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Fonz and the Happy Days Gang

"But Fonzie, what about the Blinovitch Limitation Effect?"“HEEEEEY!” EARLY-80S cartoon-wise, HAPPY DAYS certainly had a lot to answer for. There was Hanna-Barbera’s [cref 2655 HEYY, IT’S THE KING!] for one thing; and then there was this direct descendant, with the original show’s Fonz, Ralph Malph and Richie (voiced by the originals), bolstered for some reason by dappy dog sidekick Mr. Cool. A woman from the future (referred to as “Heyyyy, Cupcake!” by Fonzie) turned up with a time machine, and they went off into various Time Tunnelesque adventures, always saved at the last minute by Fonz clicking his fingers.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Nik

    July 25, 2009 at 5:12 am

    It was Richie, rather than Potsie.

  2. TV Cream

    July 25, 2009 at 10:44 pm

    Cheers Nik – now changed.

  3. Ian Tomkinson

    October 3, 2009 at 12:45 am

    Is this the most incongruous spin-off set-up ever? Like they didn’t see the potential of a simple Happy Days cartoon; so what they decided to was, er, introduce the concept of time travel. Although as I’m typing this I’m realising that Happy Days itself was a time-travelling show of sorts, as you were.

  4. Nick H

    October 10, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    Thank goodness. I thought this was a product of my imagination as none of my contempories knew what I was talking about when I mentioned this show!

    “Heeyyy cupcake!”

  5. Angryhead

    October 10, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    I can remember being hypnotised into a love for this show when it was shown daily on TV-AM during the infamous strike by crew members – which of course also launched the career of Roland Rat.
    I genuinley felt robbed when the dispute was resolved and ‘Happy Days’ was kicked aside to make way for the full-time return of the “beloved” regular presenters.

  6. Richardpd

    October 25, 2022 at 10:45 pm

    It’s an urban myth that this came about because someone wanted to make a cartoon of Dr Who but couldn’t get the rights, but at the same time the makers of Happy Days were looking to make an animated spin-off, after exhausting all the live action options & the fact that most of the cast were getting too old to look like teenagers.

    It was sometimes odd watching cartoons in the 1980s, not realising they featured characters from other mediums, especially when there way no really easy way to check things out like there is today. It was only during the TV=AM strike that I got to see the live action original.

  7. George White

    October 26, 2022 at 10:00 am

    See also the New Shmoo or those New ScoobyDoo Movies with barely known in the UK American comedians.
    Reminded of the Jonathan Winters one featuring his proto-Mrs. Brown/Madea character Maude Frickert by learning about a bizarre cryptic Gabbo is Coming-style ad campaign on print and then TV featuring Winters as Frickert, eventually revealed to be selling Toyotas.

    • Richardpd

      October 26, 2022 at 9:58 pm

      The New Shmoo is one of those characters who was in a syndicated American comic strip for decades but hardly known in the UK apart from from through cartoons. Marmaduke is another that comes to mind when pared with Heathcliff.

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