Ayyy The Fonz and BG

kingfish · February 4th, 2005, 02:36 PM

Talk about retrospectives. It was a winner. Just think, people say these old series are forgotten like os BG. Untrue.

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve...388|1|,00.html

'Happy Days,' Indeed: ABC Starts Sweeps Hot
(Friday, February 04 01:37 PM)
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) It doesn't matter whether or not Joanie still loves Chachi, because America, it seems, still loves "Happy Days." ABC's "Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion" proved to be an across-the-board ratings smash on Thursday (Feb. 3) night, getting ABC off to a strong start for the all-important February sweeps period.
Thursday's "Happy Days" special averaged 19.9 million viewers during its two-hour run, a particularly impressive total given the tough competition it faced, as the other networks trotted out new episodes for the launch of the sweep. Averaging 16.2 million viewers overall, Thursday marked ABC's best opening night for a sweeps period since 2000. ABC's 5.2 rating among adults 18-49 was the network's best demographic start for a sweep since 2002.

ABC's reunion special was particularly strong for the 8 p.m. hour, where it averaged just under 20.5 million viewers, spanking around new episodes of "Joey" and "Will & Grace." ABC doubled up NBC's struggling comedies for the hour in total viewers as both "Joey" and "Will & Grace" approached record lows for new episodes.

In its second hour, "Happy Days" dipped slightly to 19.3 million and the reunion fell below CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and NBC's "The Apprentice 3" in the young adult demographic and behind "CSI" in total viewers. Still, the special held "CSI" to under 25 million total viewers, one of the drama's smallest audiences for a new episode this season and the show's 18-49 rating of 8.9 was its lowest of the year. CBS still won the night in viewers with 18.54 million.
Although CBS' "Without a Trace" (19.3 million viewers) topped NBC's "ER" (18.1 million) in total viewers, "ER" crushed the CBS procedural in the 18-49 demographic, helping NBC to a nightly 18-49 win with a 6.9 rating.

Gemini1999 · February 4th, 2005, 02:53 PM

Paul -

I saw the Happy Days 30th Anniversary show and I was having the same thought... It looked cheesy from a modern standpoint, but the memories and feelings about the show were very strong. I marveled on how moved the members of the Happy Days cast were at times when talking about the memories of doing the show - I confess I got a bit misty about it as well.

Those ratings are wonderful for a retrospective show! It just goes to show that people may think it's "old hat" but the feelings are still there!

It was a wonderful 2 hours of television - I don't remember when I've enjoyed watching network TV so much...

Best,
Bryan

julix · February 4th, 2005, 03:16 PM

I wish I would have seen it......

Darn it!!!

Rowan · February 4th, 2005, 04:47 PM

And "Cassiopeia" Laurette Spang was in it as well I totally forgot about her being on that show until I saw the old clips and noticed her!

I really enjoyed it nice trip down memory lane!! It was also really nice to see how well they all got along with each other over the years and all the touring they did with their baseball team including their USO tours and competitions.

cobrastrikelead · February 8th, 2005, 07:28 AM

It was a good special.
Sure Happy Days was mostly filmed before a live audience and the effects were a little "cheesey" (imagine BG being filmed before a live audience), but the cast was so well er, cast, that the show was a juggernaut for many a year.
Ah, a cast that melds and play off each other.

kingfish · February 8th, 2005, 08:02 AM

People keep saying cheesy. If I hear that one more time I will make a grilled cheese sandwich. What was considered cheesy was the writing style of that time. Writers were told what to and whay not to write. For example look at The Rockford Files. David Chase wrote it. This is the same guy who wrote The Sopranos.