Ron Howard Almost Quit ‘Happy Days’ Over Fonzie-Inspired Name Change

I’m consistently worried that my kids won’t have cultural points of reference relevant to their age. That’s how I grew up, and it was at least easier in the sense that I was referencing things my friends could watch if they wanted to. They had the same access to The Monkees that I did. Yes, it was 1996, and most seven-year-olds were more interested in SNICK and Pogs, but I was an old soul, have remained one, and have been passing that on to my kids in a way that may not be helpful to their social standing.

Forgive me for once again beating this drum on this site, but the media landscape ain’t what it once was, consarnit! Kids can watch whatever they have access to, and that can be anything. Unless their parents go out of their way, they won’t ever know the wonders of a 1950s-era family going through the changes brought on by that decade. They won’t understand that you can get a jukebox to work just by smashing it with your fist. They’ll have no idea that before Mork was from Ork, he was visiting Al’s! Hell, that sentence may just inspire them to think I’m having a stroke.

Happy Days was an integral part of my childhood. Some of my earliest memories involve sitting on the floor in my family’s old Louisiana apartment and cracking up at the antics of Potsie and Ralph the Mouth. Yes, the show, which aired from 1974 to 1984, was huge for little me, and, along with my glasses and eczema, further alienated me from my fellow 90s-era six to eight-year-olds. But I didn’t care. It just made me feel more like Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard, who was just trying to figure out this post-WWII life like the rest of us, man. Richie felt attainable to my very young self. Unlike Fonzie.

Arthur Fonzarelli was the cool dude who lived above Richie’s parents’ garage and could not be farther from who I was (and am). While everyone on the show thought he was super cool, he was never the draw for me. I was significantly less interested if an episode from later in the show’s run came out, after Howard had left the show. Coincidentally enough, Howard almost quit the show long before that, when the Producers wanted to change the name of the show to Fonzi’s Happy Days. My childhood idol wasn’t having it.

Imagine if it were Urkel’s Family Matters. Ya can’t, can ya?! Howard recently revealed to Vulture that, despite being a consummate team player, a potential name change almost made him leave the show. “I never, ever challenged what they were doing creatively. It made perfect sense that you’d build this Fonzie character and maximize that,” Howard explained. “But the optics of now being in a show called Fonzie’s Happy Days, my ego wouldn’t allow for that. I wasn’t bluffing. I would’ve left. And my contract, I’m sure, had no clause connected to titles. They could have said, ‘F*** you. We changed the title, and we expect you to show up Monday morning.’ But thank God for great bosses. Garry Marshall said, ‘If you’re not cool with it …’”

Can’t say that I blame Howard for this. It’s not even like it was called The Richie Cunningham Show. Happy Days was an ensemble, and Henry Winkler understood that as well. “I later found out Henry himself thought it was a terrible idea,” Howard noted to Vulture. “I think the position I took made it easy for both Garry and Henry to also say, ‘No, let’s not do that.’ Years later, Henry said they were ready to do a spinoff and other things for Fonzie, and he just said, ‘Why fix it if it’s not broken? My success depends on the ensemble I’m in.’” That’s a very Fonzie move on Winkler’s part.

I can’t emphasize enough how excited I was to read this this morning, knowing it would give me a chance to write about Happy Days. I want my kids to be relevant (as much as they want, at least), and I doubt they’re ever going to watch Happy Days. However, they’ll definitely see the music video for Buddy Holly quite a bit. Maybe that will lead them to wonder what magical place Rivers Cuomo and his crew were superimposed into. Then I’ll have an in to push culture on them that was dated when I started watching it. Or I’ll take them to see the fourth Skibidi Toilet movie and, while it plays, just keep my eyes on the wall and imagine a spinning record rocking around the clock.