The eleventh and final season of ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'', an American television sitcom, originally aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in the United States between September 27, 1983, and July 19, 1984. The show was created by

Garry Marshall Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American screenwriter, director, producer and actor. Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' until he developed the T ...

, under the production company Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions and Henderson Production Company, Inc., in association with

Paramount Television The first incarnation of Paramount Television was operated as the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, until it changed its name to CBS Paramount Television on January 17, 2006. History Desilu Pro ...

Background

Like the three previous seasons, this season also consists of 22 episodes, all of which were directed by

Jerry Paris William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925 – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and for directing the majo ...

. When its spin-off '' Joanie Loves Chachi'' was canceled in 1982,

Scott Baio Scott Vincent Baio (; born September 22, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chachi Arcola on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1977–1984) and its spin-off '' Joanie Loves Chachi'' (1982–1983), the title character on the s ...

and

Erin Moran Erin Marie Moran-Fleischmann (October 18, 1960 – April 22, 2017) was an American actress, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham on the television sitcom ''Happy Days'' and its spin-off ''Joanie Loves Chachi''. Early life Erin Marie ...

returned to ''Happy Days'', after being special guest stars during its tenth season, which also marked the departure of

Cathy Silvers Cathy Silvers (born May 27, 1961) is an American actress and author. She is the daughter of actress Evelyn Patrick and actor/comedian Phil Silvers. She is best known for her role as boy-crazy teenager Jenny Piccolo in later seasons of the TV ...

, who returned for the two-part series finale in 1984. Meanwhile, other regulars from season ten (

Linda Purl Linda Purl (born September 2, 1955) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ashley Pfister (Fonzie's girlfriend) on ''Happy Days'' (she originally played Gloria as Richie’s date in season 2 episodes 1, 2, 6 and 7), Sheila Munroe in ...

Crystal Bernard Crystal Lynn BernardLeszczak, Bob (2015). From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to Television Stars Who Made Record, 1950–2000'. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 21. (born September 30, 1961) is a retired American singer-songwriter and ...

, Billy Warlock and Heather O'Rourke) did not return for this season. This season marked the return of former regulars

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

and

Don Most Don Most (born August 8, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ralph Malph on the television series ''Happy Days''. Early life Most was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City. He lived in Flatbush, Br ...

, after their departures in the seventh season's finale in 1980.

Anson Williams Anson Williams (born Anson William Heimlich; September 25, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as gullible, well-intentioned singer Warren "Potsie" Weber on the television series ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), a role for wh ...

, despite still being credited on the opening credits for this season, only appeared on five episodes. Williams and Most did not appear in the finale.

Pat Morita Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, before becoming known to television audiences for his recurring role as diner owner Matsuo "Arnold" Takah ...

, who played Arnold, made his final appearance in the first episode of the season. Al Molinaro, who played Al, returned for the series finale. The season began filming in May 1983 and ended in November of that year. Also, the title theme song was re-recorded in a more modern style. It features Bobby Arvon on lead vocals, along with several backup vocalists. To accompany this version, new opening and closing credits were filmed, and the flashing ''Happy Days'' logo was redesigned. After ten consecutive seasons leading ABC Tuesday night at 8:00 PM, the network was forced to regroup after its most-successful spin-off, ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' is an American television sitcom that ran for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Wi ...

'', ended its run in May 1983. More importantly, a new show, ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...

'', debuted on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in January of that year and began airing on the same night and timeslot as ''Happy Days''. Viewership for ''Happy Days'' declined throughout the 1982-83 television season, with the show ending at number 28 on the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, while ''The A-Team'' ended at number ten. For the 1983-84 season, the show left its popular 8:00 PM timeslot and was moved half an hour to 8:30 PM. A new series, the ultimately short-lived show '' Just Our Luck'', took its place. It stayed in that timeslot until the series finale, which aired on May 8, 1984. However, there were five "leftover" episodes that ABC didn't have time to air during the regular season due to the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

and the spring run of '' a.k.a. Pablo''. Four of these aired on Thursday nights during the summer of 1984; the fifth ("Fonzie's Spots") first aired in syndication on September 24, 1984. Due to its timeslot change and the rising popularity of ''The A-Team'', ratings fell even further, ending at number 63, the show's lowest-watched season.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, producer, director, and author. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), Winkler has distinguished himself as a character acto ...

as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli *

Marion Ross Marion Ross (born Marian Eileen Ross; October 25, 1928) is an American actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham (Happy Days), Marion Cunningham on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television sitcom ''Happy Days'', on which ...

as Marion Cunningham *

as Chachi Arcola *

Joanie Cunningham Joanie Louise Cunningham is a fictional character, played by Erin Moran on the sitcoms ''Happy Days'' and '' Joanie Loves Chachi''. Her first appearance was on one episode of ''Love, American Style'', where she was played by Susan Neher. The cha ...

as Warren "Potsie" Weber *

Ted McGinley Theodore Martin McGinley (born May 30, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom '' Married... with Children'', Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom '' Hope & Faith'', and as Derek on the ...

as Roger Phillips *

Tom Bosley Thomas Edward Bosley (October 1, 1927 – October 19, 2010) was an American actor, television personality and entertainer. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham (Happy Days character), Howard Cunningham on the American Broadcasti ...

as Howard Cunningham

Special guest stars

Richie Cunningham Richard J. Cunningham is a fictional character in the 1970s TV sitcom ''Happy Days,'' played by Ron Howard. Richie is Howard and Marion Cunningham's son and Joanie Cunningham and Chuck Cunningham's brother. He is friends with Fonzie, Ralph Mal ...

Ralph Malph Ralph Hector Malph is a character on ''Happy Days'' played by Donny Most. Background of character He usually had two things on his mind, girls and jokes. His jokes usually got little or no reaction from any other character, yet he continued his ...

* Lynda Goodfriend as Lori Beth Cunningham * Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio * Ellen Travolta as Louisa Delvecchio *

as Jenny Piccolo *

as Arnold Takahashi * Frances Bay as Grandma Nussbaum

Recurring cast

*Harris Kal as Bobby *Kevin Sullivan as Tommy *Steven Baio as Joey

Broadcast history

The season aired Tuesdays at 8:30-9:00 pm (EST) and Thursdays at 8:00-8:30 pm (EST).TV Listings for June 28, 1984
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Episodes

References

{{Happy Days Happy Days 11 1983 American television seasons 1984 American television seasons