Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that in my opinion, the greatest show ever produced for television – past, present or future – is Happy Days. I can watch less than a minute of any episode and can tell you which episode it is and give you about 75% of the dialog. And of all the characters on television, the greatest EVER is Fonzie. I even know his full name – Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli.
Considering the world we live in, I think Fonzie would be a great role model today, maybe even more so than in the 70's when the show was in production. Look at his life; he was abandoned by his father, his mother died, he was raised by his Grandma Nussbaum, he dropped out of high school and joined gangs. While he was in one of those gangs, he met Richie Cunningham and because of that friendship, he decided to turn his life around. He left the gang, got his high school diploma and became a teacher. His idol was The Lone Ranger. Authority was respected, even Officer Krik. Who never believed that Fonzie had turned his life around was always looking for a reason to bust him. Yes, they made fun of him and his attitude, but when it came down to it, Fonzie even defended him against Mork. He loved and counseled his friends, stood up for the little guy, worked on a political campaign ("I like Ike. My bike like's Ike"), and even though he had a hard time saying he was wrr…wro…not always right, he never lied. He ate is veggies, respected others, fought and beat the Devil AND an alien!
I loved Fonzie more than any of the others because I related to him. My Daddy left when I was 4 and that was pretty much that. Mama had to go to work and Granny took care of my cousins and I when our Mama's were working. I wanted to be just like Fonzie when I grew up and I did repeat one of his mistakes – I quit school when I was 16, but like my hero, I went back to school. But that wasn't being like Fonzie, it was about being a role model for someone else.
Sadly, I don't think a show like Happy Days would fly today. It's too sweet…too good. Howard Cunningham wasn't an idiot, the kids and their friends weren't self-centered smart-mouthed know-it-alls who thought that parents were clueless. Joanie wasn't a brainless tramp, there was no foul language, no one was walking around half-naked, and no one had a drinking or drug problem…except one time Richie got drunk (H.C.: How many of those little drinks did you have son? R.C.: Se-ven-ty-two) and he paid for it the next day. There was no grey…there was right and wrong and in the episode with Melvin Scratch – the Devil, there was good and evil. Right and good always won. Do kids even watch Happy Days now?
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