Originally Aired October 6, 1981 on ABC (60-Minute Episode)
Before we get into the season-opening summer soap opera “Home Movies”, some housekeeping regarding season 7 of “Happy Days”. As you know if you’ve been following along, I am doing recaps of every multi-part or double-length episode of the series. Season 7 has two instances of episodes that come very close to qualifying for a recap in this series but don’t quite make it.
The first of these is the season 7 premiere, “Shotgun Wedding”, a Garry Marshall one-hour crossover extravaganza that begins with an episode of “Happy Days” (September 11, 1979) and concludes with an episode of “Laverne and Shirley” (September 13, 1979). I did not do a full recap of “Shotgun Wedding” for two reasons: One, it is not a legitimate “Happy Days” two-parter since the second half is an episode of a different series. Two–and this is the real fly in the ointment–the original version of the “Happy Days” episode “Shotgun Wedding Part 1” is nigh onto impossible to view. Since the two series would end up airing on different stations and different times in rerun syndication, a special “tag” was filmed for the “Happy Days” episode that briskly ties up the loose ends and kinda sorta makes it seem like a self-contained episode:
These promos give you an idea of what actually happens in the “Part 2” on “Laverne and Shirley”:
So that’s “Shotgun Wedding.”
Later in season 7, we have two episodes which aired in January 1980 that start, and then continue, the story of stupid Chachi forgetting to turn off the grill. “Hot Stuff” kicks off the Joanie and Chachi relationship that becomes so important to the series with the departure of Ron Howard and Donny Most. Unfortunately Chachi’s excitement at taking Joanie out (one assumes to Inspiration Point) distracts him big time.
“Holy moley” is right. Poor Arnold’s. Fonz gives Chachi quite the dressing down, and ultimately comes to the rescue with enough money for Al to build “The New Arnold’s”. But in this second episode Al and Fonz are sparring partners and have very different ideas-Al for example thinks there should be a big sign that says “BIG AL’S” and Fonzie thinks there should be a big sign that says “FONZIE’S”. Fortunately the two Italians (Fonzarelli and Delvecchio) settle their differences and open the new Arnold’s which is…..uhhhhh……great? I’ve read it described as a “cowboy bar” which seems as accurate as anything. Lots of dark woodsy tones, the bar itself (cappucino only! This is still a high schooler hangout), and the tables which….are picnic tables. I’ll take the classic malt shop asthetic any day.
Anyway, these two episodes are both self-contained stories with an ending, and although the second is a continuation of the story in the first, these two episodes do not play out in the classic “cliffhanger/resolution” format of a true Happy Days Epic.
So. Onto “Home Movies”? Well, not quite yet.
It’s been two full years since we checked in with the Happy Days gang and since most folks don’t remember (or try to forget) the post-Richie era, let me get you caught up on characters old and new before we unspool our latest epic.
Richie Cunningham and Ralph Malph are in the Army, serving in Greenland–the same place my Pappy served his Uncle Sam, and (keeping in mind the always-shaky Happy Days timeline) at about the same time. So Richie and Ralph could have shared a table at the mess hall with Big Dave Wentworth. I’d watch that show.
Mr. and Mrs. C are dealing with the excitement and occasional frustration of raising a teenage daughter. They miss their son, Mrs. C being especially weepy when new letters from Greenland arrive.
Joanie Cunningham is in a very serious relationship with Chachi. In season 8 Joanie buys a car without her parents’ permission; sneaks off to a concert with Chachi (and ends up spending the night in a tacky hotel with him when their vehicle dies); and finally meets some of Chachi’s family including his sweetheart of an Italian mother and his oddball Uncle who breaks walnuts over his head.
Arthur Fonzarelli starts season 8 taking on a new challenge as auto shop teacher at Jefferson High School. His students are hard to reach at first but improve quickly. The Fonz steps in as Richie’s proxy when a wedding ceremony is conducted via telephone for Richie and…
Lori Beth Allen (married name Lori Beth Cunningham) gets a waitressing job at Arnold’s and spends the early part of season 8 trying to get to Greenland to see Richie. Eventually, after the telephone-wedding-by-proxy, she is now able to visit him as his wife.
Chachi Arcola is a basketball superstar at Jefferson High, and also a Manager at Arnold’s. And he loves Joanie. And if he thinks we’re going to forget that he burned down the good Arnold’s, he is sorely mistaken. Chachi also wrote a history paper on the American immigration experience. Somehow this inspired him.
Roger Philips (Ted McGinley), the rather stuffy college-educated nephew of Howard and Marion, comes to Milwaukee to teach and coach at Jefferson High. He gets off on the wrong foot with Fonzie but the two eventually forge a strong friendship. (It is at this point in the series that, perhaps to contrast the two characters’ educational background, Fonzie begins using a lot of Archie Bunker-style malapropisms which Roger helpfully corrects.)
Jenny Piccolo (Cathy Silvers) enters the “Alan Brady Hall Of Fame” in season 8, going from an unseen character to a full-fledged member of the “Happy Days” gang. With the classic Richie-Potsie-Ralph-Fonzie friendship torn asunder, Joanie and Chachi and their friends become the primary story movers…and Joanie needed a female friend that wasn’t just a punchline. In her first season Jenny manages to (very briefly) marry The Fonz. We knew she was a fast mover.
Potsie Webber. Oh, poor Potsie. Richie and Malph are gone, Fonzie is busy teaching the Mr. Goodwrenches of tomorrow, and Potsie…well, he exists. He still gets to croon a tune at Arnold’s now and then. He pops up at the Cunningham house to the excitement of no one. He shoots Fonzie in the ass with a hunting rifle. Well–I won’t spoil it but “Fonzie Gets Shot” sounds like one of those dreary “serious” episodes but it’s actually a “Rashomon” episode about a trip Fonz, Chachi, Roger and Potsie take to the woods. It’s one of the funnier post-RIchie episodes. Potsie just doesn’t have a lot going for him in these later seasons.
Big Al continues to run Arnold’s. Season 8 finds him finally meeting up with the legendary Rosa Colletti! He is enchanted but decides he deserved better than to be abandoned by her without explanation years previously. Way to stand up for yourself Al!
And so, with all of that vital preamble out of the way, we are able to move into our recap of “Home Movies”, whi–hold on….lemme check the clock…is that a half-hour already!? Oh my….I’m afraid this post is…..
