The legendary sitcom ‘Happy Days’ was one of the most successful series of the 1970s. It aired from 1974 to 1984, with a total of 255 episodes spanning 11 seasons.<\/p>\n\n

To this day, it still one of the most popular TV shows in U.S history. It helped launch cast members like Henry Winkler and Ron Howard into stardom, and launch the career of famous faces like Robin Williams.<\/p>\n\n

But behind the scenes, there were many secrets that the fans didn\u2019t know about. So, here is some facts and hidden truths about the show that you probably never heard of.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

1\/ the show was almost canceled after one season<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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The iconic show Happy Days was almost cancelled after just one season due to low ratings.<\/p>\n\n

It was saved when they started featuring Henry Winkler\u2019s character, Arthur \u201cFonzie\u201d Fonzarelli, in a larger role.<\/p>\n\n

Audiences loved the character Fonzie, a hot tempered, bad boy, handsome greaser who can fix everything with his fist. Who can get any girl he wants with a snap of his fingers.<\/p>\n\n

The character Fonzie not only saved the show, but it became so popular and valuable for the producers, that they considered changing the name of the show to Fonzie\u2019s happy days.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

2\/ The show was suppose to be run in a different decade.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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When producers pitched the idea of the show to Garry Marshall, they wanted it to take place in the flaper era of the 1920s. Marshall was interessted in the idea of a period-piece sitcom, but only if it was set in the 1950s during his childhood.<\/p>\n\n

Marshall wanted to make in the 1950s to make it as realistic as possible. He had a hard time writing about the life of teenagers in 1920s because he knew nothing about that periode.<\/p>\n\n

The network initially protested the periode change idea, but that all changed with the huge success of the American Graffiti in 1973. Suddenly 50s and 60s nostalgia was all the rage.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

3\/ why did pinky leave\u00a0?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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In the season four, the writers wanted Fonzie to have a romantic story arc. So they created the character Carol \u201cPinky\u201d Tuscadero, a tough and sassy derby driver to be his love interest.<\/p>\n\n

And the former celebrity photographer Roz Kelly was cast to play the role.<\/p>\n\n

The 3 part story called \u2018Fonzie Loves Pinky\u2019 was heavily promoted. and Pinky was an immediate hit with the fans.<\/p>\n\n

Well, it turns out that in real life actress Roz Kelly didn\u2019t really get along with the cast at all, including actor Henry Winkler.<\/p>\n\n

So, her part was written off of the series after just three episodes.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

4\/ Ron Howard joined the show to avoid being drafted in the military<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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The actor went to USC\u2019s school of cinematic Arts to persue his dream of becoming a director.<\/p>\n\n

But at the time, going to college was no longer considered a deferment for the war, so he had to chose employment deferment.<\/p>\n\n

When he was offored the role, he agreed to play it, so he won\u2019t have to go to Vietnam. After signing to work in Happy Days, Paramount helped Howard get out of being drafted.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

5\/ Pat Morita faked his accent<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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The role Arnold (Matsuo Takahashi), the owner of the drive-in restaurant where the main characters hung out, was one of the major roles of Actor Noriyuki \u201cPat\u201d Morita.<\/p>\n\n

The producers wanted actor Pat Morita to have a stereotypical chinese accent, even though he was born in California and spoke perfect English.<\/p>\n\n

He accepted their proposal and started to speak in a Chinese Pidgin English Dialect in the show despite the fact that he was Japanese.<\/p>\n\n

Ironically, a couple of weeks later, standards and practices officials told Morita that he couldn\u2019t play the role of Arnold as chinese, because it was politically incorrect since the actor was Japanese.<\/p>\n\n

The actor really wanted to keep his role, so he told the producers that the character Matsuo\/Arnold was half Chinese and Japanese. And that allowed him to keep his job.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

6\/ Henry Winkler couldn\u2019t read the script due to his dyslexia<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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Many fans did not know that at 31 years old, Winkler was diagnosed with Dyslexia.<\/p>\n\n

His first auddition for the iconic role was not exactly flawless. He struggled to read the script due to his dyslexia. So to get the role he started making up lines.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not in the script,\u201d the producers would point out. To this, Winkler replied: \u201cI know but I\u2019m giving you the essence of the character and if I get the part I\u2019ll do it verbatim.”<\/p>\n\n

The improvisation was a success with the casting director, and neither to say he got the role.<\/p>\n\n

Audiences loved him, too, he was so good playing the character that he went from a minor role to the show\u2019s star by season 2. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Winkler eventually overcame his struggles with dyslexia, and he even co-wrote a children\u2019s book.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

7\/ One of the Beatles was a huge fan of \u2018Happy Days\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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Happy days became so famous that the show attracted a lot of famous fans, including the former beatle John Lennon. The musician and his son Julian were a huge fans of the show.<\/p>\n\n

One day in 1975, Julian Lennon the most famous musician in the world dropped by the set of\u00a0Happy Days <\/em>unannounced, with his son.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The former Beatle even signed autographs and took pictures with all crew members.<\/p>\n\n

John Lennon wasn\u2019t the only beattle who was a fan with show, His bandmate, Ringo Starr, also loved Happy Days, and reportedly once tried to get a cameo on the show.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

8\/ Robin Williams got his first role thanks to\u00a0\u2018Star Wars\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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After Marshall’s son saw the movie \u2018star wars\u2019, he asked his father to create a martian episode.<\/p>\n\n

Marshall agreed and the writers wrote the episode “My Favorite Orkan.” However, the cast did not like the script. Luckily, The episode was saved thanks to comedy legend robin williams.<\/p>\n\n

At first Marshall was having a lot of trouble casting the role of Mork from Ork, so he turned to his sister.<\/p>\n\n

She ended up recommending a street comedian named: Mr. Robin Williams. Who had been doing stand-up for tips near the studio.<\/p>\n\n

In his audition, the first thing he did was sit upside down in a chair, headfirst, when asked to have a seat. The funnyman won the role immediately.<\/p>\n\n

The role quicly became one of the show\u2019s most memorable personalities, earning his own spin-off years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

9\/ The Fonz wasn’t initially allowed to wear his iconic leather jacket<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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It\u2019s hard to imagine The Fonz without his signature leather jacket. But, the iconic garment almost never made it on the show.<\/p>\n\n

Studio execs felt leather jackets were associated with gangsters and thugs. And wanted to replace it with a non-threatening tan windbreaker instead.<\/p>\n\n

Garry Marshall however, hated the alternative jacket, and did his best to make the leather jacket stay.<\/p>\n\n

The studio compromised, allowing the Fonze to wear the leather jacket only in scenes where the motorcycle appeared.<\/p>\n\n

so, Fonzie\u2019s bike was written into nearly every scene during the early seasons.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

10\/ a few of the cast members sued Paramount<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\u00a0\n\n

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In 2011, a few cast members filed a joint lawsuit against Paramount for $10 million. They said that they were grossly underpaid for the use of their likenesses on show-related marchandises.<\/p>\n\n

Eventually, CBS came to a settlement with the cast members out of court.<\/p>\n\n

Each actor involved in the suit ended received a check for $65,000 and that they will continue to receive royalties as specified in their original contracts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\r\n