History Trivia / HappyDays

** Otherwise averted, as the *Happy Days* regular cast was known for getting along unusually well. Even after Henry Winkler supplanted Ron Howard as the show's most famous cast member, the two actors continued to be good friends, and Winkler starred in [[''Film/NightShift'' the first major studio movie that Howard directed.]]

* CastTheRunnerUp: Don Most originally auditioned for the role of Potsie. Though Anson Williams got the part, they liked Don Most's audition and decided to create the character of Ralph Malph just for him. While a minor character in the pilot, he eventually becomes a a regular.

* TheCastShowoff: Anson Williams as Potsie was given the chance to sing on a number of occasions (with footage of him singing incorporated into the opening credits eventually). One episode even stops in its tracks so Potsie can sing "Deeply," an original song Williams recorded, even though it's a '70s pop song out of place in the '50s setting.

* AbilityOverAppearance: Gary Marshall admits that when he envisioned Fonzie he was thinking of "someone who is cut" like Creator/SylvesterStallone or Perry King, not physically someone like Henry Winkler, i.e. short and Jewish. But he said Winkler nailed it in the audition, he had the attitude of Fonzie down, if not the look, so he got the part.

* FreezeFrameBonus: Look closely at the record label on the 45 rpm single shown spinning during the opening credits of the first two seasons of "Happy Days". Although we hear Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", the single actually bears the title and writing credit for the actual "Happy Days" theme song which, for the first two years, was heard as the closing theme and during the opening moments of some episodes after the credits.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Although Fonzie loved motorcycles, Henry Winkler was terrified of them. Most of the scenes of Fonzie riding the motorcycle were shot with the bike attached to a platform, and being pulled by a truck. (The shot of Winkler riding a bike without apparent aid in the opening credits was an exception.)

* WorkingTitle: ''Cool''.

* RealLifeRelative: In the episode "I Drink, Therefore I Am" Heather O'Rourke's actual sister Tammy O'Rourke plays a neighbor girl, also named [[TheDanza Tammy]].

** When actress [[Series/{{Glee}} Jane Lynch]] was on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'', she said she wrote a fan letter to Anson Williams when she was a teenager in the '70s and she got a written response back from him. Kimmel showed the letter and in it Williams asked Lynch if she and her friends would write to the show asking for more Potsie singing! Lynch didn't but if Williams responded to every fan letter the same way and most of them complied, it explains why Potsie sang so much on the show!

* TheCastShowoff: Anson Williams as Potsie. One episode even stops in its tracks so Potsie can sing "Deeply," an original song Williams recorded, even though it's a '70s pop song out of place in the '50s setting.

* DawsonCasting: Which became increasingly obvious as the series progressed and the actors aged well into their twenties (or, in the case of Henry Winkler and Anson Williams, their thirties).

* ExecutiveMeddling: The reason why Fonzie wore a windbreaker instead of a leather jacket for a while. The executives feared he'd come off as a hoodlum to viewers. Creator/GarryMarshall got around this by convincing network executives that a leather jacket would function as motorcycle safety gear. Marshall then instructed the writers to include the motorcycle in all of Fonzie's scenes until the network finally relented. Interestingly, once Fonzie's popularity became well established, those same executives later demanded that the producers rename the show to ''Fonzie's Happy Days'', or simply, ''Fonzie''. Threatened resignations from the cast members, including Henry Winkler, nixed this idea.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Although Fonzie loved motorcycles, Henry Winkler was terrified of them. Most of the scenes of Fonzie riding the motorcycle were shot with the bike attached to a platform, and being pulled by a truck.

** Following the cancellation of the series' [[AnimatedAdaptation animated spin-off]] ''WesternAnimation/TheFonzAndTheHappyDaysGang'', a second cartoon that would have teamed Fonzie with [[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo Scooby and Scrappy-Doo]] was proposed. Animated Fonzie was eventually placed on ''Laverne and Shirley in the Army,'' an animated version of Series/LaverneAndShirley.

* BillingDisplacement: Averted when the producers wanted to change the name of the show to ''Fonzie's Happy Days'' to reflect [[BreakoutCharacter The Fonz's]] growing popularity. Both Ron Howard and creator Garry Marshall threatened to leave the show if the producers did so, and even Henry Winkler himself objected to this proposal, feeling that Ron Howard was the real star of the show.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The reason why Fonzie wore a windbreaker instead of a leather jacket for a while. The executives feared he'd come off as a hoodlum to viewers. Garry Marshall got around this by convincing network executives that a leather jacket would function as motorcycle safety gear. Marshall then instructed the writers to include the motorcycle in all of Fonzie's scenes until the network finally relented. Interestingly, once Fonzie's popularity became well established, those same executives later demanded that the producers rename the show to ''Fonzie's Happy Days'', or simply, ''Fonzie''. Threatened resignations from the cast members, including Henry Winkler, nixed this idea.

** Chuck Cunningham was played by an assortment of failed actors before finally being written out of the show.

* TheOtherDarrin: Chuck Cunningham was played by an assortment of failed actors before finally being written out of the show.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As the character of the Fonz became increasingly popular, Creator/{{ABC}} considered giving Henry Winkler his own {{Spinoff}}. Another consideration was keeping Winkler on ''Happy Days'' (renaming it "Fonzie's Happy Days"), but either giving him top billing or the [[AndStarring "and starring" credit]]. Winkler, not wanting to upstage his costars, turned down all offers. However, he eventually settled for taking second billings (under Ron Howard, whom Winkler felt was the series' real star, eventually accepting top billing when Howard left to pursue directing).

* IAmNotSpock: A good number of fans actually believed Henry Winkler actually possessed Fonzie's RuleOfCool powers, begging him to do things for them that ranged from [[PercussiveMaintenance banging on a car's hood to make it work]] to quieting all the animals in a zoo. Basically, if you've ever even ''heard'' of Henry Winkler [[Series/TheHollywoodSquares and]] ''[[Series/TheHollywoodSquares aren't]]'' [[Series/TheHollywoodSquares a game show fan]], the Fonz is probably the only role you're ever gonna think of; unlike most who are blessed/cursed with this trope, however, Henry embraces his Fonzarelli past.
** So much so that his daughter went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As the character of the Fonz became increasingly popular, Creator/ABC considered giving Henry Winkler his own {{Spinoff}}. Another consideration was keeping Winkler on ''Happy Days'' (renaming it "Fonzie's Happy Days"), but either giving him top billing or the [[AndStarring "and starring" credit]]. Winkler, not wanting to upstage his costars, turned down all offers. However, he eventually settled for taking second billings (under Ron Howard, whom Winkler felt was the series' real star, eventually accepting top billing when Howard left to pursue directing).

* ExecutiveMeddling: The reason why Fonzie wore a windbreaker instead of a leather jacket for a while. They feared he'd come off as a hoodlum to viewers. Garry Marshall got around this by convincing network executives that a leather jacket would function as motorcycle safety gear. Marshall then instructed the writers to include the motorcycle in all of Fonzie's scenes until the network finally relented.

** When actress [[Series/{{Glee}} Jane Lynch]] was on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'', she said she wrote a fan letter to Anson Williams when she was a teenager in the 70s and she got a written response back from him. Kimmel showed the letter and in it Williams asked Lynch if she and her friends would write to the show asking for more Potsie singing! Lynch didn't but if Williams responded to every fan letter the same way and most of them complied, it explains why Potsie sang so much on the show!

* CatchPhrase:

** The initial ''LoveAmericanStyle'' episode featured Harold Gould as Howard and Susan Neher as Joanie.

** Following the cancellation of the series' [[AnimatedAdaptation animated spin-off]] ''TheFonzAndTheHappyDaysGang'', a second cartoon that would have teamed Fonzie with [[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo Scooby and Scrappy-Doo]] was proposed. Animated Fonzie was eventually placed on ''Laverne and Shirley in the Army,'' an animated version of LaverneAndShirley.

* IAmNotSpock: A good number of fans actually believed Henry Winkler actually possessed Fonzie's RuleOfCool powers, begging him to do things for them that ranged from [[PercussiveMaintenance banging on a car's hood to make it work]] to quieting all the animals in a zoo. Basically, if you've ever even ''heard'' of Henry Winkler [[HollywoodSquares and]] ''[[HollywoodSquares aren't]]'' [[HollywoodSquares a game show fan]], the Fonz is probably the only role you're ever gonna think of; unlike most who are blessed/cursed with this trope, however, Henry embraces his Fonzarelli past.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As the character of the Fonz became increasingly popular, Creator/ABC considered giving Henry Winkler his own {{Spinoff}}. Another consideration was keeping Winkler on ''Happy Days'' (renaming it "Fonzie's Happy Days"), but either giving him top billing or the [[AndStarring "and starring" credit]]. Winkler, not wanting to upstage his costars, turned down all offers. However, he eventually settled for taking second billings (under Ron Howard, whom Winkler felt was the series' real star).

** Following the cancellation of the series' [[AnimatedAdaptation animated spin-off]] ''TheFonzAndTheHappyDaysGang'', a second cartoon that would have teamed Fonzie with Scooby and Scrappy-Doo was proposed. Animated Fonzie was eventually placed on ''Laverne and Shirley in the Army,'' an animated version of LaverneAndShirley.