History Series / HappyDays

** Most telling of all, Richie had an older brother named Chuck who liked to play basketball -- [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome who disappeared after the first season]].

* EgocentricTeamNaming: after Arnold's burns down, and Al & Fonzie are preparing to reopen. (Fonzie has invested his life savings.) Al wants to call the new establishment Big Al's, and Fonzie wants to call it Fonzie's. They finally compromise and call it...Arnold's.

''Happy Days'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] Creator/{{ABC}} sitcom created by Creator/GarryMarshall in TheSeventies and based around [[TheFifties '50s nostalgia]].

[[quoteright:340:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Happy-Days-Posters.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:Not pictured: {{Chuck Cunningham|Syndrome}}.[[note]]Clockwise from top: Howard, Potsie, Marion, Richie, Joanie, Ralph, and... Fonzie, ''ayyyy''.[[/note]]]]

''Happy Days'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] Creator/{{ABC}} sitcom created in the '70s and based around [[TheFifties '50s nostalgia]]. Fitting for a show which launched so many [[SpinOff spin-offs]], ''Happy Days'' actually originated as an episode of the GenreAnthology ''Series/LoveAmericanStyle'', but also drew both cast and conceptual elements from the movie ''Film/AmericanGraffiti''. It was something of a flop early on, but gradually became a ratings juggernaut and ended up having as big an impact on television as ''{{Series/Cheers}}'' or ''{{Series/Seinfeld}}''. Early episodes achieved a kind of brilliant, ''Series/FatherKnowsBest'' self-parody, but the show went way longer than it should have, and was ultimately the inspiration for the phrase JumpingTheShark.

[[caption-width-right:340:Not pictured: [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Chuck Cunningham]].[[note]]Clockwise from top: [[StandardFiftiesFather Howard]], [[TheDitz Potsie]], [[{{Housewife}} Marion]], [[TheAllAmericanBoy Richie]], [[{{Tsundere}} Joanie]], [[WackyGuy Ralph]], and... [[BreakoutCharacter ayyyy.]][[/note]]]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: [[TropeNamer The original]]. After being played by three different actors, the third quitter led to Garry Marshall just axing the concept entirely, and one day he ran up the stairs to his room and never returned. A very famous TV example, often subject to LampshadeHanging in other media about the show.

''Happy Days'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] Creator/{{ABC}} sitcom created in the '70s and based around [[TheFifties '50s nostalgia]]. Fitting for a show which launched so many [[SpinOff spin-offs]], ''Happy Days'' actually originated as an episode of the GenreAnthology ''Series/LoveAmericanStyle'', but also drew both cast and conceptual elements from the movie ''AmericanGraffiti''. It was something of a flop early on, but gradually became a ratings juggernaut and ended up having as big an impact on television as ''{{Series/Cheers}}'' or ''{{Series/Seinfeld}}''. Early episodes achieved a kind of brilliant, ''Series/FatherKnowsBest'' self-parody, but the show went way longer than it should have, and was ultimately the inspiration for the phrase JumpingTheShark.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Starting in the second season, "Arnold's" was owned by Matsuo Takahashi (played by [[TheKarateKid Pat Morita]]). Everyone calls him "Arnold", however; he jokes that it was easier and cheaper to answer to "Arnold" than to buy the letter signs to rename the MaltShop "Takahashi's".

** While the show's concept (and the ''LoveAmericanStyle'' episode that introduced the main characters) actually predated ''American Graffiti'', it was that film's success that led the network to greenlight it for production.

''Happy Days'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] Creator/{{ABC}} sitcom created in the '70s and based around [[TheFifties '50s nostalgia]]. Fitting for a show which launched so many [[SpinOff spin-offs]], ''Happy Days'' actually originated as an episode of the GenreAnthology ''LoveAmericanStyle'', but also drew both cast and conceptual elements from the movie ''AmericanGraffiti''. It was something of a flop early on, but gradually became a ratings juggernaut and ended up having as big an impact on television as ''{{Series/Cheers}}'' or ''{{Series/Seinfeld}}''. Early episodes achieved a kind of brilliant, ''Series/FatherKnowsBest'' self-parody, but the show went way longer than it should have, and was ultimately the inspiration for the phrase JumpingTheShark.

* FiveTemperamentEnsemble - The four main young men: Richie is melancholic, [[BreakoutCharacter Fonzie]] is choleric, Potsie is phlegmatic, and Ralph is sanguine
** The Cunningham family: Howard (leukine), Marion (phlegmatic), Chuck (sanguine), Richie (melancholic), and Joanie (choleric).
** Other characters: Arnold (sanguine), Al (melancholic), Spike (choleric), and Chachi (phlegmatic).

* DropInCharacter: The poor Cunningham house pretty much has people showing up unannounced throughout its entire history.

** Arguably ''Happy Days'' has said to have been a successor/spinoff from ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' but the idea of ''Happy Days'' originated as a story from the series, ''LoveAmericanStyle'', well before Creator/GeorgeLucas' film. ''American Graffiti's'' [[FollowTheLeader success]] did give Creator/GaryMarshall the confidence to put ''Happy Days'' into production.

** Arguably ''Happy Days'' has said to have been a successor/spinoff from ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' but the idea of ''Happy Days'' originated as a story from the series, ''LoveAmericanStyle'', well before GeorgeLucas' film. ''American Graffiti's'' [[FollowTheLeader success]] did give GaryMarshall the confidence to put ''Happy Days'' into production.

* EmotionallyTongueTied: When Fonzie tries to admit to Richie that he was wrong, it comes out "I was wr-rr---rr--- I was wrrr---rr ... I was ''not exactly right.''"

** Ralph: "I still got it!"

* TantrumThrowing: When Fonzie gets pissed off at the garage he works at, he kicks a car, throws a towel, and then pulls himself together. It's in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KeOGDUFVOw#t=22s some versions]] of the opening credits.

''Happy Days'' spun off several shows, some of them hits (''Series/LaverneAndShirley'' and ''Series/MorkAndMindy''), and a lot of misses (''Joanie Loves Chachi'', ''Blansky's Beauties'', ''Out of the Blue'', ''Fonz and the Happy Days Gang'', etc.)

* ThatNostalgiaShow: TropeCodifier for the '50s. Later inspired [[That70sShow the trope namer]].

* YoungEntrepreneur: Chachi seemed to be one of these when he was introduced, although this character trait had completely vanished during the series reboot in Season 8, so that his personality could shift more into the MrFanservice zone.

* SpinOff: ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'', and ''Mork & Mindy'' were all set in the same fictional universe. Fonzie once tried to set Mork up on a date with Laverne. It spawned more successful shows than almost any other series (only ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' could boast more):

** ''Happy Days'' itself was a spin-off of ''LoveAmericanStyle''. Well, "spin-off" might be inaccurate , since LAS was an anthology show. That's like saying ''The Simpsons'' is a spin-off of ''The Tracy Ullman'' show. Technically, yes, but not in the sense we use for most spin-off shows. The definition can get a bit wiggly, though.

!!''HappyDays'' is the TropeNamer for:

*** Actually, he earned his highschool diploma in the fourth season by taking night school classes. The Fonz does not require sleep!

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''That70sShow'' has a lot of parallels with ''Happy Days''.

** ''FreaksAndGeeks'' and ''TheWonderYears'' are also spiritual successors, albeit to a lesser degree.
** ''FamilyMatters'' is often considered the black ''Happy Days''; though set in the present day, it had many of the same producers, several [[RecycledScript recycled plots]], and a BreakoutCharacter who took over the entire show.

[[caption-width-right:340:Not pictured: [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Chuck Cunningham]].[[note]]Clockwise from top: [[StandardFiftiesFather Howard]], [[TheDitz Potsie]], [[{{Housewife}} Marion]], [[TheAllAmericanBoy Richie]], [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Joanie]], [[WackyGuy Ralph]], and... [[BreakoutCharacter ayyyy.]][[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:340:Not pictured: [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Chuck Cunningham]].]]

* MusicalEpisode: The ValentinesDay-centric "Be My Valentine" in Season 5, and the history-themed "American Musical" in Season 8.