# Shoot me. I actually watched the Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309 "2005-02-04T03:14:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![shadowfax33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@shadowfax33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowfax33)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/21 "2005-02-04T16:51:59Z")
I only caught a few minutes of the show last night (I swear! I swear!), but they showed a clip form the horrendous “Joanie Loves Chachi” with the two of them _singing_–oh, the horror. After the clip, the camera cut to Scott Baio and Erin Moran, and Erin appeared to be _crying_! :eek: Well, I was crying, too. OMG, it was bad. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/22 "2005-02-04T16:56:26Z")
Apparently, Henry Winkler’s character Barry Zuckerkorn on"Arrested Development" marks his exit from that show on a dock – leaving the scene, he jumps over the body of a dead shark on the ground. He’s the first person in television history to have jumped the shark twice. ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@shadowfax33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowfax33)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/23 "2005-02-04T16:57:19Z")
And if I would read carefully, I would have seen that Casey 1505 had already covered that. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/24 "2005-02-04T16:58:30Z")
Darn it, I am annoyed that I missed this show. Did they bring back Ted McGinley or Crystal Bernard? McGinley was awful in that show, truly awful. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/25 "2005-02-04T17:08:11Z")
McGinley was in the reunion softtball game and a couple of clips, but not the actual show. As far as I remember, Crystal Bernard was neither shown nor mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/26 "2005-02-04T17:12:19Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Darn it, I am annoyed that I missed this show. > > Did they bring back Ted McGinley or Crystal Bernard? McGinley was awful in that show, truly awful. They showed a couple of clips of him. It wasn’t until I watched this that Ted McGinley, the patron saint of jumping the shark, was actually on the show that originated the expression “jump the shark.” WHOOSH! ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/27 "2005-02-04T17:24:40Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I think the poster meant that after the show “Joanie Loves Chachi” went off the air years ago, Erin Moran got weird. I don’t know the specifics, but I do remember hearing vague rumors of her not doing so well in life. And I specifically remember her skipping the first reunion show and making snide comments about the cast. Which struck me as odd, because the cast, as mentioned previously, always seemed rather friendly and down-to-earth. They used to have a charity softball game (or series of games) that got some airplay during the latter years of the show. She apparently didn’t want to do the first reunion show because of the format – narration vs actually being able to act (and has obviously changed her stance on that, seeing as how she came back for this one with the same format). But according to [this site](http://www.sondb.com/fun/Erinmoran.shtml), she did kindof weird out about it during an appearance on Oprah… > [@](#): > > She did go on the **Oprah Winfrey** show to explain why she didn’t do it. BOY! Did she come off like a fruitcake to many people… because she started talking about her family _threatening_ her because she wouldn’t do the reunion. They, she said, wanted her to do it because it made _them_ look good. Odd. And very probably true (there are many weird families out there) … but it didn’t come across well. **Debbie Reynolds** came on after her and made the statement that “I don’t understand what she was talking about. I think she needs to get some help.” **OUCH!** I missed this show, and I had wanted to see it. I hope they rerun it. Hmm, perhaps I’ll punch it in TIVO when I get home and see if any rebroadcasts show up. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/28 "2005-02-04T17:50:25Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I think the poster meant that after the show “Joanie Loves Chachi” went off the air years ago, Erin Moran got weird. I don’t know the specifics, but I do remember hearing vague rumors of her not doing so well in life. And I specifically remember her skipping the first reunion show and making snide comments about the cast. Now that you mention it, that does sound familiar. IIRC, wasn’t she kidnapped, or allegedly kidnapped or something? I may be way off on this, and I couldn’t find anything in a quick google, but as soon as you said it, I thought “kidnapped” for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/29 "2005-02-04T17:56:18Z")
Don’t you all remember _G vs E_? Erin Moran made a Faustian deal, her soul in exchange for her success. Somebody got taken but I’m not sure if it was Erin or the Devil. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/30 "2005-02-04T18:09:22Z")
**Carnac** , think about it this way. The only reason to tune this in was because you lived through the times in the late 1970s when if you showed up at the playground Wednesday morning and had not seen the previous evening’s first-run _Happy Days_ episode, you had no friends that day. There were many things to criticize about this special, not least Garry Marshall’s inability to shut up and let us hear from the cast, but it still took me and my wife right back to those memories. So, as far as I’m concerned, if you didn’t watch the whole thing last night, YOU SUCK and I won’t play tetherball with you! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/31 "2005-02-04T18:15:08Z")
Did they talk about how “Jumped the Shark” has become part of the vocabulary? I watched for about 5 minutes and then saw present day Erin Moran and then I had to sweep my shattered fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/32 "2005-02-04T18:19:09Z")
☹ I’m still upset that I missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/33 "2005-02-04T19:16:45Z")
I watched most of it and enjoyed it. Yes, they talked about “Jumping the shark” and mentioned that they did 100 shows after that episode. It was light, fun and nostalgic. I liked that most of them seemed to have genuine affection for each other, especially Ron Howard and Henry Wenklar. They told a very touching story about why they wrote the episode where Richie is in a motorcycle accident. I wouldn’t want to watch every week, but I’m glad I tuned in. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/34 "2005-02-04T19:32:21Z")
One interesting story was about Fonzie’s jacket. If you recall, in the early parts of the show, he generally wore a windbreaker (Marion Ross said it was gabardine) rather than the leather jacket we’ve all come to associate with the character. Marshall said that he wanted the leather from the beginning, but the network said they didn’t want a criminal as a major character, and as far as they were concerned, anyone who wore a leather jacket in the '50s was a criminal. So, Garry had the Fonz in the windbreaker for a while. Then, he convinced the network to allow the leather jacket when Fonzie was on his motorcyle. Then, for the rest of that season, he ordered the writers to work the bike into every single Fonzie scene. Eventually, the network allowed him to wear the jacket without the motorcyle. Marshall proudly said, “I threw the windbreaker into a dumpster on the Paramount lot, and the leather jacket, it’s in the Smithsonian Istitution.” Of course, that makes me think of what a valuable artifact that windbreaker would be if someone back then had thought to pull it out of the trash and save it for 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/35 "2005-02-04T19:37:31Z")
‘Motorcyle’ is how ‘motorcy **c** le’ sounds in Garry Marshall’s thick Bronx accent. Or something like that. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/36 "2005-02-04T19:41:59Z")
Anyone know where I can see the Fonzie/Mrs. C clips online? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/37 "2005-02-04T19:42:15Z")
Just curious … how does Marshall pronounce “Smithsonian Institution”? Funnin’ with ya. No harm meant. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/38 "2005-02-04T21:08:30Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > > [@Sauron](#): > > > > I think the poster meant that after the show “Joanie Loves Chachi” went off the air years ago, Erin Moran got weird. I don’t know the specifics, but I do remember hearing vague rumors of her not doing so well in life. And I specifically remember her skipping the first reunion show and making snide comments about the cast. > > Now that you mention it, that does sound familiar. IIRC, wasn’t she kidnapped, or allegedly kidnapped or something? > > I may be way off on this, and I couldn’t find anything in a quick google, but as soon as you said it, I thought “kidnapped” for some reason. I don’t know if this is connected, but I remember watching this episode of Howard Stern’s TV show. [http://tvmegasite.net/prime/shows/howard/sternepi.shtml](http://tvmegasite.net/prime/shows/howard/sternepi.shtml) > [@](#): > > Queen For Today Mar 28, 1992. Erin Moran, Billy Gray, Lauren Chapin, Erin discloses she was raped by a family member; Live commercial: Brother Fax with spokesmodel Diane D’Nato; Queen for Today continues - Erin discusses rape, Lauren Chapin wins Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin played the two younger kids on “Father Knows Best”. Lauren wound up as a call girl and heroin addict for a time before she found Jesus. Here’s what I remember of the show. Erin started crying and said it was because a family member had or had attempted to sexually assault her (I don’t remember her saying how long ago that was). IIRC that wasn’t why she was invited on this episode, Howard’s version of “Queen for a Day”, because it was news to me and even apparently Howard. He was concerned and did at least offer to stop the show, but she refused. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/39 "2005-02-05T00:43:38Z")
No, we won’t. Like the story about the pregnant earwig in the Night Gallery, we prefer to wait and watch your brain get eaten up from within. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309/40 "2005-02-14T02:16:02Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > They told a very touching story about why they wrote the episode where Richie is in a motorcycle accident. I didn’t see the special. What was the story? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoot-me-i-actually-watched-the-happy-days-30th-anniversary-reunion/288309.md?page=3)