The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang

The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang is an American animated science fiction comedy series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Paramount Television and originally broadcast during the Saturday morning schedule on ABC from November 8, 1980 until November 28, 1981.[1] It is a spin-off of the live-action sitcom Happy Days.[2] It has been described as a knock-off of Doctor Who, as the gang travels in a time machine that resembles a phone booth.[3]

The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang
Genre	Science fiction Comedy Adventure
Based on	Happy Days by Garry Marshall
Directed by	George Gordon Ray Patterson Rudy Zamora
Voices of	Henry Winkler Ron Howard Donny Most Didi Conn Frank Welker
Narrated by	Wolfman Jack
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	24
Production
Producers	William Hanna Joseph Barbera Don Jurwich Duane Poole Tom Swale
Production companies	Hanna-Barbera Productions Paramount Television
Distributor	CBS Media Ventures
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	November 8, 1980 – November 28, 1981
Chronology
Followed by	Laverne & Shirley in the Army
Related shows	Happy Days

Premise

Henry Winkler (The Fonz/ "Fonzie"), Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham) and Donny Most (Ralph Malph) all reprised their respective roles for The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang.[4]

The series focuses on Fonzie, joined by an anthropomorphic dog named Mr. Cool, and his friends as they are visited by Cupcake, a girl from the future who pilots a malfunctioning time machine. After Fonzie repairs the machine, a subsequent accident causes the group to become missing in time. The series focuses on Fonzie and his friends as they land in various periods in time, attempting to return to their own.[5] The introduction to the series was narrated by Wolfman Jack.

Twenty-four episodes were produced. After the series ended, the characters of Fonzie and Mr. Cool were introduced in the series Laverne & Shirley in the Army, which premiered October 10, 1981. The series was subsequently renamed Laverne & Shirley with The Fonz and depicted Fonzie working in the motorpool as the chief mechanic. That series ran until September 3, 1983. Both series were syndicated with an animated spin-off of the series Mork & Mindy as Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour.

Cast

• Henry Winkler as Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli
• Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham
• Donny Most as Ralph Malph
• Frank Welker as Mr. Cool
• Didi Conn as Cupcake
• Wolfman Jack as Opening narrator

Home media

On November 5, 2019, the complete series was released as a made-on-demand DVD-R by CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment.[6]

Episodes

Season 1 (1980–81)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date
1	1	"King for a Day"	November 8, 1980
In the first episode, in which the time machine winds up in the year 1,000,000 BC, a tribe of cave people select Ralph as their king for a day. But the gang wonders why the previous kings had such a short reign. The answer when revealed may lead to Ralph's doom, unless Fonzie and the gang step in to help him.
2	2	"May the Farce Be with You"	November 15, 1980
The time machine is close to getting to the year 1957, but it overshoots by a century, causing it to wind up in the year 2057. Worse yet, Cupcake's magic caused it to go into space. The gang manages to get it to the Moon, where they learn of an alien plot to destroy Earth. Can the Fonz stop their invasion plans?
3	3	"Arabian Knights"	November 22, 1980
The time machine transports the gang to ancient Persia (now known as Iran), where they help a princess overthrow her uncle, who is aided by an evil genie, and is locking for her hidden treasure.
4	4	"Bye Bye Blackbeard"	November 29, 1980
The time machine takes the gang to the Age of Pirates, where Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard, needs the gang's help to find a lost treasure.
5	5	"Westward Whoa!"	December 6, 1980
The time machine teleports the gang to the Old West in the 1800s, where they help capture the famous outlaw Big Jake, who happens to be a dead ringer for Fonzie.
6	6	"Ming Fu to You, Too!"	December 13, 1980
The gang's time machine takes them to the Ming Dynasty of China in 1371, where the Hongwu Emperor learns of Cupcake's time machine and hypnotizes the Fonz to help him steal it.
7	7	"The Vampire Strikes Back"	December 20, 1980
Unknowingly aided by Count Wolfgang Von Wolfenstein, the gang's time machine winds up back to their present time of 1957, but not in Milwaukee. They end up in Transylvania, where they meet the count at his castle and have to overcome various horrors in order to escape -- one of which has a scared Ralph turning into a savage werewolf.
8	8	"You'll Never Get Witch"	December 27, 1980
While the gang is experiencing life in Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials in 1693, Cupcake is captured by a crazed witch hunter and now the gang must save her on their own.
9	9	"The 20,000 Drachma Pyramid"	January 3, 1981
The gang travels to ancient Egypt, where they meet Cleopatra and Ralph falls in love with her, but Cupcake sets him straight, because history says that Caesar and Cleopatra dated.
10	10	"It's a Jungle Out There"	January 10, 1981
The gang's time machine transports them to a jungle in Peru, circa 1532, where they meet friendly Incas, and save them from the wrath of Francisco Pizzaro.
11	11	"Gone with the Wand"	January 17, 1981
In medieval Camelot, the gang comes to the aid of King Arthur and Merlin the Magician when the evil Black Knight imprisons Arthur and plots to take over his kingdom.
12	12	"Science Friction"	January 24, 1981
In 19th century France, Cupcake transports the gang inside Jules Verne's imagination.
13	13	"Greece Is the Word"	January 31, 1981
In ancient Greece, the evil Medusa kidnaps Hercules and the gang must save him.

Season 2 (1981)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date
14	1	"The French Correction"	September 12, 1981
The gang teams up with the Three Musketeers to save the Queen in 1625 France.
15	2	"Kelp!"	September 19, 1981
Fonz and the gang end up in 3817 on the ocean floor in a battle between the kelp farmers of Aqua City and a greed surface-dweller who wants to destroy the city to get at the gold below.
16	3	"Time Schlep"	September 26, 1981
On their way to Milwaukee 1957, the gang gets stuck in a time storm in the Bermuda Triangle where they meet Ula and her giant ape, Mongo. They are pursued by villains on a hover transport.
17	4	"It's All Downhill from Here"	October 10, 1981
The gang finds themselves in 1864 Greenland and traveling to Jules Verne's Center of the Earth to help Anna find her father.
18	5	"Double Jeopardy"	October 17, 1981
The evil stepmother of the Princess of Siam is plotting against the Princess and only Fonzie and the gang can save her.
19	6	"Fjords and Sorcery"	October 24, 1981
Viking Sorceress Grimhilde strands the gang, so they must find the second magical bracelet to right the situation.
20	7	"There's No Place Like Rome"	October 31, 1981
In ancient Rome the gang must save Claudia from Julius Maximus.
21	8	"Perilous Pauline"	November 7, 1981
Grimsley Gladewater has foreclosed on Pauline's home and impounded the time machine, so the Fonz must rescue Pauline over and over.
22	9	"Around the World in 80 Ways"	November 14, 1981
Losing the shrunken time machine in a trophy cup, the gang must enter Jules Verne's race around the world.
23	10	"All This and Timbuktu"	November 21, 1981
Landing in Central Africa around 1100, the team meets a beautiful and capable jungle woman and joins her quest to find her kidnapped astronomer father.
24	11	"Give Me a Hand – Something's Afoot"	November 28, 1981
Fonz and the Gang meet Sherlock Holmes in 1899 London. They must foil Professor Moriarty's plot to steal the Crown Jewels to use in a more nefarious scheme.

See also

• List of animated spin-offs from prime time shows

References

1. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 109–110. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 215–216. ISBN 978-1538103739.
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RwQ2hwuByMM
4. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 344–345. ISBN 978-1476665993.
5. Clarke, M.J. (2012). Transmedia Television: New Trends in Network Serial Production. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 9781441144133. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
6. The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang - Complete Series (4-Disc)

External links

• The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang at IMDb
• The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang at TV.com