The Big Picture
- The first episode of
Happy Days
, titled “All the Way,” has received complaints for its sexist undertones and racial slurs. - The episode’s portrayal of women as objects and the use of derogatory language contribute to its controversy.
- Ultimately, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) did not find any breaches of broadcast codes in the episode.
Created by writer and producer Bob Brunner, Happy Days was an unparalleled family sitcom that defined the early 70s. In company with TV shows like M*A*S*H (1972), The Jeffersons (1975), and Charlie’s Angels (1976), Happy Days became one of the most iconic and successful television series of its time, which followed the simple story of high school student Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his family and friends as they navigate coming of age misadventures in an idealized 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But even though the ABC comedy is part of American pop culture history, there are episodes fans don’t necessarily agree with — one being the very first episode!
In recent years, Episode 1 of Season 1, titled “All the Way,” stirred up some heated complaints for its sexist undertones and racial slurs. What appeared to be a lighthearted plot revolving around Richie’s bashfulness to impress a pretty girl at school turned out to be an outdated joke to some. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) received a lengthy complaint when the episode aired as a rerun on CHCH-DT on August 22, 2022, at 5:30 pm. This led CBSC down a rabbit hole of flipping through broadcast codes to determine if the episode’s controversy was enough for it to be removed from airing; as society is in constant change, it’s harder for older shows to live up to the expectations of today’s content standards. Therefore, what makes the first episode of Happy Days so offensive, and what was CBSC’s final decision?
Happy Days
Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the 1950s and ’60s, Happy Days presented an idealized view of post-World War II middle-class America, seen largely through the perspective of high school (and later college) student Ritchie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) and his pal Potsie (Anson Williams).
- Release Date
- January 15, 1974
- Creator
- Gary Marshall
- Cast
- Henry Winkler , Marion Ross , Tom Bosley , Anson Williams , Don Most , Scott Baio , Ted McGinley
- Main Genre
- Sitcom
- Seasons
- 11
What Happens in “All the Way” of ‘Happy Days’ Season 1?
Originally aired on Jan 15, 1974, “All the Way” involves your typical teenage dilemma — dating. Richie Cunningham has been crushing on classmate Mary Lou Milligan (Kathy O’Dare) who happens to sit in front of him in class. At the beginning of the episode, Potsie (Anson Williams) encourages Richie to ask out Mary but warns his friend that she has a “racy” reputation and only likes to date boys in the senior class. This gives Richie mounds of pressure, especially when Potsie plays Cupid at Arnold’s Drive-In. Potsie gives Richie prompts to “woo” Mary by reading the seductive parts of a book at the diner, which proves successful! Mary invites Richie over to the house she’s babysitting at for a date, and the two plan to meet later in the day.
At home, Richie barely touches his dinner, worrying his parents deeply. Just before the date, Richie receives advice from Potsie as to how to “perform well” with Mary. Potsie suggests, “When she twists her hair, that’s a sign she wants to French kiss,” and, “She loves it when you blow in her ear”. He dives in deeper by advising Richie to leave his strongest hand free when he goes to hold her, bringing out a practice brassiere. Flustered, Richie leaves for his date, commenting that he’s going to do things “his own way.” But when Richie meets Mary at the babysitting house, he’s overly nervous to impress her as he believes Mary holds certain expectations. They sit on the couch awkwardly and Richie reads seductive passages from a book. He tries to blow on Mary’s ear and put his arm around her; however, Mary just wants to kiss him. As they make out, Richie takes the chance to undo her bra over her clothes. Immediately, Mary stands up saying, “What are you doing back there? I don’t do things like that.” Richie, relieved, suggests they play chess instead — Mary happily agrees.
The next day at school, Richie is confronted by his friends as to how far he went with his date. Richie tries to avoid answering directly but gives into peer pressure when Mary shows up boasting, “It was fun the other night. Let’s do it again real soon.” Peaking the attention of Potsie, Ralph (Don Most), and the Fonz (Henry Winkler), the boys ask him if he “did it” with Mary, implying sex, and Richie merely answers, “You kidding?” Richie instantly feels guilty about lying and goes to his dad for advice — he tells him to set the record straight to his friends.
Eventually, Richie confesses to Mary that he told the truth to his friends about what they really did on the date, and all is fine between them. Soon, Fonzie shows up and Richie also tells him the truth. Disappointed Fonzie says, “Seeing how you said you did, I figured you did, and she did, so I got a date with her myself this afternoon.” He expresses that he feels like his day is wasted since Mary won’t do anything more than kiss. After Fonzie leaves on his motorcycle with Mary, Potsie catches up with Richie. Their conversation casually drifts to their history test — Richie recalls how he missed a question about Alaska becoming a state. Potsie comments that it will never happen, leading Richie to reply, “Sure it will. Do you realize someday an Eskimo could become president?” The episode comes to a close as Potsie jokes, “Yeah, terrific. At the World Series, he could throw out the first snowball.”
What Makes “All the Way,” So Controversial?
When Episode 1 of Season 1 of Happy Days aired for a rerun on CHCH-DT, CBSC received a thorough complaint from an offended viewer the following day, as stated in the CBSC decision article! The first issue with “All the Way” lies in the fact that the show was broadcast after school hours, alluding to the traffic audience being children, teens, and ages above. The viewer expressed her opinion about Mary’s “racy reputation” for being demeaning towards women. One of the underlying themes of Mary’s character clearly implies how “easy” she is with older boys, even more so, engaging in intercourse rather frequently. This is represented by how quickly Mary dismisses Richie for Fonzie despite her non-sexual intentions. The viewer felt the plotline represented women as objects and nothing more. Potsie’s advice on seduction relied on the act of Richie luring Mary for only sexual purposes, which could also be considered derogatory in today’s society.
Towards the end of the episode, Mary comments on how her gym teacher tried to “grab her sweater” too, dismissing it as normal behavior paired with laughter from the audience. Richie expresses no signs of concern at Mary’s confession as the episode moves on without addressing the severity of the matter. As per the aforementioned article, the offended viewer believed this dialogue demonstrated sexual assault towards minor females as acceptable and argued further that the show should not align these actions with the common belief that “boys will be boys.”
The second problem with “All the Way” focused on the racist comment spoken by Richie and Potsie’s characters at the very end of the episode. As stated in the complaint, the viewer wrote that the “Eskimo” line details “extremely racist remarks against Indigenous communities. “She drew attention to the station not airing an advisory at the beginning of the episode, which is usually seen with vintage programs containing such content. On September 28, CHCH-DT wrote a response to the viewer reading:
“CHCH understands that series, such as the retro programming, may contain content that is a reflection of the time it was produced. While we cannot defend the producer’s original intention of this episode of Happy Days, after reviewing, we can accept the possibility that the producer may have included inappropriate portrayals and situations. We apologize that the content in this particular episode was offensive to you. Given the nature of the content in this particular episode, we will air a Viewer’s Discretion Statement prior to any future airings.”
Regardless of the apology, the viewer demanded that the station should forbid the first episode of Happy Days to be aired as it normalizes sexual assault. Just because the show is categorized as retro doesn’t allow the station to avoid the responsibility. The viewer pointed out, “It was wrong then, and it is wrong now”, as stated in Appendix B of the article. Lastly, she noted CHCH-DT forgets to put advisories on sexist content but is able to put discretion warnings on media with racial stereotypes. Misogynistic much?
What Was CBSC’s Decision?
In the end, the CBSC English-Language Panel came together to analyze the complaint under the Human Rights and Stereotyping. As reported in an article from Broadcast Dialogue, the episode was studied under many clauses for “stereotyping, stigmatization, exploitation and offensive language” where the Violence Against Women Code of CAB was considered. The final decision regarding the complaint proved to be invalid as the panel found no breaches of the broadcast codes. The panel did agree that sexism appears in “All the Way”, but evidently, it did not breach any level of the code.
CBSC addressed the matter of the “Eskimo” term used by Richie’s character. They stated the word was outdated. However, the line was referring to the temperature in Alaska — not the Indigenous group of people. Proven through research from The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Eskimo” is still used by linguists today to identify the Eskimo-Aleut language group. In addition, the CSBS’s decision states they are aware of today’s standards, although the greater sensitivity society exudes in the present makes it a difficult job to adapt to the changes. Retro programs, like Happy Days, are a great example of how our evolving terminology and viewpoints can alter the way we look at the beloved shows we once treasured. Should all classic TV shows be reexamined and properly censored?
Happy Days is available to watch on Apple TV in the U.S.
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