Talk:Happy Days

Al Delvecchio

Al Delvecchio is missing entirely from the list of characters. ~2026-32561-5 (talk) 20:06, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

Happy Days

Just wondering why isn’t Happy Days included in the ‘1970s American sitcoms’ Wikipedia article. (Also nowhere to be found in the 1980s article). Edit: Sorry, it is included. Under one of the subcategories.~2026-11882-95 (talk) 07:00, 22 February 2026 (UTC)

Sets

The show had two main sets: the Cunningham home and Arnold's/Al's Drive-In.

In seasons one and two, the Cunningham house was arranged with the front door on the left and the kitchen on the right of screen, in a triangular arrangement. From season three on, the house was rearranged to accommodate multiple cameras and a studio audience.

The Milky Way Drive-In, located on Port Washington Road in the North Shore suburb of Glendale, Wisconsin (now Kopp's Frozen Custard Stand), was the inspiration for the original Arnold's Drive-In; it has since been demolished. The exterior of Arnold's was a standing set on the Paramount Studios lot that has since been demolished. This exterior was close to Stage 19, where the rest of the show's sets were located.

The set of the diner in the first two seasons was a room with the same vague details of the later set, such as the paneling, and the college pennants. When the show changed to a studio production in 1975, the set was widened and the entrance was hidden, but allowed an upstage, central entrance for cast members. The barely-seen kitchen was also upstaged and seen only through a pass-through window. The diner had orange booths, downstage center for closeup conversation, as well as camera left. There were two restroom doors camera right, labeled "Guys" and "Dolls". A 1953 Seeburg Model G jukebox (with replaced metal pilasters from Wico Corp.) was positioned camera right, and an anachronistic "Nip-It" pinball machine (actually produced in 1972) was positioned far camera right.

College pennants adorned the walls, including Purdue and University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, along with a blue and white sign reading "Jefferson High School". Milwaukee's Washington High School provided the inspiration for the exteriors of the fictional Jefferson.

In 1980, the original Arnold's Drive-In was written out of the series as being destroyed by fire (see Happy Days season 7, episodes "Hot Stuff" and "The New Arnold's"). In the last seasons that covered the 1960s timeline, a new Arnold's Drive-In set (to portray the new Arnold's that replaced the original Arnold's destroyed by the fire) emerged in a 1960s decor with wood paneling and stained glass. Also, in seasons 8 and 9, the sign "Proprietors Fonzie & Big Al" was added because Fonzie and Al co-owned the new establishment in a partnership. דב מרקו1969 (talk) 10:34, 31 October 2026 (UTC)