It took a pack of teenage girls hounding his limousine for Anson Williams to recognize the weighty impact “Happy Days” was having on the nation.
Both Williams, who played Potsie Weber on the sitcom, and Donny Most, who played Ralph Malph, recall working long winter days while filming the first season of “Happy Days.” They left their houses during the dark, early hours of the morning and returned home after the sun had set.
It was 1974. Social media wasn’t around to provide an indication of the young actors’ burgeoning fame, and their focus was fixed on putting on good performances.
The cast was aware the show had quickly climbed into the top 20 most popular television show rankings, but had no concept of the stardom that accompanies being on a hit TV series.
“Happy Days” aired on ABC for 11 seasons, spanning a decade. By the sitcom’s fourth season, it was the most-watched program on television. During the show’s run, it attracted a weekly audience of 50 to 60 million viewers, Most shared with the Deseret News.
Now, four decades since the the series concluded, interest in “Happy Days” persists. Williams, Most and their “Happy Days” co-star Henry Winkler will travel to Salt Lake City this month for FanX, a pop culture expo, to talk with fans during a Q&A panel, sign autographs and take photos.
“We had no idea of the effect of the show,” Williams told the Deseret News. “We had no idea of the fact at all. We were just working hard.”
“And there’s nothing more dangerous than teenage girls running after a limousine,” he added, laughing.
Early fame: ‘It was incredibly exciting’
During their first nationwide promotional tour, core “Happy Days” cast members Williams, Most, Ron Howard and Henry Winkler were stunned when they caught the first glimpse of their newfound fame.
The four young sitcom leads flew to Houston, Texas, for their first stop in the promo tour. As they exited the plane, there was a limousine parked on the tarmac.
“‘It must be the president of the United States or something,’” Williams remembered the group joking when they saw the luxury vehicle. “But it was for us. And we went, ‘Oh my gosh.’”
As the group approached the amphitheater hosting their event, they saw masses wrapped around the building. Williams said they assumed the crowds were gathered for a concert, not to see the “Happy Days” cast.
Moments later, the herd of teen girls mobbed their limo. And finally, they began to understand how much the nation loved “Happy Days.”
Roughly 25,000 people showed up for the event. The theater only seated 7,000, Williams remembers. The screams were almost intense enough to make the actors pass out. A week earlier, the “Happy Days” stars thought no one knew who they were. The turnout stunned them.
“When we saw those appearances, the reaction of the crowds, that was a wake-up call,” Most said. “Until you experience that, you don’t realize the impact ... you don’t have a sense.”
“It was incredibly exciting,” Most continued, “but kind of hard to really comprehend at times.”
But the early “Happy Days” fame was fickle.
Compared to the explosive success of the sitcom’s debut season, the show’s second season was a dud. Viewership dropped significantly. “Happy Days” was on the brink of cancellation.
Nothing had changed between Season 1 and Season 2. They worked the same long, hard hours, and played the same lovable characters. But a change was exactly what the series required to thrive.
Garry Marshall, the creator of “Happy Days,” understood the series needed a change to keep up with how television was evolving. He brought on Fred Silverman, a television executive and producer who worked for ABC at the time, to spark the sitcom back to life.
Silverman reconstructed the series to be filmed in front of a live audience, and with that, the sitcom exceeded its former glory.
“That’s when (‘Happy Days’) became this astronomical hit,” Williams said. “I mean, like astronomical.”
Lessons on humility from Garry Marshall
From the moment the “Happy Days” cast attained superstar status, Marshall intercepted the actors’ fattening egos with lessons on humility.
“Garry Marshall (was) our boss, our mentor, our second father,” Williams said. “He sat us down. Early on ... he goes, ‘Now you guys are really famous, and you don’t deserve it.’”
“‘There’s a light on you. ... You’ve got to take the light and put it on people that deserve it,’” Williams remembers Marshall telling him and his cast mates. “‘People work very hard to do great things, they need a little help. You need to help them.’ That was the start of it. He was such a mentor in terms of ego.”
Williams, Most, Howard and Winkler earnestly acted on Marshall’s advice.
After “Happy Days” faced the threat of cancellation, the young actors understood the turbulent nature of acting careers. Under Marshall’s guidance, they treated Paramount Studios, where they filmed the sitcom, as a makeshift college campus.
During filming or rehearsal breaks, the actors spent their free time buzzing around the studio educating themselves on everything they could about the entertainment business — writing, directing, producing — and they were surrounded with opportunities to immerse themselves in different branches of entertainment.
Those experiences, Williams says, were “invaluable.”
Marshall also fostered a culture of collaboration and created moments for the young “Happy Days” actors to pitch their own ideas for the sitcom.
Outside of Paramount Studios’ Stage 19, Marshall installed a basketball hoop. The veteran screenwriter would shoot hoops with the actors while talking over proposals for the series. It was during one of these moments Williams convinced Marshall to let his character, Potsie, be a lead singer in a band — which evolved into a recurring plot point on the series.
Moments backstage are some of Most’s favorites to reflect on. He remembers talking with cast, crew, writers and producers about movies, sports, their personal lives and ideas for how to improve the show.
“It was so fervent and incredibly rich,” Most said. “(There was) a dynamic kind of creativity that I felt during those sessions.”
‘Happy Days’ cast remain a text away
Decades on from the conclusion of “Happy Days” in 1984, Williams, Most, Howard and Winkler keep an active group text message.
They don’t talk much about business — although each one of them has enjoyed successful, diverse careers in entertainment. Instead, the aging “Happy Days” stars prefer to check in and hear updates about each other’s personal lives. How everyone’s families are doing. How life is treating them.
“We love each other deeply,” Williams said.
“After 51 years, all of us are still a text away. We’re really good friends,” he continued. “Everyone’s all over the place, (but) if I texted Ron (Howard) right now, I’ll have a response in the next 10 minutes.”
The now-lifelong friends “clicked immediately,” Williams says, but both Williams and Most credit the long hours spent together sharing the unique experience on “Happy Days” with fueling their decadeslong friendships.
“There was something really special happening, and I could feel it then. As we continued to work together, pretty quickly, you could feel this great chemistry. And then we all developed great friendships, and we did get along so well, professionally and personally,” Most said.
“I think that is kind of a major aspect of why the show did so well. I mean — very talented people — but there was that extra ingredient of the real friendships and love that we developed.”
The enduring impact of ‘Happy Days’
Both Williams and Most have been shocked by the profound, enduring impact “Happy Days” continues to have on fans of the sitcom.
When Most first started interacting with fans through comic conventions and other pop culture conventions a few years ago, he felt “surprised” by how many fans of the series would get emotional sharing how much “Happy Days” meant to them.
Numerous fans have told Most the sitcom offered them comfort during challenging times, such as extend hospital stays or periods of loneliness.
“That was so surprising, but rewarding,” Most said. “I didn’t expect that.”
He continued, “I‘m certainly proud of what I did on ‘Happy Days,’ and just the longevity that this show has had ... the impact it has had, and the effect it has had on so many people.”
Williams is grateful for the sense of camaraderie “Happy Days” had on families and groups of friends who watched the sitcom together when it aired live. Fans have gotten emotional expressing the positive memories they made with family while enjoying the show together.
When sharing these moments with fans, Williams hopes he can make them feel important and comfortable with him.
“You want your fans to walk away feeling even better than when they came up,” Williams said.
He continued, “My whole thing is with fans is, ‘You count, you count as much as me. You count big time. You are important.’ I want them all to go away feeling empowered.”
‘Happy Days’ is coming to Utah
Members of the “Happy Days” cast — Williams, Most and Winkler — are coming to Utah this month for Salt Lake City’s pop culture expo, FanX. The actors will participate in a Q&A panel with fans as well as photo and autograph opportunities.
According to Williams, the trio has already made dinner plans for their night in Salt Lake City, thanks to Winkler, who he described as a “food connoisseur.”
He would not disclose which Salt Lake City restaurant the group planned to meet up at, but claimed that “if Henry (Winkler) picked it, it’s got to be great.”
When is FanX? How do I get tickets?
FanX will take place at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City from Thursday, Sept. 25 through Saturday, Sept. 27.
Tickets for the event are available through the FanX website.