happy days

The Happy Days 30th anniversary show was on last night. I saw bits and pieces of it around CSI. It's weird to see how people age and how their real personalities differ from the characters they played. Henry Winkler (the Fonz, aka Arthur Fonzerelli) is a complete dork but he played a guy who was so cool and got any woman he wanted just by snapping his fingers. Marian Ross (Mrs. Cunningham, aka Mrs. C) played the quintessential housewife but in reality she was divorced and raising a child on her own while working full time.

I don't really have a point here, but it's interesting to reflect on how television shows like Happy Days can be comforting for some people and threatening to others, even though the show itself doesn't reflect any kind of reality. Still, I prefer it to many "reality" shows like the Swan, the Bachelor(ette), Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire, etc. because it tried to portray the good in people, not the selfish, greedy or needy.