I'm playing hard and loose with the time line today. While I am now progressing into classic TV Christmas episodes of the 1970s, I am also going back in time to the 1950s. If you've guessed that happy days are here again, then pat yourself on the back. We are going to spend the holidays with the Cunninghams of Milwaukee for a Happy Days Christmas.
Happy Days was an extremely popular TV show on ABC. It was set in the 1950s and focus on the life of Richie Cunningham and his family. Well, that is until a certain greaser named the Fonz became the de facto star of the show.
The series ran for 11 seasons from 1974-1984 and had several holiday episodes. But my favorite was from Happy Days' eighth season. Titled White Christmas, the episode aired on December 19, 1980.
It's Christmas Eve and a major blizzard has crippled Milwaukee. Mr. Cunningham and his daughter Joanie are stranded at Cunningham hardware. Mrs. Cunningham and Richie's pregnant wife Mary Beth are at home where the power has gone out and one of the upstairs windows has broken mysteriously (don't worry, it was just a bird...) Meanwhile Fonzie and some of the gang are stuck at Arnold's Drive-In thanks to Potsie screwing up and getting everybody snowed in thanks to a snow plow.
It looks like everybody is going to be spending Christmas away from each other. But thanks to a Christmas miracle of either the snow clean-up crew of Milwaukee being able to plow through 2-feet of snow or a stroke of coincidental genius by the writers, everyone is able to make it home in time for Christmas. Well, except for Richie who can't fly in because of the blizzard. (Although in reality, actor Ron Howard had left the show prior in order to become a big time door-to-door shoe salesman or something, forever forsaking Hollywood and it's wantonous beckoning call.
On paper, this isn't really be one of my favorite episodes. In terms of a Christmas episode it's rather sad. Mr. Cunningham laments how soon Joanie will moving away for college. Mrs. Cunningham and Richie's wife are all sad that Richie got delayed. The only funny things are the scenes at Arnold's with Potsie getting on Fonzie's nerves.
But what I love so very much about this episode is the snow! I am a winter weather junky. I am a Northerner born in a Southern state. As I write this post, it's snowing in North Carolina and it's not officially winter yet! And I could not be more thrilled. I just love getting snowed-in and this episode is all about being snowed-in!
Since this post is all about snow and my love for it, I am forgoing a clip of the episode and instead giving to you for Advent a video of holiday tunes set to falling snow. It is 3 hours long, so if you don't sit through the whole thing, it will not hurt my feelings. So enjoy and until next time- Merry Christmas!
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