I took a long, nostalgic trip last night.
TV Land happened to show the Happy Days episode where Richie (the inimitable Ron Howard) returned home: married, with a child, about to set out on his future course. He was saying goodbye to his family and friends. I vividly remember watching this, first-run, when I was 9 years old…
I started crying.
Am I just a big sap? Quite possibly.
Is there virtually nothing on TV these days that can actually move me to tears in the same way? You’re damned right!
Happy Days lasted an incredible 11 seasons because it tapped into the secret of successful situation comedy: have an incredible core concept — something simple yet flexible — and spend a decade playing all sorts of experimental, funny, sad, joyous, and poignant games with that very same concept.
Happy Days kept it simple, and kept it about the characters. The Fonz, an amazing creation, brought to life by Henry Winkler, could have become a cliche. Instead, he is an icon of television history. He represents a cast that grew, evolved, and expanded as new times, new writers, and new situations demanded. They never stood still, yet they spoke to so many people because they stayed true to their characters.
Friends tried really hard, but their 10 year run didn’t end with a single moment that managed to squeeze a tear out of me. Happy Days, and other shows like it, managed to do this over and over, long before the end of the series was even in sight.
And don’t even get me started on TV endings. Television’s 70s golden age produced shows that ended spectacularly, whether it be MASH’s stunning two hour finale, or Happy Days breaking the fourth wall in its final, heartwarming minute. In recent years, only Frasier has come close to equalling such a feat. When Joanie and Chachi married, and Tom Bosley said goodbye, it was the end of an era. When Ross and Rachel got together for the umpteenth time…it was just the end of another television program.
So…I cried. I cried because of the warmth of the episode. I cried because of the memories of childhood viewing on Tuesday nights that flowed over me like Niagara Falls. And I cried over lost opportunities — in this age of crap reality television and cheap, assembly-line sitcoms, I cried for what we have lost.
It’s not called Happy Days for nothing.
