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ship_manifestoTitle: 'Happy Days are Yours and Mine'
Fandom: 'Happy Days'
Pairing: Richie/Fonzie
Spoilers: Extreme spoilers for seasons 1-4 and how the series concludes. Minor spoilers for the entire show.
Word count: 6,600
Note: A lot of great scenes were left out due to the fact that this thing got pretty huge. If you have anything you love about Richie/Fonzie that I didn't mention, please say so in the comments!
Edited 9/30/09 to add/correct links, as well as to add some info about the Happy Days musical.
Happy Days are Yours and Mine
How I was Introduced to 'Happy Days'
I first saw 'Happy Days' as a recommendation of my dad.--Well, mostly, my asking 'How's Happy Days'? and getting in return 'It's okay.' Being now the same age as Richie is in the first three seasons, it seemed a reasonable choice. That also means I'm too young to feel nostalgia for this show, which may account for its waning popularity more so than Fonzie jumping the shark has. It's a good, honest, realistic series that, being purposely and well-dated, should be everlasting. However, the general feel of the show almost requires a frenzy to be built around it (perhaps to contrast the show's own quiet calmness). Without Fonziemania it is the same as 'The Monkees' without Monkeemania; it is enjoyable and humorous but doesn't succeed as wholly as it would had its 20-years-gone reputation not preceded it, because the new audience isn't swept up in it the way the initial audience had been. In any case, I like it, and I suspect it will hold up relatively well over time, even if its audience lessens.
The Show
'Happy Days' began as an episode on the third season of 'Love, American Style', entitled 'Love and Happy Days' (others have said it's been retitled in syndication, based on 'Happy Days'' popularity). This pilot had a different Howard and Joanie Cunningham, and was sans Fonzie. Also inspired by 'American Graffiti', also starring Ron Howard, which came out the following year, the TV series 'Happy Days' blossomed in the late seventies.
This show's initial focal points were the trials and tribulations of teenage life. Specifically, it was about sex, to the degree that the first episode was titled 'All the Way', which summarizes the episode fairly well in and of itself. 'Happy Days' was, however, strangely innocent for the morally 'dark' themes it portrayed: Though it didn't advocate, it in no way discouraged teenage sexuality, drinking, or smoking. It instead accepted these as truisms and then simultaneously encouraged personal responsibility coming before personal enjoyment, working hard to reach your goals, and tolerance of all different kinds of people. While not as wholesome as those who watched it the first time around remember (if Netflix reviews are any indication), 'Happy Days' is fondly true to life, taking the good with the bad to form an optimistic, if slightly simplistic, whole.
The Characters
Fonzie
Fonzie is a hood. Although he's remarkably pacifistic in the show, this is mostly because he's capable of living off of his reputation (which is why he says he must hit Richie in 'Kiss me Sickly', s2). He had a rough childhood; his father abandoned him when he was 12, though he says he was without family since he was 6 later on. He then joined several gangs and dropped out of high school on more than one occasion. This life didn't treat him as well as he puts on; he admits to Richie that he often contemplated suicide. Although his hard life leads to him being aloof, Fonzie quickly softens around the edges as he becomes a bigger character in the show. Post-shark-jumping, he settles down and adopts a kid.
Richie
While Richie is a young, nice guy—he focuses on the fact that Laverne and Shirley don't have insurance rather than the fact that they're easy—he still has debatable naiveté. By the end of season two, it could easily be argued that he has lost his virginity, in spite of it being mildly contradictory to his character at the time, due to purposely ambiguous dialogue of 'Get a Job'. He winds up becoming worldly both through Fonzie and simply by growing up. After a long-term relationship, he later leaves Milwaukee and gets hitched. He comes back intermittently with his pretty bride, Lori-Beth.
Unhealthy Relationships
Between the Fonz and virtually everybody else is an underlying unhealthiness to their relationships. This is mostly because of two questions: Why do teenagers hang out with a 20 year old Fonzie? The second question is why does Fonzie hang out with them?
The Cool Factor- the kids hang out with Fonzie because Fonzie is cool. He can beat anyone up, can silence animals, start jukeboxes, get two sodas for the price of one, and most of all, get girls without trying. He's smooth, calm, collected, worldly, and can offer advice that is almost always good. He's the perfect guy to look up to. This would be all right, except for the fact that the kids don't just look up to him as a role model, they deify him. Although Howard says that he 'idolizes' Fonzie in s3, the only person this doesn't seem true of is Richie. This almost seems a reflection of the home lives the characters have. Ralph and Potsie have problems in their home lives, to one extreme or another: Ralph's parents aren't parents; they're friends (an issue addressed in s4), which means no real boundaries or limitations, which is why he seeks it from Fonzie. Potsie meanwhile is, if not physically, then at the very least psychologically abused by his father and tends to look for validation from Fonzie, who he has molded into a father figure.
Why does Fonzie hang out with them, then? Well, it could be he likes having people stroke his ego—he refers to himself in the third person often and seems stunned that he could ever be disagreed with, much less rejected. On the other hand, he seems so frequently annoyed with them even when they're praising him that this doesn't really seem to be it. Besides, he has plenty of girls to go googly-eyed over him without Ralph or Potsie. The truth is revealed when Ralph destroys Fonz's bike: Fonzie was, in fact, once a NERD! A TURKEY!--his bike made him cool. His jacket made him cool. His DA made him cool. But, before all this, he wasn't cool. So, he relates to likable outcasts because he was one himself, but, because of this, he also gets fed up with them more easily than he does Richie or anyone even a slight step up on the social ladder—he likes them because they are 'him' but dislikes them for the same reason.
So where does Richie fit into this?
Well, Richie sees Fonzie as a friend; not as a god and not as some nerd, just as a person. (Though he occasionally gravitates towards turning Fonzie into God when it's called for). Although he doesn't idolize Fonzie for what he's really not, he doesn't make fun of Fonzie for what he had been, either. This is what Fonzie needs, as well, namely because while Richie does say Fonzie's cool, it's not for materialistic items. When the Fonz needs glasses, Richie tells him that he's the Fonz whether he has glasses or not. Likewise, he's the Fonz whether he has the bike or not; the leather jacket or not; the hair or not. Fonzie is cool because he himself is cool, not because he has items that represent cool.Fonzie, a sufferer of abandonment issues for a long, needs and wants a person who will accept him for who he is no matter what he has or what he looks like. After tearing himself down for much of his childhood, Fonzie had built himself up based on the common opinion that he was god. Sometimes he needs a someone who sees him as a person (a good person, but a person nonetheless) to put him and his life into perspective.
To be honest, Fonzie needs Richie much more than Richie needs him. Richie is a people person. He doesn't take anything; he just loves giving and receiving companionship. He's a reasonable person who loves giving support and advice and Fonzie is a rash person who needs stability and help in almost all fields in his life. Even when feeding off of 'bad' qualities (Richie, a chronic pushover nice guy and Fonzie a distrusting tough guy) they bring out the best in each other because they always have what the other doesn't.
Rebel Without a Cause
It is true that Fonz digs the big guys of the time --like Brando (who also had more than a few questions asked about his sexuality), and Elvis (who ALSO has a tendency to ellicit 'bisexuality' and 'homosexuality' rumors; more recently than the other two, to my knowledge.). But, I'm instead going to go with Fonzie's main man, James Dean, partially because he's the one Fonzie's most obsessed with, but mostly because even during his short lifetime, Dean was asked about his sexuality, he responded, 'I'm not going to go through life with one arm tied behind my back.'. It's important to say that there are several indications that Fonzie is very much in love with James Dean (which I mean in a platonic way.): he has a James Dean poster in his closet, he seems to have seen all James Dean's movies before even the movie-loving Ralph. With such admiration and emulation, it'd be hard to say Fonzie would be unaware of rumors that Dean (mostly) confirmed. I know: What's it matter if Fonzie relates to James Dean, be he gay, straight, or bisexual? There's no reason he wouldn't be written to be tolerant of Dean's sexuality, particularly given that Dean is his idol and he has a progressive stance on the treatment of African Americans.
I'll be honest. It doesn't matter. Heck, James Dean was huge in the '50's, in spite of his accumulating a very small amount of roles before his death. However, Fonzie's connection to James Dean's most popular character is important.
The Fonz was heavily based on Jim Stark. From personality to outfit, Fonzie emulates the Jim character well; like Jim, he is ‘torn apart’ by his family, which leaves him isolated from the world. Likewise, he engages in reckless behavior because no one tells him no. Comparing the two:
1. Jim and Fonzie both come from homes where a father figure isn't present (Jim's father is present, but doesn't offer authority).
2. This leads both Jim and Fonz to a life of petty crime; gangs/fights/drag racing.
3. They both try to curb this behavior with a 'stable' life that is made up of girls (Judy/every girl ever that Fonzie has) and a boy who saved them from death (Plato alerted Jim to dangers of the gang, Richie talked Fonzie out of being in a gang)
4. Both Jim and Fonz are accepted into the home of Plato/Richie and move in, becoming a 'family'.
The most important parallel is the first one:
From Rebel Without a Cause, between Jim and his father: (snagged from www.dailyscript.com)
JIM
Just give me a direct answer!
(pause)
You going to stop me from going, Dad?
FATHER
You know I never stop you from
anything. Believe me--you're at a
wonderful age. In ten years you'll
look back on this and wish you were
a kid again.
JIM
Ten years? Now, Dad--I need an
answer now!
This conversation seems like a pre-to-early-canon Fonzie. Both the Fonz and Jim act out because they need boundaries to be created. Both being so free, they have to push against the societal norms in hopes that limits will finally be set. However, although the initial results are the same- Fonzie and Jim get involved in illegal activities- the ultimate results are different: While Jim's pleas are heard by Judy and Plato too late to do any good, Fonzie's less dramatic pleas are answered by Richie Cunningham before anything drastic happens:
Fonzie: You know what I need here? You know what I need? Cunningham.
Ralph: Richie?
Fonzie: Yeah.
Ralph: Why?
Fonzie: Because he’s got that way of talking me into things, you know that? I mean, he talked me into wearing a cop’s uniform. He talked me into singin’, he talked me into talking you outta going into the marines.
Potsie: Well, how does he do it, Fonz?
Fonzie: Oh, how does he do it? I mean, he embarrasses me, he makes these--he makes these speeches, y’know? He shakes his head and he goes ‘huh-huh-huh-huh’. That’s how he does it, you know, with his ‘huh-huh-huh-huh’.
Potsie: Huh-huh-huh-huh.
Fonzie: Back off, Potsie.
Fonzie, unlike Jim, is both too old and too independent to be frequently reprimanded for bad ideas, as a father would do. Moreover, he can't take advice from someone he doesn't have the utmost respect for. This is why Richie's approach works: He acts as a partner in a situation rather than as an authoritative figure. He is capable of embarrassing Fonzie because Fonzie actually respects and cares about what Richie thinks of him. So, although Richie tends to dole out limits as 'good ideas' rather than strict rules that must be followed, the Fonz allows these limits to be set for him so as not to disappoint Richie; Richie acting as his inspiration to do good is, as presented in season three's 'Fonzie the Flatfoot', the only reason that Fonzie doesn't resort back to the rougher street life. In this way, Richie embodies both the 'Judy' and 'Plato', the former of whom turned Jim was in love with which was helping turn his life around, the latter of whom was more actively trying to help Jim, and both of whom were played to have fallen in love with Jim while viewing him as mentoring figure.
Season One
"Hi, Fonzie!"
Those are the first words of the show. Already Fonzie looks out of place. In the midst of a parking lot full of cars driven by kids who bowled over by the risque nature of Mickey Spillane, he's sitting astride a motorcycle with two girls beside him. This is how Fonzie remains for the first six episodes. He's someone elusive. Someone with experience. Someone who will step up when you need them, then slip back silently into the night. He doesn't show up much, but when he does, it's memorable. That's who the Fonz is; an enigmatic, mysterious figure who you pander to, trying to impress him with manly feats and compliments as you would a girl you've got a crush on, complete with awkward conversation, simply because he is so cool that you've got to be close to him:
Richie: (a little breathless) Hey, Fonzie! (slides into booth seat by him)...uh..Potsie and I are going to a bachelor party tonight. (pause, long enough for Fonzie to turn back to his magazine) Do you got anything big lined up?
Fonzie: No, I'm gonna take it easy. Dance a little, write a couple of things on the bathroom wall, go home.
Richie: Oh, yeah. (pause; Richie thinks about what to fill the lull in conversation with.) Oh, yeah! Y'know, Fonzie, I think you write some of the best bathroom wall stuff I ever read.
This dynamic, with Richie in awestruck wonder and Fonzie in friendly apathy, begins to change by the sixth episode, 'Fonzie Drops In'. Although there were hints of a more friendly rapport beginning with 'The Hardware Jungle', where Fonzie wound up having to help Richie repeatedly over a pair of tickets, this is where their relationship becomes a separate entity from the relationships betwen the Fonz and anyone else. This occurs for an odd reason: Because Richie stands up for himself against the Fonz.
The episode starts with Richie convincing Fonzie to 'drop in' to high school, so he could graduate. Fonzie, having been out of highschool for a good three and a half years, asks if Richie would help him out with the homework, to which Richie readily agrees. This would be great, but Fonzie's idea of being 'helped out' is using Richie to do his homework for him, creating signals so Richie can help him on the 'true/false' questions on the test, and loading up on crib notes. Richie, being a good kid, doesn't want to get involved, but, since Fonz has been in several gangs over the years, he's also afraid of getting pounded into the ground.
His initial response is passive-aggressive; he just doesn't respond to Fonzie's 'Hey-what's-the-answer' signals during the test. Thinking it'd be best to clear the air, after class he walks over to an imposing Fonz, who has a padlocked length of chain stretched between his hands.
Fonzie: Cunningham. C'mere.
Richie: (sucks in breath. Eyes chain warily.) What're you gonna do with that?
Fonzie: I dunno. Maybe buy a new lock. Broke my key off in it. Need it to lock up my bike at night.
Richie: ...You're not mad about today?
Fonzie: Naw! See, guys like you--Pat Boone, Dick Clark, you're too square to cheat. Besides, I didn't, either.
Richie: (Proudly) You didn't cheat?
Fonzie: Nah! That girl in front of me? She had the wrong cribsheet on her neck! That dumb bird messed up my notes at the window.
Richie: That's too bad.
Fonzie: Well, I passed anyway.
Richie: Fonzie, that's terrific!
Fonzie: Yeah! I got a sixty-six. Made it by one point! Then I went down to the principal's office and I dropped out.
Richie:Yeah, but there's no reason to drop out now.
Fonzie: It's no use.
Richie: Well, listen! Look, you proved that you can pass! You can pass!
Fonzie: No, I mean there's no use trying to save this lock. (drops chain into Richie's arms.) There, there's a present. (starts walking) C'mon. Don't tell this to nobody...What I'm trying to say is....Thanks for tryin'.
Afterwards, as Fonzie mounts his bike, he carefully folds the test, putting it in his pocket instead of throwing it away.
This is the scene where it seems Fonz's view of Richie as just a nerd--someone on par with Potsie-- begins to change. Although he calls Richie's straight-and-narrow ways 'square', he revels in barely-contained pride at having passed the test honestly. This simple act, Richie holding out instead of cheating, has leveled the playing field. Instantly they have gone from one-sided awe to mutual respect; Fonzie for Richie sticking to his guns, and Richie as he watched how far the Fonz had come. No longer is Fonzie a fascinating, mysterious, controlling, tough guy always looking for a fight; no longer is Richie a friendly but dorky high school kid to be bossed around. Suddenly they're both people, who, in spite of Richie saying to his family in the ending scene that 'we're still good friends', have only just begun to see each other that way, as three-dimensional beings instead of likeable stereotypes. This is what sets their commradrie apart; from beginning to end, the other cool guys will still see Richie as a nerd, and the other average guys will still see Fonzie as a king.
Season Two
This is the season where trust is gained. No more is it 'Don't tell anyone that I thanked you', it's now 'Don't tell anyone I'm alone at Christmastime'. 'Don't tell anyone I've thought about suicide'. 'Don't tell anyone, but I think I'm going insane.' It is exclusive trust that always noticeably excludes those who were closest to Richie in the previous season: Ralph and Potsie. While Potsie and Ralph are still actively included in the more general, public adventures, Fonzie and Richie are now each other's almost sole secret keepers, with the immediate Cunningham family told only because adult intervention is needed. It's hard to tell where, exactly, this intense trust began to grow because it doesn't appear until it's right there, with secrets being laid out flat, in confessionary undertone, answered with reassuring murmurs. However, once the revelations come, they come rapidly.
The first blatant display of trust occurs in 'You Go To My Head', where, after reading psychology textbooks, Richie begins to psychoanalyze himself straight into the nuthouse. Although he talks uncomfortably to a psychiatrist ( which he talks about to his parents (who are horrified and suggest Joanie not go around him for a while)), the only person he garners any help from is Fonzie. Presumably, after Fonz's advice, Richie makes a complete recovery. Looking at Fonzie's advice:
Richie: I still daydream all the time, I-I still feel very uncomfortable in closets, I-I still j-
Fonzie: Hey, hey, hey. One weird quirk at a time, huh?
Richie: All right. I-I daydream a lot.
Fonzie: You mean like, uh, you wonder what it'd be like to be someone else?
Richie: Yeah. You ever do that, Fonzie?
Fonzie: No. But probably if I wasn't so above average, y'know.
Richie: Yeah?
Fonzie: Yeah. Next.
Richie: Well. I have claustrophobia.
Fonzie Nah, I don't know anything about that. Next.
Richie: Well, there's still the girls. For some reason, I can't get myself to talk to a girl that I don't know very well.
Fonzie: C'mere. (waves Richie closer) You think I always made out like now? (Richie shrugs a 'well...') There was a time I was a nervous wreck around chicks. Then I made this decision: 'Fonzie, cool it'. So I grabbed Wanda Prisky, gave her a kiss, and from then on...(snaps fingers) Woah!
Richie: I don't know Wanda Prisky.
Fonzie: Any girl with a mouth will do.
And, in 'A Star is Bored', when Richie has to describe the 'To be or not to be':
Fonzie: Whaddyou think, Cunningham?
Richie: I think you’re doing your best, Fonzie.
Fonzie: Yeah... (pulls Richie to the side) I have a question about this Shakespeare….Why aren‘t they speaking English?
Richie: Oh, well, it is English. But it’s old English.
Fonzie: Why aren’t they speaking new English, then? I don’t understand this stuff. I mean, like, ‘To be or not to be’, what’s that?
Richie: Oh, well, see, that’s the part where Hamlet is contemplating killing himself.
Fonzie: You're kidding.
Richie: No.
Fonzie: You know, sometimes this Shakespeare guy really is really with it, isn’t he?
Richie: Yeah, he is.
Fonzie: You know, Hamlet’s got a lot, compared to me.
Richie: What do you mean?
Fonzie: Y'know, my old man took off when I was 12 years old, I haven’t seen him since. At least Hamlet’s father drops in every once in a while.
Richie: Oh, yeah, but, but Hamlet’s father is a ghost.
Fonzie: Hey, a see-through father is better than none at all.
Richie: I never knew your father wasn’t around.
Fonzie: Yeah…. You know, I, uh… thought a couple of times whether I, I wanted to be or not.
Richie: You did?
Fonzie: Yeah. You think a lotta people think about that 'to be or not to be' stuff?
Richie: I dunno, Fonz. Maybe.
The important thing in both is not the revelation, large though they may be. The important thing is that it's not a large production. There is no beating around the bush; the secrets are laid out in casual, subdued conversation. There is no accusation, no probing, no horror or surprise in response. There is only relaxed, open, but still secret discussion about taboo topics. This is the proof of their solidarity, their unity. These are moments of 'I accept your secrets because I accept you', and these are some of the strongest, but most underplayed, examples of their love and understanding for one another.
Season Three
This season lays the groundwork for an actual, legitimate relationship. In the first episode of the season, Fonzie 'marries' Richie. By having Fonz move in, their relationship intensifies. This union makes Fonzie one of the family (although Howard is lying, it winds up being true). "One of the close family?" Fonzie asks Howard. Richie, concerned, asks him if something's wrong. Fonzie, drawing Richie in with an arm over his shoulders, continues, "Now you know I ain't had a family since I was six years old, right? I didn't need 'em! It feels weird, being part of the family. It's a good feelin', huh? I felt a little like that all week long."
The thing that keeps this from being pseudo-incestuous is that Fonzie has a direct conversations. First to Howard, asking if he's really a member of the family, then to Richie, in a private-though-in-Howard's-midst conversation about how glad he is to be accepted into 'the family', which manages to exclude Richie both times from actually being part of this family Fonz has become a part of.
Fonz already has an established, non-familial, relationship with Richie, which is why when it is amped up by being together in closer living quarters, it doesn't suddenly become familial. They have simply an intensified relationship of what they had before--close friends in season one, best friends in season two, and, now this--, whereas Joanie, Howard, and Marion Cunningham have been introduced to Fonzie only in a 'He's staying in our home, thus we have to look after him' setting, meaning that they, almost by default, have been a family to him. Just as a husband may refer to his in-laws as 'Mom' and 'Dad', without implying that he feels his wife is, to him, a sibling, Fonzie has excluded Richie from being on par with a sibling.
This is where they begin to have a strikingly exclusive relationship. Although Richie still often shows up with Ralph and Potsie, he will then often break off and have a conversation with Fonzie that's not terribly inclusive of them, including ignoring them to get Fonzie's opinion on their suggestions. Less and less frequently they have situations that don't directly include the Fonz, with Ralph and Potsie hanging around the edges; Potsie still most often being Richie's foil, Ralph mostly being a third wheel.
Season Four
This is where it became less about individual characters, say, Potsie, or Ralph, or Richie, or Fonzie, enlisting the help of their friends to get them out of whatever predicament they'd managed to get into. The rapport between Richie and Fonzie, which had been developing during season three, went into full-swing. Most episodes featured Richie-and-Fonzie as a single entity, not Richie or Fonzie. If the changes in the dynamics of the rapport between Richie, Ralph, and Potsie and Fonzie and Richie weren't obvious, they became so by 'Marion Rebels'.:
Starting with Richie and Ralph on one side and Potsie and Fonzie on the other, it quickly became Richie-Fonzie and Ralph-Potsie, which is how it remained, both for the scene and the show. In fact, it illuminates that it's odd when they aren't on the same side--literally and figuratively. They look absolutely strange when split into groups as they are in the first panel; the groups much more familiar and right in the last two (sans Al. Sorry, Al.). This serves as example of Richie and Fonzie's developing relationship because this wasn't always the case.
Previously, especially in the first 2 seasons, if there was any sort of grouping, it tended to be Potsie-Richie-and-eventually-Ralph with outside help from Fonzie. The intrusion of Fonzie on the 'natural' pairing off, particularly his changing the dynamic of the Richie-Potsie relationship, is important, because his much newer relationship with Richie takes precedence over two 17-year-old ones, to the point that Potsie was noticeably downgraded from the best friend status he'd had before. (Ralph being bumped back a notch is less noticeable, but stranger still, as he got bumped up a notch on the Friends-With-Richie-Ladder after the first season, then knocked back down around season three, when Fonzie became more popular with both the audience and, as it appears, Richie).
This is the season of intimacy.This is where they and everyone around them treat their relationship as one of romance. Richie and Fonzie ride off into the sunset on the back of Fonzie's motorcycle (Fonzie Loves Pinky, part 3.) , have oddly sexual encounters (Fonzie's Baptism, wherein Fonzie urges Richie to wear his gloves and fake-ride his motorcycle--which has long been a symbol of Fonzie's manhood-- while imagining the power of the machine between his thighs; the dangerous VROOM, VROOM as he roars up the street! Richie gets almost disturbingly into all of this.) break up, get back together, and father a baby in this season. Because of the length of this manifesto, I'll only go into detail about 'The Muckrakers', and let the information in the parantheses speak for the other episodes.
The Muckrakers
This episode is treated as a break-up for Fonzie and Richie. Because of that, there are more than just a few scenes worth analyzing, so I have to (try to) quickly go over all of it: It first reiterates that their relationship is more important than that between Richie and his best friends, Potsie and Ralph, when, after a series of telling everybody they're right, Richie finally sides with the Fonz that if he's going to call himself a journalist, he actually has to do some investigative reporting. Richie breaks into the school to take pictoral evidence of what's wrong in the school.
Fonzie surprises Richie with a 'Guess Who' sort of game wherein he sticks Richie in the ribs with his finger acting as a gun.
Why is he prancing around the school cafeteria? "Well, Malph told me what you were up to and I wanted to see how an investigative reporter worked".
This comment sounds...strange. In part because he's passing up numerous girls to hang out with a friend who's taking pictures of meat (without trying to use this as something dirty or symbolic, it doesn't exactly scream 'Good time to be had!' to me) and also because by this time in the show, Richie usually confides in Fonzie first (and, it would seem, he would especially do so if Fonzie is the one who inspired the idea to begin with.), which would mean that he would've gotten the knowledge firsthand from Richie, not Ralph. Presumably, this is just to shoehorn Fonzie into every situation possible with as little explanation as possible, but in this case it nicely comes across as Fonzie wanting to spend a boring, possibly disgusting evening with Richie more than he wants to spend a much better evening with the numerous, sexy twins and triplets that appear to be milling around Milwaukee.
Richie hands Fonz the camera; before he can explain why, Fonzie insists on first taking pictures of Richie because of how great he looks in his disguise. After a few snapshots, Richie says he wants Fonz to take pictures of the evidence while he looks around to see what else he can find. Fonzie agrees, but it turns out Fonzie is afraid of liver, which is laying around the cafeteria just waiting to freak him out. This fear, for good reason, hadn't been brought up before. Fonzie hightails it out of there and Richie decides that, in addition to busting the school for putting bad meat in the school lunches, Fonzie being freaked by an internal organ or two would make a great story.
The next day at Arnold's, he tells Fonzie about his idea; Fonzie objects, but Richie decides to keep the story. Fonzie breaks his pen, thus busting up friendship and writing utensils in one, quick SNAP!
Getting back home, Fonzie snubs Richie in the Cunningham living room,
, which leads to this exchange:
Joanie: I got the dope.
Richie: Oh, you don't know anything at all.
Joanie: Fonzie broke Richie's pen and they're not talking to each other now.
Richie: Oh, that's what you think it is? You hang around Arnold's for 2 hours and you're all grown up now
Joanie: My friend was there and, oh, she saw everything.
Mr. C: Okay, okay you two. Look, I want to talk to Richie alone
Joanie: I know what happened because Jenny Piccalo was there.
Mrs. C: Tell me about it upstairs. Tell me from the beginning, the pen sounds like the end.
Joanie: Jenny Piccalo went to Arnold's to meet boys--
Mrs. C: Jenny Piccalo is boy crazy.
Joanie: I know! She's teaching me everything! (she and Mrs. C disappear upstairs)
Mr. C: You and Fonzie have a fight?
There are a few reasons why this conversation stands out:
1. Of course, I have to say the entire family's making a big deal out of a single fight, especially with both Richie and Fonzie being adults at this point and the conclusion of the fight being pretty immature.
2. By telling Joanie that she's not grown-up enough to understand it, Richie makes it sound like a very adult-relationship problem, which isn't helped by number 3.
3. Going by the track record on the show, Mr. C makes Joanie leave the room when he's talking to Richie when they're going to be talking about: sex, alcohol, breaking the law, or general girlfriend problems. Going by what the show itself presents us with, he doesn't talk to Richie about his scuffles with Ralph and Potsie—presumably because Richie's old enough to work friendship tiffs out by himself. This means that he, also, put Richie's fight with Fonzie on a more adult level, one that's equal to sex and fights with a girlfriend.
After a talk with his father, Richie goes down to Arnold's to tell Fonzie he changed his mind about writing the story.
Ralph: Fonzie wants his quiet.
Richie: Oh, where is Fonzie?
Ralph: He's in his office.
Richie: Oh. I better go talk to him.
Potsie: Right after he said he wanted quiet, he said no one was allowed to mention your name.
Ralph: Yeah. Just to be safe, Richie Buckholter changed his name to Herman Katz.
In spite of this warning, Richie heads into the bathroom and has a heart-to-heart with the Fonz. This conversation does little but reinforce the strength of their relationship; Richie is Tonto to Fonzie's Lone Ranger; a single trustworthy person to spend his life with in a world packed with liars and thieves. Within a few sentences, everything is forgiven and dismissed.
(Fonzie forgiving Richie with a small smile.)
Richie : I just--I just couldn't understand why you got so upset about it.
Fonzie : I will tell you why I'm so upset. A lot of people try to take The Lone Ranger's mask off, but Tonto never tries.
Richie: Yeah. Yeah, I understand.
Fonzie: Hey, lookit this . Al gave me this for my office. It is a hand dryer. Dig that, huh? No, no, no. Wash your hands first, it's more fun wet.
Why They Work
They work because they have things to learn from each other and both want to be teacher and student. Because they're willing to build each other up when they've been torn down and tear each other down when they've been built too far up. Because they know when to talk things through and when to let whatever problem heal itself in silence. Because they can tell each other the deep, dark secrets they couldn't tell anyone else and expect to receive both an honest reaction and for the secret to remain, albeit with one more person in the know. Because for each other they're willing to lose their cool, be it getting angry or simply having a possible moment of uncool nerd-ism:
Richie: Don't worry, Fonz! I'm on your side; he's gone too far and I'm going to do something about this! (A.K.A. The Fonz, season 4)
Fonzie: I’m gonna take a shot at this, huh? If I make a fool outta myself, it’s on your head. (Fonzie the Superstar, season 3)
(Fonzie, slipping into an uncool moment by cheering wildly for Richie after he scores a point in a basketball game.)
It's because when they're trapped in a vault, thinking they're going to suffocate, with three girls, Potsie, and Ralph, with everyone else isolating themselves as they think about their demise, Richie and Fonzie sit together on a hammock and talk and laugh nervously about death and fear. Because when they survive, they let the personal insecurities that would never have divulged if death hadn't seemed imminent be forgotten.
It's because their relationship is based on what relationships are supposed to be based on: caring, trust, and honesty.
It's because they're two halves of a whole, and when one leaves there's a tangible absence.
So, why do I like Richie/Fonzie?
Disregarding the issue of homosexuality, to me, as of season three Richie/Fonzie is the typical 'fifties' couple. That's not to say they're Ralph and Alice Kramden, but in the actual '50's era created for Happy Days, they are the idealistic romantic couple. I know; that's stating a conclusion without presenting any evidence. So I'll start over: To me Richie and Fonzie mirror Marion and Howard Cunningham, which, in turn, means they mirror the presented standard of happy, loving married couples. Now, I'll have to back up a bit again before I get back to this, because Richie and Fonzie didn't start out in this relationship. This type of relationship started at season three, which began with Fonzie 'marrying' Richie. ('Fonzie Moves In') . As of that moment, they're in a position for me to explain how they're like Richie's parents.
There's first the physical comparison- Fonz looks similar to Howard (albeit much thinner early on, he also follows Howard in this regard, as Mr. Cunningham was, in 1945, 150 pounds (The Muckrakers, S4) and Fonzie gained a considerable amount of weight as the series progressed.) with dark hair and similar facial features as well as comparative stature. Richie, meanwhile, favors his mother with his taller, thinner body structure, red hair, and very alike faces.
The relationship and its dynamics mirrors Howard and Marion's as well: Both Fonzie and Howard need to know hardware; Fonzie for how it relates to a car and Howard for how it relates to a home. They both are quick to anger and, when it comes to the important people in their lives, quick to forgive. Both Fonzie and Howard take issue with Richie and Marion, respectively, having independent lives and getting jobs; Fonzie actively sabotages Richie's blooming career in 'Richie's Flipside' because Richie wasn't spending enough time with him, and Howard refuses to let Marion work due to how it will reflect on him. The pairings are one and the same, with only years and experience separating them.
Resources and Recs
Fonzie: You know what ain't great? You dangle your feet when you ride with me!
Richie: Well, I-I like dangling my feet, Fonz.
http://www.youtube.com -I know, youtube seems obvious. But there are a lot of episodes available here, including those not yet on DVD. This includes some that are memorable in sitcom history; 'Hard Covers'-- the 'Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card.' episode (also introduces Lori-Beth), and 'Richie Almost Dies'--where...y'know, Richie almost dies.
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/h.html - Several links available for 'Happy Days'
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070992/ - 'Happy Days' on IMDb. Has message boards, trivia, quotes, and more.
And, linking to every story I can find:
Note: To save a little space, if a summary is provided on-site I won't paste it here.
R/NC-17.
http://www.slashfic.co.uk - Contains two stories. Both R/NC-17. Both complete. I read one completely through, the other one I didn't. The one I didn't read is, I believe, Laverne/Shirley/Richie/Fonzie, with both Laverne/Shirley, and Richie/Fonzie separately. The other is Lori-Beth/Richie and Fonzie/Richie.
http://usedusernames.livejournal.com/43322.html#cutid1- Rock Around the Clock, by me. Contains dubious consent. Richie/Fonzie and very slight Richie/OFC.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5180027/1/Dancing_In_The_Dark - Complete. Richie/Fonzie
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4347729/1/An_Ayyyyyy_In_The_Night - Complete. Howard/Marion, Richie/Fonzie.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4546047/1/Anything - Complete. Richie/Fonzie
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4852775/1/Heaven_or_Hell - Complete. Crossover with Supernatural. Sam/Dean (incest), Richie/Fonzie, Diane/Pinky.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4228370/1/Truth_or_Dare_or_Show_Down_In_The_Mens_Bathroom - Complete. Richie/Fonzie. OMC/OMC, OMC/OMC/Richie to a certain degree. Depending on how you look at it, even Fonzie/OMC/OMC considering his role in the events. Note: Un-warned for sexual assault, which Fonzie is a part of.
PG-13
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4800158/1/How_Are_We_Different - Incomplete. Richie/Fonzie. Summary: Richie and Fonzie discover their feelings for each other. Potsie is depressed. Richie/Fonzie. My first fanfic! NOTE: I skimmed this, and though I don't want to spoil the story, it might possibly be triggering due to the degree of Potsie's depression.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4847974/1/Whats_Right- Complete. By the same author as the story directly above this. Summary: Fonzie asks Richie out, Richie isn't so sure about it. Set in a more accepting 50's. My first oneshot, so please excuse if it seems like it wants to lead into something more.
http://mrsnox.deviantart.com/art/Happy-Yaoi-Complex-82270727- Richie/Fonzie. No summary available, but it's mostly about Richie trying to confess he has feelings for Fonzie.
Happy Days, The Musical!
Some videos of which can be seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8xd8yDN2n8 or http://www.allmusicals.com/h/happydays.htm
The CD of which can be purchased http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Days-2007-Original-Recording/dp/B000XUOLM0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1254321347&sr=8-1
Is this Richie/Fonzie? Not really. It draws away from canon too much. Richie being into the reporting biz would imply season four-ish, as would Pinky appearing. However, as season four takes place (following loose chronological timeline of a year having passed over the first three seasons) in 1956, which the musical does not. The musical itself is supposed to take place late '59. Moreover, it somewhat reverts Richie to his season-one, fawning over Fonzie self. In the end, so far as I know, it's a bit more of what Fonzie/Pinky was supposed to be, had Roz Kelly not been a major pain in the butt.
In any case, it has some catchy tunes.
Fandom: 'Happy Days'
Pairing: Richie/Fonzie
Spoilers: Extreme spoilers for seasons 1-4 and how the series concludes. Minor spoilers for the entire show.
Word count: 6,600
Note: A lot of great scenes were left out due to the fact that this thing got pretty huge. If you have anything you love about Richie/Fonzie that I didn't mention, please say so in the comments!
Edited 9/30/09 to add/correct links, as well as to add some info about the Happy Days musical.
Happy Days are Yours and Mine
How I was Introduced to 'Happy Days'
I first saw 'Happy Days' as a recommendation of my dad.--Well, mostly, my asking 'How's Happy Days'? and getting in return 'It's okay.' Being now the same age as Richie is in the first three seasons, it seemed a reasonable choice. That also means I'm too young to feel nostalgia for this show, which may account for its waning popularity more so than Fonzie jumping the shark has. It's a good, honest, realistic series that, being purposely and well-dated, should be everlasting. However, the general feel of the show almost requires a frenzy to be built around it (perhaps to contrast the show's own quiet calmness). Without Fonziemania it is the same as 'The Monkees' without Monkeemania; it is enjoyable and humorous but doesn't succeed as wholly as it would had its 20-years-gone reputation not preceded it, because the new audience isn't swept up in it the way the initial audience had been. In any case, I like it, and I suspect it will hold up relatively well over time, even if its audience lessens.
The Show
'Happy Days' began as an episode on the third season of 'Love, American Style', entitled 'Love and Happy Days' (others have said it's been retitled in syndication, based on 'Happy Days'' popularity). This pilot had a different Howard and Joanie Cunningham, and was sans Fonzie. Also inspired by 'American Graffiti', also starring Ron Howard, which came out the following year, the TV series 'Happy Days' blossomed in the late seventies.
This show's initial focal points were the trials and tribulations of teenage life. Specifically, it was about sex, to the degree that the first episode was titled 'All the Way', which summarizes the episode fairly well in and of itself. 'Happy Days' was, however, strangely innocent for the morally 'dark' themes it portrayed: Though it didn't advocate, it in no way discouraged teenage sexuality, drinking, or smoking. It instead accepted these as truisms and then simultaneously encouraged personal responsibility coming before personal enjoyment, working hard to reach your goals, and tolerance of all different kinds of people. While not as wholesome as those who watched it the first time around remember (if Netflix reviews are any indication), 'Happy Days' is fondly true to life, taking the good with the bad to form an optimistic, if slightly simplistic, whole.
The Characters
Fonzie
Fonzie is a hood. Although he's remarkably pacifistic in the show, this is mostly because he's capable of living off of his reputation (which is why he says he must hit Richie in 'Kiss me Sickly', s2). He had a rough childhood; his father abandoned him when he was 12, though he says he was without family since he was 6 later on. He then joined several gangs and dropped out of high school on more than one occasion. This life didn't treat him as well as he puts on; he admits to Richie that he often contemplated suicide. Although his hard life leads to him being aloof, Fonzie quickly softens around the edges as he becomes a bigger character in the show. Post-shark-jumping, he settles down and adopts a kid.
Richie
While Richie is a young, nice guy—he focuses on the fact that Laverne and Shirley don't have insurance rather than the fact that they're easy—he still has debatable naiveté. By the end of season two, it could easily be argued that he has lost his virginity, in spite of it being mildly contradictory to his character at the time, due to purposely ambiguous dialogue of 'Get a Job'. He winds up becoming worldly both through Fonzie and simply by growing up. After a long-term relationship, he later leaves Milwaukee and gets hitched. He comes back intermittently with his pretty bride, Lori-Beth.
Unhealthy Relationships
Between the Fonz and virtually everybody else is an underlying unhealthiness to their relationships. This is mostly because of two questions: Why do teenagers hang out with a 20 year old Fonzie? The second question is why does Fonzie hang out with them?
The Cool Factor- the kids hang out with Fonzie because Fonzie is cool. He can beat anyone up, can silence animals, start jukeboxes, get two sodas for the price of one, and most of all, get girls without trying. He's smooth, calm, collected, worldly, and can offer advice that is almost always good. He's the perfect guy to look up to. This would be all right, except for the fact that the kids don't just look up to him as a role model, they deify him. Although Howard says that he 'idolizes' Fonzie in s3, the only person this doesn't seem true of is Richie. This almost seems a reflection of the home lives the characters have. Ralph and Potsie have problems in their home lives, to one extreme or another: Ralph's parents aren't parents; they're friends (an issue addressed in s4), which means no real boundaries or limitations, which is why he seeks it from Fonzie. Potsie meanwhile is, if not physically, then at the very least psychologically abused by his father and tends to look for validation from Fonzie, who he has molded into a father figure.
Why does Fonzie hang out with them, then? Well, it could be he likes having people stroke his ego—he refers to himself in the third person often and seems stunned that he could ever be disagreed with, much less rejected. On the other hand, he seems so frequently annoyed with them even when they're praising him that this doesn't really seem to be it. Besides, he has plenty of girls to go googly-eyed over him without Ralph or Potsie. The truth is revealed when Ralph destroys Fonz's bike: Fonzie was, in fact, once a NERD! A TURKEY!--his bike made him cool. His jacket made him cool. His DA made him cool. But, before all this, he wasn't cool. So, he relates to likable outcasts because he was one himself, but, because of this, he also gets fed up with them more easily than he does Richie or anyone even a slight step up on the social ladder—he likes them because they are 'him' but dislikes them for the same reason.
So where does Richie fit into this?
Well, Richie sees Fonzie as a friend; not as a god and not as some nerd, just as a person. (Though he occasionally gravitates towards turning Fonzie into God when it's called for). Although he doesn't idolize Fonzie for what he's really not, he doesn't make fun of Fonzie for what he had been, either. This is what Fonzie needs, as well, namely because while Richie does say Fonzie's cool, it's not for materialistic items. When the Fonz needs glasses, Richie tells him that he's the Fonz whether he has glasses or not. Likewise, he's the Fonz whether he has the bike or not; the leather jacket or not; the hair or not. Fonzie is cool because he himself is cool, not because he has items that represent cool.Fonzie, a sufferer of abandonment issues for a long, needs and wants a person who will accept him for who he is no matter what he has or what he looks like. After tearing himself down for much of his childhood, Fonzie had built himself up based on the common opinion that he was god. Sometimes he needs a someone who sees him as a person (a good person, but a person nonetheless) to put him and his life into perspective.
To be honest, Fonzie needs Richie much more than Richie needs him. Richie is a people person. He doesn't take anything; he just loves giving and receiving companionship. He's a reasonable person who loves giving support and advice and Fonzie is a rash person who needs stability and help in almost all fields in his life. Even when feeding off of 'bad' qualities (Richie, a chronic pushover nice guy and Fonzie a distrusting tough guy) they bring out the best in each other because they always have what the other doesn't.
Rebel Without a Cause
It is true that Fonz digs the big guys of the time --like Brando (who also had more than a few questions asked about his sexuality), and Elvis (who ALSO has a tendency to ellicit 'bisexuality' and 'homosexuality' rumors; more recently than the other two, to my knowledge.). But, I'm instead going to go with Fonzie's main man, James Dean, partially because he's the one Fonzie's most obsessed with, but mostly because even during his short lifetime, Dean was asked about his sexuality, he responded, 'I'm not going to go through life with one arm tied behind my back.'. It's important to say that there are several indications that Fonzie is very much in love with James Dean (which I mean in a platonic way.): he has a James Dean poster in his closet, he seems to have seen all James Dean's movies before even the movie-loving Ralph. With such admiration and emulation, it'd be hard to say Fonzie would be unaware of rumors that Dean (mostly) confirmed. I know: What's it matter if Fonzie relates to James Dean, be he gay, straight, or bisexual? There's no reason he wouldn't be written to be tolerant of Dean's sexuality, particularly given that Dean is his idol and he has a progressive stance on the treatment of African Americans.
I'll be honest. It doesn't matter. Heck, James Dean was huge in the '50's, in spite of his accumulating a very small amount of roles before his death. However, Fonzie's connection to James Dean's most popular character is important.
The Fonz was heavily based on Jim Stark. From personality to outfit, Fonzie emulates the Jim character well; like Jim, he is ‘torn apart’ by his family, which leaves him isolated from the world. Likewise, he engages in reckless behavior because no one tells him no. Comparing the two:
1. Jim and Fonzie both come from homes where a father figure isn't present (Jim's father is present, but doesn't offer authority).
2. This leads both Jim and Fonz to a life of petty crime; gangs/fights/drag racing.
3. They both try to curb this behavior with a 'stable' life that is made up of girls (Judy/every girl ever that Fonzie has) and a boy who saved them from death (Plato alerted Jim to dangers of the gang, Richie talked Fonzie out of being in a gang)
4. Both Jim and Fonz are accepted into the home of Plato/Richie and move in, becoming a 'family'.
The most important parallel is the first one:
From Rebel Without a Cause, between Jim and his father: (snagged from www.dailyscript.com)
JIM
Just give me a direct answer!
(pause)
You going to stop me from going, Dad?
FATHER
You know I never stop you from
anything. Believe me--you're at a
wonderful age. In ten years you'll
look back on this and wish you were
a kid again.
JIM
Ten years? Now, Dad--I need an
answer now!
This conversation seems like a pre-to-early-canon Fonzie. Both the Fonz and Jim act out because they need boundaries to be created. Both being so free, they have to push against the societal norms in hopes that limits will finally be set. However, although the initial results are the same- Fonzie and Jim get involved in illegal activities- the ultimate results are different: While Jim's pleas are heard by Judy and Plato too late to do any good, Fonzie's less dramatic pleas are answered by Richie Cunningham before anything drastic happens:
Fonzie: You know what I need here? You know what I need? Cunningham.
Ralph: Richie?
Fonzie: Yeah.
Ralph: Why?
Fonzie: Because he’s got that way of talking me into things, you know that? I mean, he talked me into wearing a cop’s uniform. He talked me into singin’, he talked me into talking you outta going into the marines.
Potsie: Well, how does he do it, Fonz?
Fonzie: Oh, how does he do it? I mean, he embarrasses me, he makes these--he makes these speeches, y’know? He shakes his head and he goes ‘huh-huh-huh-huh’. That’s how he does it, you know, with his ‘huh-huh-huh-huh’.
Potsie: Huh-huh-huh-huh.
Fonzie: Back off, Potsie.
Fonzie, unlike Jim, is both too old and too independent to be frequently reprimanded for bad ideas, as a father would do. Moreover, he can't take advice from someone he doesn't have the utmost respect for. This is why Richie's approach works: He acts as a partner in a situation rather than as an authoritative figure. He is capable of embarrassing Fonzie because Fonzie actually respects and cares about what Richie thinks of him. So, although Richie tends to dole out limits as 'good ideas' rather than strict rules that must be followed, the Fonz allows these limits to be set for him so as not to disappoint Richie; Richie acting as his inspiration to do good is, as presented in season three's 'Fonzie the Flatfoot', the only reason that Fonzie doesn't resort back to the rougher street life. In this way, Richie embodies both the 'Judy' and 'Plato', the former of whom turned Jim was in love with which was helping turn his life around, the latter of whom was more actively trying to help Jim, and both of whom were played to have fallen in love with Jim while viewing him as mentoring figure.
Season One
"Hi, Fonzie!"
Those are the first words of the show. Already Fonzie looks out of place. In the midst of a parking lot full of cars driven by kids who bowled over by the risque nature of Mickey Spillane, he's sitting astride a motorcycle with two girls beside him. This is how Fonzie remains for the first six episodes. He's someone elusive. Someone with experience. Someone who will step up when you need them, then slip back silently into the night. He doesn't show up much, but when he does, it's memorable. That's who the Fonz is; an enigmatic, mysterious figure who you pander to, trying to impress him with manly feats and compliments as you would a girl you've got a crush on, complete with awkward conversation, simply because he is so cool that you've got to be close to him:
Richie: (a little breathless) Hey, Fonzie! (slides into booth seat by him)...uh..Potsie and I are going to a bachelor party tonight. (pause, long enough for Fonzie to turn back to his magazine) Do you got anything big lined up?
Fonzie: No, I'm gonna take it easy. Dance a little, write a couple of things on the bathroom wall, go home.
Richie: Oh, yeah. (pause; Richie thinks about what to fill the lull in conversation with.) Oh, yeah! Y'know, Fonzie, I think you write some of the best bathroom wall stuff I ever read.
This dynamic, with Richie in awestruck wonder and Fonzie in friendly apathy, begins to change by the sixth episode, 'Fonzie Drops In'. Although there were hints of a more friendly rapport beginning with 'The Hardware Jungle', where Fonzie wound up having to help Richie repeatedly over a pair of tickets, this is where their relationship becomes a separate entity from the relationships betwen the Fonz and anyone else. This occurs for an odd reason: Because Richie stands up for himself against the Fonz.
The episode starts with Richie convincing Fonzie to 'drop in' to high school, so he could graduate. Fonzie, having been out of highschool for a good three and a half years, asks if Richie would help him out with the homework, to which Richie readily agrees. This would be great, but Fonzie's idea of being 'helped out' is using Richie to do his homework for him, creating signals so Richie can help him on the 'true/false' questions on the test, and loading up on crib notes. Richie, being a good kid, doesn't want to get involved, but, since Fonz has been in several gangs over the years, he's also afraid of getting pounded into the ground.
His initial response is passive-aggressive; he just doesn't respond to Fonzie's 'Hey-what's-the-answer' signals during the test. Thinking it'd be best to clear the air, after class he walks over to an imposing Fonz, who has a padlocked length of chain stretched between his hands.
Fonzie: Cunningham. C'mere.
Richie: (sucks in breath. Eyes chain warily.) What're you gonna do with that?
Fonzie: I dunno. Maybe buy a new lock. Broke my key off in it. Need it to lock up my bike at night.
Richie: ...You're not mad about today?
Fonzie: Naw! See, guys like you--Pat Boone, Dick Clark, you're too square to cheat. Besides, I didn't, either.
Richie: (Proudly) You didn't cheat?
Fonzie: Nah! That girl in front of me? She had the wrong cribsheet on her neck! That dumb bird messed up my notes at the window.
Richie: That's too bad.
Fonzie: Well, I passed anyway.
Richie: Fonzie, that's terrific!
Fonzie: Yeah! I got a sixty-six. Made it by one point! Then I went down to the principal's office and I dropped out.
Richie:Yeah, but there's no reason to drop out now.
Fonzie: It's no use.
Richie: Well, listen! Look, you proved that you can pass! You can pass!
Fonzie: No, I mean there's no use trying to save this lock. (drops chain into Richie's arms.) There, there's a present. (starts walking) C'mon. Don't tell this to nobody...What I'm trying to say is....Thanks for tryin'.
Afterwards, as Fonzie mounts his bike, he carefully folds the test, putting it in his pocket instead of throwing it away.
This is the scene where it seems Fonz's view of Richie as just a nerd--someone on par with Potsie-- begins to change. Although he calls Richie's straight-and-narrow ways 'square', he revels in barely-contained pride at having passed the test honestly. This simple act, Richie holding out instead of cheating, has leveled the playing field. Instantly they have gone from one-sided awe to mutual respect; Fonzie for Richie sticking to his guns, and Richie as he watched how far the Fonz had come. No longer is Fonzie a fascinating, mysterious, controlling, tough guy always looking for a fight; no longer is Richie a friendly but dorky high school kid to be bossed around. Suddenly they're both people, who, in spite of Richie saying to his family in the ending scene that 'we're still good friends', have only just begun to see each other that way, as three-dimensional beings instead of likeable stereotypes. This is what sets their commradrie apart; from beginning to end, the other cool guys will still see Richie as a nerd, and the other average guys will still see Fonzie as a king.
Season Two
This is the season where trust is gained. No more is it 'Don't tell anyone that I thanked you', it's now 'Don't tell anyone I'm alone at Christmastime'. 'Don't tell anyone I've thought about suicide'. 'Don't tell anyone, but I think I'm going insane.' It is exclusive trust that always noticeably excludes those who were closest to Richie in the previous season: Ralph and Potsie. While Potsie and Ralph are still actively included in the more general, public adventures, Fonzie and Richie are now each other's almost sole secret keepers, with the immediate Cunningham family told only because adult intervention is needed. It's hard to tell where, exactly, this intense trust began to grow because it doesn't appear until it's right there, with secrets being laid out flat, in confessionary undertone, answered with reassuring murmurs. However, once the revelations come, they come rapidly.
The first blatant display of trust occurs in 'You Go To My Head', where, after reading psychology textbooks, Richie begins to psychoanalyze himself straight into the nuthouse. Although he talks uncomfortably to a psychiatrist ( which he talks about to his parents (who are horrified and suggest Joanie not go around him for a while)), the only person he garners any help from is Fonzie. Presumably, after Fonz's advice, Richie makes a complete recovery. Looking at Fonzie's advice:
Richie: I still daydream all the time, I-I still feel very uncomfortable in closets, I-I still j-
Fonzie: Hey, hey, hey. One weird quirk at a time, huh?
Richie: All right. I-I daydream a lot.
Fonzie: You mean like, uh, you wonder what it'd be like to be someone else?
Richie: Yeah. You ever do that, Fonzie?
Fonzie: No. But probably if I wasn't so above average, y'know.
Richie: Yeah?
Fonzie: Yeah. Next.
Richie: Well. I have claustrophobia.
Fonzie Nah, I don't know anything about that. Next.
Richie: Well, there's still the girls. For some reason, I can't get myself to talk to a girl that I don't know very well.
Fonzie: C'mere. (waves Richie closer) You think I always made out like now? (Richie shrugs a 'well...') There was a time I was a nervous wreck around chicks. Then I made this decision: 'Fonzie, cool it'. So I grabbed Wanda Prisky, gave her a kiss, and from then on...(snaps fingers) Woah!
Richie: I don't know Wanda Prisky.
Fonzie: Any girl with a mouth will do.
And, in 'A Star is Bored', when Richie has to describe the 'To be or not to be':
Fonzie: Whaddyou think, Cunningham?
Richie: I think you’re doing your best, Fonzie.
Fonzie: Yeah... (pulls Richie to the side) I have a question about this Shakespeare….Why aren‘t they speaking English?
Richie: Oh, well, it is English. But it’s old English.
Fonzie: Why aren’t they speaking new English, then? I don’t understand this stuff. I mean, like, ‘To be or not to be’, what’s that?
Richie: Oh, well, see, that’s the part where Hamlet is contemplating killing himself.
Fonzie: You're kidding.
Richie: No.
Fonzie: You know, sometimes this Shakespeare guy really is really with it, isn’t he?
Richie: Yeah, he is.
Fonzie: You know, Hamlet’s got a lot, compared to me.
Richie: What do you mean?
Fonzie: Y'know, my old man took off when I was 12 years old, I haven’t seen him since. At least Hamlet’s father drops in every once in a while.
Richie: Oh, yeah, but, but Hamlet’s father is a ghost.
Fonzie: Hey, a see-through father is better than none at all.
Richie: I never knew your father wasn’t around.
Fonzie: Yeah…. You know, I, uh… thought a couple of times whether I, I wanted to be or not.
Richie: You did?
Fonzie: Yeah. You think a lotta people think about that 'to be or not to be' stuff?
Richie: I dunno, Fonz. Maybe.
The important thing in both is not the revelation, large though they may be. The important thing is that it's not a large production. There is no beating around the bush; the secrets are laid out in casual, subdued conversation. There is no accusation, no probing, no horror or surprise in response. There is only relaxed, open, but still secret discussion about taboo topics. This is the proof of their solidarity, their unity. These are moments of 'I accept your secrets because I accept you', and these are some of the strongest, but most underplayed, examples of their love and understanding for one another.
Season Three
This season lays the groundwork for an actual, legitimate relationship. In the first episode of the season, Fonzie 'marries' Richie. By having Fonz move in, their relationship intensifies. This union makes Fonzie one of the family (although Howard is lying, it winds up being true). "One of the close family?" Fonzie asks Howard. Richie, concerned, asks him if something's wrong. Fonzie, drawing Richie in with an arm over his shoulders, continues, "Now you know I ain't had a family since I was six years old, right? I didn't need 'em! It feels weird, being part of the family. It's a good feelin', huh? I felt a little like that all week long."
The thing that keeps this from being pseudo-incestuous is that Fonzie has a direct conversations. First to Howard, asking if he's really a member of the family, then to Richie, in a private-though-in-Howard's-midst conversation about how glad he is to be accepted into 'the family', which manages to exclude Richie both times from actually being part of this family Fonz has become a part of.
Fonz already has an established, non-familial, relationship with Richie, which is why when it is amped up by being together in closer living quarters, it doesn't suddenly become familial. They have simply an intensified relationship of what they had before--close friends in season one, best friends in season two, and, now this--, whereas Joanie, Howard, and Marion Cunningham have been introduced to Fonzie only in a 'He's staying in our home, thus we have to look after him' setting, meaning that they, almost by default, have been a family to him. Just as a husband may refer to his in-laws as 'Mom' and 'Dad', without implying that he feels his wife is, to him, a sibling, Fonzie has excluded Richie from being on par with a sibling.
This is where they begin to have a strikingly exclusive relationship. Although Richie still often shows up with Ralph and Potsie, he will then often break off and have a conversation with Fonzie that's not terribly inclusive of them, including ignoring them to get Fonzie's opinion on their suggestions. Less and less frequently they have situations that don't directly include the Fonz, with Ralph and Potsie hanging around the edges; Potsie still most often being Richie's foil, Ralph mostly being a third wheel.
Season Four
This is where it became less about individual characters, say, Potsie, or Ralph, or Richie, or Fonzie, enlisting the help of their friends to get them out of whatever predicament they'd managed to get into. The rapport between Richie and Fonzie, which had been developing during season three, went into full-swing. Most episodes featured Richie-and-Fonzie as a single entity, not Richie or Fonzie. If the changes in the dynamics of the rapport between Richie, Ralph, and Potsie and Fonzie and Richie weren't obvious, they became so by 'Marion Rebels'.:
Starting with Richie and Ralph on one side and Potsie and Fonzie on the other, it quickly became Richie-Fonzie and Ralph-Potsie, which is how it remained, both for the scene and the show. In fact, it illuminates that it's odd when they aren't on the same side--literally and figuratively. They look absolutely strange when split into groups as they are in the first panel; the groups much more familiar and right in the last two (sans Al. Sorry, Al.). This serves as example of Richie and Fonzie's developing relationship because this wasn't always the case.
Previously, especially in the first 2 seasons, if there was any sort of grouping, it tended to be Potsie-Richie-and-eventually-Ralph with outside help from Fonzie. The intrusion of Fonzie on the 'natural' pairing off, particularly his changing the dynamic of the Richie-Potsie relationship, is important, because his much newer relationship with Richie takes precedence over two 17-year-old ones, to the point that Potsie was noticeably downgraded from the best friend status he'd had before. (Ralph being bumped back a notch is less noticeable, but stranger still, as he got bumped up a notch on the Friends-With-Richie-Ladder after the first season, then knocked back down around season three, when Fonzie became more popular with both the audience and, as it appears, Richie).
This is the season of intimacy.This is where they and everyone around them treat their relationship as one of romance. Richie and Fonzie ride off into the sunset on the back of Fonzie's motorcycle (Fonzie Loves Pinky, part 3.) , have oddly sexual encounters (Fonzie's Baptism, wherein Fonzie urges Richie to wear his gloves and fake-ride his motorcycle--which has long been a symbol of Fonzie's manhood-- while imagining the power of the machine between his thighs; the dangerous VROOM, VROOM as he roars up the street! Richie gets almost disturbingly into all of this.) break up, get back together, and father a baby in this season. Because of the length of this manifesto, I'll only go into detail about 'The Muckrakers', and let the information in the parantheses speak for the other episodes.
The Muckrakers
This episode is treated as a break-up for Fonzie and Richie. Because of that, there are more than just a few scenes worth analyzing, so I have to (try to) quickly go over all of it: It first reiterates that their relationship is more important than that between Richie and his best friends, Potsie and Ralph, when, after a series of telling everybody they're right, Richie finally sides with the Fonz that if he's going to call himself a journalist, he actually has to do some investigative reporting. Richie breaks into the school to take pictoral evidence of what's wrong in the school.
Fonzie surprises Richie with a 'Guess Who' sort of game wherein he sticks Richie in the ribs with his finger acting as a gun.
Why is he prancing around the school cafeteria? "Well, Malph told me what you were up to and I wanted to see how an investigative reporter worked". This comment sounds...strange. In part because he's passing up numerous girls to hang out with a friend who's taking pictures of meat (without trying to use this as something dirty or symbolic, it doesn't exactly scream 'Good time to be had!' to me) and also because by this time in the show, Richie usually confides in Fonzie first (and, it would seem, he would especially do so if Fonzie is the one who inspired the idea to begin with.), which would mean that he would've gotten the knowledge firsthand from Richie, not Ralph. Presumably, this is just to shoehorn Fonzie into every situation possible with as little explanation as possible, but in this case it nicely comes across as Fonzie wanting to spend a boring, possibly disgusting evening with Richie more than he wants to spend a much better evening with the numerous, sexy twins and triplets that appear to be milling around Milwaukee.
Richie hands Fonz the camera; before he can explain why, Fonzie insists on first taking pictures of Richie because of how great he looks in his disguise. After a few snapshots, Richie says he wants Fonz to take pictures of the evidence while he looks around to see what else he can find. Fonzie agrees, but it turns out Fonzie is afraid of liver, which is laying around the cafeteria just waiting to freak him out. This fear, for good reason, hadn't been brought up before. Fonzie hightails it out of there and Richie decides that, in addition to busting the school for putting bad meat in the school lunches, Fonzie being freaked by an internal organ or two would make a great story.
The next day at Arnold's, he tells Fonzie about his idea; Fonzie objects, but Richie decides to keep the story. Fonzie breaks his pen, thus busting up friendship and writing utensils in one, quick SNAP!
Getting back home, Fonzie snubs Richie in the Cunningham living room,
, which leads to this exchange: Joanie: I got the dope.
Richie: Oh, you don't know anything at all.
Joanie: Fonzie broke Richie's pen and they're not talking to each other now.
Richie: Oh, that's what you think it is? You hang around Arnold's for 2 hours and you're all grown up now
Joanie: My friend was there and, oh, she saw everything.
Mr. C: Okay, okay you two. Look, I want to talk to Richie alone
Joanie: I know what happened because Jenny Piccalo was there.
Mrs. C: Tell me about it upstairs. Tell me from the beginning, the pen sounds like the end.
Joanie: Jenny Piccalo went to Arnold's to meet boys--
Mrs. C: Jenny Piccalo is boy crazy.
Joanie: I know! She's teaching me everything! (she and Mrs. C disappear upstairs)
Mr. C: You and Fonzie have a fight?
There are a few reasons why this conversation stands out:
1. Of course, I have to say the entire family's making a big deal out of a single fight, especially with both Richie and Fonzie being adults at this point and the conclusion of the fight being pretty immature.
2. By telling Joanie that she's not grown-up enough to understand it, Richie makes it sound like a very adult-relationship problem, which isn't helped by number 3.
3. Going by the track record on the show, Mr. C makes Joanie leave the room when he's talking to Richie when they're going to be talking about: sex, alcohol, breaking the law, or general girlfriend problems. Going by what the show itself presents us with, he doesn't talk to Richie about his scuffles with Ralph and Potsie—presumably because Richie's old enough to work friendship tiffs out by himself. This means that he, also, put Richie's fight with Fonzie on a more adult level, one that's equal to sex and fights with a girlfriend.
After a talk with his father, Richie goes down to Arnold's to tell Fonzie he changed his mind about writing the story.
Ralph: Fonzie wants his quiet.
Richie: Oh, where is Fonzie?
Ralph: He's in his office.
Richie: Oh. I better go talk to him.
Potsie: Right after he said he wanted quiet, he said no one was allowed to mention your name.
Ralph: Yeah. Just to be safe, Richie Buckholter changed his name to Herman Katz.
In spite of this warning, Richie heads into the bathroom and has a heart-to-heart with the Fonz. This conversation does little but reinforce the strength of their relationship; Richie is Tonto to Fonzie's Lone Ranger; a single trustworthy person to spend his life with in a world packed with liars and thieves. Within a few sentences, everything is forgiven and dismissed.
(Fonzie forgiving Richie with a small smile.)Richie : I just--I just couldn't understand why you got so upset about it.
Fonzie : I will tell you why I'm so upset. A lot of people try to take The Lone Ranger's mask off, but Tonto never tries.
Richie: Yeah. Yeah, I understand.
Fonzie: Hey, lookit this . Al gave me this for my office. It is a hand dryer. Dig that, huh? No, no, no. Wash your hands first, it's more fun wet.
Why They Work
They work because they have things to learn from each other and both want to be teacher and student. Because they're willing to build each other up when they've been torn down and tear each other down when they've been built too far up. Because they know when to talk things through and when to let whatever problem heal itself in silence. Because they can tell each other the deep, dark secrets they couldn't tell anyone else and expect to receive both an honest reaction and for the secret to remain, albeit with one more person in the know. Because for each other they're willing to lose their cool, be it getting angry or simply having a possible moment of uncool nerd-ism:
Richie: Don't worry, Fonz! I'm on your side; he's gone too far and I'm going to do something about this! (A.K.A. The Fonz, season 4)
Fonzie: I’m gonna take a shot at this, huh? If I make a fool outta myself, it’s on your head. (Fonzie the Superstar, season 3)
(Fonzie, slipping into an uncool moment by cheering wildly for Richie after he scores a point in a basketball game.)It's because when they're trapped in a vault, thinking they're going to suffocate, with three girls, Potsie, and Ralph, with everyone else isolating themselves as they think about their demise, Richie and Fonzie sit together on a hammock and talk and laugh nervously about death and fear. Because when they survive, they let the personal insecurities that would never have divulged if death hadn't seemed imminent be forgotten.
It's because their relationship is based on what relationships are supposed to be based on: caring, trust, and honesty.
It's because they're two halves of a whole, and when one leaves there's a tangible absence.
So, why do I like Richie/Fonzie?
Disregarding the issue of homosexuality, to me, as of season three Richie/Fonzie is the typical 'fifties' couple. That's not to say they're Ralph and Alice Kramden, but in the actual '50's era created for Happy Days, they are the idealistic romantic couple. I know; that's stating a conclusion without presenting any evidence. So I'll start over: To me Richie and Fonzie mirror Marion and Howard Cunningham, which, in turn, means they mirror the presented standard of happy, loving married couples. Now, I'll have to back up a bit again before I get back to this, because Richie and Fonzie didn't start out in this relationship. This type of relationship started at season three, which began with Fonzie 'marrying' Richie. ('Fonzie Moves In') . As of that moment, they're in a position for me to explain how they're like Richie's parents.
There's first the physical comparison- Fonz looks similar to Howard (albeit much thinner early on, he also follows Howard in this regard, as Mr. Cunningham was, in 1945, 150 pounds (The Muckrakers, S4) and Fonzie gained a considerable amount of weight as the series progressed.) with dark hair and similar facial features as well as comparative stature. Richie, meanwhile, favors his mother with his taller, thinner body structure, red hair, and very alike faces.
The relationship and its dynamics mirrors Howard and Marion's as well: Both Fonzie and Howard need to know hardware; Fonzie for how it relates to a car and Howard for how it relates to a home. They both are quick to anger and, when it comes to the important people in their lives, quick to forgive. Both Fonzie and Howard take issue with Richie and Marion, respectively, having independent lives and getting jobs; Fonzie actively sabotages Richie's blooming career in 'Richie's Flipside' because Richie wasn't spending enough time with him, and Howard refuses to let Marion work due to how it will reflect on him. The pairings are one and the same, with only years and experience separating them.
Resources and Recs
Fonzie: You know what ain't great? You dangle your feet when you ride with me!
Richie: Well, I-I like dangling my feet, Fonz.
http://www.youtube.com -I know, youtube seems obvious. But there are a lot of episodes available here, including those not yet on DVD. This includes some that are memorable in sitcom history; 'Hard Covers'-- the 'Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card.' episode (also introduces Lori-Beth), and 'Richie Almost Dies'--where...y'know, Richie almost dies.
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/h.html - Several links available for 'Happy Days'
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070992/ - 'Happy Days' on IMDb. Has message boards, trivia, quotes, and more.
And, linking to every story I can find:
Note: To save a little space, if a summary is provided on-site I won't paste it here.
R/NC-17.
http://www.slashfic.co.uk - Contains two stories. Both R/NC-17. Both complete. I read one completely through, the other one I didn't. The one I didn't read is, I believe, Laverne/Shirley/Richie/Fonzie, with both Laverne/Shirley, and Richie/Fonzie separately. The other is Lori-Beth/Richie and Fonzie/Richie.
http://usedusernames.livejournal.com/43322.html#cutid1- Rock Around the Clock, by me. Contains dubious consent. Richie/Fonzie and very slight Richie/OFC.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5180027/1/Dancing_In_The_Dark - Complete. Richie/Fonzie
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4347729/1/An_Ayyyyyy_In_The_Night - Complete. Howard/Marion, Richie/Fonzie.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4546047/1/Anything - Complete. Richie/Fonzie
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4852775/1/Heaven_or_Hell - Complete. Crossover with Supernatural. Sam/Dean (incest), Richie/Fonzie, Diane/Pinky.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4228370/1/Truth_or_Dare_or_Show_Down_In_The_Mens_Bathroom - Complete. Richie/Fonzie. OMC/OMC, OMC/OMC/Richie to a certain degree. Depending on how you look at it, even Fonzie/OMC/OMC considering his role in the events. Note: Un-warned for sexual assault, which Fonzie is a part of.
PG-13
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4800158/1/How_Are_We_Different - Incomplete. Richie/Fonzie. Summary: Richie and Fonzie discover their feelings for each other. Potsie is depressed. Richie/Fonzie. My first fanfic! NOTE: I skimmed this, and though I don't want to spoil the story, it might possibly be triggering due to the degree of Potsie's depression.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4847974/1/Whats_Right- Complete. By the same author as the story directly above this. Summary: Fonzie asks Richie out, Richie isn't so sure about it. Set in a more accepting 50's. My first oneshot, so please excuse if it seems like it wants to lead into something more.
http://mrsnox.deviantart.com/art/Happy-Yaoi-Complex-82270727- Richie/Fonzie. No summary available, but it's mostly about Richie trying to confess he has feelings for Fonzie.
Happy Days, The Musical!
Some videos of which can be seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8xd8yDN2n8 or http://www.allmusicals.com/h/happydays.htm
The CD of which can be purchased http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Days-2007-Original-Recording/dp/B000XUOLM0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1254321347&sr=8-1
Is this Richie/Fonzie? Not really. It draws away from canon too much. Richie being into the reporting biz would imply season four-ish, as would Pinky appearing. However, as season four takes place (following loose chronological timeline of a year having passed over the first three seasons) in 1956, which the musical does not. The musical itself is supposed to take place late '59. Moreover, it somewhat reverts Richie to his season-one, fawning over Fonzie self. In the end, so far as I know, it's a bit more of what Fonzie/Pinky was supposed to be, had Roz Kelly not been a major pain in the butt.
In any case, it has some catchy tunes.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 05:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 06:10 pm (UTC)I like your icon too. It captures so many of those great R/F moments.
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Date: 2009-09-28 06:57 pm (UTC)Thanks!
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Date: 2009-09-28 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 05:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 05:35 pm (UTC)You hit the nail on the head about why I love them ♥ I remember watching Happy Days years ago when I was much younger and not readily noticing relationship dynamics. Then a few years ago I was reminded of it and thought back on Fonzie and Richie, a few trips to YouTube and yep. It was there xD
I very much enjoyed your manifesto, thank you for that.
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Date: 2009-09-28 06:07 pm (UTC)You're not much older than I am, but do you remember if the show really did suck after Fonzie jumped the shark? I'd kind of prefer a no-ender than get to the point I don't want to watch the show. Eh.
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Date: 2009-09-28 06:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 08:04 pm (UTC)It's always fun returning to shows I watched in syndication in my childhood now and realizing all this potential (for all sorts of relationships in general).
Ohhh I know how you feel and hm. It's been awhile so I don't really remember an exact point but towards the later end of the series, the quality did start to lower. I still watched but I remember yearning a bit for the earlier seasons. I think that's common in alot of shows though, so I think it's ultimately up to you if you decide things are starting to wane.
Also, I love love love your icon. Like seriously, that was one of my favorite exchanges between the two from the book. And that book totally made me cry xD
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Date: 2009-09-28 11:11 pm (UTC):) I figured it'd be something like that. I think I can see the level it's going to drop to. Hopefully I can decide whether or not to trudge through it when the next season comes out on DVD.
Ahh, mine too! The only reason it's not my default icon anymore is because I always get way too caught up in it. LOVE the book. Completely okay I had to read it twice in school.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 10:47 pm (UTC)Also, Bing/Crosby! I dig all of the 'Road to...' movies, and ship them in all of them as well. Road to Bali is probably my favorite.
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Date: 2009-10-01 12:13 pm (UTC)Yay, not only did I find more Richie/Fonzie fans, I found more "Road to..." slash fans! Today is now made of win.
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Date: 2009-09-29 06:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-29 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-29 05:12 pm (UTC)You've done everything you're supposed to with a manifesto - I'm reading the fanfics right now and I'm dying to watch the show again. Thank you for the beautifully put-together and informative essay!
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Date: 2009-09-29 10:59 pm (UTC)And another 'thanks'! Hope you like the fics. There's a wonderful amount of them for such a small pairing. I oughta get around to reading all of 'em myself...
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Date: 2009-09-30 04:45 am (UTC)Second, You did a good job at explaining the series as a whole and how Richie and Fonzie not just fit together, but are good for each other.
Third, I really love the detail you go into.
You made me want to go watch Happy Days, so great job.
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Date: 2009-09-30 05:07 am (UTC)http://mrsnox.deviantart.com/art/Happy-Yaoi-Complex-82270727-
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4228370/1/Truth_or_Dare_or_Show_Down_In_The_Mens_Bathroom
and
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4546047/1/Anything
The first one is GREAT (and I'd assume so is the other one on that site, being as it's written by the same person, I'm just not into PWPs enough to appreciate the Laverne/Shirley/Fonzie/Richie).
The one on deviantart is good, but seems to be almost a parody to me, which some people don't appreciate.
The last two are, I believe, written by the same person, and are both technically well-written, but I don't really...like them. I don't know.
I kind of linked every story I could find, except for one horrendously written and clearly a joke. All of the fics appear to be competently written, though that doesn't really say anything for the quality as a whole, I'm afraid. Hopefully you'll find something here worth reading in any case.
Second, third, and fourth: Thanks! It's such a great show, and they're such well-developed characters. I love it. :)
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Date: 2009-10-01 12:07 pm (UTC)Also, I highly appreciate the recommendations listed after the essay. I've had a rough time finding much Richie/Fonzie fic on my own, so I'm glad to see the links.
On a side note, I'm happy to see there are more Richie/Fonzie fans out there.
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Date: 2009-10-01 12:53 pm (UTC)I know, it's pretty rough; those are all the fics I could find, and most of them have popped up pretty recently (which might be a good sign for the Richie/Fonzie ship, although there still aren't many authors). Hopefully you find some fics you like!
Between comments to this and fic reviews on my story and others, I've found out there's actually a lot of of us. We seem to be very adept at hiding. I'm glad to see there are more, too!
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Date: 2009-10-19 09:21 am (UTC)Yes, I did, thanks. All of the Richie/Fonzie fics were good reads. Ooh, that definitely sounds like a good sign. More fics = yay! :D I've been trying to write one, myself, but haven't been able to work much on it.
Awesome! I guess just seeing that there were other R/F fans on the 'net helped fellow lurkers to break out of hiding.
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Date: 2009-10-13 08:58 am (UTC)Sadly, I've only seen a couple dozen episodes of the show, but I've always liked the dynamic of Richie/Fonzie and you explain why perfectly.
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Date: 2009-10-28 04:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 04:34 am (UTC)I never could find much about the boys, so it's great to read this essay! The links are invaluable! ;)
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Date: 2010-11-25 09:17 am (UTC)I keep remembering the late-run stuff, which I won't spoil you on, but they warm my heart; those two grow up and grow to love each other, and it's one of the most consistently well-written ones in the general Marshallverse.
Thanks so much for posting this!