Part 1 Originally Aired November 8, 1977 on ABC
Part 2 Originally Aired November 15, 1977 on ABC
“Remember Pinky Tuscadero?” Joanie asks the guys at Arnold’s.
Richie, Potsie and Ralph remember Pinky with great fondness. The actors and crew of “Happy Days” remember Roz Kelly, who played Pinky, quite differently. It is rumored that her relationship with Henry Winkler was especially fractured. So, how do you bring back that Tuscadero magic without bringing back an actress nobody wanted to work with?
Enter Suzi Quatro as Pinky’s sister Leather, fresh out of reform school. She sings and plays guitar! And likes to do a little “pow pow” gun thing with her finger when she meets somebody. She’s actually a very likeable character. But Fonzie hates her! Seems she glommed his wallet. (Cunninghams: “Glommed?”) In the eyes of The Fonz Leather is “a bum”…but Richie reminds his pal that to err is human, to forgive devine. Richie takes matters into his own hands and gets Leather an audition at Arnold’s, where Fonzie sees for himself that her music career is no con.
Al deems the act “Bravissimo!” The girls are set to play Arnold’s Friday night! In fact, Joanie gets a gig filling in for one of Leather’s departing backup singers! But then…Chachi breaks in to announce that Officer Kirk will not allow any ex-cons to perform.
So let’s talk about Officer Kirk. I believe this is one of two multi-parters he features in but I may be wrong about that. We’ll find out down the line. Kirk, played with guttural villiany by Ed Peck, appeared in 9 episodes. (And in checking that stat on IMDB I see that I was right about Officer Kirk appearing in one other multi-parter. Clap for the blogger!) He is the classic “straw man” villain, appearing in most episodes to pester Fonzie about his supposed hood-like ways. There is one “Happy Days” episode where, perhaps in an effort to show their young viewers that Kirk was a single bad apple, the “Happy Days” writers paired him with a friendlier deputy who does lots of eyerolls and facial reactions to indicate he, like us watching at home, thinks Kirk’s a jackass.
Anyway, Officer Kirk gets the youth of Milwaukee to chant “Go home jailbird!” and Fonzie must give Leather Tuscadero some confidence to go out there and face the mob. Suzi Quatro is not going to win any awards for her acting, but she pulls this pivotal scene off quite nicely.
LEATHER: Listen, Mr. Magic! I’m not you! I can’t control things with a finger snap!
FONZ: Hey, that didn’t come to me right away. It took time…at least two nights!
“You got a choice,” Fonz tells Leather. “Go out there and make a fresh start, stay in here and be a bathroom attendant.”
Leather faces the crowd and launches into a rocking version of “All Shook Up”. Rock and roll being the force for change that it is, the kids chant “Go home Kirk!” But he will return! As for Leather And The Suedes, Fonz has booked them on a tour with Fabian. Joanie is excited to go to San Francisco with the show, but big brother Richie tells her there’s no chance. To Be Continued!
Part 2 begins with Leather And The Suedes singing “Devil Gate Drive”, a 1974 single for Suzi Quatro. All of the music in this two-parter is great. Not that we don’t love to hear Anson Williams crooning “Let’s Twist Again” or some such, but the songs here have a little extra juice, thanks no doubt to Quatro’s rock credentials.
Mr. and Mrs. C are at Arnold’s to see Joanie “ah-ooo bop bop” her way through the show. When Leather tells the Cunninghams of her plans to take Joanie on tour, Mr. C reacts as one might expect. Joanie, though, is sure she can talk her parents into it. That doesn’t go so well. “Everybody’s living my life but me!” cries Joanie. And then she runs away from home…always a good move to combat your parents’ argument that you’re not mature enough to do something.
RICHIE: She’s probably cold, probably starving to death…
FONZIE: Leather…how is she eating?
LEATHER: Well, she’s not starving…she just—uh–
FONZ: Where is she?
She’s in Leather’s hotel room. Richie and Fonz plan to go fetch her but Leather, who knows a thing or two about teenage angst and such, suggests that she should go get Joanie. Richie and Fonzie do their “good cop/bad cop” talk to convince Joanie she’s seeking grown up excitement at the expense of teenage memories. “I feel grown up, but nobody treats me like one,” sighs Joanie. “It hurts.” Fonzie assures “Shortcake” that these are growing pains everyone goes through. Then Fonzie leaves and Richie and Joanie have a heart-to-heart. “I’m always Richie’s sister,” she says. “Whaddya want me to do, rob a bank or something?” Richie replies.
The Cunningham family is the heart and soul of “Happy Days”, and these Richie/Joanie scenes were always really well-written and well-acted. The last act of this episode is very reminiscent of the conclusion of the season 3 episode “They Call It Potsie Love”, which also had a nice scene with the Cunningham kids.
RICHIE: Al! Alfred! I’m gonna turn the lights out okay?
AL (from kitchen): Who’s that?
RICHIE: Joanie’s brother.
Leather Tuscadero, incidentally, went on to appear in several other episodes of “Happy Days”–not just episodes that spotlighted Quatro and her music, but as a member of the “Happy Days gang”. Suzi Quatro must have been a lot of fun to work with.
Random Notes:
-In both of his two autobiographies–which are very, very similar–Garry Marshall mentions the “treacle cutter”–a technique he learned while writing for “The Danny Thomas Show” that uses a joke to keep a sentimental scene from getting too mushy. This technique was used to perfection on “Happy Days”. In the tag of Part 2, Joanie and Richie come home…Mr. and Mrs. C scold Joanie for running away but eventually soften their approach:
MRS. C: Have you eaten?
JOANIE: Yes, Mom.
MR. C: Are you all right?
JOANIE (teary-eyed): I’m fine, Dad.
,MRS. C (in tears): Don’t ever go away like that! We’re so glad that you’re home. Now dear.. if you ever have a problem, don’t run away. Talk to us.
JOANIE: Okay. There’s just one thing.
MRS. C: What?
JOANIE: Do you think I could have a phone in my room?
MR C: No.
JOANIE: That was a short talk!
-Ralph on getting ready to date Leather’s backup singer: “I’m ready for action, Pots. I’ve got my ventriloquist dummy in the car.” Richie is who we think we are. Fonzie is who we wish we were. But in reality, we’re all either Ralph or Potsie.
-“The Fonz does not play guessing games while chewing.”
-AL: Officer Kirk, can’t we discuss this over an Arnoldburger?
KIRK: Making death threats, eh?
-Catchphrase Watch: Slim pickings here but Joanie sneaks in a “He’s such a hunk” at the end.
-Oh, and because this is how most people know Suzi Quatro:
Next: The most important 8 seconds in Fonzie’s life!