Julie ’s review of Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond > Likes and Comments

What a beautiful and insightful review, Julie. Who would have thought???

Lorna,
Thank you for your kind comment. I truly appreciate it. I finished this with a face sticky from tears, wondering HOW in the world I was going to review this. I rarely even read memoirs, but I'm grateful I read this one.

Julie...Exemplary, informational review. I could feel the impact that Henry's life story had on you! His journey has not been an easy one!🧡📖✒️

Fran!
Thank you. It was very touching indeed. I feel like it's going to be hard to send it back to the library!

Perfectamundo Julie!

I've always liked him--both acting and in interviews, and your excellent review shows me why. Glad this was a winner!

Clinton,
Thank you, Using The Fonz's own words! It's funny that you showed up; I had just commented on Rowan's review of this book and learned that he grew up with The Fonz, too, Down Under. Do you mind sharing your experience of "Happy Days?"

What an empathetic review, Julie! Thanks very much for your insights.

Julie wrote: "Clinton,
Thank you, Using The Fonz's own words! It's funny that you showed up; I had just commented on Rowan's review of this book and learned that he grew up with The Fonz, too, Down Under. Do you..."

Mine experience with Happy Days was similar to yours Julie. Happy Days was on prime time TV when I was growing up (we only had 2 channels then later 3). I don't know if I watched all episodes, but I remember the shark jumping nonsense. I didn't realise it had become a meme. It was certainly one of the backdrops to my childhood (as well as MASH which was on endless repeat, and Dukes of Hazard)

Clinton,
On behalf of all Americans, I apologize for "The Dukes of Hazzard!" I can't say I wasn't madly in love with those two men, but now it's just downright embarrassing.
Okay, so you all had quite a bit of access to American tv. How about the BBC?

Kathleen,
Thank you. If you listen to any podcasts, I'd highly recommend his interview on "Smartless." It made my day!

Thank you, H. I appreciate that.

Julie wrote: "Kathleen,
Thank you. If you listen to any podcasts, I'd highly recommend his interview on "Smartless." It made my day!"

Thanks for the tip--I'll check it out!

Julie wrote: "Clinton,
On behalf of all Americans, I apologize for "The Dukes of Hazzard!" I can't say I wasn't madly in love with those two men, but now it's just downright embarrassing."

Off the top of my head, the UK shows I remember from my childhood are (at different ages I think):
Blakes 7
The Goodies
The young Ones
Are you being served

What sort of shows did you watch?

Julie, I love this review. I’m a fan of Winkler and had no idea about his family’s history .

The only one of that particular line-up I recognize is "Are You Being Served?" I've never seen it, but I know it.

I watch a lot of British shows now, but, growing up the only thing we watched was Benny Hill!

As kids. . . we watched so many shows. Mostly sitcoms, I guess. "Fat Albert," "Good Times," "Happy Days," "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons." When we hit middle school and high school, I got into a lot of one hour dramas, like "Dynasty," "Moonlighting," "Magnum P.I.," "Knots Landing." I always felt like our parents were pretty strict about our tv time, but looking back, it seems as though we watched a lot!

Angela,
Thank you. I was inspired to pick up Season One of "Barry" again and I started watching it tonight with my middle child. As soon as I saw Henry Winkler in his first scene, I looked at him and I honestly felt as though I knew him, after reading this book.

What a brilliant review Jools, so glad you loved it. Also lovely to read you were watching Happy Days in your comfy loungerooms as we were in Australia. Every day after school and loved it. I thought the Fonz was so cool. Thanks for the memories my dear friend 🤗😂🎈

Aw, Mark. What a nice comment.
Do you know. . . I honestly had NO idea that "Happy Days" made such a splash Down Under, but I have learned otherwise. This makes me smile.
Do you have other favorite shows from your youth that were American imports?

Weirdly, as a kid, I always identified more with Mr. C. than any of the teenage leads. Maybe because all our dads were kind of versions of him.

Jon,
It's funny; I've never thought about this before, but your comment inspired me to think of Mr. C as a modern day "Mr. Bennet" from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. There is so much comic relief in a good, comedic father, especially one who has 5 daughters, like Mr. Bennet!

You're right; Mr. C had good timing, but most of the cast was pretty dang good, weren't they? I was always a little naturally repulsed by Mrs. C, but I think it's because I couldn't understand an affectionate mother. I think I felt embarrassed and unsure of why she was acting that way. (Next therapy session!).

I didn't think of "The Fonz" in a romantic way, which is great, because he's 25 years older than I am, BUT I absolutely thought that I would need to decide someday if I were going to marry Barry Gibb or Tom Selleck, and they're the same age as Henry Winkler, so I guess it wasn't that! I always liked the way The Fonz protected "Richie." He had a lot of nurture in him; I think I thought of him as a beloved uncle.

Julie wrote: "Jon,
It's funny; I've never thought about this before, but your comment inspired me to think of Mr. C as a modern day "Mr. Bennet" from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. There is so much comic relief in a good,..."

Ha, now you've got me thinking about it. I was the oldest, and none of my buddies had teenage siblings, so that age was a big question mark to me. I understood the Fonz was out of school, but had even less understanding how twenty-somethings lived.

It also seemed that I saw a LOT of the show as a kid because it ran in syndication in those key after school / before dinner hours on the UHF station when there was only grownup talk shows or soaps on the three network channels. Happy Days was a show I found tolerable more than looked forward to. I also remember thinking the studio audience thought it was a lot funnier than I did. My favorite syndication / rerun shows was easily Batman; without it, it was more like being stuck with The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, Alice, One Day at a Time, Mary Tyler Moore, or Family Affair. And then there were sitcoms I absolutely refused to go near: Laverne and Shirley, All in the Family, Jeffersons, Three's Company.

The only three shows I remember actually watching and enjoying in prime time as a kid were The Bob Newhart Show, Eight is Enough, and the Incredible Hulk. We only had a 13" black & white Zenith though, so it was like the film noir version. When I finally saw him in color, the body paint looked garish and wrong to me.

TV Hulk likely lead me to actual Marvel comics, which quickly supplanted the entire medium of television, and I remain a similar snob today. "I like stories that begin and end," I tell my wife when she wants me to binge Netflix's latest with her.

Was I physically attracted to any female TV characters as a kid?

Only one: I really, really, wanted to marry Suzanne Pleshette. The snark, the voice, the bod? That Bob was one lucky son of a bitch.

Dude, you wouldn't go near "All in the Family?" It remains, for me, one of the best shows, ever, in the history of tv!

I used to babysit for a woman who looked like Suzanne Pleshette and had her voice as well! She held a PhD in Spanish and this was the mid-1980s. She was the whole package, and, as straight as I am, I think I was still half in love with her, so I get it!

As far as I'm concerned Jaclyn Smith owned the 1970s. I had posters of her all over my walls and I knew I'd grow up to be a lady detective with a crocheted purse!

Julie wrote: "Dude, you wouldn't go near "All in the Family?" It remains, for me, one of the best shows, ever, in the history of tv!

I used to babysit for a woman who looked like Suzanne Pleshette and had her v..."

I was too young to appreciate the cultural dissection of AitF, and what I hated as a kid was that they were always yelling at each other. For seven years, I was an only child in a non-shout-y home.

That was always my beef with Modern Family, which now seems to be on endless binge around here. Total respect to that show for normalizing gay couples/parenting, but waaaay too much yelling.

I remember as a kid my family all sat around the television together once a week to watch Happy Days. We all loved it!
Nice review Julie!

Jon,
Your comment reminded me of that scene from "My Fat Greek Wedding" when the soon to be bride and groom are meeting each other's families. His is a very quiet house, with classical music playing in the background; her home is filled with noisy people.

Our house was big on "manners" and we were pretty quiet ourselves, but I was the opposite; I was always attracted to the houses that were more animated than mine, particularly the houses with Italian ownerrs.

Jeannie,
What a lovely image, to think of you all gathered together. Did you have a favorite character?

I was recently talking to my two daughters about the continuity that came with people watching something at the same time, whether it was a program like "Happy Days" or the news. I was explaining that we'd all go to work or school the next day, and everyone was generally talking about it.

Remember how we felt when a big miniseries premiered, like "Roots" or "The Thorn Birds?" It was a BIG deal, and you'd feel as though you were in on something together.

I know we have more choices and independence now, but I do think about those days fondly and I think that we had more that was bringing us together then.

He was terrific in a supporting role in Royal Pains ( tv series)

He mentions this show! I'd never heard of it. Good to know.

Julie wrote: "Aw, Mark. What a nice comment.
Do you know. . . I honestly had NO idea that "Happy Days" made such a splash Down Under, but I have learned otherwise. This makes me smile.
Do you have other favorite..."

Let me think of which US shows we used to watch back then as kids. Mmmmm.....Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, Scooby Doo, Batman, Top Cat and Warner Brothers cartoons (in fact I can still hear my Dad, wetting himself laughing at The Road Runner) - then we watched a whole lot of UK stuff - Kenny Everett, The Goodies and so much more. We never watched Skippy an Aussie show that seemed to be more popular in the UK than OZ. Ahhhhhh memories. ♥️

Oh my goodness: "Scooby Doo!" Yes, a classic. Also--back when we still loved Bill Cosby: "Fat Albert." For my brother and me, "Fat Albert" signified the beginning of every Saturday morning. I still start to dance every time I hear the theme song.

Julie wrote: "Jeannie,
What a lovely image, to think of you all gathered together. Did you have a favorite character?

I was recently talking to my two daughters about the continuity that came with people watchi..."

Julie, Fonzie was a favorite in my family, we all loved him.
I still remember watching "Roots" as a family.
I haven't seen The Thorn Birds movie, I read the book and loved it. I remember my mom and her friends in the neighborhood all reading it when I was a kid. I also remember them all reading Shanna

Mark wrote: "Julie wrote: "Aw, Mark. What a nice comment.
Do you know. . . I honestly had NO idea that "Happy Days" made such a splash Down Under, but I have learned otherwise. This makes me smile.
Do you have ..."

I loved Gilligan's Island and Scooby Doo!

Jeannie,
I do not know the book SHANNA! It looks like something Rosamunde Pilcher might have written in the 1970s. Have you ever read it??

Jeannie wrote: "Mark wrote: "Julie wrote: "Aw, Mark. What a nice comment.
Do you know. . . I honestly had NO idea that "Happy Days" made such a splash Down Under, but I have learned otherwise. This makes me smile...."

Ahhhhh memories Jeannie!

Julie wrote: "Jeannie,
I do not know the book SHANNA! It looks like something Rosamunde Pilcher might have written in the 1970s. Have you ever read it??"

No, I haven't read it. You're right, it does look like something Rosamunde Pilcher might have written. :)

Jeannie,
Someday we should do a buddy read of SHANNA. I feel like I'd be laughing a lot. A friend of mine on here, Vanessa, and I went through this phase where we did a few "retro" buddy reads. Books like FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, FOREVER, and FEAR OF FLYING. It was quite cheesy and a lot of fun.

Wonderful review. I have seen H.W. on many talk shows over the years and he seems like a genuinely nice human being and happy. Had no idea about his upbringing. He certainly has not only persevered but thrived as he has surmounted many obstacles. I've enjoyed the back & forth comments about various TV shows of the past.