The Sound of A Generation

My early evenings television watching as a child would always open up at the sound of "Sunday, Monday, Happy Days.." the catchy tune and opening gingle to the iconic mid-70's TV serial "HAPPY DAYS". If I only mention it the theme tune is already resounding in my head! By the by, I ain't that old, what my generation of spring chickens used to watch were repeats!

Last night me and Bea where yet again trying to pick a movie to watch together and both the movies she chose had been coincidentally directed by Ron Howard. Now, being the sophisticated and cultured woman she is, my lovely housemate did recognise that this Howard guy was someone famous, but she simply did not seem to make the connection that this revelation of a director used to be Fonzie Fonzarelli's best friend, ginger geek Richie Cunningham. When I tried to establish the connection for her, she looked even more puzzled. At that moment I acknowledged that something really quite tragic had occurred: the women had been deprived as a child of quality entratainment - she had never watched HAPPY DAYS. Shocked and perplexed, I felt sorry for her and resolved within myself to make it my ultimate mission to give her an education on CULT Television. (I joke...)

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Days
Happy Days was a popular American television sitcom that originally aired between 1974 and 1984. It presented an idealized version of life in late 1950s and early 1960s America.
Happy Days centered on the life of a middle-class family, the Cunninghams, living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The family consisted of Howard, a hardware store owner and the family patriarch; Marion, a homemaker and the family matriarch; and the couple's teenage children, Richie (who had an optimistic if somewhat naïve outlook on life), Richie's younger sister Joanie, and Richie's older brother Chuck (a character that would abruptly disappear during the second season, with no explanation given until four years later). As the series went on the story focus often shifted to additional characters, notably those of ex-New Yorker Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, who was originally portrayed as a local thug but soon became a friend to Richie and the Cunningham family, and Fonzie's cousin Chachi, who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham. The long-running show also resulted in several spinoff shows, many of which were highly successful in their own right.



You may accuse the program of being dated, unrealistic and, let's face it, cheesey. But "Happy Days" was a sitcom that did not want to pretenciously prove any points at all: all it set itself to do was to portray stereotypical aspects of a time past and to provide skin deep universal commedy with much success in my opinion. So Bea, my dear, here is a little introduction to an icon of 20th century entratainment.