These Happy Days Are (still) Yours and Mine

Carolyn Cochrane 0:01

Here's the story of how you can win a trip for two to LA to visit the iconic Brady Bunch house. Not only visit the home, but spend the day there, exploring and brunching with members of the Brady Bunch cast. If you remember, Kristen, Michelle and I had the time of our lives when we got to visit the home back in September, it was truly a magical experience. And now you can have an experience like that too, alongside cast members from the show. Simply visit the Brady experience.com to enter the Brady brunch sweepstakes and from now through January 31 PCPs listeners can get four entries for the price of one. All you have to do is put PCPs in the Add order note section of the shopping cart, and the goodness doesn't stop there. For every 10 purchases you make, you'll have the opportunity to tour the house on your very own. Just remember to put PCPs in the Add order note section of your shopping cart, you can feel good knowing that a portion of your purchase goes to No Kid Hungry, a campaign to help end childhood hunger in America. So get those entries in and cross your fingers. Good luck, everybody. You music. Hi listeners, and welcome to this encore presentation of episode 82 these Happy days are yours and mine, where we share the impact that happy days had on our culture and on each of us personally, like one of us almost had their husband recite chachi's wedding vows, she'll have to listen to the episode to find out who that is. And as we talked about earlier this season, happy days is one of those TV shows celebrating its 50th anniversary. Oh my gosh, yes. Can you believe you guys that it has been 50 years since we first gathered around our television sets on a Tuesday night to watch Richie and Fonzie and Joanie and Patsy and Ralph Malph and all the others living their lives in Milwaukee.

Kristin Nilsen 2:04

It doesn't even seem possible, because I'm still a child. How can that be 50 years ago?

Carolyn Cochrane 2:11

And I think, and you might argue with me, but I think it for us, for our generation, it might have been one of our first introductions to appointment TV. Like that's true. Since when has Tuesday night been so look forward to it. It was exciting.

Kristin Nilsen 2:26

When I think about it in my own timeline. The reason that I may have been showing up like that is because even though I was six, those teenagers were kids, and so I was showing up for a show about kids, whereas everything else I watched with my family was, you know, whether it's sunny or sunny and Cher or on the family or Mary Tyler Moore, those are all stories about adults, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But this was for us

Michelle Newman 2:51

well, and it was the 50s. It was like, I think we talk about this in the episode too, but our fascination with the 50s in the mid 70s was enormous. And so for me, it was the poodle skirts and just the music and and

Carolyn Cochrane 3:06

our parents wanted to watch it. They did. Yeah, this was very nostalgic for them, and the I don't want to be left out. FOMO Carolyn knew that that's what everybody else was doing. So I better watch it too, because I wouldn't be cool if I wasn't watching it and couldn't partake in some of the conversations, you know, again, back then, we had these collective experiences that everybody, as we say, was experiencing at the same time. And honestly, I think the world could maybe use a little more appointment

Kristin Nilsen 3:35

Yeah, more appointment TV that we all bond over, all of us exactly,

Carolyn Cochrane 3:39

exactly. And I recently came across not that I spent all my time on social media, you guys, but on threads. And for listeners, if you don't know about threads, it's like the new Twitter. It's like a happy Twitter. And I came across a post from a TV writer and producer, Jennifer gross, and it not only struck a chord with me, but 1000s of others based on the replies and how many likes she got. And here's what she wrote. If you want to know what will reunite America, it's 22 episode TV seasons the anticipation of next week's airing and run through the airport rom coms. It's the wholesomeness of game shows and commercial jingles. It's shared community and laughing at the same things and finding common ground through all the little connections physical media and spaces gave us.

Kristin Nilsen 4:25

I feel seen. I feel so seen. I agree, 150%

Carolyn Cochrane 4:31

yes, you and 1000s of others. And you know, this is coming from someone in the industry. This isn't just, you know, people just, oh the good old days. We

Kristin Nilsen 4:40

don't bond with people that we know for six episodes. We don't fall in love with characters that we only know for six episodes,

Michelle Newman 4:45

because when you bond with them, though, by season two, are you guys watching shrinking on Apple TV? So Brian and I love shrinking, but here's the thing, we liked it season one. We liked it enough to watch season two. Now we love it. Now we. Only seen a total of, let's say, 16 episodes, right? We now feel like we know these characters finally, and we've bonded with them, and we know their quirks and what they're gonna say. We are watching the latest episode last night, and I had this exact thought, Carolyn. I thought to myself, I'm so sad. I bet next week's the last episode, I bet there's only 10, and I just have felt like I've just now really gotten into their stories and what's going to happen, and Oh no, he's going to be mad when he finds this out. Or two years before they come back. And I was I almost thought, why bother? Yeah, why bother getting invested in a new a new streaming show. Yeah?

Carolyn Cochrane 5:43

Well, to those points, Jennifer went on to say that the reason viewers are reaching for comfort shows like for her, she says Parks and Rec. I think we can talk about Glenn

Kristin Nilsen 5:55

nine nine Yeah, over

Michelle Newman 5:57

and over, yes. And I

Carolyn Cochrane 5:59

think we could even say Little House on the Prairie and all of that is because humans need Constance and shared community. What makes TV special is the intimacy of these characters coming into your living room and becoming friends after work or school, you come home and you see them, you go on a date and you see them through good days and bad they're part of your world for long periods of time and major life events, you can't make that kind of connection in a weekend binge. Oh,

Kristin Nilsen 6:25

my. I wish I could be more articulate in my response to that, but I feel like we've been saying this for four years, that there we have a huge loss here for us. That's

Carolyn Cochrane 6:38

exactly what I told her, because I actually replied, I think it was to, oh, this is her reply to me when I said, we have a podcast about this, this is what we've talked about. And she said exactly, I rant all the time that the reason we're so divided is because we've lost all of those shared moments and sense of community. Yes, there is real power in experiencing things together at the same time, and when we find joy and laugh at the same things, it connects us and reminds us we're not all that different. Binge watching in silos has disconnected us to the point of division, and the convenience just isn't worth that loss. Society cannot function as separate entities. We need each other, and that's just her response to your comment. Comment, right?

Kristin Nilsen 7:23

And it is so 100% true, and it makes me really sad for the people who are growing up with this style of TV that they will never find each other, right? Who knew that I Love Lucy would be the answer, right? Right? Well,

Michelle Newman 7:39

but I think too, I would love to have her on the podcast, and we could have a really good chat about this, because I know that there's a lot of you out there listeners who feel the same way. I also think, you know, she mentions, like, Parks and Rec. Kristin, you said you guys are watching Brooklyn nine, nine. We'll watch our Friends episode, and then we'll watch six more, and they might be ones that will say, I think we just saw this one like three months ago, because friends was such a collective experience. So if it's a show like the office or Parks and Rec or friends or, you know, there's a lot of these sitcoms or even hour long dramas that we know everybody watched, yeah, 1520, years ago. So even watching them again today is comfort, because there's too many shows out there we have, like every streaming service, and we sometimes are so overwhelmed we don't know what to watch, or we'll see it every day, sort of going back to what I just said, I'll say, Well, do you want to start this show? And we'll go, Well, no, because there's only eight episodes and we don't know if it's going to get picked up again. So why invest you know, the next two nights watching these eight episodes when let's just watch Friends, let's just watch it's that's reliable, but it also connected us all, 2530 years ago. So watching it now brings that feeling back. If that does that does that make sense to you? It makes you feel grounded, feeling back, yeah? Because also there weren't as many shows. There's too many shows right now. Yeah, too many to choose from. So bringing it back to happy days, I know I talked about this in our encore open a couple of episodes ago, how we asked our listeners all the shows, songs, music, whatever that brought them comfort. Yeah, so many of them were television shows way back when people say, I go to bed every night watching an episode of family, I go to bed every night watching Eight is Enough, because these were the shows that they could, like you said, Kristen, they could rely on. They're still relying on them this many years later. That's

Carolyn Cochrane 9:35

right. And those characters we were invested in, you know, Susan and Merle the pearl, when Eight is Enough, and they were like, are they gonna stay together? They're fighting. Oh no, his pitching arm, all the things we needed to know. And Jennifer, our friend, she sums it up so well, I think in this one sentence, she says, five seasons of 22 episode broadcast comedies with holiday. Vacation and bottle episodes would heal our nation. My god, yes,

Michelle Newman 10:05

I Jennifer, I

Kristin Nilsen 10:07

don't. And there's and she mentioned in her first comments about how we had to wait the anticipation of the weekly show, and we all waited together, and it aided in our bonding with these characters, there is a loss when you get everything you want, whenever you want it, when you can listen to any song at the drop of a hat. And I think we talked about this earlier too, where you go to Spotify to listen to a song, and then you don't want to listen to that song, so then you go to the next song, and then you don't want to listen to that song, so you skip to the next song, right? You can never just sit and enjoy because there's always something better out there that you can pivot to. You can't just sit in the moment and enjoy what is handed to you

Carolyn Cochrane 10:49

and you know what else. And this makes me really sad. There's also an equity issue with some of these things. Not everybody has just access to have all the streaming services like they don't have, you know, the money to do that, let alone maybe have the electronics that it takes to access these so you're almost alienating people a little bit. But I think in 1975

Kristin Nilsen 11:10

you could bet that almost all households had a television set. You had at least one TV set, yeah, and all of those shows were free. You there was no paywall for any of these shows. It was free and open to the public. Look at how far we've fallen from that idea.

Michelle Newman 11:27

It's terrible. It's terrible because let's circle back to Happy Days, what this episode is about. Because we all had access to Happy Days, right? Yes, I just mentioned while ago, are you guys watching shrinking on Apple TV? And my first thought was, oh, do they have Apple TV? So maybe you can't watch training, right? It's a really good show. Or people, I hate it when people will say, Are you watching this? And I'll say, oh, no, I don't have, you know, man,

Kristin Nilsen 11:52

I don't know, right?

Carolyn Cochrane 11:53

Or they've watched it all already, and you're afraid they're going to tell you, like, like I did session that, you know what happened? Someone died, I thought, because

Kristin Nilsen 12:04

I thought it was a water cooler moment that all the United States showed up for when died, and Carolyn had not shown up for the moment yet, and I ruined it for her. I told you had to have Matt,

Carolyn Cochrane 12:16

you had HBO max or whatever. So, right? I mean, we do, but Andy wanted to watch it, so we were going to do that together. I mean, people have all their reasons, and you don't have to watch it at the same time, because you can get it at different times. Kristen would always say, like, Oh, next time you're at a dinner party or a cocktail party, you know, ask where someone like, favorite episode of The Brady Bunch. Or, you know, we can talk about the wheelhouse on the prairie episode, or Happy Days, yeah. And what are our kids gonna do? What was your favorite episode of whatever? You

Kristin Nilsen 12:47

know, what fill in the blank, right? I

Michelle Newman 12:49

love what she's saying. I'd love to get her on the podcast. I think we could have a great conversation with her. But I'm just so happy that we have shows like happy days now, of course, streaming, that we can watch the moms. But even

Carolyn Cochrane 13:01

if we didn't have streaming, we could still have the memories. Yeah,

Kristin Nilsen 13:04

we have the memories of showing up for that. You do. You could

Carolyn Cochrane 13:08

talk about that with people of your generation, and yeah, and for 50 years, we remember these shows. Yes, I can't tell you the last time I watched a Happy Days actual episode or watched it through, but I those episodes are near and dear to me as our little house, also, 50 years you know, Land of the Lost all the things

Michelle Newman 13:27

I know when you watched it, it would have been when this aired, because we all watched Fauci and pinky. Because listeners, if you after you listen to this episode today, listen to the next one because and you'll hear us talk about it in this episode, because we take that beloved, iconic episode of The Big demolition derby, and we break that sucker down. And as a Malachi brothers, we actually also have a really good discussion of Fauci

Kristin Nilsen 13:53

intellectual growth is emotion. Yeah, we do. I'm gonna wrap this up by blowing your mind for a minute. Go back to the comment that Michelle made about how we were so obsessed with the 50s and in the mid 1970s so if and in 1976 you know, the happy days would have been taking place in 1956 20 years prior. So if we were to make the equivalent of the happy days today, we would have a show in the year 2004 Carolyn's, like, hyperventilating into her shirt. Carolyn's doing

Michelle Newman 14:25

that target lady meme. You know the Christian target lady? Yeah, she pulls her turtleneck up over

Carolyn Cochrane 14:33

her because I want to say 2004 wasn't very different.

Kristin Nilsen 14:37

What does it even look like? Like I think I'm wearing the same clothes,

Carolyn Cochrane 14:42

the same hairs I have, the same hair, the same makeup.

Michelle Newman 14:45

Yeah, I 100% still have underwear I wore in 2004

Carolyn Cochrane 14:48

Oh my gosh. What does time? Look what is time? I know. Oh, my goodness, you

Michelle Newman 14:54

know what time is. It's a beautiful thing. Look at us. We're all still here. We're chatting. We're laughing.

Carolyn Cochrane 14:59

Thing. Well, let's take a trip back in time. How about that? And without further ado, please enjoy this encore presentation of episode 82 these Happy days are yours?

Kristin Nilsen 15:15

Are you wondering how the PCPs stays afloat? I'll tell you the answers with contributions from listeners like you, we depend on your support to pay for recording services, audio software, transcription fees, website hosting and the hours and hours of research, writing, editing and engineering to go into producing each show. If you'd like to help us keep doing this job that we love, you can join our crew of supporters over on Patreon. Just go to patreon.com and put pop culture Preservation Society in the search bubble, and they'll tell you what to do. You can choose the level of support that's right for you, from our superstar level at $5 a month all the way up to our Bicentennial level. Yes, you guessed it, at 1976 a month. In exchange, we'll send you even more PCPs content after the episode, conversations, video clips and even invitations to live virtual events with your hosts. Your support is our accounts payable department doing all the heavy lifting so we can keep our jobs. We love you guys. Thanks for being here today and enjoy the show. And we played Happy Days all the time. And the most coveted role, of course, was always Fonzie, for boys and girls alike. And I'm going to reveal to you guys that some of those Fonzie games were not exactly appropriate. Oh,

Michelle Newman 16:30

let's do the hell say

Kristin Nilsen 16:34

that playing Fonzie was our version of playing Doctor.

Unknown Speaker 16:39

Hello, there's a song like we're singing.

Carolyn Cochrane 16:43

Come on, get

Unknown Speaker 16:48

happy. A whole lot of love is what we'll be bringing we'll make you happy.

Michelle Newman 16:54

Welcome to the pop culture Preservation Society, the podcast for people born in the big wheel generation who know that running in slow motion means you are bionic?

Carolyn Cochrane 17:04

We believe our Gen X childhood gave us unforgettable songs, stories, characters and images, and if we don't talk about them, they'll disappear like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition, and

Kristin Nilsen 17:17

today, we'll be saving the show that inspired our entire generation to shut down their adversaries with a salty sit on it. That show is happy days.

Carolyn Cochrane 17:28

I'm Carolyn, I'm Kristen,

Michelle Newman 17:29

and I'm Michelle, and we are your pop culture preservationists, Sunday,

Unknown Speaker 17:41

Monday, happy days, Tuesday, Wednesday. Happy days. The weekend comes to you these days.

Michelle Newman 17:54

For a decade, the years between 1974 and 1984 millions of Americans tuned in to ABC on Tuesday nights to watch a Milwaukee family's life from the 1950s to 1960s unfold, and I was one of them, front and center happy days for me is one of about three shows that really defined my childhood. Sure, there are countless shows I watched and loved, but only a small handful to the degree that were as meaningful to me as happy days in my early childhood. And when I say meaningful, I mean everything from the degree to which I loved it to the importance the entire trajectory of that series had on my little life. Did I start watching it in 1974 I'm sure. No, I was five, but from about 1976 to 1984 you guys, I was all in and when Chachi Arcola entered in season five, which was in 1977 my life literally changed. Literally my life literally changed. This

Carolyn Cochrane 19:01

is true. And I want to say that year that your life literally changed when you started watching it was the one year that I did not watch it, because you guys the 7778 season was when the Fitzpatricks was on CBS at the same exact moment. So you were being introduced to Scott and I was falling in love. Yeah, Carolyn, it was terrible. I had to watch it on a little black and white TV set in my parents bedroom, because everybody else in my family it was must see TV in the family room. So but that was the only year that I digressed. Otherwise, I was a staunch fan. This

Kristin Nilsen 19:42

was not only appointment TV Tuesday nights at 7pm on channel nine, it was a shared appointment. I think that was the case for a lot of people. It was mostly for my brother and me, and it can be hard for a brother and sister to find things that they are both equally into. So Happy Days was kind of like our meeting of. The mines. It was like two adversaries coming together in the spirit of Fonzie. And because actually the whole neighborhood, all the neighborhood kids, came together in the spirit of Fonzie. And we played Happy Days all the time. And the most coveted role, of course, was always Fonzie for boys and girls alike. And I'm going to reveal to you guys that some of those Fonzie games were not exactly appropriate. Oh, dude, well, say that playing Fonzie was our version of playing doctor.

Carolyn Cochrane 20:34

Did the Stein girls play? No, this is pre Stein girl

Kristin Nilsen 20:39

created that game, and it was like there was nothing out of the ordinary for, you know, body curious eight year olds, but it was still probably something that our parents would have shut down if they found us. Dr Fauci. Dr Fauci,

Michelle Newman 20:52

I have this pain right under my shirt

Kristin Nilsen 20:55

to keep it clean, you guys, this is the best part to keep it clean. We would always put a piece of notebook paper between the person who was doing the kissing, which was Fonzie, and whoever or whatever Fonzie was kissing, so there was never any

Michelle Newman 21:13

back it up or whatever Fonzie was kissing.

Kristin Nilsen 21:20

A lot of places on the body you can kiss. I'm just and there's a lot for an eight year old. This is fantastic information, yeah, but don't worry, there was a piece of notebook paper.

Michelle Newman 21:30

Isn't that funny? I believe I can totally see that, and I see how that's a good workaround, yeah, totally clean.

Carolyn Cochrane 21:37

Well, I want to also chime in on the impact that this show made, because I have a distinct memory, and I want to share it with you the last episode, and we'll talk about this later, how it might not officially been the last, but the episode where Joni and Chachi get married was billed as the series finale, and it aired the night. It was my freshman year of college, and I was studying for a calculus test the next day, and I did not do well in calculus, let's say so I gave myself this reprieve when this this episode was going to air, I got to break from studying and watch the episode. And you guys to this day, I feel like this was the moment I can say I went from being a child to that threshold of not being a child anymore. I bawled so hard during that. Meanwhile, I hadn't watched it like much in the 80s, but I realized this was the ending of something that had seen me through from 1974 until present day, and it was over. It was ending much like my that part of my life was ending, and I to this day, if someone asks me, when, when do you feel like you grew up like I would tell you, tell you that memory is so distinct. She

Kristin Nilsen 22:54

got married. I have to give it

Carolyn Cochrane 22:58

a little backstory, obviously. But yes, it was when Joni and Chachi got married. And that's

Michelle Newman 23:02

interesting, because we've talked about how we feel like Little House on the Prairie. Kind of did. We grew up with Little House on the Prairie too, but the other one, yeah, it isn't well. And that's one of my other handful of shows. That's the most impactful show of my early childhood. Of course, those shows changed as I got older. You know, we can throw in family ties, we can throw in 30 something, but for the 70s, it's Little House on the Prairie. It's Happy Days, and because they did see us through our childhood the whole time. Yeah, that's interesting. Well, you guys, I have a whole bunch of stuff written down that I'm supposed to start reading now, but can I just see how giddy I am to be chatting about this show with you guys. You've been waiting. I've been waiting for this. And I feel like this is what the PCPs is all about. Really, it's sharing these important pieces of our childhoods with each other and with all of our friends listening. And so I just feel like I'm so excited right now. I almost have like, a nervous tummy to be like, to be talking about this show and these people, these characters that were so important to us. Okay, well, let's get to it so happy days. One of the most successful and iconic series of the 1970s and one that I'd argue almost everyone loved, and if you didn't, you were a monster. It aired on ABC from january 1974 to July 1984 with a total of 255 episodes. I want to give you, though some interesting background about the show before we really dive into the meet in late 1971 Michael Eisner, who, at the time, was head of production at Paramount. And you guys, we are learning that that guy had his finger on the pulse of everything like Hollywood before time, I think, existed before dinosaurs. Michael Eisner was there running the show, but he, along with Gary Marshall, created a pilot called new family in town, starring Ron Howard, Marion, Ross Anson Williams as their normal characters, Harold Gould as Howard Rick carrot as. Chuck and Susan naher as Joni, but the network rejected it for one reason or another. And there are reasons if you guys want to do the research, but we don't time for that. So Gary Marshall revised it as a short segment for Love, American Style. I love that, and it's and the little segment was originally called Love and the television set, but was later retitled to love and the happy days with that cast, which introduced the world to the Cunninghams and Patsy. And it's a really great little segment from Love, American Style, easily found on YouTube. Listeners go watch it. It's very cute, like we talked about in our 1976 episode. In the early 70s, there was a huge nostalgic interest in the 1950s right? Everyone needed a bomb following Vietnam and Watergate, Greece opens on Broadway in 1971 to huge accolades. And then Ron Howard stars an American Graffiti in 1973 which became one of the top grossing films that year, and suddenly ABC is like, uh, we'll take another look at that little 50s show. But they wanted some changes, so Gary Marshall and crew did some character editions, Fauci being one of them, they recast a few parts, Howard, Joni, Chuck, and it became a series, so happy days, then it was initially a moderate success, but the ratings began to fall during its second season, so Garry Marshall had to retool it a little bit, and the new format emphasized broader comedy and spotlighted Fonzie, who was previously a minor character. And if you go back and watch season one of Happy Days, it's not quite the same. It feels. Doesn't have the same feel. Yeah. Happy Days became the number one program in television in 1976 the 1976 1977 television season. So Happy Days might be easily identified for its theme song by Bill Haley and his comets, but it was totally dependent on its cast for its success, and what a cast. I mean, this cast gives true meaning to the term ensemble. Don't

Kristin Nilsen 27:08

you guys think it's true? Oh, without a doubt, yes.

Michelle Newman 27:11

So let's go down the roster of the OGS, and we're going to start with Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, because

Unknown Speaker 27:16

I'm the Fonzie. I didn't know

Kristin Nilsen 27:19

his middle name is Herbert. Yes, I had no idea.

Michelle Newman 27:25

Played by Henry Winkler, aka the nicest man in Hollywood, Henry, come on our podcast. We're the nicest podcasters.

Carolyn Cochrane 27:35

Minnesota podcast land.

Michelle Newman 27:39

Henry Winkler had studied theater at both Emerson College and Yale School of Drama and appeared in two independent films, and he landed a small role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, before auditioning and getting the part of Fonzie. And fun fact, Mickey Dolans also auditioned and was in the running to play the Fonz that

Kristin Nilsen 27:57

would have worked for what they thought Fonzie was supposed to be in the beginning, but not for what Fonzie became. No Right? Like in the beginning, Fonzie was cast as like a cautionary tale to Richie, like this is what Richie could become if he doesn't make good choices. But then, very soon, it turned out that the fans really loved the ne'er do well, and the guy who was from the other side of the tracks, and he was sort of a lovable guy. I'm not sure Mickey Dolan's would have brought that to the role, because Arthur Fonzarelli became sort of a soft puppy, even though he was a cool dude.

Carolyn Cochrane 28:30

Yeah, and Mickey comes with not baggage, but he, we know him as a as a monkey. So yes, I don't know. Would have been hard, kind of goofy. Yeah, monkey.

Michelle Newman 28:43

But I know, could you haven't seen him as not a monkey? I don't know.

Kristin Nilsen 28:48

I don't think so. No, I

Carolyn Cochrane 28:49

don't think it was too close. I

Kristin Nilsen 28:51

mean, it was only, yeah, what, seven years or something, from when he was a monkey, right? Well, and

Michelle Newman 28:56

I'll just say not Well, in my opinion, Mickey Dolan's wasn't very cute. So

Kristin Nilsen 29:00

Linda disagrees. Linda really thought he was adorable.

Carolyn Cochrane 29:04

Well, I had read when Henry Winkler auditioned. He's dyslexic. I don't know if you guys knew that, and so he didn't memorize this, you know, they gave him the script, but he couldn't really read it right there. So he kind of made up what he thought Fonzie would say, and kind of brought the essence of what Fonzie would bring to, or what Henry would bring to the character of Fonzie. And when they asked him to read from the script, like, can you say some of the lines? And he just said, No, I just want you all to feel the essence of Fonzie. This is what Fonzie would be like.

Kristin Nilsen 29:37

How can you imagine? How would somebody learn lines if you had that much difficulty reading. And yet, you hear about, I would say there's a very high percentage of people in the acting community with dyslexia.

Michelle Newman 29:50

Yeah, I recently heard Henry Winkler on a podcast, and he's written a bunch of children's books, like a bunch, and since he's dyslexic, there is a special font for. It's really a cool font to to see for people with dyslexia, and his books are printed in that font. So for children, to help children be able to read his books,

Kristin Nilsen 30:10

otherwise, you have to get the ebook and, like, switch the font, yeah? So they're actually printed that way? Yeah? No,

Michelle Newman 30:15

some of his are printed that way. I think I don't know if all of them, but anyway, so Fonzie, like I said earlier, he was originally written as a secondary character, but soon became so popular that he became a lead and shared top billing with Ron Howard, and we all grew to love Fonzie for so much more than his coolness and cuteness. Mean, Fonzie was the cool orphan with the heart of gold, and he had so much love and respect of family because he never had one, and most especially the Cunninghams. And let's not forget, Fonzie was also magical. He could pound his fist on a jukebox and it started playing. He could snap his fingers and girls would instantly appear. You guys, Fonzie is only one of two characters to be on all 255 episodes. Do you know who the other one is? Well, I

Kristin Nilsen 30:57

know it's not the obvious. I do know. Actually, the only reason that you both know is because I've been researching it only. So of course, I would have said Richie. Of course I would have said Richie,

Michelle Newman 31:08

but that's not the truth. Did you not watch it at the end when Richie left?

Kristin Nilsen 31:11

No, I was in high school, so I was not watching I really wasn't watching TV. Yeah, I

Michelle Newman 31:16

would have known the answer to that offhand, though. I think I would have said Marion. I think

Carolyn Cochrane 31:20

it's not I thought it was Marion it's Howard. Oh,

Kristin Nilsen 31:23

it's Howard Cunningham, so anyway, I

Michelle Newman 31:26

think it's safe to say we all get Fonzie. Two big thumbs up, right? Everyone?

Carolyn Cochrane 31:33

Really fast. I want to insert a really fun fact while we're talking about Fonzie, because did you know that he was offered the role of Danny Zuko in the movie Greece, in the movie when he was on Happy Days, when he was on Happy days. And yes, I know again, probably why Mickey Dolans wouldn't have worked for Fonzie, because we come to thinking of that role as Fonzie and Danny Zuko was no Fonzie so and Plus, he's really short, like someone said he would have come up to like Olivia Newton, John's nipples, or something short.

Kristin Nilsen 32:08

It would have been Fonzie,

Michelle Newman 32:10

like she would have told me. Then one,

Kristin Nilsen 32:13

get your notebook paper out. How do you we wouldn't have been 150s, greaser from another. 50s greaser, right? No, I

Michelle Newman 32:20

would have been confused. And also, let's throw it back to our Saturday Night Fever episodes. Didn't, Wasn't there something about right after Saturday Night Fever, he had, like, a three picture deal John Travolta, and they were like, We want him for Greece. So then were they, like, going back behind his back and being like, well, maybe we'll get Henry Winkler. Well, could

Kristin Nilsen 32:37

have been prior. It could have been prior, right?

Carolyn Cochrane 32:40

Because he said in an interview, yeah, Henry Winkler was interviewed by AARP magazine. You got to love it. And he said he didn't, he didn't want to be typecast, but then he's like, but I'm typecast already, so I went home and had an orange juice. Travolta. Travolta went home and bought a plane. Oh, geez, that's good. So it seems like he might regret it a little bit, which seems oddly doing

Kristin Nilsen 33:05

okay. He's doing, oh, I

Carolyn Cochrane 33:08

think he's doing just fine. Well, we obviously know that Henry became a big star as Fonzie on Happy Days, but the other big star was Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham. Now I want you to know that Richard Cunningham just said that. I want you to know that Ron Howard was my very first TV friend. Okay, you guys, he was the little boy that I wanted to go fishing with from the Andy Griffith Show. So he played Opie Taylor on Andy Griffith, which is how most of us knew Ronnie Howard. I just wanted to be his friend. So I think when we originally talked about who was our very first crush, I might have said him, but not like romantic crush. It was. He looks like a lot of fun, and he likes to go fishing. My mom said the very first time I ever cried watching a television show was an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, and Opie had a pet bird, and the pet bird died. And she came into the room, and I had these tears coming down my face, and I had to be no older than, like, five, and she asked me what was wrong? And I Yes, and I was like, Opie's bird guy. And so he must have been such a great actor, even back then, that I felt his sadness. And I too was sad at the death

Michelle Newman 34:29

of the bird. Oh, he's so cute. He was so cute. He really was

Carolyn Cochrane 34:33

so cute, so cute. And so, yes, so we know him as this child actor. He was in music. Man, he was in some other movies.

Kristin Nilsen 34:41

Man, I forgot about that.

Michelle Newman 34:43

Can I tell you something really quick, guys, there's an episode where the Cunninghams are coming out of a theater having just watched the music, man. And Mrs. C says that the little boy in the movie looks just like Richie. And Mr. C says that she's just being silly. But however, as we know, Ron Howard did play. Young Winthrop Peru in the film when he was just eight years old. So that's kind of a fun Easter egg they threw. It's coming down

Kristin Nilsen 35:06

the street. Yeah, that's

Carolyn Cochrane 35:08

right. Yeah, there are a few easter eggs that they have sprinkled throughout happy days. But let's think about Richie. Ron Howard played Richie from 1974 to 1980 Richie was the middle child of Howard and Marion Cunningham, and brother to Joni and the elusive Chuck. He's the chuck. He's the quintessential example of the All American 1950s teenager. And you know, with his red hair and his freckles, he did bear more than a passing resemblance to Howdy Doody, and again, a nod to a little easter egg, as they note that in when they're watching the Howdy Doody show that oh, he looks a lot like you, Richie, and he really,

Kristin Nilsen 35:50

one of my favorite episodes, by the way, is when Richie enters the Howdy Doody contest. The Howdy Doody was a light contest. My brother and I were rolling on the floor because, of course, all the other contestants are 10, and then there's Richie. And Richie is, he's

Michelle Newman 36:04

like, even when he's a teenager, like that, he's always just so earnest, right? Yes, like, serious, and just everything just is gonna matter, right? And I don't

Kristin Nilsen 36:15

really make the argument was that they were like, should we draw the lines from his lips down his jaw, so he looks like a ventriloquist. I mean, he's like, No, you would have won the lines drawn on your face. I

Carolyn Cochrane 36:27

have two funny things to say about that. One is, well, this one's really funny, but this is another example of how my parents were so excited about this episode, because they love the Howdy Doody show. I mean, they talk about the Howdy Doody show all the time to us, and they'd have us watch reruns if it was ever on. So they loved that part of it. And a little aside, my mom the other day, I was telling her I thought I saw a new wrinkle, and she said, Oh, that's a marionette line. And I said, and she said, those wrinkles that come right down here are called marionette lines, so I'm pointing to the

Kristin Nilsen 37:02

color howdy. Doody lines now, yes, Carolyn,

Carolyn Cochrane 37:06

so do you remember whenever Richie was feeling lucky, especially with the girls? What did he do? Do you guys remember he sang a little song? Yeah, it was an FM blueberry.

Michelle Newman 37:20

Listeners, real quick. Just I was re listening to one of our episodes today. I just have to point something out. When we all sing on this podcast, we actually sound we sing together, but for some

Kristin Nilsen 37:34

boy and we sound awesome. Sounds so good, but we

Michelle Newman 37:39

record remotely, so we're all in our own homes. So in the process, it does something, and it makes us all like off. So when the podcast episode comes out, it sounds like one or two of us are like a beat behind. But just so you know when we sing that right now, it was like in perfect three part harmony.

Kristin Nilsen 37:56

It was around. We were just doing a round. We're recording

Michelle Newman 37:59

it next week, it'll be available.

Carolyn Cochrane 38:03

Every once in a while, Richie would be perturbed. And we knew he was perturbed because he would address his friends or occasionally, Fonzie, once his dad with this term. Do you remember what he'd call people when he was like, you know, listen up. And the one time he addressed his father as Bucha, he immediately apologized. He knew he had stepped out of line. That's so by addressing Howard as Bucha, I'm a female Richie,

Kristin Nilsen 38:27

I've just decided, yeah, you might be you might be

Carolyn Cochrane 38:32

so Ron Howard actually decides to leave the show in 1980 to pursue his directing career. Thank goodness he did. He brought us wonderful films. And in the storyline, his character goes off to college at UW Milwaukee, and then does a stint in the army, where he was stationed in Greenland. And while he's there, he marries his longtime girlfriend, Lori Beth, and later they have a son, Richie Jr. And he actually pops back in the show Richie does for a couple of episodes now and then, including Joni loves or Joni and Chachi getting married. So Richie had a couple of good friends, one of them being potsy.

Kristin Nilsen 39:12

Mm, hmm. So I'm it's my job to tell you about potsy now, but so I have my job is still about two characters, Mr. C and potsy, but I'm gonna shortchange Mr. C, so I can spend all my time on Potsie. Let's just say Mr. C, played by Tom Bosley. Howard Cunningham, played by Tom Bosley. He was extremely prolific in TV prior to Happy Days, but he's far and away best known as Howard Cunningham, America's dad, owner of Cunningham hardware, is that what it's called cunning that doesn't sound right, Cunningham hardware. Anyway, he owned a hardware store, and he went on to be the spokesperson for glad sandwich bags, I'm sure you all remember. And ultimately he became the male Angela Lansbury. He was, he co starred on murder. She wrote as the Sheriff of Cabot Cove, and then he gets his own murder show called The Father Dowling mysteries, who. Just essentially is murder he wrote. So Warren Potsie Weber, on the other hand, played by Anson Williams, has a super interesting story, which I did not expect. Oh, I'm excited. I know Patsy. He started out as Richie's savvier, more worldly friend, but by the third season, they sort of emphasized his more dim witted side. And then they start using the word potsy as a put down. What a Potsie. Don't be a Potsie. Okay, so let's start with Anson Williams name. His given name is Anson William Heimlich. Yes. Like the maneuver that Heimlich? Yes, the Heimlich maneuver. His cousin or uncle, depending on who you trust, is the person who invented the Heimlich maneuver. Wow. Do

Michelle Newman 40:49

you think there's money in that? You know, if you say like that or whatever, is the person who invented the, you know, engine, well, you're like, damn, they have a lot of family money. If you invent a maneuver. It's even a life saving maneuver. Do

Kristin Nilsen 41:04

you can't sell it. There's no There's no product with a hand, with maneuver. It's just your hands and staying alive. Oh, yeah, that's not, that's CPR, that's CPR. Never mind, but you get to live

Carolyn Cochrane 41:16

knowing that people are alive because of your family, that's worth way more than money, that's priceless, and

Kristin Nilsen 41:24

your name lives on forever. Nobody doesn't know the name Heimlich, no,

Michelle Newman 41:30

because you're also a giant, fat caterpillar in the great Disney movie, Bug's Life, I had no idea Heimlich is one of the best characters in Bug's Life, actually. Okay, so I

Kristin Nilsen 41:41

thought Anson Williams was a singer first. And he was like, Hey, you guys, I'm a singer. Will you let me sing on the show? Come on, because I'm a singer. No, he was not a singer. He was watching the rise of David Cassidy. And he was like, hmm, maybe, maybe I could do that. So he said. And this is a quote. This is what he said, I can sing, sort of, I just need to convince Gary Marshall to put me in a band on the show, which he did. And then Anson Williams just waited to become the next David Cassidy, which didn't exactly work out that way.

Carolyn Cochrane 42:18

No, it was like Jim napers voice.

Kristin Nilsen 42:22

Yes. And that's why you just identified it Carolyn, because it was Jim neighbors. It was not I think I love you at all. No, it was in shock

Michelle Newman 42:34

when that voice came out of his mouth. I didn't care for it. Sorry. I will tell you that until Chachi walked in, you know, seasons one through four, I had a huge crush on Potsie.

Kristin Nilsen 42:45

Well, you just didn't have that many people to choose from, right? It was Ralph Malph, or it was pot so you're gonna choose Potsie, right? Which, too,

Michelle Newman 42:53

this thing was kind of, I thought that was kind of cool, but I was, I was never like, oh, I want to have an album of his

Kristin Nilsen 42:58

No. And he did release an album, and he had a hit. It was like, number 99 on the top 100 or something like that. And I don't even know what the name of it was. No disrespect Anson Williams, but David Cassidy, you know, had some special sauce. You just can't replicate that. You can't be like, I'm gonna do that too. He didn't do too much acting after Happy Days, except to reprise the role of Potsie and various specials and reunions and stuff like that, thanks to his friend Ron Howard, who said, dude, go behind the camera. And so he became a director for shows like Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 902, I know Sabrina the two new witch Bay watch. The list is long. Know that. I know he did great. But even more, he gets weird. You guys, there's more, there's more. Most interestingly, he became kind of a serial entrepreneur, making and marketing all sorts of weird products, like alert drops, which is an all natural spray to help drowsy drivers stay awake, which he actually developed with the healthcare it's just a

Michelle Newman 44:03

water bottle that's just like a spray bottle. No, it

Kristin Nilsen 44:07

has, he explains the all the science behind it. It has to do with ascorbic acid and some nerve that's in the bottom of your tongue. I'm not even kidding. Like he and Heimlich got together and like, let's do this. In the 80s, he opened a chain of diners with Al Molinaro, and the diner was called Big owls,

Michelle Newman 44:24

cute, I know, obviously it didn't take off. Did it have one in every city off? No.

Kristin Nilsen 44:30

And then he broke into the beauty business with a line of cosmetics that were used on the like professional cosmetics that is used on TV set. Well,

Michelle Newman 44:42

Patsy's sidekick was Ralph mouth, I just can't say it without laughing, and he was played by Donny most, and he was the show's clown and practical jokester, but most of his jokes weren't really funny, and no one laughed, but yet could still always say you guys. Remember his catchphrase,

Kristin Nilsen 45:01

oh yeah. And once I didn't I it's somebody else today, because then when it's

Michelle Newman 45:06

like, I still got it,

Kristin Nilsen 45:09

like, when did you have it at all?

Michelle Newman 45:14

So Ralph mouth appeared up until Season Eight, when he went to college after his stint in the army, and then he made a guest appearance in the final season, in a guest role, but he is not in the finale in Joanie and Chachi wedding. Do you know the other OG character who is not in the finale?

Kristin Nilsen 45:30

Oh no, it's

Michelle Newman 45:35

Fauci. I'll just say it. Ralph Malph was my least favorite character. Unhappy. I'm

Kristin Nilsen 45:39

with you. Yeah,

Carolyn Cochrane 45:40

and didn't he just give you Danny Bonaduce vibes? I always thought he yes was, like trying to be or they were casting him as the redhead. Kind of annoying. Well, let's talk about mom, Mrs. Cunningham, or Mrs. C as she was often referred to by Richie's friends. Marion Cunningham was played by Marion Ross and you guys, I had no idea until yesterday or last night, when I was cramming to get my research done for today that she has such ties to Minnesota. Oh, my gosh, okay. Oh, you guys, I don't know that she was born in Watertown, Minnesota, which a month ago, I wouldn't have known where that was, but just so happened, I drove through there a couple of weeks ago. Yes, so she was born in Watertown, Minnesota, she moved to a couple places throughout the state, and she took classes at the McPhail School of Music and Drama. And prior to moving to Minneapolis, she lived for a long time in Albert Lea, where there is current day the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center. Marion Cunningham, she was the stereotypical housewife of that era, cooking and cleaning and keeping that family in order, but there were times that she was distressed. She didn't always like that role, and she often showed us that she had ambitions of her own, like the episode where she got a job as a waitress at the drive in. I could always tell, though that she was smarter, and then she would let on. She often had these passive aggressive lines showing that side of her, and I just love those moments, often happening with Howard as the butt of her jokes. You might recall, she was the only character allowed to call Fonzie by his first name, Arthur, and she served as like a mother figure to him.

Kristin Nilsen 47:31

And I will say that I took, I took from her. This was probably one of the first times in society or culture or wherever, where you had Richie, the good boy and the Fonz, who was supposed to be the bad boy. But Marianne Ross doesn't care, and she takes him in. And I just remember thinking how, how not judgy she was, because in my mind, a mother would be like shaking her finger like No, no, no and don't be like him, which I think is how the show started out. So maybe Marion Ross had something to do with. No, I'm gonna take him under my wing. He's my child too,

Michelle Newman 48:05

and I love Marion so much. She was the quintessential 50s housewife and stuff. But didn't you guys also always get that she was stronger than that, like, I never felt like she was really submerged, submissive to submersive she was. I never thought she was underwater. I never really got that, that whole she had to be, like, submissive to Howard, even though, yes, she was always doing things for him and everything. You also got that, that Mrs. C could stand on her own two feet, and I felt like Howard respected her role too. I didn't feel like it was that real, you know, Ozzie and Harriet type thing. I felt like it was a little bit more they stood on equal ground, a little bit little bit more, even though they did still have those very defined gender rules.

Kristin Nilsen 48:45

Yeah, they were by the rules, but they weren't. They were just doing what society was telling them to do, but they weren't totally invested in it, and you would never get a bigger laugh or a bigger cheer than if Marion Ross said, Sit on it. How are so great? Yeah, I mean the place,

Michelle Newman 49:02

right? Because they would allow her, the writers, that was so brilliant, of the writers, to allow her to say that. Because really, in the 50s, I'm not sure you know, the TV shows that were on in the 50s, they certainly wouldn't have gotten away with that. Hell no. But here we have a show about people in the 50s, where they're showing she can say that. So I loved that. Okay, so that brings us to Joni. And oh, man, do I have conflicting feelings.

Kristin Nilsen 49:25

I know I'm totally with you on that. So originally,

Michelle Newman 49:28

I was all about Joni. You guys know how I feel about the Little Sisters in shows. Like I always identify them with them, and they end up being my favorite. And at the beginning, I loved Joni. She was cute and sassy and funny, and I loved how she was kind of everyone's little sister. I always thought it was cute. She was always getting sent up to her room for being so nosy or being in everybody's business. And she was cute. Remember in season one, she always had Mickey Mouse ears on? You guys, remember that? Jemmy, yeah. But then Chachi arrived, and. Slowly, Tony started to become my mortal enemy. Everything she did or said bugged me to no end. Um, she also just became annoying. I felt like as the year degree, as she got older, she just bugged me even, and this could, this was even, maybe even before Chachi. But, um, So Aaron, a child

Kristin Nilsen 50:20

actors a lot, right? They start out really cute, and they have sort of a real instinct about how to deliver their lines. And it's once they grow up enough that they start to act that it all falls apart. I feel that. Stop, now. Stop. She

Michelle Newman 50:33

just she wasn't that good, and she just she, and sadly, her difficult personal life, post Happy Days isn't really news to most of us. She suffered from depression, home foreclosures. Another time she was evicted from her trailer home due to excessive partying. She died in April of 2017 in Indiana from throat cancer, which had just been diagnosed with about six months prior. No illegal narcotics were found in her body or in her home. I feel like there's kind of a myth that she died of, like a drug overdose or something like that. But her husband was, like, very emphatic. In fact, he wrote, like, this big open letter that he had Scott Baio read about that doctors didn't tell us how serious it was, we would have gotten more, you know, aggressive treatment, blah, blah, blah, I don't know.

Carolyn Cochrane 51:21

It's just sad.

Michelle Newman 51:22

It's very sad. Yeah.

Carolyn Cochrane 51:24

I mean, you think of a lot of these stars that we've talked about, you know, after their heyday as the child star, they just had some really hard times, and Hollywood just wasn't there for those kids. Okay,

Michelle Newman 51:38

so while this group of Og characters are certainly memorable. There are other characters who came along as the seasons progressed that are worth mentioning, one in particular. So here are just a few others. And yes, listeners, we know there are others we we just don't have time to mention all of them. So if you want to let us know who your favorites are that we are neglecting to mention, just shoot us a comment on our Instagram post or send us a lovely email. There's so many. There's so many. We only have three and a half hours, guys. Okay, so we're gonna start with Mitsu mitsumu Takahashi, played by Pat Morita. You guys might know him as Arnold. He was the owner of Arnold's drive in but only in seasons one through three, and then he returns after al gets married in the final seasons. But we love, love, love, Arnold, right in seasons one through three. Of course we then, you know, know that Arnold becomes our beloved Mr. Miyagi in 1984 and the Karate Kid, but I don't remember this. But you guys, I think this is so great. So like I just said, his name is not Arnold. It's Mitsu mo but when he bought Arnold's, people thought it was named after him. And since it was too expensive to get all the letters and Takahashi to rename it, he just went with Arnold.

Kristin Nilsen 52:55

Is that ever explained on the show, or is that just, I

Michelle Newman 52:57

think, I think it is. I think it's an Well, that's a good point. I'd have to watch every episode of season one to see if it's explained. But I thought that was just, even if that's just a backstory someone made up, I'm gonna stick with it. I think that

Kristin Nilsen 53:09

seems like a good historical hobby to have, yeah? Like, when we're done recording, I'm gonna go watch season one of Happy Days. Let's find the origin of all of these things. Yeah.

Michelle Newman 53:18

Okay. So then after Arnold leaves, along comes al del Vecchio, played by Al Molinaro, Molinaro, Molinaro, potato.

Kristin Nilsen 53:28

I'm only going to tell you what I say, but that has nothing to do with nothing to say. Moroniro, okay, Molinaro, too or no, that's kind of

Michelle Newman 53:39

marinara. You. Paranormal. Is it gala or Gala? Okay, from seasons four to nine, because, you know, like I just said, Arnold got married and left, so Al. Al was the best, though, you guys remember how I'd always go, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. When he was disappointed, he always kindly, like bugged me. I

Kristin Nilsen 54:03

don't know why. Oh, I love him. He's kind of

Michelle Newman 54:05

a surrogate family to many of them, and he becomes actual family to Fonzie and Chachi when he marries chachi's Mother, Louisa, in the later seasons. That's right, yes. Which brings us to Charles Arcola, or Chachi Fauci is young cousin played by a very cute Scott Baio arrives in season five in 1977 and little Michelle's world went from black and white to Technicolor, and now it's time for the PCPs. Bayo disclaimer. We here at the PCPs do not condone nor support current day Scott Baio and his beliefs, but remain loyal to our feelings of the late 70s, early 80s version of Scott Baio, particularly Chachi, Arcola, especially Michelle, who truly believed she would marry him and is ever so thankful she did not. So Chachi was quickly made a. Regular character after receiving over 5000 fan letters one week, and he became Fonzie sidekick, and then later he was just kind of one of the boys when he matured and grew up and got muscles, and he looked up to Fonzie like an older brother. It was actually a really sweet it was relationship. Fonzie kind of treated him like a younger brother, but also kind of a father figure at times. Chai cheese catch phrase, wa, wa, wa, quickly caught on. So as we know, Chachi immediately becomes enraptured by Joni, but she just thinks of him as a little kid. She calls him shrimp drip. But you guys in season five, when he comes on, he is a lot smaller than Joni, teeny. Yes, I never got it looks like he's about three years younger than she is. But when bayo reached puberty and they got to high school and started to date, thus begins the whole Joanie Loves Chachi years and season nine, they leave for Chicago to try to make it as vocalists. Carolyn, please insert laughter here. But they return,

Kristin Nilsen 56:01

reading that line is so funny, yeah, but they return

Michelle Newman 56:05

in the final season to break up and then to reunite and get married, which is the air quotes final episode of the series. And you guys know, and listeners know, I don't remember much about my childhood, but that wedding is burned into my brain. It impacted me. It was as if it was my own wedding. For years, I was going to have my husband say for his vows. He was just going to have to recite the Elvis Presley song. He wasn't going to be able to say anything else, and that was going to be like our first dance song. But as we've said in this podcast many times, and as listeners know, I will always, always, my heart will always be true to Chachi Arcola, no matter what I think of Scott Baio today,

Kristin Nilsen 56:54

they're two different people.

Carolyn Cochrane 56:55

What I think is crazy is that exact moment when you are impacted by that wedding and thinking you're going to be using some of the music in your own wedding, and I'm having this big emotional moment at the same exact time halfway across the country, for totally different reasons, but we both this is a touchstone for both of us in our growing so,

Michelle Newman 57:18

much so, And it's as stupid as Val there ever but in my little 1984 I mean, I was a freshman. I was in eighth grade, so I was like, I mean, I had hearts for eyes watching that. You know, that's all I have to say about Chachi. Okay, until later. What I

Carolyn Cochrane 57:37

never could get past Joni seeming like his big sister, like I thought that was almost like, yeah, the weirdest relationship and marriage and all of that. I never tell you why,

Michelle Newman 57:48

one reason, and I'm not really gonna try not to be hyper, like, critical of someone's appearance, because I don't like that, and I do not condone that, but because it's Joni Cunningham who was my mortal enemy. I feel okay, and I feel like this is a safe space, but I feel like it's because her hairdo, she looked matronly. She always looked like a mom. Yes, right now, let's just see she had this really curly hair. I'm not gonna say they needed to straighten it or anything. Could they have come up with a more attractive style for it? I say yes, well,

Kristin Nilsen 58:20

and I think I'm trying to do like, some sort of mullety thing. You know, when they stop being 50s, even though they're supposed to be in the 50s, but they're really in the 80s. So then they start to look at the 80s, but it's not really working. So then it just looks like a poodle head. Well,

Michelle Newman 58:33

they do that with Scott Baio too, because the very last seasons he has that mullet that was very popular in the early 80s, not in the early we're supposed to remember, this is supposed to be like 1960 right? And that always bugged me that, yeah, it's so funny. You bring up her hair because her hair bothered me too.

Unknown Speaker 58:48

Okay, so

Michelle Newman 58:49

let's keep going. Let's talk about Jenny Piccolo, that's joni's boy crazy best friend played by Kathy Silvers from 1980 to 1983 when she became a regular character. Although Joanie, Jenny Piccolo is mentioned a lot in early episodes. Joni is always asking to go to Jenny piccolos house, or she's blaming Jenny piccolo for someone or for something. Or Howard and Marian are blaming Jenny piccolo or forbidding her to go to Jenny piccolos house. I think,

Kristin Nilsen 59:15

I think Jenny Piccolo was just a name that they thought it was a funny name. They're like, We need a name for Joni to talk to him, but let's do this. Jenny Piccolo, I

Michelle Newman 59:22

think you're half right, because what happened is in 1980 so she's on, like from 80 to 83 just kind of, as it may be, a guest appearance. She becomes a regular in 1983 along with, and I'm just going off the top of my head here. I don't have any of this written down, but it's like crystal Bernard, Ted McGinley. So what's happening is we've got a lot of these OG core characters leaving, Ron Howard's leaving, Anton Williams leaving, Donnie most is leaving. And they need to bring other people on. Now, Fonzie is sort of the central character, and Joanie and chachi's relationship was very much centered on in those later, those later years. So they need to bring in kind of then. Now they. Gang, right? I don't know if you remember the characters of crystal Bernard, and now I'm gonna forget who she played, but she, like, moves into the Cunningham house. Yeah,

Kristin Nilsen 1:00:11

she's like cousin Oliver. Yeah, exactly.

Michelle Newman 1:00:13

But I think we can all say we all love Jenny Piccolo, even before she was a character on the show, when she was just a name. Yes, she was her name, Joni. We're always, like, getting into some like, scruffle, right? Like, yeah, okay. And then lastly, I'm, I'm just gonna mention Lori Beth Allen. Was her name before it was Lori Beth Cunningham, and she was played by Linda, good friend, who, as Carolyn already mentioned, becomes Richie's steady girlfriend in 1977 and then later his wife and do you guys remember how they got married? Well,

Carolyn Cochrane 1:00:45

they got married via telephone because he was in Greenland, and Fonzie was the best man Well,

Michelle Newman 1:00:53

and he had to stand in for Richie like as That's right, that's right, yeah. And then when she has her baby, when she has little Richie. Do you remember who delivered the baby? Because, again, she wasn't there. Oh, my God. Fauci delivers little Richie. This. I'm

Kristin Nilsen 1:01:09

not okay with any of this. This is all ironically, jumping the shark. You know what?

Michelle Newman 1:01:13

It's okay. Kristen, he put a piece of notebook paper in between him and Lori Beth's vagina.

Kristin Nilsen 1:01:21

Oh, my God.

Carolyn Cochrane 1:01:23

Well, lest we forget, there's one more character. Yeah, I don't know who you must be talking friend, the mysterious, elusive Chuck Cunningham, everyone's favorite, yes, and it he was so popular that character that they actually had to have two different actors play him over the 12 episodes he was actually in so gavid, he and Randolph Roberts were the two actors that played Chuck, who was Joanie and Richie's older brother, who liked basketball, was rarely home, has a basketball after season two is when he just disappeared into the ether. He just goes up the stairs. We never hear about him again. We think fans believe that he must have gone off to college. But interestingly enough, at the end of season 11, Howard is talking about his kids, and he says how proud he of is of his two children. So it's like, oh, Chuck never even raised him. Totally Yes, existed.

Kristin Nilsen 1:02:28

Let's pause here for a word from our sponsor. That's us. Because the pop culture Preservation Society is a completely independent and self sustained project. We not only created this podcast, we also produce it and finance it ourselves. That means we depend on you, our listeners, to help us cover our costs and grow our listening audience. Without your contributions, we quite literally could not exist. We really would disappear, like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition. You're the gas in our tank, the wind beneath our wings. You're like Christy McNichol doing the obstacle course on Battle of the network star is carrying your team to victory. That's you. You can become a supporter of the pcps@patreon.com P, A, T, R, E, o, n.com, go to the website and search for pop culture Preservation Society, or look for the Patreon link and our link tree on Instagram. If you support the PCPs at the superstar level, just $5 a month, you'll get fun printable art every month to perk up your office. Join at the solid gold level for bonus content and outtakes from our episodes. And for $19.76 a month, you can achieve Bicentennial status, which includes everything you see here, plus live virtual events with your favorite podcast hosts. That's us, I hope, book clubs, Happy Hour chats, pop culture bingo games, and maybe even some surprise guest one of these days. And as always, if you're not able to help out at this time, the most valuable thing you can do for us is listen and tell a friend. Thank you so much. Now let's get back to the show. Okay, so like Michelle said, Gary Marshall's original attempt at nostalgia was not very well received. The first season got very low ratings. It was on the verge of being canceled. Remember how we said the first season kind of felt funny. It was quieter. There was no no maybe there was a laugh track. It just wasn't the studio audience. And so like we said, Gary Marshall changed gears. He turned the second season into a colossal hit. The show went from a very quiet and charming story to a loud, gimmicky, family friendly, fun time. It was totally different. And he made the quiet cautionary tale, aka Fonzie, into a major player instead of a side character. And then they booted Chuck. The show became more about getting a laugh than it was really about telling an intricate nostalgia lay story, which was Gary Marshall's intention. So when they make this shift, the critics thought the producers were selling out by dumbing down the comedy, and they got panned. But who cares? Because the fans disagreed, and it zoomed to the top. The ratings, it became the number one show, like Michelle said, on TV, starting in the 1976 77 season. And as a result, Fonzie became one of the most merchandized characters of the 1970s there are some who have called him a lunch box icon, which I love. I'm looking

Michelle Newman 1:05:17

for that lunch box by the icon.

Kristin Nilsen 1:05:19

So the show in general, all of the characters spawned just a truckload of merch, which was sort of how we children of the 70s expressed ourselves with the stuff that we had, right? So in addition to lunch boxes, there were posters, action figures, a board game, bedding and pillowcases. Pillowcases were big in the 70s. That's how we learned to kiss, right? Wait. And

Michelle Newman 1:05:41

our, our, our society member, Erica, has a frugal case with her name. Her mom embroidered her name on it, and she still has it to this day. I didn't know it was embroidered that says Eric on it, and Erica, we're gonna post that picture this week, and I think we posted it before, but it deserves a second, a second. Definitely.

Kristin Nilsen 1:06:00

There were also trading cards, which we have thanks to a nostalgia loving friend, which also came with a really cool sticker to put on your school folder. There was a limited edition there were limited edition glasses that were produced by Dr Pepper, which I'm sure somebody still has those out there, and they're gonna get a pretty penny on eBay. So by the way, if any of you society members have any of these items, please send us pictures. We want to see what you've got. I'm sure a lot of you have the lunch box. Oh,

Michelle Newman 1:06:28

and we'll share them in our stories too.

Carolyn Cochrane 1:06:31

I have the Richie doll that looks a lot like GI

Michelle Newman 1:06:33

Joe, yeah, with the brown hair, yeah. And I don't think that I just got for Christmas this year that does not look like Chachi, except for the bandana around his they

Kristin Nilsen 1:06:43

just took GI Joe and they recycled him, they put a bandana around his leg, and now he's Chachi. Right. Okay. So in addition to all of that merch that I just mentioned, there was also this album that I recently found at a record store, and I had to have it. So this album is called Fonzie favorites, and it's not songs by Fonzie. It's songs that Fonzie would like listen to, songs. It's playlist.

Michelle Newman 1:07:10

Can we also just say playlist that is one of the cutest pictures of Henry Fonzie I've ever seen. It's

Kristin Nilsen 1:07:18

just his face. There's no text on the cover of the album, and I'll tell you why. We'll get there in a second. It is an adorable picture of just fonzie's face, no words whatsoever. So here are the songs that Fonzie would like, were he to listen to some music, splish splash, Barbara Ann Rock Around the Clock. Great Balls of Fire. And there are a couple of originals, the Fonzarelli slide and the Fon song, both of which are unlistenable, absolutely, like fingernails on a chalkboard. And the last song is called, and I can't, I'm not making this up. It's called a cool nerd sit on it. Oh, it's supposed to be an impressionist track to help you learn how to say Fonzie catch all words. It's just those words over and over again. It's like some music underneath and some guy going a cool nerd sit on it. You

Hey, nerd, sit on it over and over again. But you guys, it's not even Henry Winkler's voice. It's like some random dude. Okay, so I talked about the album cover being this adorable picture of Fonzie. He is large and in charge, and there's nothing on that album to mar his face, because if you flip the album over on the back, you can there's a little flap that you can fold back, and it serves as a little stand, so you can put your album cover like a little piece of art.

Michelle Newman 1:08:58

Hope next time I'm at your house that better be on your mantle. Oh, hell yeah.

Kristin Nilsen 1:09:06

So there was a lot of merch. There was a lot and it was very lucrative. Their faces were everywhere. There was a lot of stuff out there. Yeah, they couldn't keep track. There's no way for them to keep track. So,

Carolyn Cochrane 1:09:17

Kristen, beyond some of those really cool things you just shared, I too, discovered some fun facts about happy days. I am going to put those over on Patreon. So if you are a patron, be sure and head over to our Patreon page and you'll find out all of the things that I discovered that I thought were pretty cool. I'll sprinkle some more fun facts in a little bit, but I did want to tell you about some of the guest stars who appeared now, as Michelle said before, there were lots, and I'm sure I'm gonna miss some, but these were some that stood out to me. So we had Cheryl latt, Tony Randall, Maureen McCormick and Christopher Knight, not in the same episode, but we had two Brady Bunch tie ins, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Pearl, Hank Aaron as himself. Off. June Lockhart, Danny, Thomas, Charlene, Tilton, Tom Hanks and how could we ever forget Robin Williams? I know. I know.

Kristin Nilsen 1:10:11

So there were Robin Williams obviously went from one episode of Happy Days to getting his own show, Mark and Mindy. So in its 11 seasons on the air. Happy Days became the second longest running sitcom in ABC history, behind Ozzie and Harriet, and it also gave us seven spin offs. Mork and Mindy is probably the one yes, seven crazy Mork and Mindy, I think, is the least likely and the most memorable and most successful of them all. How it is that Robin Williams shows up as an as an alien, and sits on his head and then they become a series? I don't know. We do know that he, that he basically blew people away like they they had no control over him whatsoever, and he was just like this magic that alighted on the set, and they just let him do whatever he wanted, even though it made no sense. Made no sense. They're like, give that man a show. Okay? So among the seven spin offs, we have Morgan Mindy, of course, Laverne and Shirley, which became the number one show after happy days. Then we have a show called bland skis beauties, which we're going to talk about next week. Morgan Mindy, a show called out of the blue, which I didn't remember until I read the write up for the pilot. Listen to this out of the blue, 1979 a not so perfect angel named random must prove his heavenly powers to a brood of newly orphaned children by conjuring up a visit from the unpredictable Mork from orc, starring Clark Brandon and Olivia Barish. Clark Brandon,

Carolyn Cochrane 1:11:40

yes, from the Fitzpatrick,

Kristin Nilsen 1:11:43

yes.

Michelle Newman 1:11:45

I'm all like, in my head, I'm like, he's from Tiger Beat magazine, right?

Kristin Nilsen 1:11:48

And you wonder, like, why was he in Tiger Beat? Because he never, he was in a bunch of things, but we just didn't know who he was or right? He couldn't land because he was on all these shows that came and tested one. So that's out of the blue. And then there are a couple of spin off pilots that did not that got filmed but never made it to the air, including the Ralph and Potsie show, as well as the pinky Tuscadero show, never made it to the air. But I'm leaving out one very important one, Michelle. Which one's that?

Michelle Newman 1:12:19

Well, that would be my favorite television show of all time. Joanie Loves Chachi. I'm just kidding. However, for those 17 episodes, those 17 big episodes, I was glued to my TV. So as I told you before, Joni and Chachi leave to try to go make it as vocalist in Chicago, but it's the theme song to Joni Loves Chachi that will always hold a special place in my heart. I don't know if you guys remember it. It goes a little something like this, and this is literally how Scott Baio sings it. So he's starting as just spotlight on Scott Baio, and he's just done, done, done at the piano, done, done. And then it just starts something magic in the way you hold me in your eyes, and then, and then, here comes Joanie, and she's like no one ever takes

Speaker 1 1:13:19

you by surprise. Don't know what's coming over me. You got me hypnotized when you look at me.

Michelle Newman 1:13:29

What's interesting about that theme song? I'll have you know, I can sing the whole thing, but I'm not. And

Kristin Nilsen 1:13:33

I usually have to say, when you do Chachi, when she's singing the Chachi part, her face just kind of goes dead.

Michelle Newman 1:13:38

It goes slack. Yeah, we could do, if you like, I can record myself singing the entire theme song with both parts and trumpets as well, and we can put it on Patreon. So, oh, yeah, oh, wait, wait, we don't want to lose patrons, right? This is a good thing everyone.

Carolyn Cochrane 1:13:54

So glad it brought you some joy in the early 80s, it was everything

Michelle Newman 1:13:59

to me, and it doesn't make me sad at all that I can't still have that today, like I can't still crush on Scott Baio today, that doesn't make me sad at all, because I will be honest with you once 1984 came along, I was done with Chachi Arcola. I was done with Scott Baio. Simon labon had come into my he was a British man, yeah. And so I was done. And

Kristin Nilsen 1:14:20

there so happy days left quite a legacy, in addition to Chachi,

Michelle Newman 1:14:26

in addition to Michelle, in addition to Chachi

Kristin Nilsen 1:14:28

and all of these spin offs, happy days also left us with the phrase jump the shark. And this comes from an episode in Season Five in which Fonzie literally jumps a shark on water skis. I don't have to tell you what happened. You were all there. You all you were all talking about it at school the next day, but the phrase has come to mean when a show does something crazy in a desperate grab to stay relevant, possibly because it's on its last legs and it needs to get some eyeballs. I. When the Brady suddenly adopt cousin Oliver, because, you know, six kids weren't enough, I guess. So let's juice the ratings by getting another one, and let's make him look like a tiny John Denver, that will certainly make everybody watch the Brady Bunch again. Paul Williams, so the idea for the scene actually came from Henry Winkler himself. I was certain that this was something that some writer, like the writers were panicking, like, what are we gonna do? How about water skiing? No, this came from Henry Winkler, who was an avid water skier and his dad. Henry Winkler's dad kept badgering him to tell the producers he could water ski. Why? Why? Henry Winkler, I don't understand Henry Winkler's Dad, why was this important to you that the producers know that he could water ski? It feels like, you know, dance for grandma, dance. But nonetheless, he he said, Yes. He was like, fine, dad. I'll tell him I can water ski. So this was their Brady's go to Hawaii moment, because everybody, the whole cast, Goes to Hollywood on vacation. This is such a 70s sitcom improbability. We don't pack up the whole neighborhood and go on vacation. But you know, in 70 sitcoms you do. The thing that I remember most about this episode is Fonzie is wearing shorts, and he's wearing shorts with a leather jacket, and his leather jacket, yeah, yeah, in his leather and so he's water skiing in a leather jacket, and he has a little life preserver belt around

Michelle Newman 1:16:35

the orange jacket. No, no, no. Back then the life the life preservers were those orange things that go around your neck and your neck. He couldn't do that. I'd cover up his leather jacket, right?

Kristin Nilsen 1:16:45

It was just all that was just too much. It was too much. Henry Winkler did all of that skiing, by the way, except for the actual jumping part, because he was like, I couldn't jump. I could just ski, but I couldn't jump. So it doesn't matter how ridiculous it was, because 30 million people watched Fonzie jump the shark that night. And Henry Winkler has pointed out, when people ask him about this, you know, they rib him a little bit about jumping the shark, and he's responsible for jumping the shark. This was not a grab for relevance, because they were number one, and they continued to be number one for like, five years after that, they were not needing any more relevance. So how that became a term for, you know, a desperate grab for relevance? I'm not exactly sure. And fun fact, if you watch episode 13 in the second season of Arrested Development, Henry Winkler is the inept attorney. Barry zuckerkorn jumps over a little shark. Does he really? He does. It's super funny. He's like, Oh, just jumped over a shark. But

Carolyn Cochrane 1:17:48

I want to continue on some fun facts to pass along to you guys. So thank you for those Kristen, a few other ones that you guys might not know, although if you listen to episode 56 of our podcast living in a dream home. You may remember that the Cunningham's house was not in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but actually in Los Angeles, just a few blocks away from the Paramount lot where Happy Days was filmed so and what I've heard too is all the houses on this block are very kind of Mediterranean and Spanish styled. And then that house just stuck out as this kind of all American, almost colonial looking house. And I think Gary Marshall saw it and thought that's the house originally, Happy Days was filmed with a single camera, which I think is kind of what we talked about earlier. But from season three on, it was a multi camera show, and that's when we started to see the live studio audience. That's when it feels different, yeah, and it also looks different, because if you look closely at the set in seasons one and two, it's almost flipped so the front door is on the opposite side of where the front door is from season three on, so it's on the left hand side instead of the right hand side and stairs and all that the same, and that was in order to fit all the cameras in, as well as seats for the live studio audience. Anson Williams sang many of the songs that were played on that jukebox at Arnold's and Al. So yes, I didn't know that as well, but I learned that, and

Kristin Nilsen 1:19:22

were the original songs, or like he sang covers,

Carolyn Cochrane 1:19:25

they would have been saying covers,

Michelle Newman 1:19:26

yeah. I feel like the only song he ever sang was, you're 16, you're beautiful, yeah?

Unknown Speaker 1:19:40

Hold me in your

Unknown Speaker 1:19:46

baby, squeeze me. Oh, sometimes show me. Show me that you love me too.

Michelle Newman 1:19:59

Oh, yes. Oh.

Carolyn Cochrane 1:19:59

Oh yeah, that's my favorite.

Kristin Nilsen 1:20:02

That's the one falls in love with him.

Michelle Newman 1:20:05

I love that episode when Joni is my

Carolyn Cochrane 1:20:07

if we talk about our favorites, that's my favorite one. No, I think they were covers. I don't think we were supposed to know it was Patsy singing them. It was just like kind of the background music. Least, that's what I read on somewhere. I could be wrong. This is perhaps one of my favorite little facts I learned. So Jerry Paris, does anyone know who Jerry Paris is? Raising my hand, Kristen, of course. Okay, who is Jerry Paris? Kristen. Jerry Paris

Kristin Nilsen 1:20:32

is Jerry helper on the jack show. He's Rob Petris neighbor.

Carolyn Cochrane 1:20:37

He is Rob Petris neighbor, and he is also the director of the majority of the happy days episodes. So he Yeah, so he was, and he also has some cameos that we'll talk about later, that he pops in every once in a while,

Kristin Nilsen 1:20:52

every once in a while, Marion and Howard will refer to the helpers. They play bridge with the helpers.

Carolyn Cochrane 1:20:58

I did not know that funny. Fun fact. I

Unknown Speaker 1:21:02

love all that stuff. Isn't that funny? Yeah?

Carolyn Cochrane 1:21:05

So, yeah. So those were several other fun facts that I uncovered in my rabbit hole dig.

Michelle Newman 1:21:10

I love that. So in 1983 the ratings had dropped, and the series had just wound down and grown out naturally, as most series do, by about year eight and nine, and for all intents and purposes, the two part episode called passages was to be the end of the series, the final memorable scene with Howard breaking the fourth wall and toasting not just the guests at Joni and chachi's wedding, but the TV view audience as well. With Well,

Speaker 1 1:21:42

what can I say? Both of our children are married now, and they're starting out to build lives of their own. And I guess when you reach a milestone like this, you have to reflect back on what you've done, on what you've accomplished. Marion, Marian and I have not climbed Mount Everest or written a great American novel, but we've had the joy of raising two wonderful kids, watching them and their friends grow up into loving adults. You and now we're going to have the pleasure of watching them pass that love on to their children. And I guess no man or woman could ask for anything. So thank you all for being part of our family. Happy days.

Carolyn Cochrane 1:22:47

That's when I lost it. That's when I lost it.

Michelle Newman 1:22:50

That was so goodbye. It was powerful. But that was not actually the end, because earlier in 1984 the show had been bumped due to the Winter Olympics, and there were still four episodes in the can that hadn't been aired in winter. So instead of just adding them back in in March or whenever and just pushing the series finale, they cut them like just got rid of them, aired the finale as planned in the spring, and then added three of those four episodes back in June and July. So they're all out of order, and the actual final episode of Happy Days is one called Fonzie spots, which was randomly aired in september of 1984 and has no closure whatsoever. Regardless, most people, me included, consider Joni and chachi's wedding and Howard's final touching toast to be the true, perfect ending to Happy Days

Carolyn Cochrane 1:23:46

and my child.

Michelle Newman 1:23:51

Like I've said, my favorite episode for sure would be Joni and chachi's wedding, just because, basically, it's just chachi's wedding. It's Chachi and Michelle's wedding. Do you guys get ready with that one? What are some that really stand out to you?

Carolyn Cochrane 1:24:12

Well, I loved what we referred to just a few minutes ago, the episode where Potsie sings, put your head on my shoulder, and Joanie, officially just falls in love with him. So canned. Oh, it is so cute. But the best part, well, because I was like, you Michelle, I kind of had a crush on Patsy as well, and it was kind of sorry for him that they're always making fun of him. I always have a little empathy for those characters. But in this one, he's kind of the cool dude, and at the end, when he has to kind of tell Joni that, you know, it's not going to work right now, and in a few years, he said, like, you know, I won't be that exciting to you, I promise. And he's so sincere, it just, oh, it's like he was talking to me or something. And I just, I loved it. I loved that episode. I loved his sincere. 30. And really, there weren't a whole lot of episodes where he was kind of more of the star, or, you know, the focus was on him. So I think that's maybe another reason that it stuck out. If

Kristin Nilsen 1:25:08

they had done that more Carolyn, if they had given him those kinds of storylines, he could have been a little bit more David Cassidy ish, but instead, they made him the dim, weighted guy

Carolyn Cochrane 1:25:18

I know, except for

Michelle Newman 1:25:20

he was like a 50s square. He was never going to be David Cassidy, no matter how great his voice might have been, because David Cassidy got to dress in the bell bottoms with the feathered hair and the pupa shells around his neck and the really cool flowy tops he couldn't Patsy was always going to be stuck in the 50s, no matter if it really was 1978 so he was always going to have to have that little square like Ken doll hair and the letter sweater. So he was never going to be David Cassidy, no, that

Kristin Nilsen 1:25:48

was just sorry, Patsy, sorry, Patsy, but

Michelle Newman 1:25:50

we did love you, yes.

Kristin Nilsen 1:25:53

So for me, I have two favorites. One is a close runner up. My runner up favorite is when leather Tuscadero comes to town and Joanie wants to run away and be one of the suedes. Because, remember, it was leather in the suedes. Leather Tuscadero is played by Susie quattro, who, by the way, was an actual recording artist. But I didn't know. I had no idea. I remembered when she had a hit after her happy days appearance with stumbling in, stumbling in, is that what it is? I was getting it mixed up with Al tumble for you, but that's not, I think it's stumbling in. So Joni wants to run away and be one of the suedes. But of course, Howard and Marion say no, and the last scene is so sad when leather leaves and Joni goes up on stage and she does her backup singer choreography in slow motion, she goes, whoa, bop, bop, whoa, bop, bop. And it's just so sad because leather is gone. And so my number one, most favorite, Happy Days episode, no big surprise here is Fonzie loves Pinky, and I'm not gonna say another one about it all, because that is next week's episode. Thank you so much for walking around the clock with us today, and we will see you next week when we will be dressed all in pink for a recap of the most famous Happy Days episode of them all. Fonzie loves Pinky.

Carolyn Cochrane 1:27:15

Oh, I can't wait. Well, if you want to get fun extras and links to things we mention in our episodes, or just things the three of us are loving right now. Make sure to subscribe to our weekly reader. It's delivered each Friday morning into your inbox. Just check these show notes. Go to our website, pop preservationists.com or click the link tree link in our bio on Instagram. And if you're a new listener, welcome. We have over 75 fun conversations just like this one for you to listen to, so go check them out. That's

Michelle Newman 1:27:47

so lucky. I kind of wish I still had 75 episodes to still listen to, and to all of you who do listen, and even better, share our podcast. We really want to say thank you. The ratings, the reviews, the kind emails and DMS we get telling us how a certain conversation touched you or just made you laugh until you peed a little bit. That all means the world to us, and it's really why we keep doing what we do. And another huge reason we are able to keep doing what we do is because of the support we get from our Patreon members, the PCPs would quite honestly, not be possible without them. And if you want to check out our Patreon page and all the fun and exclusive content our patrons get as a thank you, just go to patreon.com that's P, A, T, R, E, O n.com, and just type our name up in the search bubble, or you'll find links in our social media BIOS or right in these show notes. And today, we are giving a special shout out to patrons, Jennifer, Erica, Lisa Natalie, Nina and Debbie. You guys are the best. Thank you so much. In

Kristin Nilsen 1:28:57

the meantime, let's raise our glasses for a toast courtesy of the cast of Threes Company, two good times,

Michelle Newman 1:29:03

two Happy Days,

Carolyn Cochrane 1:29:05

Two Little House on the Prairie. Cheers, the information,

Kristin Nilsen 1:29:10

opinions and comments expressed on the pop culture Preservation Society podcast belongs solely to Carolyn the crushologist and hello Newman. And are in no way representative of our employers or affiliates. And though we truly believe we're always right, there is always a first time the PCPs is written, produced and recorded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of the fictional wjm studios and our beloved Mary Richards nano nanny, Keep on trucking and may the Force be with you.

Unknown Speaker 1:29:40

Get a happy feeling when we're saying i.