To start its 4th season–the 2nd season as a (usually) multicamera sitcom– “Happy Days” presented an epic 2-part saga involving a possibly long-term romantic interest for The Fonz, almost certain promotion to Grand Poobah of the Leopard Lodge for Mr. C, and that great American tradition: The demolition derby.
(Rerun watchers would consider “Fonzie Loves Pinky” a 3-parter but its official broadcast on ABC started with a one-hour season premiere episode on September 21, 1976 and finished with a half-hour conclusion September 28th. Later, for syndication, that first episode was chopped in two. It will happen again down the road.)
Richie is rallying hard to be named student announcer for WZAZ-TV’s coverage of the upcoming Leopard Lodge demo derby. Howard is busily shepherding promotion of the derby, including an appearance by “the world’s greatest female cyclist”, Pinky Tuscadero. Pinky and Fonzie, it is insinuated, have some romantic history. (Richie: “Fonzie got four of his T-shirts pressed.”)
Richie gets the TV job and immediately goes to work covering the competitors. Meanwhile Ralph Malph and Potsie attempt to make time with the Pinkettes, Pinky’s…mechanics? Backup dancers? Bodyguards? Some of these details aren’t quite as fleshed out as others. Pinky herself makes a dramatic entrance which leads into a romantic montage of Fonzie and Pinky riding their bikes, slow dancing at Arnold’s and staring goopily into one another’s eyes. Could Pinky Tuscadero be THE ONE? The girl that finally draws The Fonz into life as a one-woman man??!?
Well…no. But you knew that.
The plot finally shifts into high gear (sorry) when Fonzie announces that his partner, Nookie Newman (yep) is injured and will be unable to participate in the derby. Pinky wants to fill in, becoming the first woman driver Fonz refuses. Pinky chats with the Cunninghams. Fonzie and Pinky begin to work through their disagreement (Fonzie: “Why am I wrr-r-r-r-r-rr-?”).
And then, Rocco Malachi walks in and this episode starts to swing.
The Malachi Brothers (Ken Lerner as Rocco and Michael Pataki as “Count” Myron) are a hilarious demo derby team with just enough character oddities and memorable performances to make them the true stars of this epic. From the moment Rocco walks into Arnold’s holding a car fender and yelling, “Will the owner of the car license plate number…”, it’s great stuff. The “Count” takes joy in proclaiming “Let the pigeons loose!” They’re brothers, they’re teammates and they’re the originators of the dreaded Malachi Crunch. More on that later. With the Malachis, as goofy as they can be, posing a legitimate threat to Fonzie, he has no choice but to recruit Pinky Tuscadero as his demo derby partner. The stage is now set for a blockbuster showdown!
Oh, but The Pinkettes have been left to guard Fonzie’s derby car…and the Malachis con them into leaving, then bash the car all to heck. Pinkette usefulness thus far: minimal if at all present. Fonz asks Richie to get his Dad to stall the start of the derby to allow time to repair the car.
At this point we move from studio audience filming to the demo derby sequence, done as a one-camera shoot on an exterior somewhere on planet earth. It looks like it could be one of the various movie ranch properties in Southern California but that’s just a guess. (I always wonder if a sequence like this is played back for the studio audience so they know what the hell is going on in the story, or if they just let people figure it out themselves,)
The Malachi Crunch is your basic double-team. The Malachis are loaded with sneaky tricks.
For all the trouble posed by the Malachis and other drivers, Pinky does herself in–first, by not wearing a seat belt and second, by getting out of the car during the derby. She is taken to Pfister Hospital and The Fonz is left to defeat the Malachis. To Be Continued…
Part Two begins as Fonz tricks the Malachis into crunching themselves. From there we return to a typical studio audience episode. At the hospital Fonzie tells Richie of his plans to propose to Pinky. It becomes clear that Pinky will not become Mrs. Fonzarelli as much as Fonzie will become the first male Pinkette. The actual Pinkettes present Fonz with his first paycheck as part of Pinky Inc. That sours the deal.
Richie consoles his friend while a press photographer takes photos of Pinky and the Pinkettes. The reporter refers to Fonzie as “Mr. Tuscadero” and is promptly corrected by Pinky. The episode ends with Fonz saying farewell to Pinky and riding off into the sunset with Richie Cunningham.
Random Notes:
-There have been lots of articles written about Roz Kelly, who played Pinky Tuscadero, not getting along well with the “Happy Days” cast and crew. In a future 2-parter “Leather Tuscadero”, played by punk rocker Suzi Quatro, takes over the family name and feisty spirit.
-When he gets the TV reporter job Richie tries out “RIck Cunningham” as an air name to Fonzie’s displeasure.
RICHIE: “You don’t like the name Rick?”
FONZ: “Is your father’s name Ozzie?”
-Catchphrase watch: Mr. C gets the nod this time when, after losing patience with his son’s smart aleck retorts, he replies, “Richard? Go to the field…and sit on it.”
-There’s so much going on here in this epic that the introduction of a brand new supporting character is almost subliminal. But this is Al Molinaro’s first appearance as “Big Al” Delvecchio, the new owner of Arnold’s. He has some fun scenes with the Malachis and nearly gets pelted with tires at the demo derby.
-My personal favorite derby driver names: “Filthy Marvin” and “No-Nose Quirk.”
-In some ways “Happy Days” keeps a very real continuity. For example, the name Pfister pops up over and over. There’s the Pfister Hospital, the Pfister Hotel–and Ashley Pfister, Fonzie’s long-term girlfriend from season 10.
-In some ways “Happy Days” keeps no continuity whatsoever. (Yeah, yeah, Chuck Cunningham, that’s the easy one.) Ken Lerner, who plays Rocco Malachi here, played three other characters in the series. And not just one shots. He was Rocco in two episodes…”Frankie” in two episodes before this one…and Rocco Baruffi, a member of Fonzie’s old gang in four episodes (including the hour-long episode “Home Movies” which we’ll get to down the road). It’s easy to see why they kept bringing him back…Lerner plays the “dumb hood” very well!
-In the final scene of “Fonzie Loves Pinky”, the reporter who commits the cardinal sin of calling Fonzie “Mr. Tuscadero” is played, uncredited, by Jerry Paris. Paris was the director for virtually every “Happy Days” multicamera episode, and he learned the ropes of this style of television production while a cast member of “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. In addition to playing neighbor Jerry Helper, Paris directed such legendary DVD episodes as “It May Look Like A Walnut”, “October Eve”, “Coast To Coast Big Mouth” and more. It is a charming tribute to Paris that the writers of “Happy Days” eventually started using “Jerry Helper” as the name of the Cunninghams’ discussed-but-never-seen friend and bridge game cohort. There are vast legions of people who prefer single-camera “Happy Days” to multicamera “filmed before a live audience” style. But with Paris directing and a stable of old school comedy writers pitching in, the multicamera episodes are about as good as you could expect them to be.
-Having said that….the whole hairdryer thing in the derby sequence… did they really make battery-operated hair dryers in the 1950s? Doesn’t that seem a bit unlikely?
Next Time: Dick Van Patten won’t let Fonzie graduate! And Arnold returns! (Not gone long enough to engender nostalgia you say? Bah! The whole show is nostalgia!)