The Best Behind the Scenes Secrets from the Set of “Happy Days”

2024-10-19

Originally published on our site toppoptoday.com

Happy Days is one of the most popular and iconic TV shows in U.S. history. It made stars of cast members such as Henry Winkler and Ron Howard, as well as launching the careers of a host of famous faces and numerous spin-offs.

The legendary sitcom ran for almost 10 years and still remains one of the most popular shows in America.

But behind the scenes, there were many secrets that the cast and crew kept to themselves—until now. Let’s take a look at the hidden truths of the real people behind the hit TV show.

Cool Days

Nowadays, years after the sitcom has gone off the air, the name Happy Days is pretty much synonymous with the timeless hit show. Couple that with the catchy theme song, and you certainly couldn’t imagine it being called anything else, right?

Well actually, you may not know that originally the show had an entirely different name!

The hit sitcom was initially going to be called Cool. This would certainly be accurate for Henry Winkler’s character, the Fonz, but we think the real title captures better the overall nostalgic and upbeat nature of the show.

And that wasn’t the only title they considered…

Fonz Focus

Another title the producers considered at one point was renaming the original to something more focal on the show’s main character.

Once the creators of the show realized just how popular Fonzie was becoming with viewers, they thought about renaming it Fonzie’s Happy Days.

However, the rest of the cast wasn’t particularly fond of this idea, as it diminished the importance of their characters.

Out of respect to the other stars such as Ron Howard, they decided to stick with Happy Days as the title for the show.

What’s in a Name

And the stars of the show weren’t the only real-life people who had an input into the titles and names chosen for the show.

The truth was, show creator Garry Marshall named many of the main characters after real-life people who he had encountered from his youth and throughout his career.

Richie Cunningham was in fact a real person who Marshall knew from church, and Potsie Webber was one of his wife’s old classmates.

But one of the most iconic character’s names took inspiration from Marshall himself.

Mash Up

Even if you’re not a Happy Days fan, most people are familiar with Henry Winkler’s character, Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli.

But did you know that the legendary greaser was in fact originally named Arthur Masciarelli?

This is the Italian version and original name for Marshall’s last name, as a nod to his heritage.

However, the creators didn’t think that “The Mash” had quite the same ring to it, so they went with Fonzarelli in the end—the name that ended up being one of the most iconic in TV history.

One Giant Leap

Have you ever heard the phrase “jumping the shark”? It’s a popular showbiz expression, referring to when a TV show has strayed too far from the original premise, becoming less believable, lower in quality, or simply just bonkers.

Well, the phrase in fact originated from one pivotal scene in Happy Days. It was in one of the later seasons, that the world watched in amazement as Fonzie—still dressed in his leather jacket—went water skiing and pulled off the amazing feat of jumping over the shark.

Many critics pinpointed this as the moment that the show descended from witty sitcom to a more slapstick comedy.

All Aboard

Nowadays, Happy Days remains one of the most popular shows in history, despite being filmed almost fifty years ago. But the truth was, the pilot episode did not impress networks as much as the producers had hoped—and ABC in fact passed on the series when they first watched it!

It was only after they watched George Lucas’ movie American Graffiti, another nostalgia project starring Ron Howard, that they changed their minds.