The 1975-76 season of the highly successful Happy Days is largely defined by the placement of the Fonz (Henry Winkler) in even closer proximity to the Cunningham family--making him, tacitly and literally, a member of best friend Richie’s household. When Fonzie's grandmother moves into the ultra-cool, womanizing biker’s apartment, he takes a room over the Cunningham’s garage, making Richie (Ron Howard), his mom Marion (Marion Ross), and sister Joanie (Erin Moran) happy, but leaving cantankerous-but-lovable dad Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley) something more than ambivalent. While several episodes deal with one or another conflict between strong-willed Fonzie and stubborn Howard--at one point, the two sue each other over a roof that collapses from the weight of Fonzie's pigeon coop--life otherwise lurches along for Richie and his gang. In "The Other Richie Cunningham," Richie tries an end run around his dad's expectation that he take a business associate's daughter out for a date. Enlisting pal Potsie (Anson Williams) to pretend to be Richie, the Howdy Doody-faced teen finds the plan backfiring when Potsie proves to be less than a gentleman to the unfortunate girl. "Jailhouse Rock" finds Richie and Howard sharing a jail cell after protesting an arbitrary curfew by police on teens, while "Tell It to the Marines" concerns a desperate attempt by Ralph (Donny Most) to earn respect by threatening to join military service. Not surprisingly, however, most of Happy Days: The Third Season follows the exploits of Fonzie as he constantly lives up to the reputation that inevitably precedes him. The two-part "Fearless Fonzarelli" begins with the Fonz so worried he's losing his cool that he agrees to jump 14 garbage cans on his motorcycle for a television show--and ends up with a serious leg injury. "Fonzie the Superstar" is a popular episode in which the Fonz agrees to substitute for Potsie as vocalist in Richie's band, then freezes up with stage fright on the night of a show at Arnold's. (Winkler's performance on "Heartbreak Hotel," while not exactly singing, is so charged with energy one can tell the actor was probably breaking through his own inhibitions during the scene.) "Bringing Up Spike" focuses on Fonzie's first encounter with child-rearing when his visiting, little delinquent cousin gets into a jam with the law.

Happy Days: The Third Season is definitely a peak in the show's lengthy history, just before the series took a turn for the silly (or sillier). This was the year Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) were introduced to the world on Happy Days (before landing their own spin-off series). And armchair TV historians will take note how sexist the show could be while it simultaneously takes a minor stab at American racism in "Fonzie's New Friend" (in which the Fonz shows up with an African-American pal to play drums in Richie's band, and gets a hostile reaction from whites in the community). --Tom Keogh

Season 3 (1975-1976)

23 episodes

#	Airdate	Code	Title	Overview
40	September 9, 1975		"Fonzie Moves In"	With Howard worried about finance due his hardware store facing competition, the Cunninghams decide to rent the room above their garage to generate some extra income. Howard looks around for a suitable tenant, and is shocked when Richie rents it to Fonzie. Howard is certain that the Fonz is unsuitable and plans to get rid of him. Note: Fonzie, who had started off as a secondary character, had quickly become increasingly popular with the public through the first two seasons, so this episode was designed to move him in with the Cunninghams and thus bring him to the forefront of the series.
41	September 16, 1975		"The Motorcycle"	Fonzie is devastated when he discovers that someone has wrecked his beloved motorbike, leaving it scattered in pieces. Vengeance is vowed, and soon a plan is come up with to track down the culprit who did the dirty deed - but why is Ralph acting so concerned?
42	September 23, 1975		"Fearless Fonzarelli" (Part 1)	Worried that he is losing his cool, Fonzie decides to attempt to break a record and jump 14 garbage cans on his motorcycle. The stunt will be televised on the TV show 'You Wanted To see It'. Note: Pat Morita appears as Arnold for the first time in this episode. Note: You Wanted to See It was a takeoff on the actual 50s hit television show, You Asked For It and starred original host Jack Smith.
43	September 30, 1975		"Fearless Fonzarelli" (Part 2)	Fonzie is successful in his bike jump, but crashes into Arnold's chicken stand, injuring his leg. He faces surgery to remove a torn cartilage in his knee, and makes himself at home on the Cunninghams' sofa. Note: Fonzie calls Joanie "Shortcake" for the first time in this episode.
44	October 7, 1975		"The Other Richie Cunningham"	Howard is close to sealing a big business deal for his hardware store, and asks Richie to take his client's daughter on a date. But Richie has already got a big date planned, and so asks Potsie to take his place and pretend to be him. Cue chaos.
45	October 14, 1975		"Richie Fights Back"	After being humiliated by Frankie and Rocko, a couple of local hoods, in front of a date, Richie turns to the Fonz for advice, and soon decides that he wants to learn jujitsu to defend and stand up for himself.
46	October 21, 1975		"Jailhouse Rock"	Officer Kirk introduces a 10 p.m. curfew after some kids broke a window at the school. Richie and his friends plan to demonstrate against the strict curfew but things don't go according to plan. Note: Ed Peck makes his first appearance as recurring Officer Kirk in this episode.
47	October 28, 1975		"Howard's 45th Fiasco"	It is Howard's birthday but he is down about it, feeling he hasn't achieved very much in his life. Everyone decides to put on a 'This Is Your Life'-style show about him, but it makes him even more depressed, and he considers running off to Tahiti.
48	November 4, 1975		"Fonzie the Flatfoot"	With rumours of a possible fight between The Fonz's former gang, The Falcons, and their rivals, The Dragons, Officer Kirk asks Howard to persuade Fonzie to become a Special Officer to keep the peace.
49	November 11, 1975		"A Date With the Fonz"	Richie is having trouble meeting women. After a little help from Fonzie ends in another failed attempt, the Fonz thinks he's found the perfect girls for a double date - Laverne and Shirley! Note: This episode introduces Penny Marshall as Laverne DeFazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney. They would have their own series from 1976-1983.
50	November 13, 1975		"Fonzie the Salesman"	When the garage is taken over by an eccentric new owner, Fonzie does not agree with the new work conditions and quits. He is unable to find another job as a mechanic, but after a pep talk from Howard, vows to find another career and takes a job selling encyclopedias door-to-door.
51	November 18, 1975		"Three on a Porch"	Richie, Potsie and Ralph think they have rented a cabin at Lake Whitefish for the Easter holidays, only to find that they have rented the porch of the place. But they decide to stay and pose as rich Tunisian businessmen when they find that they are neighboring three attractive young women.
52	November 25, 1975		"Fonzie's New Friend"	The Fonz has struck up a friendship with Sticks Downey, a new youth in the area, and has secured him to play drums with the band at Richie's upcoming Hawaiian luau party. But prejudices appear from many of the locals when Sticks turns out to be black.
53	December 2, 1975		"They Call it Potsie Love"	After he sings her a song at Arnold's, Joanie develops a huge crush on Potsie, and starts writing him anonymous love letters. But as always, the course of love never runs smoothly.
54	December 16, 1975		"Tell it to the Marines"	After being jilted by his girlfriend, Ralph becomes convinced that he's useless and not sophisticated enough to ever keep a girl interested in him, and threatens to join the Marines.
55	January 6, 1976		"Dance Contest"	Marion, tired of the monotony of everyday house chores, tries to get Howard to enter a televised dance contest with her. When he refuses, she secretly enlists Fonzie to be her partner, but Howard soon gets suspictions that she is seeing a mystery man.
56	January 13, 1976		"The Happy Days 2nd Anniversary Special" (a.k.a "Welcome To The Second Anniversary Special")	On Fonzie's birthday, the gang get together to remember their "happy days". Note: This is the series' first 'clip show', looking back at a selection of moments from previous episodes.
57	January 20, 1976		"Football Frolics"	Richie, Potsie and Ralph need some money to buy some tickets to a big football game from Arnold. When Howard refuses to loan the money, Ralph comes up with the idea of volume babysitting to raise the funds.
58	January 27, 1976		"Fonzie the Superstar"	With Potsie away, the band has no singer for the Saturday Senior Dance, until Ralph says that the Fonz could fill in. When Fonzie finds out, he is less than pleased, and worries that he is no Elvis and he may actually not be good at something for once!
59	February 3, 1976		"Two Angry Men"	When a blizzard hits the town, the weight of Fonzie's new pigeon coop combined with the snow causes the roof to cave in. Howard and the Fonz argue over who should pay for the damage, and end up facing each other in court.
60	February 10, 1976		"The Beauty Contest"	Richie, Potsie and Ralph stage a beauty contest at Arnold's to try and meet girls. There are no prizes so they plan to rig the winner - but Richie reconsiders when a pretty cheerleader he's interested in enters.
61	February 17, 1976		"Bringing Up Spike"	Fonzie finds himself playing parent when his young cousin Spike comes to stay, but soon regrets not following Howard's advice about laying down ground rules when Spike is caught as one of a group of thieves stealing from the cash register at Arnold's.
62	February 24, 1976		"A Sight for Sore Eyes"	Fonzie is horrified when Ralph's optician father tells him that he must wear glasses to stop him getting headaches. The Fonz thinks glasses are uncool and refuses to wear him, so his friends to make him see sense.
63	March 2, 1976		"Arnold's Wedding"	Arnold announces that he is to marry his pen pal, a woman from Japan, and asks Fonzie to be his best man. But The Fonz is convinced that the Fonzarelli curse will strike, after the previous two weddings he attended ended in disaster, and it starts to seem that the wedding may indeed me doomed when Arnold's bride has second thoughs.