Marion Ross
The Hallmark Channel's Where There's a Will (premiering Saturday, May 6 at 9 pm/ET) presents Happy Days star Marion Ross as Leslie "Clyde" Onstatt, a wealthy but frail widow who signs on her long-lost grandson (Frank Whaley) as her caretaker. Little does she know, Richie is a bit of a con man, coldly eyeing Grams as his next mark. Will this tricky tale have a Happy outcome for Mrs. C? Ross spoke to TVGuide.com
read more
Question: I'm in a bind here. I seem to remember a cartoon version of Happy Days that had Richie, the Fonz and the gang time traveling in a boat. But no one else can recall such a thing. Am I going crazy or did this cartoon really exist?
Answer: I'm tempted to tell you that you are indeed touched in the head and are well on your way to imagining other delusion-spawned shows, like, say, an animated Brady Bunch where Greg, Marsha and the kids run around with two pandas and a magical bird. The thing is, as whacked as those shows sound, Brady Kids and Fonz and the Happy Days Gang really did exist, the latter running on ABC's Saturday-morning schedule from November 1980 to September 1982.
The setu
read more
Question: Your comments on the Night Court actors reminded me that I had a crush on the woman who played the court clerk before Mac. What was her name, and did she do anything else besides Night Court?Answer: That she did, and that she does, Bill. You're thinking of actress Karen Austin and her character, court clerk Lana Wagner, who was replaced on the comedy after a season by Charlie Robinson's Mac Robinson.
Austin did a lot of guest work on such series as Happy Days,
read more
Andy Griffith, The Andy Griffith Show
Question: I could swear Andy Taylor was a jack-of-all-trades and had several jobs on The Andy Griffith Show, but a coworker says I'm nuts and that he was always just the sheriff. Who's right? There's no bet riding on this, just pride. Thanks.
Answer: You've got a respectable memory there, Jim. (Don't get any ideas, though — there's only room for one Televisionary in this town.) Feel free to claim a good chunk of your office mate's pride because you're right on this one.
When The Andy Griffith Show first launched as a spin-off of The Danny Thomas Show and began its eight-year run on CBS in October 1960, Sheriff Andy Taylor (Matlock's Andy Griffith) not only enforced the law in Mayberry while raising you
read more
Angela Lansbury, Murder, She Wrote
Question: I know you in the TV world frown on old fogies like us, but we've got a Murder, She Wrote question. Obviously, Jessica Fletcher was a writer on the show, but my friend says that's all she ever was. I say she was a teacher before that. Who's right? We're not betting people, but each of us would very much like to lord being right over the other one. Thank you for your time.
Answer: Before I get into that, Carole, allow me to distinguish between myself and those flighty showbiz folks. I am not of the TV world; I'm an outsider. And I call on my television powers to help those of all ages, not just those impertinent young 'uns with their too-loud music and too-low jeans.
That said, it's a shame you're not a bettin' woman because you could've gotten at least a free lunch out of this one. On the successful CBS series, wh
read more
Question: Did Matlock have more than one daughter? And who played the part? I saw at least three different actresses play it.
Answer: There were two daughters, by my count, Steve, but three different actresses did indeed carry the role. When Diary of a Perfect Murder, the Matlock pilot film, first aired in early 1986, lawyer daughter Charlene Matlock was played by Lori Lethin. However, when the series launched in September on NBC, Linda Purl (Happy Days) handled the daughterly duties. In 1987 Charlene left to start her own practice in Philadelphia and Ben (Andy Griffith) replaced her with Michelle Thomas (Nancy Stafford), who was no relation.
Whatever Charlene said to Ben before she left, it must have been a doozy because when Michelle moved on
read more
Question: Hi! I remember in the mid-'70s there was a show with Nancy Walker and a group of women who were either models or hostesses (I think). I remember my mom said that the show was TV at its worst, but my dad always seemed to "suffer" through it. Any idea what this show was?
Answer: Oh, that I do, Emma. And while I don't know the man personally, I'm betting I know why your pop "suffered" through Blansky's Beauties, which debuted on ABC in February 1977. The show, a weird sort of Happy Days spin-off, was about a troupe of Vegas showgirls overseen by the titular Nancy Blansky (Walker), who was a cousin of Happy Days father Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley). A lousy show about showgirls? Torture for moms but something the average father was perfectly willing to
read more
Question: Can you tell me who sang the opening theme song to Happy Days and what the name of the song is? Thanks.Answer: Well, it depends on which theme you're talking about, S.G. The first theme song, which heralded early episodes of the show, was "Rock Around the Clock," by Bill Haley and His Comets. The one most people associate with it, however, is Truett Pratt and Jerry McClain's "Happy Days Theme."
Happy Days, which ran on ABC for 10 years beginning in January 1974, was such a huge hit that it pumped up sales for both songs after it launched. The Pratt and McClain tune reached the No. 5 spot on the Billboard chart in 1976. And I have to add that you simply haven't lived until you catch the tune performed by the singers all decked entirely in denim on a rerun of
read more
James Lipton and Jessica Walter, Arrested Development
Arrested DevelopmentPoor Michael. What keeps him going in this futile mission to keep his family together? And what makes him think they need his help? Without his meddling, they always seem to come together while following their selfish pursuits. Lindsey and Tobias are reunited as his vanity-pleasing, deadly hair plugs have given her a new cause célèb, graft versus host, for which to hold benefits and attract sympathy — and even Gob got to show off the magic of home-video editing at the gala. (Gob: "It sounds like a tennis match between Stephi Graff and Happy Days star Donnie Host." Narrator Ron Howard: "It's Most.") Though he meant for his pet turtle to make Lucille jealous, Buster reconnected with his "uncle-father" Oscar instead — thanks to the turtle'
read more
Question: I was just watching a special on Happy Days — how it got started, etc. They talk about the pilot, but I remember way back when Love, American Style did an hourlong segment called "Love and the Television," which turned out a few years later to be Happy Days. What gives?
Answer: Well, I can't verify what the name of the Love segment was when it aired on that show, but I can tell you a lot of other cool stuff about the origins of Happy Days. And I did, a couple of years back.
read more