Happy Days

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that aired first-run from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. The show was originally based on a segment from ABC's Love, American Style titled Love and the Television Set, (later retitled Love and the Happy Days for syndication) featuring Ron Howard and three future cast members.

Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in the mid-1950s to mid-1960s United States.

The series was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions (Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions in later years) and Henderson Productions in association with Paramount Television. Happy Days was one of the highest-rated shows of the 1970s.

Plot

Erin Moran

Erin Marie Moran (born October 18, 1960) is an American actress, best known for the role of Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days and its spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi.

Career

Moran was cast as Jenny Jones in the television series Daktari, which ran from 1966 to 1969. In 1968, she made her feature-film debut in How Sweet It Is! with Debbie Reynolds. She appeared in 80 Steps to Jonah (1969) and Watermelon Man (1970). She made regular appearances on The Don Rickles Show in 1972. She made guest appearances in The Courtship of Eddie's Father, My Three Sons, Bearcats! and Family Affair. As a young child, she was also on the television series Gunsmoke.

In 1974, Moran was cast to play her best known role, Joanie Cunningham on the sitcom Happy Days. She played the feisty younger sister of Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard). Moran continued the role in 1982 in the short-lived spin-off series Joanie Loves Chachi, alongside Scott Baio. After Joanie Loves Chachi’s cancellation in 1983, she returned to Happy Days for its final season.

Joanie Cunningham

Joanie Louise Cunningham is a fictional character, played in an episode of the anthology series Love, American Style by Susan Neher and on the sitcoms Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi by Erin Moran. She was the daughter of Howard and Marion Cunningham, and the younger sister of Chuck Cunningham and Richie Cunningham. In early seasons, Joanie was always nosy toward Richie's makeout sessions with his girlfriends. Also, in early seasons, Joanie was also a member of a girl scout-type organization called the "Junior Chipmunks." She also developed a brief crush on Potsie after he sang to her (see "They Call It Potsie Love" from Season 3). As she grew older, Joanie became best friends with the promiscuous Jenny Piccalo, who would only be referred to but not revealed onscreen until Season 8. Joanie would always complain and pout whenever she got sent to her room by her parents for mischief, talking back, or whenever a conversation ensued that her parents didn't want her to hear.

Joanie Loves Chachi

Joanie Loves Chachi is an American sitcom and a spin-off of Happy Days that was originally broadcast on ABC from March 23, 1982, to May 24, 1983. It stars Erin Moran and Scott Baio as the title characters Joanie Cunningham and Chachi Arcola, respectively.

Storyline

The series is set in the early to mid-1960s and follows the exploits of Joanie and Chachi as they moved to Chicago and tried to make it on their own with a rock band and a music career at a time the British Invasion was looming (one episode was actually titled "Beatlemania"). It mixed the traditional elements of a sitcom with musical performances on each show by Baio and Moran. In fact, the beginning credit sequence of the show had them singing to each other. Their backup band consists of a spaced-out drummer named Bingo and Chachi's blasé cousins Mario and Annette.

The series also starred Ellen Travolta as Louisa Delvecchio, Chachi's mother, and Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio, Chachi's stepfather (and formerly the owner of Arnold's Drive-In in Happy Days), who opened a restaurant in which Chachi and Joanie performed most of their music. Art Metrano played Chachi's uncle Rico Mastorelli, who was the band's manager and helped Joanie and Chachi advance in their careers. Actress Winifred Freedman played Rico's daughter, Annette, Chachi's cousin, and bandmate.