Arthur's Nights Around The Table

Paul Mavis at DVDTalk on third-season Happy Days, when Henry Winkler's Fonzie rocketed into the American eternal after being mainstreamed from loner wildcat to Tabbus mi(l)d-americanus via the scripted shifting of his character's motorcycle gears of a sort which would at once make of Howard and Marion's new attic tenant "Arthur" an honorary Cunningham and the now scenery-chewing Winkler a more ... cunning ham:

Fonzie still talks a tough game (there's a surprising number of times that Fonzie discusses his mystique, and how he constantly threatens others with violence), but now that threat of danger is used mostly for comic effect. The absolutely hilarious episode, The Motorcycle, has Fonzie literally tied up by Howard (Tom Bosley) and Richie in their living room, so he won't kill Ralph Malph (Donny Most), who accidentally totaled Fonzie's beloved bike. The new Fonzie, of course, doesn't get to punch out anybody, so his frenzied efforts to escape the ropes is the highlight of the scene. Fonzie may talk tough, but the punches are pulled, and played for laughs. As for his legendary feats of "cool," which can encompass anything from starting the jukebox at Arnold's with a rap of his hand, to ordering any woman to pick him up at 8, they become increasingly outlandish this season, with an almost supernatural bent that ups the humor level significantly (in Three on a Porch, Fonzie, annoyed by the sounds of nature out in the woods, yells, "Cool it!" with the offending creature noises immediately silenced. His topper line? "Let's see Tarzan do that!"). He's even able, in this season, to put Evil Knievel in his place, jumping over 14 garbage cans with his bike, a "cool" feat immediately ameliorated by having the Fonz crash into Arnold's fried chicken stand.

All this attention paid to the Fonzie character necessarily leaves the rest of the cast scrambling for the crumbs (Anson Williams was hit the hardest; his second lead status reduced in this third season to minor supporting goof). Howard's Richie character, once the lead of the series, now largely revolves around Fonzie (unlike the previous two seasons), playing his square, clean-cut, mid-Western values off the Fonz's occasional slips back to his hoodlum ways. Howard, a sincere, gifted comedian, plays perfectly off the highly strung Winkler. Winkler, absolutely flying in this season, is lean, mean, and constantly trying not to crack up at his own lines, as well as at the effect his character has on the screaming live audience. He's really a wonder to watch here. Supremely confident in his craft, he's got the Fonzie character nailed, and you can tell he's just as astounded as everybody else in the cast that this role was rapidly becoming a national, cultural phenomenon. And that's not overstating the popularity of the Fonzie character; if you weren't born back then, just ask somebody who grew during the 1970s about the reach of this character into the pop culture fabric. Along perhaps with J.R. from Dallas, the Fonz was the last truly massive pop culture icon created by the "Big Three" networks, before cable started the slow Balkanization of TV viewing, forever destroying the commonality hundreds of millions of Americans shared when they had only three choices of programming at any given hour during primetime. Everybody may "know" about Homer Simpson or Tony Soprano today, but only a couple of million viewers actually tune in to watch them each week; their recognition factor is based more on marketing than actual viewership. During Happy Days's peak, 31 percent of all homes with a TV regularly tuned in to see Richie and the Fonz - numbers that dwarf similar ratings shares today, due to cable, the internet, TiVo, and DVR.

The switch to a three camera shoot this season also added a spontaneity and electric charge to the acting that wasn't lost on the viewers (producer Garry Marshall did the same thing for The Odd Couple). Actors now played off each other's deliveries and the live studio audience's reactions, rather than to the camera, creating a more theatrical experience (the first two seasons play much more like mini feature films) that bumped the ratings up to 11th for the season, beating out fading Good Times, which unwisely didn't move out of the way of Happy Days growing juggernaut ratings.

More importantly, the writing for Happy Days: The Third Season is razor sharp. Anyone who loves this sitcom and remembers it fondly will be surprised at how many classic episodes came from the third season. The season opener, Fonzie Moves In, perfectly captures the new acting rhythms that will dominate the coming seasons, with Tom Bosley proving to be an excellent, slow-burn foil for Fonzie's mercurial temperament. The Motorcycle has one of the all-time funniest Fonzie moments, when, off camera, Fonzie screams in outraged anguish when he discovers his beloved motorcycle in pieces all over the Cunningham's lawn. Fearless Fonzarelli (Parts 1 & 2) have Winkler jumping on the Evil Knievel craze, while topping the first episode with his petulant recovery on the Cunningham couch in the second part ("See this face! Uncool! Not cool!"). Richie Fights Back is perfectly pitched to Howard's and Winkler's growing chemistry (I love it when Richie tries to intimidate two hoods - and only succeeds in scaring Ralph and Potsie to death) ...