Flipping around last week, I discovered a new cable station in my myriad of channels called the Hub.
Among the offerings on the channel is one of my favorite shows of all time, "Happy Days."
Say what you will, but when the show was in its prime (seasons three and four, when the show figured out that making Fonzie the star was the way to go but before the Fonz's cool factor got over the top) it was a really entertaining series. And while it did give us the phrase "jump the shark" I still don't think that season was too much of decline. It really declined a lot once Richie left...
I flipped over and found the show in its first season. And while these episodes are interesting (watching it develop into the hit it eventually becomes is fascinating and something that would never happen today because most networks wouldn't have the patience for it or the intestinal fortitude to change things like they did between seasons two and three), they're not among my favorites.
Which is why I was saddened to hear the news tonight that actor Tom Bosley has passed away. Bosley was the patriarch of the Cunningham clan and while Fonzie and Richie were the stars of the show, Bosley was one of many actors who helped hold things together and kept things grounded...well, as much as can be expected.
In one of those ice breaking games once, I was asked if I could be part of a TV family which would it be. Without hesitating, I said it'd be the Cunninghams. No matter how crazy things got, you always felt like Howard and Marion loved each other and were still excited to be married to each other after all those years. They allowed their kids to be themselves but still offered solid parenting to them. I know it's just a TV show, but it still worked for me on many levels.
And while we all sort of figured that Mrs. C had a crush on the Fonz, we always knew that her heart belonged to Howard.
What a great show. And it's a shame to lose one of the cast.
Thanks for the memories and the great work, Mr. Bosley. May you rest in peace.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 10/19/2010 08:19:00 PM |
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