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Happy Days #4
Fonzie, Fonzie Superstar
When opportunity knocks, will Fonzie decide to become a star?
157 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
William Johnston
107 books16 followersLibrarian note: William Johnston has also written under the pseudonyms Susan Claudia, Willa Jay, Heather Sinclair, Ed Garth, Alex Steele, and William Howard.
William Johnston joined the Navy in 1942 and served in the Pacific. He worked as a disc jockey, advertising executive, magazine editor, and PR man before his writing career took off in 1960 with The Marriage Cage, a comic mystery that earned him a Best First Novel Edgar Award nomination from the Mystery Writers of America. He followed that book with a slew of pulp titles for Monarch Books, ranging from light comedy (The Power of Positive Loving) to medical romance (the Doctor Starr trilogy) to soft-core erotica (Save Her for Loving, Teen Age Tramp, Girls on the Wing).
Johnston’s medical novels dovetailed with his first tie-in assignments -- original novels based on the TV series The Nurses, Doctor Kildare and Ben Casey. Those books, published between 1962 and 1964, were so successful that his next original medical romance, Two Loves Has Nurse Powell, was presented as “From the author of Ben Casey.”
In 1965, Johnston wrote an original novel based on the TV comedy Get Smart. The book was a huge success, leading to nine more novels over the show’s five-season history and making him the “go-to” guy for sitcom-based tie-ins. He wrote books based on Captain Nice, Room 222, Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, The Flying Nun, The Brady Bunch, Nanny and the Professor, The Munsters, Gilligan’s Island, Bewitched, The Monkees and F-Troop, among others.
But his TV tie-in work extended far beyond sitcom adaptations. He wrote books based on Ironside, Dick Tracy, The Young Rebels, The Iron Horse, Then Came Bronson, and Rod Serling’s The New People, to name a few. He even adapted the cartoon characters Magilla Gorilla and Snagglepuss into books for children.
Johnston also penned many novelizations, including the pilots for the 1930s-era private eye series Banyon and the high school drama Sons and Daughters. His feature film novelizations include Klute, The Swinger, Echoes of a Summer, The New Interns, The Priest’s Wife, Lt. Robin Crusoe USN and his final tie-in project, Gore Vidal’s Caligula (under the pseudonym “William Howard”).
After retiring from fiction writing, he opened his own bar, which he operated for many years. He resided in San Jose, California prior to his death in 2010.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
William Johnston joined the Navy in 1942 and served in the Pacific. He worked as a disc jockey, advertising executive, magazine editor, and PR man before his writing career took off in 1960 with The Marriage Cage, a comic mystery that earned him a Best First Novel Edgar Award nomination from the Mystery Writers of America. He followed that book with a slew of pulp titles for Monarch Books, ranging from light comedy (The Power of Positive Loving) to medical romance (the Doctor Starr trilogy) to soft-core erotica (Save Her for Loving, Teen Age Tramp, Girls on the Wing).
Johnston’s medical novels dovetailed with his first tie-in assignments -- original novels based on the TV series The Nurses, Doctor Kildare and Ben Casey. Those books, published between 1962 and 1964, were so successful that his next original medical romance, Two Loves Has Nurse Powell, was presented as “From the author of Ben Casey.”
In 1965, Johnston wrote an original novel based on the TV comedy Get Smart. The book was a huge success, leading to nine more novels over the show’s five-season history and making him the “go-to” guy for sitcom-based tie-ins. He wrote books based on Captain Nice, Room 222, Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, The Flying Nun, The Brady Bunch, Nanny and the Professor, The Munsters, Gilligan’s Island, Bewitched, The Monkees and F-Troop, among others.
But his TV tie-in work extended far beyond sitcom adaptations. He wrote books based on Ironside, Dick Tracy, The Young Rebels, The Iron Horse, Then Came Bronson, and Rod Serling’s The New People, to name a few. He even adapted the cartoon characters Magilla Gorilla and Snagglepuss into books for children.
Johnston also penned many novelizations, including the pilots for the 1930s-era private eye series Banyon and the high school drama Sons and Daughters. His feature film novelizations include Klute, The Swinger, Echoes of a Summer, The New Interns, The Priest’s Wife, Lt. Robin Crusoe USN and his final tie-in project, Gore Vidal’s Caligula (under the pseudonym “William Howard”).
After retiring from fiction writing, he opened his own bar, which he operated for many years. He resided in San Jose, California prior to his death in 2010.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 5, 2019
Another great read, in this very fun series. In this story, a radio show comes to Milwaukee, looking for contestants to put on their talent show. The winner will receive a hundred dollars. Richie, Postie, and Ralph, including Richie's little sister, Joanie, all want to be on the show. Fonzie, has no real interest in the show, until he finds out, about the hundred dollars, then he is all in. The only thing Fonzie has to do, is find a talent he can do on the radio. Which for Fonzie, is no big deal, he already knows, he is going to win. Not telling Richie, Postie, and Ralph, what he has in mind, it leads the group of friends, trying to figure out what Fonzie's talent is.
I found this story, to be very amusing. Fonzie, comes across in this book, more like the Fonzie, that hits the jukebox, to make it play music or hits the walls, to turn off or on, the lights. The story, was a little out there in places. Howard, Richie's father, seems out of character to me. But it does have a lot of humor, which is the main story, of a Happy Days episode.
I found this story, to be very amusing. Fonzie, comes across in this book, more like the Fonzie, that hits the jukebox, to make it play music or hits the walls, to turn off or on, the lights. The story, was a little out there in places. Howard, Richie's father, seems out of character to me. But it does have a lot of humor, which is the main story, of a Happy Days episode.
December 16, 2021
William Johnston also wrote Get Smart tie-in novels (among other tie-ins), which I thought were incredibly funny.
For Happy Days, he takes the basic templates of the premise and characters, then dives into the deep-end of slapstick and absurdity. Of course, the TV series was often absurd and slapstick (it introduced the world to Mork from Ork, for instance), but this novel outdoes even the silliest episode.
But this is a good thing, since it had me frequently laughing out load. Fonzie wins a radio amateur contest by hitting hupcaps with a wrench to play Chopsticks. No one recognizes it as Chopsticks, since he plays it badly, but his Fonzie Cool leaks out over the radio. Soon, a Hollywood agent shows up to promise him movie deals and European tours. Mr. Cunningham is bitten by the Hollywood bug and soon plans to sell his hardware store to become the next Sunny Tufts. A neighborhood girl who sings opera keeps trying to get the agent's attention by constantly hitting high notes that shatters glass. Richie frantically searches the house for a missing drum so he can become a star, while Joanie doesn't realize that baton-twirling isn't a talent that would be effective on a radio show.
All this leads to one nonsensical gag after another. And it's funny. I loved it.
For Happy Days, he takes the basic templates of the premise and characters, then dives into the deep-end of slapstick and absurdity. Of course, the TV series was often absurd and slapstick (it introduced the world to Mork from Ork, for instance), but this novel outdoes even the silliest episode.
But this is a good thing, since it had me frequently laughing out load. Fonzie wins a radio amateur contest by hitting hupcaps with a wrench to play Chopsticks. No one recognizes it as Chopsticks, since he plays it badly, but his Fonzie Cool leaks out over the radio. Soon, a Hollywood agent shows up to promise him movie deals and European tours. Mr. Cunningham is bitten by the Hollywood bug and soon plans to sell his hardware store to become the next Sunny Tufts. A neighborhood girl who sings opera keeps trying to get the agent's attention by constantly hitting high notes that shatters glass. Richie frantically searches the house for a missing drum so he can become a star, while Joanie doesn't realize that baton-twirling isn't a talent that would be effective on a radio show.
All this leads to one nonsensical gag after another. And it's funny. I loved it.
April 2, 2024
One of my favourite from this book series . Felt just like watching an episode on tv. The twist at the end with their house guest was also amusing.
July 12, 2016
Read January 1979.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews