[TV Show]The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang

[jay042]

I'm sure most everyone vaguely remembers Happy Days, the 70's sitcom about life in 1950's Milwaukee. The big feature of the show being Henry Winkler's Fonzie character.

What you may not remember is the short lived animated series inspired by the series.



As explained in the video, a woman from the future arrives in 1957 and ends up taking the Fonz and his friends on a whirlwind trip through time and space. The time machine is kind of glitchy, and doesn't send them exactly where they want to go.

Sound familiar?

It gets even more familiar when you take a look at the interior of the time machine. Don't mind Dracula, he's just visiting.



The time machine appears to be bigger on the inside, has a large console in the center of the room, and travels not just in time but space. It even has some round things on the walls. No doubt about it, it's a TARDIS!

[Catsmate]

I like i! I was completely unaware of this programme (but then I couldn't stand Happy Days). Apparently (according to TVTropes anyway) the show was supposed to have been an animated Doctor Who but Hanna-Barbera couldn't get the rights.

According to a Who expert over at AH.com:

Fonz and the Happy Days Gang' ran from November 8, 1980 to November 18, 1981. The premise as set out in the credits is that a broken time machine, resembling a small stylized flying saucer ends up in the parking lot at Arnold's. The pilot is a teenage girl named 'Cupcake' who is either an alien, or from the future, it's indeterminate, but who has erratic magical powers that never work right.

The Fonz tries to fix the time ship, but instead the Fonz and the gang end up bouncing uncontrollably through time for 24 episodes. For some reason, this intro is narrated by Wolfman Jack. Oh, and the Fonz is given a cute anthropomorphic dog to hang out with, which actually managed to follow him into the Laverne and Shirley animated series.

The borrowing from Doctor Who, particularly the early years, doesn't stop with the concept. The time machine's control station looks a lot like a version of the Tardis' central time console rotor controls... so much so it's hard to put it down to coincidence. The first episode featured Fonz and the Gang regressed back to the caveman era where they get involved in Caveman politics, much like 'Unearthly Child.' The second episode feature Fonz and the gang leaping into Earth's future in 2057 where they encounter an alien invasion. When you realize that 'Cupcake' is potentially an avatar of Susan, then this really does seem like a distaff version of Doctor Who - albeit one with the serial numbers filed off, and the character of the Doctor and the big blue box jettisoned.

That second episode was something of an anomaly, that owed a lot more to Star Wars than Doctor Who. The cartoon as a whole steered away from Science Fiction settings, and remained entirely within the framework of historical, or historic/fictional settings on Earth. As such it seems to have been rooted in the Hartnell era, when they were doing historical serials. Those sorts of historical only serials almost entirely vanished at the end of the Hartnell era (Troughton's Highlanders and Davison's Black Orchid being the only exceptiosn that come to mind). Thereafter, the series was entirely routed in sci fi, and visits to the past, as in Davison's Visitation or Baker's Mask of Mandragora featured alien monsters. So if they were trying to borrow Doctor Who, their concept of the series was twenty years out of date. Which makes a bit of ironic sense - an out of date animation studio, borrowing from the out of date premises of old Who, but doesn't seem to hold up on examination.

Fascinating. So, stats for Fonzie, Cupcake, Mr. Cool and the rest?

[jay042]

Fonzie and Cupcake at least. Richie and Ralph come across as rubbish hangers on more than anything else in the cartoon.

[jay042]

Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli

Awareness 4	Coordination 3
Ingenuity 4	Presence 5
Resolve 5	Strength 3

TRAITS

Charming
Experienced [x1]
Indomitable
Lucky
Percussive Maintenance
Technically Adept
Tough

Argumentative
Code of Conduct -Stand up for the little guy, never back down from a challenge
Distinctive-Always dressed in 50's Greaser style
Eccentric -Exaggerated tough guy behavior,
Maverick

SKILLS

Convince 5
Fighting 2
Knowledge 3
Technology 5 (AoE: Auto repair)
Transport 4

STORY POINTS: 9
TECH LEVEL 4

[jay042]

Cupcake

Awareness 3	Coordination 2
Ingenuity 5	Presence 3
Resolve 3	Strength 3

TRAITS

Attractive
Brave
Feel The Turn of the Universe
Psychic
Run For Your Life!
Screamer
Telekinesis
Time Lord


Code of Conduct
Eccentric
Forgetful
Impaired Senses (Feel The Turn of the Universe)
Technically Inept
Unlucky

SKILLS

Athletics 1
Convince 3
Fighting 1
Knowledge 4
Medicine 2
Science 2
Subterfuge 1
Survival 2
Technology 3
Transport 2

The Time Lady known by the sobriquet "Cupcake" is generally regarded as the worst student to ever pass through the Academy. While she exhibited a surprising level of telekinetic ability, There was little else that distinguished her. Her clumsy and easily distracted nature make her accident prone. A problem that lead, thanks to a series of truly improbable events, to her falling into a Type 73 TARDIS and landing in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Earth 1957.

Upon arriving in Milwaukee, she befriends a biker who goes by the nickname Fonzie and a pair of his friends. Despite the vast technological differences, Fonzie is able to get her malfunctioning TARDIS operational again, at least to a degree. Unfortunately her terrible luck set the TARDIS on another random course, this time with Fonzie and his friends in tow.

Roleplaying Notes

Cupcake showed some downright magical powers during the show (though she was not always in control of them) so it made sense she was some kind of Time Lord than just a Time Traveller. So she has the Psychic and Telekinesis traits, but due to her obvious inexperience she does not have the Vortex trait.

[Catsmate]

Jan 29, 2016 17:28:16 GMT jay042 said:

Cupcake

Awareness 3	Coordination 2
Ingenuity 5	Presence 3
Resolve 3	Strength 3

TRAITS

Attractive
Brave
Feel The Turn of the Universe
Psychic
Run For Your Life!
Screamer
Telekinesis
Time Lord


Code of Conduct
Eccentric
Forgetful
Impaired Senses (Feel The Turn of the Universe)
Technically Inept
Unlucky

SKILLS

Athletics 1
Convince 3
Fighting 1
Knowledge 4
Medicine 2
Science 2
Subterfuge 1
Survival 2
Technology 3
Transport 2

The Time Lady known by the sobriquet "Cupcake" is generally regarded as the worst student to ever pass through the Academy. While she exhibited a surprising level of telekinetic ability, There was little else that distinguished her. Her clumsy and easily distracted nature make her accident prone. A problem that lead, thanks to a series of truly improbable events, to her falling into a Type 73 TARDIS and landing in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Earth 1957.

Upon arriving in Milwaukee, she befriends a biker who goes by the nickname Fonzie and a pair of his friends. Despite the vast technological differences, Fonzie is able to get her malfunctioning TARDIS operational again, at least to a degree. Unfortunately her terrible luck set the TARDIS on another random course, this time with Fonzie and his friends in tow.

Roleplaying Notes

Cupcake showed some downright magical powers during the show (though she was not always in control of them) so it made sense she was some kind of Time Lord than just a Time Traveller. So she has the Psychic and Telekinesis traits, but due to her obvious inexperience she does not have the Vortex trait.

Nice work. Cupcake could be an incarnation of Susan, regenerated after David Campbell's death perhaps. Given the problems with the Doctor's first regeneration and Susan being his "grand-daughter" maybe she had a stressful first regeneration? Or possibly a part-Gallifreyan child of hers. The saucer could be a crude, home-built TARDIS.

[jay042]

I'd rather Cupcake be a completely different Time Lady. After watching a few episodes on youtube, she's way too ditzy to be any kind of incarnation of Susan.

[Catsmate]

Jan 30, 2016 18:06:42 GMT jay042 said:

I'd rather Cupcake be a completely different Time Lady. After watching a few episodes on youtube, she's way too ditzy to be any kind of incarnation of Susan.

You're probably right, unless Susan had a particularly problematic regeneration.


I mentioned this at our gaming session last weekend, and we ended up skimming a few episodes of the series (it really was awful).
One idea that was suggested is eliminating the Happy Days element and having Cupcake arrive at Coffee of Doom (from Questionable Content) and having a few of the QC gang head off in time and space for a fairly weird crossover. How would Marty, Dora, Momo, Emily, Tai and Pintsize handle the experience?
I might work on this for a one-off scenario, or leave it in my ideas file.

[jay042]

Yeah, the series was pretty short lived. Hanna-Barbera probably had a deal with the network to produce cheap content, and obviously blew most of the budget getting the original actors to voice the characters.

[starkllr]

Jan 30, 2016 18:06:42 GMT jay042 said:

I'd rather Cupcake be a completely different Time Lady. After watching a few episodes on youtube, she's way too ditzy to be any kind of incarnation of Susan.

How about Jenny?

[Catsmate]

Feb 1, 2016 22:50:56 GMT starkllr said:

Jan 30, 2016 18:06:42 GMT jay042 said:

I'd rather Cupcake be a completely different Time Lady. After watching a few episodes on youtube, she's way too ditzy to be any kind of incarnation of Susan.

How about Jenny?

I haven't seen that much of the series but Jenny seems rather serious to be Cupcake, even more so than Susan. It's have to be a really bad regeneration.

[jay042]

Right. Since the cartoon itself is from 1980, I'd say it's easier to go for a Pre-Time War setting with her being an exceedingly unlucky young woman who ends up in a malfunctioning TARDIS.

If you are going for post Time War, maybe she's a refugee who somehow survived the fall of Gallifrey?