Happy Days
Fonzie for the Defense
TV Flash files “Fonzie for the Defense” as the last listed hour of season 5 — Happy Days (1974–1984) on ABC, season 5, episode 27, aired 1978-05-30, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E27: listed hour 115 of 255 in the Happy Days guide, last listed hour of season 5. It aired 1978-05-30 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Rules to Date By” (S05E26). Next is “Westward Ho (1)” (S06E01).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Howard Cunningham and Fonzie find themselves the only members of the jury who are not ready to convict the defendant just because he rides a motorcycle.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Fonzie for the Defense sit in the Happy Days guide?
S05E27 is listed hour 115 of 255 — last listed hour of season 5, season 5 episode 27.
When did Happy Days S05E27 air?
Fonzie for the Defense aired 1978-05-30 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
All the Way, then Fonzie Drops In. The first hour is the family sitcom ABC ordered; the later one is the franchise the country actually bought.
In the series
Why this series still plays
To see a network sell the 1950s to the 1970s until a leather jacket became the logo, the merchandising became the plot, and a water-ski stunt entered English as a warning every aging hit still has to beat.
Picture a 1974 living room trying to remember 1955 and getting the lighting wrong on purpose. Happy Days did not reconstruct the Eisenhower years. It bottled them. ABC wanted warmth after the Lear wars; Garry Marshall delivered a malt shop, a family that still ate together, and a guest greaser in a leather jacket who was not supposed to steal the franchise. Henry Winkler stole it anyway. On the palate: jukebox, catchphrase, and a three-camera hug that America could sell to itself as history.
Filed against
- Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham
Ron Howard’s Richie Cunningham was Happy Days’ wholesome center before Fonzie fever and shark-jump lore took over — after Opie Taylor made him Mayberry’s kid. Child star to Oscar-winning director is the full Hollywood arc. TV Flash still…
- Henry Winkler as Arthur 'Fonzie' Fonzarelli
Henry Winkler’s Arthur Fonzarelli was the guest greaser who stole Happy Days — leather jacket, malt-shop lighting, and a 1950s memory ABC bottled on purpose. Fonzie fever, spinoff politics, and the shark entered the language. On TV Flash…
- Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham
Tom Bosley’s Howard Cunningham was Happy Days’ “Mr. C” — cardigan warmth and dad authority under Fonzie fever, malt-shop lighting, a leather jacket the country merchandised into a god. Murder, She Wrote later made him cozy-mystery company…
- Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham
Marion Ross’s Marion Cunningham is the kitchen gravity of Happy Days — Mrs. C as the adult who kept Garry Marshall’s Milwaukee nostalgia from becoming only a leather jacket. ABC bottled the 1950s for the 1970s; Ross made the malt-shop…
- Erin Moran as Joanie Cunningham
Erin Moran played Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days — malt-shop kid sister in Garry Marshall's Milwaukee nostalgia factory, a leather-jacket decade that merchandised the 1950s for the 1970s. TV Flash files her as the family weather beside…