Happy Days - Plot

Plot

Set in the Midwestern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the series revolves around teenager Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his family: his father, Howard (Tom Bosley), who owns a hardware store; traditional homemaker and mother, Marion (Marion Ross); younger sister Joanie (Erin Moran); and high school dropout, biker and suave ladies' man Arthur "Fonzie"/"The Fonz" Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), who would eventually become the Cunninghams' upstairs tenant. The earlier episodes revolve around Richie and his friends, Warren "Potsie" Weber (Anson Williams) and Ralph Malph (Donny Most), with Fonzie as a secondary character. As the series progressed, Fonzie proved to be a favorite with viewers and soon more story lines were written to reflect his growing popularity. Fonzie befriends Richie and the Cunningham family, and when Richie left the series for military service, Fonzie became the central figure of the show. In later seasons, other characters were introduced including Fonzie's young cousin, Charles "Chachi" Arcola (Scott Baio), who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham.

The series was originally spun off from "Love and the Happy Days," a one-episode teleplay on the anthology series Love, American Style. Happy Days itself spawned the hit television shows Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy as well as two non-hits Joanie Loves Chachi and Blansky's Beauties (the latter featuring Nancy Walker as Howard's cousin). The show is the basis for the Happy Days musical touring the United States. The leather jacket worn by Winkler during the series hangs in the Smithsonian Institution.