Happy Days" was set in the 1950s in Milwaukee, the heart of
middle-class America, and told the story of the Cunningham
family. Mr. Cunningham (Tom Bosley) ran the local hardware store
and Mrs. Cunningham (Marion Ross), like all good TV Moms, spent
her time in the kitchen. Their son, Richie (Ron Howard), hung out
at Arnold's Drive-In with his pals Ralph Malph (Donny Most) and
Potsie (Anson Williams), trying to be as cool as the coolest
greaser in town, the Fonz (Henry Winkler). Richie's sister,
Joanie (Erin Moran), tagged along whenever she wasn't at her
friend Jenny Piccolo's house.]]0]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
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Life in Milwaukee's Cunningham household and Arnold's Drive-In
goes on as normal in Happy Days: The Fourth Season. With one
important exception: Richie (Ron Howard) and his pals Potsie
(Anson Williams) and Ralph (Don Most) are heading toward
high-school graduation and their collective future as young men.
Thus, when each receives a notice from the draft board to appear
for a physical, they go. When all of them fail a senior-year
class, jeopardizing graduation requirements, they spend a long
night studying so they can secure their freedom. When Richie gets
tired of living in his family's home and wants some privacy with
a girl, he arranges to borrow a friend's apartment for an
evening. That friend, no surprise, is Fonzie (Henry Winkler).
More than ever, Winkler is the star of Happy Days (along with
Howard), with every storyline deeply involving Fonzie and his
playful arrogance. Most of the episodes in The Fourth Season are
built around Richie slowly moving into the adult world while
Fonzie hovers nearby, providing his version of guidance and
support. In "A Place of His Own," Richie begs Fonzie (who rents a
room above the Cunninghams' garage) to let him use that space to
impress a girl--an arrangement that goes haywire when Mr.
Cunningham (Tom Bosley), Mrs. Cunningham (Marion Ross), and
Joanie (Erin Moran) come home too soon and catch the Fonz
ing in Richie's room (and in Richie's pajamas). "Richie
Branches Out" finds the titular redhead falling for an attractive
model on a , then going to great lengths to meet her under
false pretences. Seeing the folly of Richie's ploy but
understanding his temporary insanity, Fonzie gives Richie room to
fail but then bucks him up like a pal. "Time " is a
frenzied episode in which Richie, Potsie, Ralph and several girls
get locked inside the vault at Mr. Cunningham's hardware store.
Only Fonzie's manifest cool (whether real or projected) helps
Richie save his sanity while the others fall apart. Certainly
there are times when Richie helps Fonzie, too: when the latter
can't stop picking fights in "A Mind of Their Own," Richie
encourages him to see a shrink, with unexpected results. In
"Fonzie's Old Lady," Richie has to break the news to his friend
that the older woman he's seeing is, in fact, married. Other good
episodes include "A In the Dark," in which Richie wins a
basketball game at school with a lucky that he can't
replicate later. "Marion Rebels" finds Mrs. Cunningham frustrated
with Howard's expectations of her, resulting in Mrs. C taking a
job at Arnold's. This box set ends with a third anniversary
episode, basically an obligatory clip show derived from past
episodes. --Tom Keogh