Happy Days was just before my time. I can vaguely remember my parents watching M*A*S*H and Mork & Mindy, but with the exception of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, I’ve only really approached ‘70s sitcoms from a modern point of view. Mark Keizer reviewed the first season from the vantage point of a bona fide devotee of the series (at least in its nascent incarnation), and he offered this as a catch-up for all us non-Cunninghams:
“The show concerned itself with the antics of the Cunningham family that lived in suburban Milwaukee. Mr. Cunningham (Tom Bosley) ran the local hardware store, while his wife (Marion Ross) stayed at home doing whatever it is that sitcom moms do, mostly unpacking groceries. Their son Richie (Ron Howard) owned an assortment of friends, including Ralph (Donny Most) and Potsie (Anson Williams). His most incongruous friend, however, was uber-cool greaser Fonzie, if only because most real-life Fonzies were kicking the real-life asses of most real-life Richies. But, in the homogenizing world of television, The Fonz was renting a room above the Cunningham's house, hanging out with the fam, and calling Richie's mother, "Mrs. C." The show spawned catchphrases like "Sit on it," which quickly entered the zeitgeist, or whatever zeitgeist was called before some idiot decided that the language needed an ill-defined, intelligent-sounding word that meant whatever it is that zeitgeist actually means.”
I took a peek at the show’s second season (which capitalized on its newfound fame, manifesting a confidence and comedic brawn that tends to come with big Nielsen ratings) and season three (a distinct step in the wrong direction), and I’m pleased to say that
The Fourth Season outdoes them all. It’s for one major reason: Pinky Tuscadero. I know I spent my review of
The Third Season complaining that Fonzie took up too much time at the narrative center of
Happy Days, but the addition of Pinky (Roz Kelly) as Fonz’s sweetheart and comic foil legitimizes Fonz’s stature in the show fantastically.
She pops up in this season’s three-parter entitled Fonzie Loves Pinky, and her arrival causes a ripple effect through the entire show. Just when the Cunninghams and their various friends and compatriots were about to resort to the kind of narrative complacency that anchored the show’s third season so plainly, Pinky comes on the scene and shakes it all up. Sure, from a certain perspective the girl is nothing more than a female Fonzie (she’s even a motorcycle chick, for God’s sake!), but her entanglements with Fonzie give actor Henry Winkler more to do than just stand in the epicenter of the Happy Days universe and play to the back row.
There’s even a bittersweet coda to their interaction. Happy Days was, at the time, quite interested in having Pinky join their cast full-time. But rumors of Roz Kelly’s relationships with the show’s behind-the-camera talent were less than stellar and have been flying around TV gossip rags for years. So after this quickie appearance, Pinky was gone. Yet her goodbyes to The Fonz as she takes off does the impossible; they give Fonzie a fantastic character-building moment.
So yes, Happy Days: The Fourth Season still suffers from a bit of been-there-done-that repetition in a handful of its storylines, but consider me a full-blown convert. Not only did I think the Pinky Tuscadero plot developments were great by Happy Days standards, but I’d consider them some of the most goofy, irreverent, and enjoyable sitcom television moments of its age. A character like The Fonz comes around only once in a generation, and it’s a sign of real adventurousness that Happy Days’ producers were willing to shake up that character from the ground up.
I was sad to see her go, but my intrigue in Happy Days increases. If they’re willing to take risks like this in their fourth season, what could possibly be awaiting us in later incarnations?
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
These 1.33:1 full screen presentations are nearly identical in quality to those on the show’s Third Season box set. Black levels are not embarrassing, but they're not particularly impressive and they do show some noise. Colors are serviceable. Detail is average (to be generous) and the cleanliness of the transfers is a step up from the last round. Not awful, but definitely not pristine.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
As was the case with earlier DVD editions of the show, these mono mixes also don’t impress, but there really is very little that could have been done with them. Everything comes from the center speaker, dialogue is understandable, and the show has no worthwhile sound effects. Some lines of dialogue and bits of the laugh track sound trebly, but nothing to worry about. I suppose it goes without saying that the show sounds as it originally did upon its first broadcast, and that’s that.
Included are English subtitles and English Closed Captions.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Just like in the show’s third season on DVD, the inclusion of a bonus episode is a bit of a misnomer. There is indeed a montage-based best-of clips show entitled The Third Anniversary Show, but the show was actually aired during the February of Happy Days’ third season, so it’s really not a bonus, but a part of the season.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Final Thoughts
I’d consider this Fourth Season set to be a marked improvement over the Happy Days’ previous go-round. Audio and video qualities and supplements are marginal, continuing to keep the show’s TV-on-DVD releases from really taking off. But I doubt that fans of the show will care all that much. This is good TV, folks. Happy Days may not be the most consistently enjoyable sitcom of the 1970s, but it sometimes worked very well. Check out the Pinky trilogy of episodes; they’re a hoot.
