Oh, for simpler times with fewer adult responsibilities and fewer high-tech distractions!
Then I might manage to finish reading two excellent autobiographies (Henry Winkler’s “Being Henry: The Fonz – And Beyond” and the late Garry Marshall’s “My Happy Days in Hollywood”) before The Big Day.
The Big Day?
Yes, January 15 marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere of ABC’s nostalgic hit sitcom “Happy Days.”
Back in the day, “Happy Days” and its two most successful spin-offs (“Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork & Mindy”) were among my favorite programs. When Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli humbled himself enough to use reading glasses, it helped me feel better about my own first trip to the optometrist. (Would it have killed His Coolness to hang around to lend moral support for my later colonoscopy, prostate exams, et cetera? Aaaaay!)
Sure, snootier critics looked down on “Happy Days” for presenting an idealized, sanitized interpretation of the Fifties; but I don’t think any purpose would have been served by the catch-phrase “Sit on it” being replaced with “Sit on it – but not you, Rosa Parks! Stand up!”
I’m glad the beloved series (which ran for 11 seasons and 255 episodes) was celebrated with interview/clip reunions in 1992 and 2005, but it’s undoubtedly for the best that the series hasn’t gone the trendy “hey, kids, grab a defibrillator and we’ll do a reboot” route.
The original elements of the show simply wouldn’t mesh with 2024 sensibilities.
Can you imagine a frisky Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) crooning, “I found my signed and notarized consent form on Blueberry Hill”?
Wouldn’t it be more sad than funny for Fonzie to give Siri his magical jukebox whack – and then get fried by AI laser in retaliation?
It would become tedious if Ralph Malph’s every utterance of “I still got it!” triggered a pre-dawn IRS raid.
Copyright 2024 Danny Tyree, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.