When Garry Marshall’s 1950s nostalgia trip sitcom “Happy Days” premiered on ABC in 1974, no one involved could’ve predicted that the series would run for 11 seasons and spawn an alien sitcom that launched the acting career of Robin Williams. But the show, which had the very good fortune of premiering a year after “American Graffiti” tapped into Baby Boomers’ wistfulness for their carefree childhoods, hooked television viewers of all ages thanks in large part to the preternatural cool of Henry Winkler’s Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli.
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After “Happy Days” took a ratings nosedive in its second season (due to some time slot shenanigans from CBS, which tried to kill Marshall’s show by placing the wildly popular “Maude” spinoff “Good Times” up against it), ABC actually tried to retool the series as “Fonzie’s Happy Days,” which would’ve disrupted the cozy ensemble vibe of the show (and cost the network star Ron Howard). Fortunately, the ratings improved dramatically to the point where “Happy Days” became the top rated series on TV in its fourth season. And this was all because of the extended family dynamic that found loner Fonzie turning into a third son for Howard and Marion Cunningham (Tom Bosley and Marion Ross).
As “Happy Days” stretched past the all-important fifth season (which typically places a show over 100 episodes, making it viable for syndication), that sense of family extended to its cast and crew. “Happy Days” was one of those blessed series where just about everyone involved in making it seemed to get along. Howard and Winkler, in particular, formed a strong bond over their seven seasons together. (The former departed the show to focus on his directing career after that.) So, when the series wrapped up in 1984, Winkler, looking to take home a meaningful memento from the show that made him a star, zeroed in on a piece of the set viewers never saw.
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Henry Winkler took home a shelf with a decade’s worth of sentimental value
You might think Winkler would’ve wanted to save his black leather jacket (he did, but auctioned it off in 2021), his motorcycle, or perhaps that pair of waterskis that helped launch him over a shark tank. It’s possible he did hang onto those, but while appearing on his daughter’s podcast “What in the Winkler?!” alongside his buddy and former cast mate Howard, the once and future Fonzie revealed that he kept … a shelf?
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As Winkler told his daughter, “When Ron and I did ‘Happy Days,’ there was a shelf outside of Arnold’s.” This shelf was actually behind the set entrance to Arnold’s Drive-In, where Richie (Howard), Fonzie, Potsie (Anson Williams), and Ralph (Don Most) often convened. On the podcast, Howard knew exactly what Winkler was talking about. “And we put our coffee cups or our water bottles on it as we went through the swinging doors before we made our entrance,” added the “EDtv” director.
“At the end of ‘Happy Days,’ I took that shelf,” Winkler confirmed. Howard approved, calling Winkler’s decision “so smart.” It’s a cool idea. Viewers remember all of the costuming and set dressing, but for the show’s cast, it’s the moments they spent waiting for their cue before they burst through the swinging doors of Arnold’s to roaring audience applause that they’ll cherish forever. That’s the stuff. That was very smart and, unsurprisingly, cool, Mr. Winkler.
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