doors camera right, labeled "Guys" and "Dolls". A 1953 [[Seeburg Corporation|Seeburg]] Model G jukebox (with replaced metal [[pilaster]]s from Wico Corp.) was positioned camera right, and an [[anachronism|anachronistic]] "Nip-It" pinball machine (actually produced in 1972) was positioned far camera right.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Happy days at arnolds 1975.JPG|thumb|Potsie, Richie, Fonzie, and Ralph Malph at Arnold's, 1975]]

In 2004, two decades after the first set was destroyed, the ''Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion'' requested that the reunion take place in Arnold's. The set was rebuilt by production designer James Yarnell based on the original floor plan. The reunion special was taped at [[CBS Television City]]'s Bob Barker Studio in September 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 7, 1954 |title=Shows |url=http://www.cbstelevisioncity.com/shows |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713152856/http://www.cbstelevisioncity.com/shows |archive-date=July 13, 2011 |access-date=June 4, 2014 |publisher=CBS Television City}}</ref>

=== Theme music ===
{{Main|Happy Days (TV theme)}}
Season one used a newly recorded version of "[[Rock Around the Clock]]" by [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] (recorded in the fall of 1973) as the opening theme song. This recording was not commercially released at the time, although the original 1954 recording returned to the American [[Billboard magazine|Billboard]] charts in 1974 as a result of the song's use on the show. The "Happy Days" recording had its first commercial release in 2005 by the German label Hydra Records. (When ''Happy Days'' entered [[broadcast syndication|syndication]] in 1979, the series was retitled ''Happy Days Again'' and used an edited version of the 1954 recording instead of the 1973 version.) In some prints intended for reruns and overseas broadcasts, as well as on the Season 2 DVD set release and later re-releases of the Season 1 DVD set, the original "Rock Around the Clock" opening theme is replaced by the more standard "Happy Days" theme, because of music rights issues.

The show's closing theme song in seasons one and two was a fragment from "Happy Days" (although in a different recording with a different lyric from that which would become the standard version), whose music was composed by [[Charles Fox (composer)|Charles Fox]] and whose lyric was written by [[Norman Gimbel]]. According to SAG, this version was performed by [[Jim Haas]] on lead vocals, [[The Ron Hicklin Singers]], Stan Farber, Jerry Whitman, and Gary Garrett on backing vocals, and studio musicians.

From seasons three to ten inclusive, a longer version of "Happy Days" replaced "Rock Around the Clock" at the beginning of the show. Released as a single in 1976 by [[Pratt & McClain]], "Happy Days" cracked the Top 5. The show itself finished the 1976–77 television season at No. 1, ending the five-year [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen]] reign of ''[[All in the Family]]''.

For the show's 11th and final season (1983–84), the theme was rerecorded in a more modern style. It featured Bobby Arvon on lead vocals, with several back-up vocalists. To accompany this new version, new opening credits were filmed, and the flashing ''Happy Days'' logo was reanimated to create an overall "new" feel which incorporated 1980s sensibilities with 1950s nostalgia (although by this time the show was set in 1965).

=== Merchandising revenue lawsuit ===
On April 19, 2011, ''Happy Days'' co-stars Erin Moran, Don Most, Marion Ross and Anson Williams, as well as the estate of Tom Bosley (who died in 2010), filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, which owns the show, claiming they had not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dobuzinskis |first=Alex |date=April 20, 2011 |title='Happy Days' actors sue over merchandising revenue |publisher=Reuters |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-56450420110420 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616204243/https://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-56450420110420 |archive-date=June 16, 2018}}</ref> The cast members claimed they had not received revenues from show-related items, including comic books, T-shirts, scrapbooks, trading cards, games, lunch boxes, dolls, toy cars, magnets, greeting cards and DVDs where their images appear on the box covers. Under their contracts, they were supposed to be paid 5% of the net proceeds of merchandising if their sole image were used, and half that amount if they were in a group. CBS said it owed the actors $8,500 and $9,000 each, most of it from slot machine revenues, but the group said they were owed millions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zamost |first=Scott |date=April 20, 2011 |title='Happy Days' actors claim fraud, money owed for merchandising |work=CNNMoney |url=https://money.cnn.com/2011/04/19/news/companies/happy_days_fraud_claim/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730190814/https://money.cnn.com/2011/04/19/news/companies/happy_days_fraud_claim/ |archive-date=July 30, 2018}}</ref> The lawsuit was initiated after Ross was informed by a friend playing slots at a casino of a ''Happy Days'' machine on which players win the jackpot when five Marion Rosses are rolled.

In October 2011, a judge rejected the group's fraud claim, which meant they could not receive millions of dollars in potential damages.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Eriq |date=June 5, 2012 |title='Happy Days' Actors Win Key Ruling in CBS Lawsuit |work=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/happy-days-cbs-merchandising-lawsuit-333369 |url-status=live |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603135539/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/happy-days-cbs-merchandising-lawsuit-333369 |archive-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref> On June 5, 2012, a judge denied a motion filed by CBS to have the case thrown out, which meant it would go to trial on July 17 if the matter was not settled by then.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scott |first=Zamost |date=June 5, 2012 |title='Happy Days' cast members' lawsuit heading for trial |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/05/showbiz/happy-days-lawsuit/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603142903/https://www.cnn.com/2012/06/05/showbiz/happy-days-lawsuit/index.html |archive-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref> In July 2012, the actors settled their lawsuit with CBS. Each received a payment of $65,000 and a promise by CBS to continue honoring the terms of their contracts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Daley |first=Sean |date=August 6, 2012 |title=Chachi done with broke Joanie |work=New York Post |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/chachi_done_with_broke_joanie_jG7yUfSMnMGcOrPhvJ915J |url-status=live |access-date=August 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119004217/http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/chachi_done_with_broke_joanie_jG7yUfSMnMGcOrPhvJ915J |archive-date=January 19, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Zamost |first=Scott |date=July 7, 2012 |title='Happy Days' actors settle lawsuit with CBS |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/06/showbiz/happy-days-lawsuit-settled/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603142413/https://www.cnn.com/2012/07/06/showbiz/happy-days-lawsuit-settled/index.html |archive-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref>