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5.0étoiles sur 5
Happy Days are here again, Juil 6 2006
How can it possibly be over thirty years already since Happy Days first premiered? That fact makes a guy feel very old, for I can't imagine having grown up without Happy Days; fortunately, being able to watch these classic episodes brings back great memories that almost make me feel young again. As a little kid growing up in the 70s, Happy Days was - without question - the show. I was trying to be Fonzie - strutting around, giving thumbs up, and saying Heyyyy! all the time - even before I learned to read. The show remained a constant presence in my life throughout the 1980s, as well, as it was a staple of after-school programming (back before all the talk shows took over). The first season's episodes were never really my favorite - mainly because a lot of changes were made at the start of the second season, Richie was a little wild that first year, Joanie was still a few years away from babehood, Fonzie was basically just a peripheral character, and - let's face it - there was just way too much Potsie in these early shows. In the first season, Potsie was the second-most important character, although Howard and Marion came on strong in the last half of the season.
Richie really wasn't a clean-cut paragon of virtue in Season One. In the very first episode, he set out to go "All the Way" with a girl who had a "reputation." Over the course of the next fifteen shows, he came home drunk (accompanied by a stripper) from a Marine's bachelor party, got arrested after he snuck out of the house to attend a drag race, put himself through "The Deadly Dares" in order to join The Demons, used a fake ID to get into a strip club, lost his band mates' money in a poker game, came close to leaving home with a bunch of beatniks, almost got a tattoo to impress a girl, and almost got himself into a rumble with The Dukes. Of course, he learned important lessons from all of his adventures - except the lesson that he should stop going along with all of Potsie's hare-brained schemes and plans. There are some truly classic moments in these first 16 episodes, such as Fonzie selecting Richie (in drag) to dance at the sock hop, Richie's first drunk in "Richie's Cup Runneth Over" and Richie's blind date with a really tall girl in "Because She's There."
The gang's all here for the most part, but Ralph Malph is just a jokester you see at Arnold's or parties/dances, and Fonzie is largely just the local king of cool. Both characters' presence tends to increase as the season progresses, but the only real character development we see of Arthur Fonzarelli comes when Fonzie decides to go back to high school in "Fonzie Drops In." Then, of course, there's Chuck, the infamous oldest son of the Cunninghams who simply disappears after this first season. The question is not really why his character was purged from the show with such Stalinist diligence; instead, it's why was he ever there to start with? He did nothing on the show except dribble a basketball.
It's interesting to see how the show became a little more serious as the first season drew to a close. While thoughts of making out with girls were never far from Richie's mind, we witness a rather poignant example of growing up when Richie and Howard square off over the beatnik way of life, see the show take racism head-on in "The Best Man" when Howard has his black army buddy's wedding at his house in spite of his neighbors' protests, and take a moment to reflect on the dangers of the nascent Cold War and the A bomb back in the 1950s.
I hope this Happy Days Season One collection sells like hotcakes because I want all of the other seasons ASAP. I like the next few seasons better, but a lot of fans probably have a special love for these early episodes. If you're a rabid Fonzie fan, don't expect to see the Fonz you know and love in these first season shows, though - there are only glimpses of the central character he would become. Keep in mind, as well, that there are only 16 shows in this first season - Happy Days debuted on January 15, 1974. There are also no extras whatsoever included on these 3 DVDs, a fact which is quite disappointing. Frankly, that means this collection is overpriced. At least we have the episodes themselves, though - and that is a treasure in and of itself.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
BEST SEASON of the series!, Juil 17 2004
These are ABSOLUTELY the BEST episodes of the series when it actually had the 1950's look the show should have had through the subsequent seasons. The LIVE audience ruined the show and the actors started to act differently because of it. THANK GOD they start these series sets with the FIRST SEASON because this is the only one I am buying.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Don't Bother if Original Music is Gone and Episodes are Cut, Juil 17 2004
Par Un client
Sadly, there are many releases that studios are doing this to in order to maximize profits. Watch out for it. I'm hoping that this set contains the episodes as originally aired on ABC. The low list price has me worried though. Happy Days was a HUGE hit in the 70's and has been a BIG success in syndication. One would hope and reasonably expect that Paramount would go out of their way to include the original music and the episodes in their entirety and not the sorry syndication cuts with replacement music and episodes each missing 3-6 minutes of footage. It doesn't say much for Paramount as a company if they don't do this for all the many, many fans and for what many feel was the best show of the 1970's. I for one will not purchase this set or upcoming seasons if there is replacement music and edited(scenes cut)syndication cuts of the episodes. I would recommend skipping this set if the episodes and music are edited and would recommend everyone else to do the same and write(not email)letters to Paramount and make phone calls voicing your displeasure. They won't know why you skipped it if you don't tell them! Having said all that, this series was at its best in the first two seasons before it became the Fonzie show, although I still enjoyed that show too, but not as much. The first two seasons really were about a young man coming of age in the 50's. Make sure to pick this set up if it meets the above-mentioned criteria. It's well worth it. The following seasons were good too, just less so due to being different. It wasn't really a show about the 1950's anymore. Although the episodes in his final season weren't very good either as they just went totally over the top, the show should have been mercifully killed after the departure of Ron Howard. As great as Henry Winkler, Tom Bosley, Marion Ross, Erin Moran, Anson Williams, Al Molinaro, and Don Most(he left with RH) were, this show needed Richie and Fonzie together in order to work. Just watch the post-Ron Howard era and see if you don't agree. It was really bad after he left, as some terrible replacement characters(not the actors but the characters they had to portray) were brought in to fill the void and Fonzie was drastically softened and was no longer the babe hound/womanizer everyone loved. The departure of Don Most(Ralph Malph) didn't help either. I highly recommend this set if the original music is there and all the footage is in place!!
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