The Good

Thank the good lord Paramount is continuing to bring this TV on DVD set to market.

The Bad

No extras. Also, I think this show worked better when it wasn't done in front of a live audience.

Happy Days: The Third Season marked the beginning of this show's run in front of a live audience. To say that it was different would be a huge understatement as, due to perceived "Fonzie Demand," the show became centered around him. Yes, this is the season where he moves in with the Cunningham clan but to even have the parents engaged in slapstick routines, all centered around the idea that only Fonzie can save the day, is laughable. Aside from that, it is also interesting seeing this cast have it's growing pains in front of a live audience. Gone is the slow, deliberate pace from the first season, everything now moves at a much more torrid pace. Interestingly, it seems like it took a handful of episodes for even the battle-scarred, The Andy Griffith Show-warrior, Ron Howard to get his sea legs under him.

While not terrible, Happy Days: The Third Season seemed to be experiencing a shift in the balance of power. Having Fonzie be so close with the Cunninghams was certainly plausible, I just wish that the show didn't have to suffer because of it.

Features

No Extras came with this release.

Video

Full Screen Format. I was glad that this 4 disc set looked a lot better than the Second Season that I reviewed. Those episodes were shaky, spotty and pretty much just about everything else that drives a TV on DVD maven like myself crazy. Here things seem like they were better taken care of. The episodes looked a few shades better than I have seen them on TV, and I was just happy to get to see the gang back in action.

Audio

Dolby Digital. Restored English Mono. The sound on this release was good but nothing about it screamed at me. It seemed to be done at a base level where simply being able to hear and understand what the characters were saying is all that was required to bring this thing off. Decide for yourself but again my enthusiasm for this show didn't really warrant anything else from it.

Package

This front cover features a great image of Ralph Malph, Fonzie, Richie and Potsie. Behind them in the distance is Arnold's. The back cover features four shots from this movie, a small description of what it's about and some technical specs. Inside, the walls are lined with episode listings, descriptions and original airdates. While I preferred the First Season digipack, I guess I can accept that Paramount has bought into stuffing everything inside amaray cases.

Final Word

Opening with "Fonzie Moves In" and featuring such other episodes as "A Date With Fonzie" (which sees Richie being set up with Laverne and Shirley), and "Two Angry Men" which finds Mr. Cunningham and Fonzie going to war over Mr. C's shortcomings as a landlord, the episodes in this season were pretty light for the most part. There wasn't anything that happened that had too much depth to it. As I mentioned above, it appeared like Happy Days was having a weird growth spurt. It wanted to be a wholesome show about the 1950s, yet it had to acknowledge that its major drawing card was because of hood, Arthur Fonzarelli.

If you love this show and have been collecting the DVDs then owning it is a no brainer.

Happy Days was released .