Happy Days first debuted on ABC on January 15, 1974, meaning 2024 is the show’s 50th anniversary. The sitcom, about a bunch of teenagers growing up in the 1950s, became one of the biggest hits on television in the 1970s, running for 11 seasons and 255 episodes, and launching several spinoffs.
50 years later, two of the show’s biggest alumni — Ron Howard, who played Richie Cunningham, and Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie — appeared together at the Emmys on a recreation of the show’s iconic diner set. Just for old times’ sake, Winkler even banged on the old jukebox.
You can watch the Happy Days segment from the Emmys below.
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A few of the members of that classic Happy Days cast have passed away through the years. Tom Bosley, who played Richie’s dad Howard, died in 2010; Al Molinaro, who played Al at Arnold’s Diner, passed away in 2015. (Pat Morita, who played Arnold, died in 2005.)
Still, there were other living members of the old Happy Days cast who could have theoretically appeared in a Happy Days reunion beside Howard and Winkler, including Don Most (Ralph Malph), Scott Baio (Chachi), and Anson Williams (Potsie).
Happy Days was nominated for nine Emmys over the course of its run on ABC, but won just a single award over all those years. In 1978, it was the winner of the Best Film Editing in a Comedy Series award for the episode “Richie Almost Dies.” None of the iconic actors from the show ever won an Emmy for their work on Happy Days, although Winkler and Marion Ross were both nominated multiple times.
It spawned more spinoffs than almost any sitcom in history, including Laverne & Shirley, Joanie Loves Chachi, Blansky’s Beauty’s, and Mork & Mindy starring Robin Williams.
The full list of this year’s Emmy winners is here. Hello sunshine, goodbye rain.
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Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky
