document_title: Judiciary of India

question_text: which article of indian constitution grand the establishment of supreme court

text: Judiciary of India

text: The Constitution and the Judiciary[edit]

text: The judiciary interprets the Constitution as its final arbiter.[3] It is its duty as mandated by the Constitution, to be its watchdog, by calling for scrutiny any act of the legislature or the executive, who otherwise, are free to enact or implement these, from overstepping bounds set for them by the Constitution.[4] It acts like a guardian in protecting the fundamental rights of the people, as enshrined in the Constitution, from infringement by any organ of the state. It also balances the conflicting exercise of power between the centre and a state or among states, as assigned to them by the Constitution.

text: While pronouncing decisions under its constitutional mandate, it is expected to remain unaffected by pulls and pressures exerted by other branches of the state, citizens or interest groups. And crucially, independence of the judiciary has been held to be a basic feature of the Constitution,[5][6] and which being inalienable, has come to mean – that which cannot be taken away from it by any act or amendment by the legislature or the executive.[7] This independence shows up in the following manner: No minister, or even the executive collectively, can suggest any names for appointment as judges, to the President,[8][9] who ultimately decides on appointing them from a list of names recommended only by the collegium of the judiciary. Nor can judges of the Supreme Court or a High Court be removed from office once appointed, unless an overwhelming two-thirds of members of any of the Houses of the Parliament back the move, and only on grounds of proven misconduct or incapacity.[10][11] A person who has been a judge of a court is debarred from practicing in the jurisdiction of that court[citation needed].

text: The constitution and hence judiciary need continued review to ensure they don't lose relevance, with the present and are kept in synch with the changing times. The judiciary, in India (and the world over) is making efforts to computerize and hence e-courts and e-judiciary but this will require a rethink and re-packaging of judiciary for maximum benefits from available judicial resources, i.e. judges, jury ... E-courts In India

text: Appointment[edit]

text: As per the government, as held by the court in the Three Judges' Cases – (1982, 1993, 1998), a judge is appointed to the Supreme Court and the High Courts by the President of India from a list of names recommended by the collegium  — a closed group of the Chief Justice of India and the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, for appointments to the Supreme Court, and they, together with the Chief Justice of a High Court and its senior-most judges, for appointments to that court. This has resulted in a Memorandum of Procedure being followed, for the appointments.

text: Judges used to be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet. After 1993, as held in the Second Judges' Case, the executive was given the power to reject a name recommended by the judiciary. However, according to some, the executive has not been diligent in using this power to reject the names of bad candidates recommended.[12][13][14]

text: The collegium system has come under a fair amount of criticism.[9] Presently, by a recent order in the Fourth Judges' Case,[15] the court has invited everyone,[16] including the public,[17][18] to suggest by mid-November 2015,[19] how to improve it, broadly along the lines of – setting up an eligibility criteria for appointments, a permanent secretariat to help the collegium sift through material on potential candidates, infusing more transparency into the selection process, grievance redressal and any other suggestion not in these four categories, like transfer of judges.[20]

text: Earlier, one recommendation by a collegium came to be challenged in court. The court held that who could become a judge was a matter of fact, and any person had a right to question it. But who should become a judge was a matter of opinion and could not be questioned. As long as an effective consultation took place within a collegium in arriving at that opinion, the content or material placed before it to form the opinion could not be called for scrutiny in a court.[21]

text: Courts[edit]

text: Supreme Court of India[edit]

text: The Supreme Court is the highest court of the country or nation, which is established by the Constitution. According to it, the Supreme Court is a federal court, guardian of the Constitution and the highest court of appeal. Articles 124 to 147 of the Constitution lay down the composition and jurisdiction of the Court. Primarily, it is an appellate court which takes up appeals against judgments of the High Courts of the states and territories. However, it also takes writ petitions in cases of serious human rights violations or any petition filed under Article 32 which is the right to constitutional remedies or if a case involves a serious issue that needs immediate resolution.[22] It had its inaugural sitting on 26 January 1950, the day India's constitution came into force,[23] and since then has delivered more than 24,000 reported judgements.

text: The Supreme Court comprises the Chief Justice and 30 other Judges.

text: The proceedings of the Supreme Court are conducted in English only. The Supreme Court Rules of 1966 are framed under Article 145 of the Constitution to regulate the practice and procedure of the Supreme Court.[24][25] The same is amended and presently governed by the Supreme Court Rules of 2013.[26]

text: High courts[edit]

text: There are 24 High Courts at the State level. Article 141 of the Constitution of India mandates that they are bound by the judgements and orders of the Supreme Court of India by precedence. These courts have jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories. Below the High Courts are a hierarchy of subordinate courts such as the civil courts, family courts, criminal courts and various other district courts. High courts are instituted as constitutional courts under Part VI, Chapter V, Article 214 of the Indian Constitution.

text: The High Courts are the principal civil courts of original jurisdiction in the state along with District Courts which are subordinate to the High courts. However, High courts exercise their original civil and criminal jurisdiction only if the courts subordinate to the high court in the state are not competent (not authorised by law) to try such matters for lack of pecuniary, territorial jurisdiction. High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters if so designated specifically in a state or Federal law. e.g.: Company law cases are instituted only in a high court.

text: However, primarily the work of most High Courts consists of Appeals from lower courts and writ petitions in terms of Article 226 of the Constitution of India. Writ Jurisdiction is also original jurisdiction of High Court. The precise territorial jurisdiction of each High Court varies

text: Judges in a high court are appointed by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, Chief Justice of High Court and the governor of the state. The number of judges in a court is decided by dividing the average institution of main cases during the last five years by the national average, or the average rate of disposal of main cases per judge per year in that High Court, whichever is higher.[citation needed]

text: The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in the country, established on 2 July 1862, whereas the Allahabad High Court is the largest, having a sanctioned strength of judges at 160.

text: High courts which handle a large number of cases of a particular region, have permanent benches (or a branch of the court) established there. For litigants of remote regions, 'circuit benches' are set up, which work for those days in a month when judges visit.[27]

text: District courts[edit]

text: The District Courts of India are established by the State governments of India for every district or for one or more districts together taking into account the number of cases, population distribution in the district. They administer justice in India at a district level. These courts are under administrative control of the High Court of the State to which the district concerned belongs. The decisions of District court are subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the concerned High court.[28]

text: The district court is presided over by one District Judge appointed by the state Government. In addition to the district judge there may be number of Additional District Judges and Assistant District Judges depending on the workload. The Additional District Judge and the court presided have equivalent jurisdiction as the District Judge and his district court.[29] The district judge is also called "Metropolitan session judge" when he is presiding over a district court in a city which is designated "Metropolitan area" by the state Government.[30] The district court has appellate jurisdiction over all subordinate courts situated in the district on both civil and criminal matters. Subordinate courts, on the civil side (in ascending order) are, Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior Civil Judge Court, Senior Civil Judge Court (also called sub-court). Subordinate courts, on the criminal side (in ascending order) are, Second Class Judicial Magistrate Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.In addition 'Family Courts" are established to deal with matrimonial disputes alone. The Principal judge of family court is equivalent to District Judge.

text: Subordinate courts[edit]

text: Subordinate courts are also known as village courts, Lok Adalat (people's court) or Nyaya panchayat (justice of the villages), compose a system of alternative dispute resolution.[31] They were recognized through the 1888 Madras Village Court Act, then developed (after 1935) in various provinces and (after 1947) Indian states.[31] The model from the Gujarat State (with a judge and two assessors) was used from the 1970s onwards.[31] In 1984 the Law Commission recommended to create Nyaya Panchayats in rural areas with laymen ("having educational attainments").[31] The 2008 Gram Nyayalayas Act had foreseen 5,000 mobile courts in the country for judging petty civil (property cases) and criminal (up to 2 years of prison) cases.[31] However, the Act has not been enforced properly, with only 151 functional Gram Nyayalayas in the country (as of May 2012) against a target of 5000 such courts.[32] The major reasons behind the non-enforcement includes financial constraints, reluctance of lawyers, police and other government officials.[32]

text: Issues[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2012)

text: According to the World Bank, "although India's courts are notoriously inefficient, they at least comprise a functioning independent judiciary"[33] A functioning judiciary is the guarantor of fairness and a powerful weapon against corruption. But people's experiences fall far short of this ideal. Corruption in the judiciary goes beyond the bribing of judges. Court personnel are paid off to slow down or speed up a trial, or to make a complainant go away.

text: Citizens are often unaware of their rights, or resigned, after so many negative experiences, to their fate before an inefficient court.[34] Court efficiency is also crucial, as a serious backlog of cases creates opportunities for demanding unscheduled payments to fast-track a case.[35]

text: Indian Judiciary Issues have been depicted in several films, one of them being a 2015, Marathi film, Court.

text: I think the biggest challenge is exploiting the available resources in judiciary to be most effective – i.e. the high complexity cases getting the maximum and best judicial treatment and low priority matters the least judicial service, and since there is a drift towards e-judiciary, E-courts In India exploiting the power of computers and associated computing tools – logic, algorithm, trend analysis – to service these matters – in which patterns and repetition can be identified and hence can be solved by generically

text: Pendency of cases[edit]

text: Indian courts have millions of pending cases.[36] On an average about 20% of the sanctioned positions for judges are vacant, whereas the annual increase in pendency is less than 2%. If the vacancies were filled, pendencies would go down and make the justice system deliver efficiently.[37][38] Traffic challans, police challans and cheque bounce cases make up nearly half of all pending cases.[39][40]

text: In 2015, it was reported that there were close to 400 vacancies for judge's post in country's 24 high courts. Arrears in the Supreme Court have mounted to around 65,000. There are some 30 million cases in various courts. Budget allocation for judiciary is a miserly 0.2 per cent of the gross domestic product. The judge-population ratio is 10.5 to one million, which should be 50 to one million.[41]

text: The government has been the largest, single party litigating before the courts, and has kept adding cases to the over-burdened courts despite losing most, and then on losing, has relentlessly taken them to the next court,[42] much of this being avoidable, according to the Law Commission[43][44] The vast number of cases pending in the Supreme Court as well as the other lower courts has defeated the very purpose of the judicial system. For justice delayed, is in effect justice denied. Judiciary is no longer attracting the best legal talent because of disparity in the income of bright young lawyers and the emoluments of judicial officers. In order to attract persons of the right caliber to the judicial cadre, System must improve their service conditions, particularly of the trial court judges. In recent years scandals about lack of integrity have besmirched the reputation of the judiciary. The sub-ordinate judiciary works in appalling conditions. Any reform undertaken must be in its totality rather than in isolation.[45]

text: On 12 January 2012, a Supreme Court bench said that people's faith in judiciary was decreasing at an alarming rate, posing a grave threat to constitutional and democratic governance of the country. It acknowledged some of the serious problems of a large number of vacancies in trial courts, unwillingness of lawyers to become judges, and the failure of the apex judiciary in filling vacant HC judges posts.

text: It wanted to seek answers from the government on amicus curiae's suggestion that access to justice must be made a constitutional right and consequently the executive must provide necessary infrastructure for ensuring every citizen enjoyed this right. It also wanted the Government of India to detail the work being done by the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms.[46][47][48]

text: Undertrials outnumber convicts in the prison population of Indian jails. There have been cases where ordinary citizens have been charged for espionage while overstaying their visa or straying across the international land or maritime boundary and languishing in prison for years due to the slow redressal process.[49]

text: To reduce pendency, 'Fast-track courts', 'Evening courts/Morning courts' were set up and have met with mixed success so far.[50][51] 'Mobile courts' are being set up to bring 'justice at the doorsteps'[52] of litigants of far-flung remote and backward rural areas.[53]

text: However, Lok Adalats an informal, alternative mechanism has been a phenomenal success in tackling pendency, especially in pre-litigation matters, settling fresh cases before they become full-blown disputes and enter the courts.[54][55][56]

text: According to a report released by Centre for Public Policy Research and British Deputy High Commission "here are a total of 16,884 commercial disputes pending in High Courts with original jurisdiction. Of these Madras High court tops with 5,865. With the number of commercial disputes growing rapidly, facilitating a seamless dispute resolution system through alternate means has become crucial."[57]

text: Judicial corruption[edit]

text: Corruption is rampant in India's court. According to Transparency International, judicial corruption in India is attributable to factors such as "delays in the disposal of cases, shortage of judges and complex procedures, all of which are exacerbated by a preponderance of new laws".[58] Most disturbing is the fact that corruption has reached the highest judicial forum i.e. Supreme Court of India. Some notable cases include:

text:
In April 2017, A judicial Magistrate Debanjan Ghosh gave bail to an murder accused, and it is alleged that it is unusual unless huge money is involved.
In December 2009, legal activist and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan stated in court, "out of the last 16 to 17 Chief Justices, half have been corrupt"[59][60] In November 2010, former Law Minister, Shanti Bhushan echoed Prashant Bhushan's claim.[61]
There have been allegations that judges with doubtful integrity were elevated within the higher judiciary and campaigns held for their impeachment.[62]
In November 2011, a former Supreme Court Justice Ruma Pal slammed the higher judiciary for what she called the seven sins. She listed the sins as:

Turning a blind eye to the injudicious conduct of a colleague
Hypocrisy – the complete distortion of the norm of judicial independence
Secrecy – the fact that no aspect of judicial conduct including the appointment of judges to the High and Supreme Court is transparent
Plagiarism and prolixity – meaning that very often SC judges lift whole passages from earlier decisions by their predecessors and do not acknowledge this – and use long-winded, verbose language
Self Arrogance – wherein the higher judiciary has claimed crass superiority and independence to mask their own indiscipline and transgression of norms and procedures
Professional arrogance – whereby judges do not do their homework and arrive at decisions of grave importance ignoring precedent or judicial principle
Nepotism – wherein favors are sought and dispensed by some judges for gratification of varying manner.[63]

In 2011, Soumitra Sen, former judge at the Calcutta High Court became the first judge in the India to be impeached by the Rajya Sabha for misappropriation of funds.[11]

tag: ol

text: Reform[edit]

text: E-Courts Mission Mode Project[edit]

text: The E-courts project was established in the year 2005.[64] According to the project, all the courts including taluk courts will get computerised. As per the project in 2008, all the District courts were initialised under the project. In 2010, all the District court were computerised. The entry of back log case has started. The IT department had one system officer and two system assistants in each court. They initiated the services in the Supreme Court in June 2011. The case lists and the judgements of most district courts were available in http://lobis.nic.in. in http://judis.nic.in is used to connect all High Courts and Supreme Court judgements and cause list. These websites are updated daily by a technical team. Now by and large all the District and Taluka Courts in the country are computerized. Cause list of each of the Court can be seen on http://ecourts.gov.in. Similarly on this site you can check your cases status, your can see judgments and orders. For searching cases status, judgments, or cause lists various search options are given. Besides this http://njdg.ecourts.gov.in is National Judicial Data Grid which gives pendency figures and other relevant information in statistical form.

text: The project also includes producing witnesses through video conferencing. Filing cases, proceedings, and all other details will be in computers. Each district court contains 1 system officer and 2 system assistants. This technical manpower is involved in training the staff, updating web sites.[citation needed]

text: Judicial Service Centre[edit]

text: This is a part of e-court project. The judicial service centres are available in all court campus. The Public as well as the advocates can walk in directly and ask for the case status, stage and next hearing dates. This service is provided for free.[citation needed]

text: History[edit]

text: Jury trial[edit]

text: The first jury trial decided by an English jury in India happened in Madras (now Chennai) in 1665, for which Ascentia Dawes (probably a British woman) was charged by a grand jury with the murder of her slave girl, and a petty jury, with six Englishmen and six Portuguese, found her not guilty.[31] With the development of the East India Company empire in India, the jury system was implemented inside a dual system of courts: In Presidency Towns (Calcutta, Madras, Bombay), there were Crown Courts and in criminal cases juries had to judge British and European people (as a privilege) and in some cases Indian people; and in the territories outside the Presidency Towns (called "moffussil"), there were Company Courts (composed with Company officials) without jury to judge most of the cases implying indigenous people.[31]

text: After the Crown Government of India (Raj) adopted the Indian Penal Code (1860) and the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure (1861, amended in 1872, 1882, 1898), the criminal jury was obligatory only in the High Courts of the Presidency Towns; elsewhere, it was optional and rarely used.[31] According sections 274 and 275 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the jury was composed from 3 (for smaller offences judged in session courts) to 9 (for severe offences judges in High Courts) men; and when the accused were British and European, at least half of the jurors had to be British and European men.[31]

text: The jury found no place in the 1950 Indian Constitution, and it was ignored in many Indian states.[31] The Law Commission recommended its abolition in 1958 in its 14th Report.[31] Jury trials were abolished in India by a very discrete process during the 1960s, finishing with the 1973 Code of Criminal Procedure, which is still in force today.[31]

text: Without any proper study comparing existing judicial systems and without any effort to improve the system, it was claimed that the 8:1 acquittal of Kawas Nanavati in K. M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra, which was overturned by higher courts on the grounds that the jury was misled by the presiding judge and were susceptible to media and public influence, was the reason.[65] A study by Elisabeth Kolsky argues that many "perverse verdicts" were delivered by white juries in trial of "European British subjects" charged with murder, assault, confinement of Indians.[31]


document_title: Happy Days

question_text: happy days was a spinoff from what us tv show

root

text: Happy Days

text: Plot[edit]

text: Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the series revolves around teenager Richie Cunningham and his family: his father, Howard, who owns a hardware store; traditional homemaker and mother, Marion; younger sister Joanie; Richie's older brother Chuck (seasons 1 and 2 only), and high school dropout, biker and suave ladies' man Arthur "Fonzie"/"The Fonz" Fonzarelli, who would eventually become Richie's best friend and the Cunninghams' upstairs tenant. The earlier episodes revolve around Richie and his friends, Potsie Weber and Ralph Malph, with Fonzie as a secondary character. However, as the series progressed, Fonzie proved to be a favorite with viewers and soon more story lines were written to reflect his growing popularity, and Winkler was eventually credited with top billing in the opening credits alongside Howard as a result.[5] Fonzie befriended Richie and the Cunningham family, and when Richie left the series for military service, Fonzie became the central figure of the show, with Winkler receiving sole top billing in the opening credits. In later seasons, other characters were introduced including Fonzie's young cousin, Charles "Chachi" Arcola, who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham. The eleven seasons of the series roughly track the eleven years from 1955 to 1965, inclusive, in which the show was set.

tag: p

text: The series' pilot was originally shown as Love and the Television Set, later retitled Love and the Happy Days for syndication, a one-episode teleplay on the anthology series Love, American Style, aired on February 25, 1972. Happy Days spawned the hit television shows Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy as well as three failures, Joanie Loves Chachi, Blansky's Beauties featuring Nancy Walker as Howard's cousin,[6] and Out of the Blue. The show is the basis for the Happy Days musical touring the United States since 2008. The leather jacket worn by Winkler during the series was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution for the permanent collection at the National Museum of American History.[7] The original tan McGregor jacket Winkler wore during the first season was eventually thrown in the garbage after CBS relented, and allowed the Fonzie character to wear a leather jacket.

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired
Nielsen ratings[8]

First aired
Last aired
Rank
Rating

1
16
January 15, 1974 (1974-01-15)
May 7, 1974 (1974-05-07)
16
21.5

2
23
September 10, 1974 (1974-09-10)
May 6, 1975 (1975-05-06)
N/A
N/A

3
24
September 9, 1975 (1975-09-09)
March 2, 1976 (1976-03-02)
11
23.9

4
25
September 21, 1976 (1976-09-21)
March 29, 1977 (1977-03-29)
1
31.5

5
27
September 13, 1977 (1977-09-13)
May 30, 1978 (1978-05-30)
2
31.4

6
27
September 5, 1978 (1978-09-05)
May 15, 1979 (1979-05-15)
3
28.6
(Tied with Mork & Mindy)

7
25
September 11, 1979 (1979-09-11)
May 6, 1980 (1980-05-06)
17
21.7

8
22
November 11, 1980 (1980-11-11)
May 26, 1981 (1981-05-26)
15
20.8
(Tied with Too Close for Comfort)

9
22
October 6, 1981 (1981-10-06)
March 23, 1982 (1982-03-23)
18
20.6

10
22
September 28, 1982 (1982-09-28)
March 22, 1983 (1983-03-22)
28
17.4
(Tied with Little House: A New Beginning)

11
22
September 27, 1983 (1983-09-27)
September 24, 1984 (1984-09-24)
N/A
N/A

tag: table

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Actor
Character
Seasons

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Ron Howard
Richie Cunningham

Anson Williams
Warren "Potsie" Weber

Marion Ross
Marion Cunningham

Tom Bosley
Howard Cunningham

Henry Winkler
Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli

Don Most
Ralph Malph

Erin Moran
Joanie Cunningham

Al Molinaro
Al Delvecchio

Scott Baio
Charles "Chachi" Arcola

Lynda Goodfriend
Lori Beth Cunningham

Cathy Silvers
Jenny Piccalo

Ted McGinley
Roger Phillips

Linda Purl
Ashley Pfister

text: Cast changes[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: With season four, Al Molinaro was added as Al Delvecchio, the new owner of Arnold's, after Pat Morita's character of Arnold moved on after his character got married. (Morita had left the program to star in a short-lived sitcom of his own, Mr. T and Tina, which was actually a spin-off of Welcome Back, Kotter. Morita also starred in a subsequent short lived Happy Days spin-off series titled Blansky's Beauties.) Al Molinaro also played Al's twin brother Father Anthony Delvecchio, a Catholic priest. Al eventually married Chachi's mother (played by Ellen Travolta) and Father Delvecchio served in the wedding of Joanie to Chachi in the series finale.

text: The most major character changes occurred after season five with the addition of Scott Baio as Fonzie's cousin, Charles "Chachi" Arcola. Originally, the character Spike (mentioned as Fonzie's nephew in the episode "Not With My Sister You Don't," but also claimed to be his cousin, as was stated in one episode) was supposed to be the character who became Chachi. Season five also saw the introduction of more outlandish and bizarre plots including Fonzie making a bet with the Devil, and the appearance of Mork (Robin Williams), an alien who wanted to take Richie back to his homeworld. Although when first aired this ended with it all simply being a dream Richie was having, this episode was retconned in subsequent airings by way of additional footage to have actually taken place, with Mork having wiped everyone's memory except Richie's and then deciding to time travel to the present day (the setting of Mork & Mindy).

text: Lynda Goodfriend joined the cast as semi-regular character Lori Beth Allen, Richie's steady girlfriend, in season five, and became a permanent member of the cast between seasons eight and nine, after Lori Beth married Richie.

text: After Ron Howard (Richie) left the series, Ted McGinley joined the cast as Roger Phillips, the new physical education teacher at Jefferson High and nephew to Howard and Marion. He took over from the departed Richie Cunningham character, acting as counterpoint to Fonzie. Cathy Silvers also joined the cast as Jenny Piccalo, Joanie's best friend who was previously referenced in various episodes from earlier seasons and remained as a main cast member until the final season. Both actors were originally credited as guest stars but were promoted to the main cast during season ten after several series regulars left the show. The real focus of the series was now on the Joanie and Chachi characters, and often finding ways to incorporate Fonzie into them as a shoulder to cry on, advice-giver, and savior as needed. The Potsie character, who had already been spun off from the devious best friend of Richie to Ralph's best friend and confidante, held little grist for the writers in this new age, and was now most often used as the occasional "dumb" foil for punchlines (most often from Mr. C., whom he later worked for at Cunningham Hardware, or Fonzie).

text: Billy Warlock joined the cast in season 10 as Roger's brother Flip, along with Crystal Bernard as Howard's niece K.C. They were intended as replacements for Erin Moran and Scott Baio (who departed for their own show, Joanie Loves Chachi) and were credited as part of the semi-regular cast. Both characters left with the return of Moran and Baio, following the cancellation of Joanie Loves Chachi. Al Molinaro also left Happy Days in season 10 for Joanie Loves Chachi. Pat Morita then returned to the cast as Arnold in his absence.

text: In season 11, the story line of Richie and Lori Beth is given closure with the two-part episode "Welcome Home." Richie returns home from the Army, but barely has time to unpack when he learns that his parents have lined up a job interview at the Milwaukee Journal for him. However, they are taken aback when he tells them he prefers to take his chances in California to become a Hollywood screenwriter. They remind him of his responsibilities and while Richie gives in, he becomes angry and discontented, torn between his obligations to his family and fulfilling his dream. After a confrontation that ends with a conversation with Fonzie, he decides to face his family and declare his intentions. While somewhat reluctant at first, they support him and bid Richie, Lori Beth, and Little Richie an emotional farewell.

text: Characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Richie Cunningham – The protagonist for the first seven years of the series (1974–80). When Ron Howard left the show due to his burgeoning directorial career, Richie was written out by leaving to join the United States Army. He marries his girlfriend, Lori Beth, in season eight by phone, while Fonzie stands-in for him in the wedding.[9] Howard returned for guest appearances as Richie during the show's final season. He came back with Lori Beth and their son, Richie Jr., and Ralph in the season 11 two-part episode, "Welcome Home", and then left for California with Lori Beth and Richie Jr. to pursue a career in screenwriting. He also returned in "Passages", when he and his family attended Joanie and Chachi's wedding.[10]
Marion "Mrs. C" Cunningham – Wife of Howard Cunningham, mother of Richie and Joanie, and a traditional homemaker. She is the only character who is allowed to call Fonzie by his real first name, Arthur, which she does affectionately.[11][better source needed] She sometimes gets tired of being at home, such as in "Marion Rebels" where she gets into an argument with Howard and briefly gets a job as a waitress at Arnold's.[12] In "Empty Nest" when Joanie left for Chicago to pursue her music career, Marion had "empty nest syndrome" and was thrilled when her and Howard's niece, K.C., moved in with them.[13] Marion was one of only four characters to remain with the show throughout its entire run.
Howard "Mr. C" Cunningham – Husband of Marion Cunningham, father of Richie and Joanie, business owner of a hardware store called "Cunningham's Hardware", he is a lodge member, and family man. Frequently seen reading the daily newspaper in his easy chair.[1] Enjoys driving his beloved 1948 DeSoto Suburban. In "Letting Go", he did not want Joanie to go to Chicago, still seeing her as his "little girl". But after talking with Fonzie and realizing how much she has grown up, he supports her going.[14] In "Passages", Howard says that he is proud of Richie and Joanie in Joanie and Chachi's wedding. Howard is one of only two characters (the other being Fonzie) to appear in every episode of the series.
Joanie Cunningham – Richie's younger sister. In early seasons, she is sometimes snooping on Richie's activities and would occasionally be sent to her room by her parents. She is affectionately called "Shortcake" by Fonzie. Later on, Joanie briefly joins a motorcycle gang after going on a date with a boy, whom she considered to be "dull". In "Smokin' Ain't Cool", Joanie started smoking in order to be in a cool club, until Fonzie sets her straight. For years, Fonzie's cousin, Chachi, had been chasing her until she eventually agreed to a date with him. She and Chachi would eventually form a band together; and in "Letting Go", they leave for Chicago to pursue their music career (which spun off the short-lived series Joanie Loves Chachi). Joanie, however, eventually left the band to return home to pursue a teaching career.[15] She and Chachi then broke up for a time until Chachi proposes to her and they get married in the series finale.
Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli – Initially a minor character, he was a hugely popular breakout character and was made a series regular. Fonzarelli's "Fonzie" nickname and comeback phrase, "Sit on it," were created by the show's producer, Bob Brunner.[16][17][18] Known for being especially cool and for his catchphrases "(H)eyyyy!" and "Whoa!" His coolness gave him special powers, such as making machinery (such as Arnold's jukebox and other vending machines, electric lights, and car engines) function by pounding on them with his fist, or getting the attention of girls by snapping his fingers. His parents abandoned him as a child and his grandmother raised him from the age of four.
Warren "Potsie" Weber – Richie's best friend and an aspiring talented singer. He is somewhat more carefree and worldly than Richie in early seasons, then in mid-seasons, he becomes more often paired with Ralph for plots, and the two became inseparable. In later seasons, his character evolves to increasingly emphasize his dimwitted side, and Ralph would often say to him "You're such a Potsie". Potsie often lightheartedly mentioned the supposed hatred his father (who never appeared on the show) had for him. Potsie remained with the show after Richie and Ralph joined the Army; however, he was seen less frequently. While Potsie's character became underdeveloped in these later episodes (and he, along with Ralph, was one of the few characters absent from the finale), he is mentioned to regularly bowl with the Cunninghams and still continues his position as assistant manager of Cunningham Hardware, and as pledge master of the Leopard Lodge.
Ralph Malph – In the first season, Ralph was more of a side character to plots, but when Most became a main cast member in season two, Ralph was more commonly seen, and he, Richie, and Potsie (these two also later became roommates) became the three amigos. Known for saying "I still got it!" after delivering one of his jokes. Ralph left with Richie after the 1979–80 season to join the Army. Malph returned as a guest star in the final season, although he is absent in the finale (along with Potsie) – he is mentioned as having left to continue college to become an optometrist like his father.
Charles "Chachi" Arcola – Fonzie's younger cousin and later Al Delvecchio's stepson. Chachi is very close to his older cousin Fonzie. Fonzie acts as the older brother figure that Chachi needs. Chachi has a similar personality to his older cousin. He has Fonzie's smoothness and charisma, but Chachi is more laidback. Chachi becomes "one of the guys" as he gets older, joining Richie, Potsie, Ralph, and Fonzie in their antics. After Richie and Ralph leave the show, Chachi and Fonzie often have plots together. Chachi has a crush on Joanie Cunningham from the moment he meets her in season 5, but she initially thinks of him as a little kid, calling him names like "shrimp," "drip," etc. But as they enter high school, she too begins to find him attractive. In season 11, they broke up for a short period. But as the season progresses, they get back together and Chachi eventually proposes to Joanie and she says yes. The series finale features Chachi and Joanie's wedding.
Al Delvecchio – From seasons four to nine (1976–82), Al became the new owner/cook of the drive-in after Arnold got married the previous season. Al later married Chachi's mother Louisa, thereby becoming Chachi's stepfather and Fonzie's uncle. Molinaro left Happy Days in 1982 to take his "Al" character to Joanie Loves Chachi, and returned as Al in three later episodes of Happy Days. Known for sighing "Yeeep, yep, yep, yep, yep" when he was disappointed or when things did not go his way.
Jenny Piccalo – Joanie's boy-crazy best friend (1980–83), often mentioned in early episodes, but did not appear in person until the 1980 season. Returned as a guest star in the series finale. Jenny's father appeared in one episode, played by Silvers' real-life father Phil Silvers.
Roger Phillips – Marion's nephew, coach and teacher at Jefferson High, until "Vocational Education" where he became principal at Patton High.[19] Introduced in 1980 after Richie left the show as a recurring character.
Lori Beth Allen-Cunningham – Richie's girlfriend and later his wife (1977–82). She married Richie by phone in season eight. Fonzie helped Lori Beth while she delivers the baby in "Little Baby Cunningham." She returned as a guest star in the final season.
Ashley Pfister – (Linda Purl) Divorced mother who becomes Fonzie's steady girlfriend, but later broke up offscreen sometime before, "Where the Guys Are." Note Linda Purl was also on Happy Days in Season 2 as Richie's part-time girlfriend Gloria.

tag: ul

text: Minor/recurring[edit]

text:
Marsha Simms (Beatrice Colen) (seasons 1–3, 5; 22 episodes) – A carhop in the first two seasons. Appeared in the background of a few episodes during the first and second seasons before disappearing from the show in the third season. However, she later returned for a flashback guest appearance in the episode "Our Gang".
Bobby Melner (Harris Kal) (seasons 8–11; 19 episodes) – Friend of Chachi and Joanie seen in episodes after Richie and Ralph left the show. He is a student in Fonzie's auto shop class, as well as in Roger's health class. At one point, he was also on the Jefferson High basketball team, and performed in a band with Joanie and Chachi.
K.C. Cunningham (Crystal Bernard) (season 10; 15 episodes) – Howard's niece. She moved in with Howard and Marion after Joanie left for Chicago. She left an all-girls boarding school in Texas because it closed down. Her parents are always traveling. She also became friends with Jenny and she went on her first date with Melvin.
Leopold "Flip" Phillips (Billy Warlock) (seasons 9 & 10; 13 episodes) – Roger's rebellious younger brother. He usually wears a shirt cut off over his bellybutton.
Tommy (Kevin Sullivan) (seasons 8–11; 13 episodes) – Another friend of Chachi and Joanie in episodes after Richie and Ralph left the show. Like Bobby, Tommy is a student in Fonzie's auto shop class, as well as in Roger's health class. At one point, he was also on the Jefferson High basketball team, and performed in a band with Joanie and Chachi.
Heather Pfister (Heather O'Rourke) (season 10; 12 episodes) – Ashley Pfister's daughter. Initially did not get along with Fonzie, but gradually learned to accept him as a father figure.
 Charles "Chuck" Cunningham (Gavan O'Herlihy, Randolph Roberts) (seasons 1 & 2; 11 episodes) – The oldest son of Howard and Marion Cunningham and older brother of Richie and Joanie, Chuck is a college student and basketball player. He is rarely seen and disappears without explanation in season two, never to be seen nor referenced again after "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas". The character's disappearance gave rise to the pejorative term "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome", used to describe TV characters that disappear from shows without explanation and are later retconned to have never existed.[20] Gavan O'Herlihy played Chuck, but then he asked to leave the series.[21] Gavan was eventually replaced by Randolph Roberts until the episode "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas".
Eugene Belvin (Denis Mandel) (seasons 8 & 9; 10 episodes) – Nerdy classmate of Joanie and Chachi, and twin brother of Melvin Belvin. Is in Fonzie's auto shop class, and has a crush on Jenny Piccalo. Despite being a general stooge to his classmates at Jefferson High, he frequently tags along with Joanie and Chachi's circle of friends.
"Bag" Zombroski (Neil J. Schwartz) (seasons 1–4; 9 episodes) – A schoolmate and leader of a gang called "The Demons".
Police Officer Kirk / Army Reserve Major Kirk (Ed Peck) (seasons 3–10; 9 episodes) – Fonzie's nemesis and antagonist, who's eager to demonstrate his inflated sense of authority, and on the watch for delinquents and "pinkos" (communists). Kirk took over as acting Sheriff following the untimely death of Sheriff Flanaghan.
Wendy (Misty Rowe) (season 2; 8 episodes) – A carhop from Arnold's in season two. She was paired with Marsha Simms in five episodes.
Melvin Belvin (Scott Bernstein) (seasons 9 & 10; 8 episodes) – Nerdy classmate of Joanie and Chachi, and twin brother of Eugene Belvin. Like his brother, Melvin frequently tags along with Joanie's and Chachi's circle of friends. He once went on a date with K.C. Cunningham.
Leather Tuscadero (Suzi Quatro) (seasons 5 & 6; 7 episodes) – Musician; younger sister of Pinky Tuscadero, and a former juvenile delinquent; formed her own girl group called "Leather and the Suedes".
Jennifer Jerome (Lorrie Mahaffey) (seasons 5 & 6; 6 episodes) – Potsie's steady girlfriend. Mahaffey was Anson Williams' then wife.
Laverne De Fazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) (seasons 3, 6 & 7; 5 episodes) – Dating interest of Fonzie, Laverne, and her friend, Shirley, appeared prominently in three episodes during the season three ("A Date with Fonzie", "Football Frolics", and "Fonzie the Superstar"), which led to the two starring in the spin-off series Laverne & Shirley; they also make guest appearances in the season six's "Fonzie's Funeral (Part 2)" and season seven's "Shotgun Wedding" (Part 1) (the second part of "Shotgun Wedding" concluded on a crossover episode of Laverne and Shirley.)
Louisa Arcola-Delvecchio (Ellen Travolta) (seasons 8–11; 5 episodes) – Mother of Chachi Arcola and Fonzie's aunt. She married Al Delvecchio and they moved to Chicago.
Gloria (Linda Purl) (season 2; 5 episodes) – Richie's occasional girlfriend in season two.
Dr. Mickey Malph (Alan Oppenheimer, Jack Dodson) (season 3 & 4, 7; 4 episodes) – Ralph's father, an optometrist and, like his son, a self-styled comedian. Briefly separated from his wife Minnie, but apparently resolved issues with her after a talk with Ralph. It was Dr. Malph who convinced Fonzie to wear glasses after he started having vision problems.
Raymond "Spike" Fonzarelli (Danny Butch) (seasons 2–4; 4 episodes) – Fonzie's cousin (often referred to as his nephew, but Fonzie explains that he couldn't be his nephew as Fonzie was an only child) and his copycat. He went on a date with Joanie in "Not with My Sister, You Don't." Made fleeting appearances before the introduction of Chachi. The kinship between Spike and Chachi was never explained.
Carol "Pinky" Tuscadero (Roz Kelly) (season 4; 3 episodes) – Former girlfriend of Fonzie and a traveling demolition derby driver.
Clarence (Gary Friedkin) (season 10; 3 episodes) – A cook at Arnold's who is referred to several times throughout the show, but never actually seen until the episode "A Woman Not Under the Influence". There, it is revealed that Clarence is a little person. Clarence seems to have a good relationship with Al, but also frequently upsets him while goofing off in the kitchen.
Bill "Sticks" Downey (John-Anthony Bailey) (season 3; 2 episodes) – Friend of Fonzie, Richie, Potsie and Ralph and drummer for their band, hence his nickname "Sticks", though he claimed he got the nickname because he was skinny.
Mitsumo "Arnold" Takahashi (Pat Morita) (seasons 3 10-11: 26 episodes) depicted the owner of Arnold's Drive-In for season three (1975–76). He stated that he obtained the moniker when he purchased Arnold's restaurant and people thought it was named after him, explaining that it was too costly to buy enough letter signs needed to rename it "Takahashi". He moonlighted as a martial arts instructor, teaching self-defense classes at the drive-in after hours. Morita also played "Arnold" as a guest star in 1977 and 1979 before returning as a recurring character after Al Molinaro departed in 1982.
Grandma Nussbaum (Frances Bay) (seasons 9, 10 & 11: 3 episodes) – Chachi Arcola and Fonzie's Grandmother.

text: Notable guest stars[edit]

text:
Henry "Hank" Aaron, the Milwaukee Braves home run king, appeared in season seven, episode nine
Frankie Avalon appeared as himself (in season 9), singing his signature song "Venus" to a swooning Jenny Piccalo at the Leopard Lodge's annual "Poo Bah Doodah" musical
Dr. Joyce Brothers (season 5, episode 19) appears as herself, trying to help Fonzie's dog out of a depression
Julie Brown made her television debut in the episode "Ahhh Wilderness" (season 7) as one of three girls who went camping with Richie, Fonzie et al.
Morgan Fairchild appears in season five, episode ten as a snooty rich socialite who tries to humiliate Fonzie
Herbie Faye appeared as "Pop" in the 1974 episode "Knock Around the Block"
Lorne Greene made a brief walk-on cameo during the season five premiere, which took place in Hollywood
Tom Hanks appeared in an episode as a character seeking revenge on Fonzie for pushing him off a swing when the two of them were in the 3rd grade; the confrontation occurs just as Fonzie was about to be given a community leader award
John Hart (TV's The Lone Ranger in 1952) appeared in season 9, episode 17 where Fonzie meets his childhood idol (Hart's last acting job)
Christopher Knight (Peter Brady on ABC's The Brady Bunch) played Joanie's boyfriend on the season five episode "Be My Valentine"
Cheryl Ladd appeared in "Wish Upon a Star" (season 2), playing the part of a Hollywood starlet Richie wins a date with
Michael McKean and David L. Lander, of Laverne & Shirley, portrayed their "Lenny" and "Squiggy" characters in the season-six episode "Fonzie's Funeral" (Part 2)
Eddie Mekka, also from Laverne & Shirley, portrayed his "Carmine" character in the season four's "Joanie's Weird Boyfriend" and the season six's "Fonzie's Funeral" (Part 2)
Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch) was "Hildie" in season 2, episode 16
James Millhollin, a character actor, made the last television appearance of his career as Mr. Rudi in the 1979 episode "Potsie Quits School"
James Randi ("The Amazing Randi") appeared as himself in the episode "The Magic Show" (season 6)[22]
Buffalo Bob Smith and Bob Brunner as Clarabell the Clown appeared in the episode "The Howdy Doody Show" (season 2); the characters come to town looking for Howdy Doody look-alikes
Craig Stevens, the star of detective show Peter Gunn played Ashley Pfister's father in "Hello Pfisters" (season 10)
Danny Thomas appeared in the episode "Grandpa's Visit" (season 5) as Sean Cunningham, Howard's father.
Charlene Tilton appeared in the episode "They Shoot Fonzies, Don't They?" (season 4) as Jill Higgins, who challenges Fonzie and Joanie at a dance marathon until Fonzie might have to get a crewcut.
Robin Williams appeared in two episodes as Mork from Ork; in season five's "My Favorite Orkan", Mork wants to take Richie back to Ork with him to study earthlings, which led to the spin-off Mork & Mindy; season six's "Mork Returns" aired during the height of the popularity of Mork and Mindy
Lyle Waggoner appeared in the episode "Dreams Can Come True" (season 8) as Bobby Burns, host of the titular game show on which Marion appears as a contestant, and again in the episode "Like Mother, Like Daughter" (season 11) as Frederick Hamilton, Marion's former college boyfriend.

text: History[edit]

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text: Happy Days originated during a time of 1950s nostalgic interest as evident in 1970s film, television, and music. In late winter of 1971, Michael Eisner was snowed in at Newark airport where he bumped into Tom Miller, head of development at Paramount. Eisner has stated that he told Miller, "Tom, this is ridiculous. We're wasting our time here. Let's write a show." The script treatment that came out of that did not sell. But in spite of the market research department telling them that the 50's theme would not work, they decided to redo it, and this was accepted as a pilot.[23] This unsold pilot was filmed in late 1971 and titled New Family in Town, with Harold Gould in the role of Howard Cunningham, Marion Ross as Marion, Ron Howard as Richie, Anson Williams as Potsie, Ric Carrott as Charles "Chuck" Cunningham, and Susan Neher as Joanie, Paramount passed on making it into a weekly series, and the pilot was recycled with the title Love and the Television Set (later retitled Love and the Happy Days for syndication), for presentation on the television anthology series Love, American Style.[24] Also in 1971, the musical Grease had a successful opening in Chicago, and by the following year became a hit on Broadway. Also in 1972, George Lucas asked to view the pilot to determine if Ron Howard would be suitable to play a teenager in American Graffiti, then in pre-production. Lucas immediately cast Howard in the film, which became one of the top-grossing films of 1973. With the movie's success generating a renewed interest in the 50's era, tv show creator Garry Marshall and ABC recast the unsold pilot to turn Happy Days into a series. According to Marshall in an interview, executive producer Tom Miller said while developing the sitcom, "If we do a TV series that takes place in another era, and when it goes into reruns, then it won't look old." This made sense to Marshall while on the set of the show.[25]

text: Gould had originally been tapped to reprise the role of Howard Cunningham on the show. However, during a delay before the start of production he found work doing a play abroad and when he was notified the show was ready to begin production, he declined to return because he wanted to honor his commitment.[26] Bosley was then offered the role.

text: Production and scheduling notes[edit]

text:
Jerry Paris, who played next-door neighbor Jerry Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show and directed several episodes of that series, directed every episode of Happy Days from season three on, except for three episodes in season three ("Jailhouse Rock", "Dance Contest" and "Arnold's Wedding").[27]
Producer and writer Bob Brunner created Arthur Fonzarelli's "Fonzie" nickname and his iconic comeback phrase, "Sit on it."[16][17][18]
Until the show went out of production, reruns of the show were syndicated under the title Happy Days Again.
Happy Days was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions, a teaming of Thomas L. Miller with former film editor Edward K. Milkis, which became Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions when Robert L. Boyett joined the company in 1980, and was the first ever show to be produced by the company's most recent incarnation, Miller-Boyett Productions, which followed Milkis's resignation from the partnership. It was also produced by Henderson Productions and was one of the popular shows produced in association with Paramount Television.
In its 11 seasons on the air, Happy Days is the second-longest running sitcom in ABC's history (behind The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which ran 14 seasons, from 1952 to 1966), and one of the longest-running primetime programs in the network's history. It is also unique in that it remained in the Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) time slot for the series' first ten seasons. Tuesdays at 8 p.m. became a signature timeslot for ABC, with Who's The Boss? instantly becoming a Top 10 hit when it was moved from Thursdays and staying in that time slot for six seasons, followed by the equally family-friendly sitcom Full House (another Miller-Boyett co-production). That sitcom also hit the Top 10 immediately after inheriting the Tuesday at 8 p.m. slot and then stayed there for four seasons.
Happy Days also proved to be quite popular in daytime reruns; they joined the ABC daytime schedule in 1975, airing reruns at 11:30 a.m. ET, being moved to 11 a.m. in 1977, paired with Family Feud following at 11:30 a.m. It was replaced on the daytime schedule by reruns of its spin-off, Laverne & Shirley, in April 1979.
CBS programming head Fred Silverman scheduled the Maude spin-off Good Times directly against Happy Days during their respective second seasons in an attempt to kill the ABC show's growing popularity. In a way this move backfired on Silverman, as he was named president of ABC in 1975— thus forcing him to come up with a way to save the show he tried to kill the year before. After having knocked Happy Days out of the top 20 programs on television his last year at CBS, Silverman had the series at the top of the Nielsen ratings by 1977 (see below). Good Times was later cancelled in 1979.
Ron Howard later revealed that many of the exterior scenes filmed in Happy Days were actually shot in Munster, Indiana.

text: Production styles[edit]

text: The first two seasons of Happy Days (1974–75) were filmed using a single-camera setup and laugh track. One episode of season two ("Fonzie Gets Married") was filmed in front of a studio audience with three cameras as a test run. From the third season on (1975–84), the show was a three-camera production in front of a live audience (with a cast member, usually Tom Bosley, announcing in voice-over, "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience" at the start of most episodes), giving these later seasons a markedly different style. A laugh track was still used during post-production to smooth over live reactions.

text: Gary Marshall's earlier television series The Odd Couple had undergone an identical change in production style after its first season in 1970–71.

text: Sets[edit]

text: The show had two main sets: the Cunningham home and Arnold's/Al's Drive-in.

text: In seasons one and two, the Cunningham house was arranged with the front door on the left and the kitchen on the right of screen, in a triangular arrangement. From season three on, the house was rearranged to accommodate multiple cameras and a studio audience.

text: The Cunninghams' official address is 565 North Clinton Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[28] The house that served as the exterior of the Cunningham residence is actually located at 565 North Cahuenga Boulevard (south of Melrose Avenue) in Los Angeles, several blocks from the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue.

text: The Milky Way Drive-In, located on Port Washington Road in the North Shore suburb of Glendale, Wisconsin (now Kopp's Frozen Custard Stand), was the inspiration for the original Arnold's Drive-In; it has since been demolished. The exterior of Arnold's was a standing set on the Paramount Studios lot that has since been demolished. This exterior was close to Stage 19, where the rest of the show's sets were located.

text: The set of the diner in the first season was a room with the same vague details of the later set, such as the paneling, and the college pennants. When the show changed to a studio production in 1975, the set was widened and the entrance was hidden, but allowed an upstage, central entrance for cast members. The barely-seen kitchen was also upstaged and seen only through a pass-through window. The diner had orange booths, downstage center for closeup conversation, as well as camera left. There were two restroom doors camera right, labeled "Guys" and "Dolls". A 1953 Seeburg Model G jukebox (with replaced metal pilasters from Wico Corp.) was positioned camera right, and an anachronistic "Nip-It" pinball machine (actually produced in 1972) was positioned far camera right.

text: College pennants adorned the walls, including Purdue and University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, along with a blue and white sign reading "Jefferson High School". Milwaukee's Washington High School provided the inspiration for the exteriors of the fictional Jefferson.

text: In a two-part episode from the seventh season, the original Arnold's Drive-In was written out of the series as being destroyed by fire (see List of Happy Days episodes, episodes 159 and 160). In the last seasons that covered the 60s timeline, a new Arnold's Drive-In set (to portray the new Arnold's that replaced the original Arnold's destroyed by the fire) emerged in a 60s decor with wood paneling and stained glass.

text: In 2004, two decades after the first set was destroyed, the Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion requested that the reunion take place in Arnold's. The set was rebuilt by production designer James Yarnell based on the original floor plan. The reunion special was taped at CBS Television City's Bob Barker Studio in September 2004.[29]

text: Theme music[edit]

text: Season one used a newly recorded version of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets (recorded in the fall of 1973) as the opening theme song. This recording was not commercially released at the time, although the original 1954 recording returned to the American Billboard charts in 1974 as a result of the song's use on the show. The "Happy Days" recording had its first commercial release in 2005 by the German label Hydra Records. (When Happy Days entered syndication in 1979, the series was retitled Happy Days Again and used an edited version of the 1954 recording instead of the 1973 version). In some prints intended for reruns and overseas broadcasts, the original "Rock Around the Clock" opening theme is replaced by the more standard "Happy Days" theme.

text: The show's closing theme song in seasons one and two was a fragment from "Happy Days" (although in a different recording with different lyrics to that which would become the standard version), whose music was composed by Charles Fox and whose lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel. According to SAG, this version was performed by Jimmy Haas on lead vocals, Ron Hicklin of the Ron Hicklin Singers, Stan Farber, Jerry Whitman, and Gary Garrett on backing vocals, and studio musicians.

text: From seasons three to ten inclusive, a longer version of "Happy Days" replaced "Rock Around the Clock" at the beginning of the show. Released as a single in 1976 by Pratt & McClain, "Happy Days" cracked the Top 5. The show itself finished the 1976–77 television season at #1, ending the five-year Nielsen reign of All in the Family. On the Season 2 DVD set release & later re releases of the Season 1 DVD set, the song "Rock Around the Clock" was replaced with a reconstructed version of "Happy Days" because of music rights issues.

text: For the show's 11th and final season (1983–84), the theme was rerecorded in a more modern style. It featured Bobby Arvon on lead vocals, with several back-up vocalists. To accompany this new version, new opening credits were filmed, and the flashing Happy Days logo was reanimated to create an overall "new" feel which incorporated 1980s sensibilities with 1950s nostalgia (although by this time the show was set in 1965).

text: "Jumping the shark"[edit]

text: The idiom "jumping the shark" describes a point in a series where it resorts to outlandish or preposterous plot devices to maintain or regain good ratings. Specifically, the term arose from the season five episode "Hollywood (Part 3)" that first aired on September 20, 1977, in which a water-skiing Fonzie (clad in swim trunks and signature leather jacket) jumps over a confined shark. Despite the decline in ratings, Happy Days continued for several years until its cancellation in 1984. The program never received an Emmy nomination for writing during its entire run; comedy writing Emmy nominations during Happy Days broadcast history were routinely awarded to the writers of such shows as M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and All in the Family.[30][31]

text: Syndication[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Happy Days has been syndicated by many networks. It aired in the United States on TBS from 1989 to 1995, Nick at Nite from 1995 to 2000 (and again in 2002–03), Odyssey Network/Hallmark Channel from 1999 to 2002 (and again from January to April 2013), TV Land from 2002 to 2007, WGN America from 2002 until 2008, and FamilyNet from 2009 to 2010, INSP from 2012 to 2013, The Hub Network from 2010 to 2014. It currently airs reruns on MeTV.

text: In the United Kingdom reruns aired on Five USA and on Channel 4 between the early 1990s and the early 2000s. Original-run episodes in the 1970s and 1980s were shown on various regions of the ITV network usually on a weekday afternoon at 17:15. It is currently (2015–16) being shown on the True Entertainment channel.

text: When reruns first went into syndication on local stations while the series was still producing new episodes, the reruns were re-titled Happy Days Again. The series went into off-network syndication in fall 1979, just as season seven began on ABC. There are also some episodes still aired with the Happy Days Again title.

text: Merchandising revenue lawsuit[edit]

text: On April 19, 2011, five Happy Days co-stars; Erin Moran, Don Most, Marion Ross, Anson Williams and the estate of Tom Bosley, who died in 2010, filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, which owns the show, claiming they had not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts.[32] The cast members claimed they had not received revenues from show-related items, including comic books, T-shirts, scrapbooks, trading cards, games, lunch boxes, dolls, toy cars, magnets, greeting cards and DVDs where their images appear on the box covers. Under their contracts, they were supposed to be paid 5% of the net proceeds of merchandising if their sole image were used, and half that amount if they were in a group. CBS said it owed the actors $8,500 and $9,000 each, most of it from slot machine revenues, but the group said they were owed millions.[33] The lawsuit was initiated after Ross was informed by a friend playing slots at a casino of a "Happy Days" machine on which players win the jackpot when five Marion Rosses are rolled.

text: In October 2011, a judge rejected the group's fraud claim, which meant they could not receive millions of dollars in potential damages.[34] On June 5, 2012, a judge denied a motion filed by CBS to have the case thrown out, which meant it would go to trial on July 17 if the matter was not settled by then.[35] In July 2012, the actors settled their lawsuit with CBS. Each received a payment of $65,000 and a promise by CBS to continue honoring the terms of their contracts.[36][37]

text: DVD releases[edit]

text: Paramount Home Entertainment and CBS DVD have released the first six seasons of Happy Days on DVD in Region 1, as of December 2, 2014.[38] For the second season, CBS features music replacements due to copyright issues, including the theme song "Rock Around the Clock". (The Complete First Season retains the original opening, as it was released before CBS was involved). Each DVD release after season 2 has contained the original music. (except for seasons 5 and 6)[39] The Sixth Season was released on December 2, 2014. As of June 2016, no more seasons have been planned for release.[40]

text: Seasons 1 to 4 have also been released on DVD in the UK and in regions 2 and 4.

text:
DVD name
No. of
episodes
Release dates

Region 1
Region 2
Region 4

The Complete First Season
16
August 17, 2004
August 27, 2007
September 19, 2007

The Second Season
23
April 17, 2007
November 12, 2007
March 6, 2008

The Third Season
24
November 27, 2007
April 7, 2008
September 4, 2008

The Fourth Season
25
December 9, 2008
January 9, 2011
February 5, 2009

The Fifth Season
26
May 20, 2014

The Sixth Season
27
December 2, 2014

text: Spin-offs[edit]

text: Happy Days, itself a spin-off from Love, American Style, resulted in seven different spin-off series, including two that were animated: Laverne & Shirley, Blansky's Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Out of the Blue, Joanie Loves Chachi, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (animated) and Laverne & Shirley with Special Guest Star the Fonz (animated).

text:
The most successful of these spin-offs, Laverne & Shirley (starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, respectively), also took place in early/mid-1960s Milwaukee. As Shotz Brewery workers, modeled after the Miller, Schlitz, and Pabst Breweries once located in Milwaukee, Laverne and Shirley find themselves in adventures with The Fonz, Lenny and Squiggy and even the Cunninghams also living in the midwestern city. The two starring characters eventually moved to Los Angeles in the show's later years. Penny Marshall is the sister of producer Garry Marshall. Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley had a crossover episode, "Shotgun Wedding", in which Richie and Fonzie get into trouble with a farmer for courting his daughters and Laverne and Shirley try to help them. Part one is the season seven premiere of Happy Days and part two is the season five premiere of Laverne & Shirley.
Robin Williams made his first appearance as "Mork" on Happy Days. In his own sitcom, Mork & Mindy, his character of Mork, the alien from the planet Ork, landed in 1970s Boulder, Colorado, to study humans and took up residence with Pam Dawber's character of Mindy McConnell. Originally, Mork's appearance was explained as a dream of Richie's, but after the spin-off was established, a new ending was tagged on to the repeat of the Happy Days episode explaining that Mork would return to Earth in 1978.
Joanie Loves Chachi was a short-lived show about Richie's younger sister Joanie and Fonzie's younger cousin Chachi's relationship during their years as musicians in Chicago. While commonly believed that the show was canceled due to low ratings, the program finished in the Top 20 its first season, but ABC determined that the show was losing too much of its lead-in, suggesting low appeal if the show were moved (a suggestion that came to be realized, as the show's ratings dropped dramatically after a move to another time slot in its second season). This type of cancellation seemed strange in the early 1980s, but soon became a commonplace part of TV audience research.
Out of the Blue is a spin-off of Happy Days, though a scheduling error had the series airing prior to the main character's introduction on Happy Days.
Blansky's Beauties (1977) starred Nancy Walker as former Las Vegas showgirl Nancy Blansky. One week before the show's premiere, the Blansky character appeared on Happy Days as a cousin of Howard Cunningham. Scott Baio and Lynda Goodfriend co-starred before joining Happy Days the following fall, and Pat Morita reprised his role of Arnold. Similarly, Eddie Mekka of Laverne & Shirley played the cousin of his Carmine character, while pulling double duty as a regular in both shows.

text: Spinoff pilots that did not succeed include "The Ralph and Potsie Show" as well as "The Pinky Tuscadero Show".[41]

text: Books[edit]

text: A series of novels based on characters and dialog of the series was written by William Johnston and published by Tempo Books in the 1970s.

text: Animation[edit]

text: There are two animated series. Both were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with Paramount Television (now known as CBS Television Distribution). The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang ran from 1980 to 1982. There are also animated spin-offs of Laverne & Shirley (Laverne & Shirley in the Army) and Mork and Mindy (centering on a young Mork and Mindy in high school). The following season, they were connected together as The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour (1982).[42]

text: Musicals[edit]

text: In the late 1990s, a touring arena show called Happy Days, The Arena Spectacular toured Australia's major cities.[43] The story featured a property developer, and former girlfriend of Fonzie called Miss Frost (Rebecca Gibney) wanting to buy the diner and redevelop it. It starred Craig McLachlan as Fonzie, Max Gillies and Wendy Hughes as Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham, Doug Parkinson as Al and Jo Beth Taylor as Richie's love interest Laura. Tom Bosley presented an introduction before each performance live on stage, and pop group Human Nature played a 1950s-style rock group.

text: Another stage show, Happy Days: A New Musical began touring in 2008.[44][45]

text: Reunions[edit]

text: There have been two reunion shows which aired on ABC: the first was The Happy Days Reunion Special, originally aired in March 1992, followed by a second special in 2004 to commemorate the program's 30th anniversary. Both were set up in interview/clip format.


document_title: Money order

question_text: where do i get a postal money order

question_tokens: where do i get a postal money order

text: Money order

text: Using money orders[edit]

text: A money order is purchased for the amount desired. In this way it is similar to a certified cheque. The main difference is that money orders are usually limited in maximum face value to some specified figure (for example, the United States Postal Service limits domestic postal money orders to US $1,000.00 as of  August 2017[update]) while certified cheques are not.  Money orders typically consist of two portions: the negotiable cheque for remittance to the payee, and a receipt or stub that the customer retains for his/her records. The amount is printed by machine or checkwriter on both portions, and similar documentation, either as a third hard copy or in electronic form and retained at the issuer and agent locations.

text: Drawbacks of money orders[edit]

text: Money orders have limited acceptance in the insurance and brokerage industry because of concerns over money laundering. Because of provisions within the USA PATRIOT Act and the Bank Secrecy Act, money orders have far more regulatory processing requirements than personal cheques, cashier's cheques, or certified cheques.

text: Money orders around the world[edit]

text: India[edit]

text: In India, a money order is a service provided by the Indian Postal Service. A payer who wants to send money to a payee pays the amount and a small commission at a post office and receives a receipt for the same. The amount is then delivered as cash to the payee after a few days by a postal employee, at the address specified by the payer. A receipt from the payee is collected and delivered back to the payer at his address. This is more reliable and safer than sending cash in the mail.

text: It is commonly used for transferring funds to a payee who is in a remote, rural area, where banks may not be conveniently accessible or where many people may not use a bank account at all. Money orders are the most economical way of sending money in India for small amounts.

text: United States[edit]

text: In the United States, money orders are typically sold by third parties such as the United States Postal Service, grocery stores, and convenience stores. Some financial service companies such as banks and credit unions may not charge for money orders to their clients. Money orders remain a trusted financial instrument. However, just because a particular business can issue a money order does not necessarily mean that they will cash them. The U.S. Postal Service issues money orders for a small charge at any location.

text: The United States Postal Service began selling money orders as an alternative to sending currency through the postal system in order to reduce post office robberies, an idea instituted by Montgomery Blair who was Postmaster-General 1861-1864.[2] Money orders were later offered by many more vendors than just the postal service as a means to pay bills and send money internationally where there were not reliable banking or postal systems. Companies that now offer money orders include 7-11, QuikTrip, Cumberland Farms, Safeway, Western Union, MoneyGram, CVS, Wal-Mart, and 3T Solutions.[3]

text:
Obtaining a money order in the United States is simple, as they can be purchased with any form of money at any post office, and are sold at many other locations.
The US Postal Service's international money orders are accepted in 29 countries.[4][5]

text: Anti-counterfeiting features[edit]

text: Postal money orders (PMOs) are generally regarded as one of the most difficult financial documents to counterfeit. Security features include:

text:
Watermarks. Telltale watermark when held up to the light should reveal images of Benjamin Franklin, repeated on the left side (top to bottom).
Dark security strip running alongside the watermark (top to bottom), just to the right. If held to the light, a microfiber strip will show tiny letters "USPS" along its length, facing backward and forward.
Rainbow of inked patterns and tones.
PMOs are printed on crisp, clean, textured paper stock.
Maximum value of $1,000 for domestic (US) postal money orders, and $700 for international postal money orders.
Denominations appear in two locations. If the denomination amounts are discolored, that indicates that they have been erased.
Ultraviolet features include the above-mentioned micro-fiber strip that glows red, and the PMO number on the reverse side and the bottom which will also appear red under UV light.

text: Counterfeiting[edit]

text: Due to the increased public awareness of fraudulent US Postal Money Orders, counterfeiters are using these US Postal and other companies' (see above) money orders to dupe their victims. By obtaining their "mark's" postal zip code, they will draft bogus money orders based on whichever franchises will most likely be in their victim's home area as the familiarity of the store's name offers a sense of security.[original research?]

text: Furthermore, money orders are subject to erasing the name and writing in somebody else's name. Money order fraud is specifically not reimbursed by Western Union and the victim is required to go through local police to attempt to recover lost funds. In response, the perpetrator who cashed the money order can simply claim "identity theft" to the investigating detective.[original research?]

text: International money orders[edit]

text: An international money order is very similar in many aspects to a regular money order except that it can be used to make payments abroad. With it, a buyer can easily pay a seller for goods or services if he or she resides in another country. International money orders are often issued by a buyer's bank and bought in the currency that the seller accepts. International money orders are thought to be safer than sending currency through the post because there are various forms of identification required to cash an international money order, often including a signature and a form of photo identification.

text: When purchasing an international money order, it is important to ensure that the specific type of money order is acceptable in the destination country.  Several countries are very strict that the money order be on pink and yellow paper and bear the words "international postal money order." In particular, the Japan Post (one of the largest banking institutions in the world) requires these features. Most other countries have taken this as a standard when there is any doubt of a document's authenticity.

text: Alternatives to money orders[edit]

text:
In the last decade, a number of electronic alternatives to money orders have emerged and have, in some cases, supplanted money orders as the preferred cash transmission method.  Many of these alternatives use the ubiquitous Visa/MasterCard payment systems to settle transactions.  In Japan, the konbini system enables cash to cash transfers and is available at many of the thousands of convenience stores located in the country.  In Italy, the PostePay system is offered through the Italian post office.  In Ireland, 3V is offered through mobile top-up locations. In the United States, PaidByCash is offered at 60,000 grocery and convenience stores. In Bangladesh, mobile banking services[6][7] enable electronic transfer of money as well as retail transactions.
In the United Kingdom, a number of credit card providers have started to provide pre-paid credit cards. These cards can be "topped-up" at any location that uses the Pay-Point system and also at the Post Office for the Post Office card. PayPal has their own branded pre-paid card which can be "topped-up" using a PayPal account or Pay-Points.


document_title: When Calls the Heart

question_text: who plays lee coulter on when calls the heart

text: When Calls the Heart

text: Plot[edit]

text: When Calls the Heart tells the story of Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow), a young teacher accustomed to her high-society life. She receives her first classroom assignment in Coal Valley, a small coal-mining town in Western Canada which is located just south of Robb, Alberta. There, life is simple—but often fraught with challenges. Elizabeth charms most everyone in Coal Valley, except Royal North West Mounted Police Constable Jack Thornton (Daniel Lissing). He believes Thatcher’s wealthy father has doomed the lawman's career by insisting he be assigned in town to protect the shipping magnate’s daughter. The town of Coal Valley was renamed Hope Valley in Episode 2, Season 2 after the coal mine was closed.

text: Living in this 1910 coal town, Elizabeth must learn the ways of the Canadian frontier movement if she wishes to thrive in the rural west on her own. Lori Loughlin portrays Abigail Stanton, whose husband, the foreman of the mine, and her only son—along with 44 other miners—have recently been killed in an explosion, which turns out to have been a tragic accident waiting to happen—a result of the mining-company site manager's irresponsible management and lack of due care in his management of the mine. The newly widowed women find their faith tested when they must go to work in the mine to keep a roof over their heads, food on the table, and compile a wage for the town's teacher.[8]

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired

First aired
Last aired

1
12
January 11, 2014 (2014-01-11)
March 29, 2014 (2014-03-29)

2
7
April 25, 2015 (2015-04-25)
June 13, 2015 (2015-06-13)

Special
December 26, 2015 (2015-12-26)

3
8
February 21, 2016 (2016-02-21)
April 10, 2016 (2016-04-10)

Special
December 25, 2016 (2016-12-25)

4
10
February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)
April 23, 2017 (2017-04-23)

text: As of April 23, 2017, 39 episodes of When Calls the Heart have aired, concluding the fourth season.

text: Production[edit]

text: The series, originally planned to be filmed in Colorado, is filmed south of Vancouver, British Columbia, on a farm surrounded by vineyards. The fictional frontier town of Coal Valley was erected in late 2013. Some of the set trimmings and a stage coach came from the Hell on Wheels set.[9] The Thatcher home is the University Women's Club of Vancouver.[10]

text: The series was renewed for a second season,[11] which aired from April 25 to June 13, 2015. Hallmark Channel announced in July 2015 that the series had been renewed for a third season, which aired from February 21 to April 10, 2016,[12] with a sneak peek airing during the 2015 Christmas season.[13]

text: In mid-2016, it was announced that Season 4 would premier on the Hallmark Channel Christmas Day with a two-hour special. On April 11, 2016, Lissing and Krakow announced via the series' Facebook page that Hallmark Channel had renewed the series for a fourth season, which aired from February 19 to April 23, 2017.[14][15]

text: Filming for season five began in Vancouver on August 22, 2017, and is due to continue until Decemebr 12, 2017.[16]

text: Cast[edit]

text: Main cast[edit]

text:
Erin Krakow as Elizabeth Thatcher
Daniel Lissing as Jack Thornton
Lori Loughlin as Abigail Stanton
Jack Wagner as Bill Avery
Martin Cummins as Henry Gowen
Pascale Hutton as Rosemary LeVeaux-Coulter
Kavan Smith as Leland Coulter

text: Recurring cast[edit]

text:
Gracyn Shinyei as Emily Montgomery
Loretta Walsh as Florence Blakeley
Erica Carroll as Dottie Ramsey
Mark Humphrey as Frank Hogan
Johannah Newmarch as Molly Sullivan
Mitchell Kummen as Gabe Montgomery
Logan Williams as Miles Montgomery
Ben Rosenbaum as Hickam
Carter Ryan Evancic as Cody Hastings
Chelah Horsdal as Cat Montgomery
Steve Bacic as Charles Spurlock
Kristina Wagner as Nora Avery
Aren Buchholz as Jesse
Charlotte Hegele as Julie Thatcher
Andrea Brooks as Faith Carter
Eva Bourne as Clara Stanton
Ava Grace Cooper as Opal
Max Lloyd-Jones as Tom Thornton
Brooke Shields as Charlotte Thornton
Devon Weigel as Viola Thatcher
Marcus Rosner as Charles Kensington
Mamie Laverock as Rosaleen Sullivan
Adrian Hough as Reverend Anderson
Lynda Boyd as Grace Thatcher
Will Verchere-Gopaulsingh as Caleb Dunbar
Ali Skovbye as Becky Hastings
Garwin Sanford as William Thatcher
Laura Bertram as Mary Dunbar
Derek Hamilton as Dewitt Graves
Niall Matter as Shane Cantrell (season 4)
Spencer Drever as Cyrus Rivera (season 4)

text: Characters[edit]

text:
Elizabeth Thatcher is an independent, strong-minded, passionate and dedicated young teacher from the city. The middle daughter of William and Grace Thatcher, Elizabeth has two sisters, older sister Viola and younger sister Julie. Elizabeth finds herself in Coal Valley, a small community on the Canadian frontier in need of a teacher, and quickly discovers it is not an easy place to live, lacking the creature comforts and luxuries of her privileged life with her family. She soon meets the newly appointed and charismatic Mountie Jack Thornton and develops an immediate dislike for him. However, over time they become good friends, and develop an obvious attraction to one another. In the final episode of season 1, "Prelude to a Kiss," (also titled as "Final Adieu"), after overcoming many obstacles throughout the season, Jack tells Elizabeth, "You're the one, you're the only one" and they share a kiss. Throughout season 2, Elizabeth's feelings for Jack are high at times as well as low. Finally, in the season 2 finale, she admits that his job as a Mountie scares her. After being comforted both admitting that they love each other, Jack and Elizabeth kiss.
Jack Thornton is a laid back country boy. Jack is the son of a Mountie Thomas Thornton and his wife Charlotte Thornton. Jack has a younger brother, Tom (named after his father). As a Mountie and a man of stout character and integrity, he often finds himself protecting and saving people. In season 1's "A Telling Silence," Jack finds a basset hound whom he names Rip (after Rip Van Winkle) and takes home with him. A source of comfort and companion in the small town, Jack often goes to Rip when times in his life are difficult. In season 2's "With All My Heart," Rip, who's afraid of thunder, hides in the mine shafts during a storm. Jack and Elizabeth search for him; in their search, their relationship grows stronger. Upon his first meeting of Elizabeth, he developed an instant dislike and it appeared she irritated him. However, he grew to like and then fall madly and completely in love with her over time. In "Rules of Engagement" (S.1), it is revealed that Jack was briefly engaged to Rosemary LeVeaux when she comes looking for him. However, they have both changed and realize that they cannot have a relationship as they once did ever again. In "Prelude to a Kiss" (S.1), Jack found out that Elizabeth may be leaving Coal Valley. Taking her on a walk and giving her a framed picture of them that he had sketched, he asks her not to leave Coal Valley and tells her, "You're the one, you're the only one." She replied that she was "not going anywhere", Coal Valley was where she belonged before they share a kiss. In season 2, Elizabeth and Jack share a hot-and-cold relationship until the finale, "With All My Heart." They both admit that they love each other and share another kiss. Jack's brother, Tom, is introduced season 2's "Trials of the Heart," and their rocky relationship continues until "Coming Together, Coming Apart." Jack gently reminds his younger brother how their father was so proud of him, but he wouldn't be proud of the way he was currently living. Both in tears, Jack tells his younger brother that he believes in him and that he can turn his life around. More recently, Jack has become good friends with the sawmill operator, Lee Coulter. In season 3, Jack begins the new year knowing that Elizabeth only has eyes for him and that her relationship with Charles is over for good. In "Hearts In Question," Jack's mother Charlotte shows up unexpectedly. She meets Elizabeth and is suspicious of her, but through staying her sees Elizabeth for who she really is: a trustworthy, dedicated teacher. In the season finale, "Prayers From The Heart," Jack is injured in a landslide. But he miraculously recovers in time to serve as Lee's best man at his wedding.
Abigail Stanton is a Coal Valley woman who tragically lost her husband and son in the mining accident. Abigail is a very kind woman, and she stands strongly for the things she believes in. She is one of the first women to welcome Elizabeth and the two women quickly become friends. When Elizabeth accidentally burns down the little teacherage, Abigail gladly welcomes her into her home to live. After being complimented on her cooking, Abigail decides to open a cafe in Coal Valley. Together, Abigail and Elizabeth move into the rooms above the cafe. At the end of season 1, Abigail enjoys the company of Bill Avery, a Mountie, serving as a Forensic Investigator and friend of Jack Thornton's. In season 2, Abigail takes in her daughter-in-law, Clara, the wife of her late son Peter whom Abigail sees as the daughter she never had. With Bill's past being revealed, Abigail ends their friendship and spends more time with the new pastor, Frank Hogan. Also, she is a strong independent woman that is set on doing the things that are right and tries to help Elizabeth.
Bill Avery is a mysterious, quiet man. He first appears in season 1's "Rules of Engagement," in order to help Jack expose Mr. Gowen's wrongdoings. Bill is immediately attracted to widow Abigail Stanton. Things are going well until Abigail discovers a picture of Bill's family and his wedding ring. He later tells her that his son died, as well as his wife. However, his wife, Nora, comes to confront him in season 2's "Heart's Desire."
Henry Gowen is a cold, cynical man who formerly owned the coal mine. After the mine was shut down, Henry became the mayor of Hope Valley and still creates a cold, cynical presence whenever people are around him. Henry is highly disliked and feared in the town. He frequently uses bribery to get what he wants, which is never for the good of the town.
Rosemary "Rosie" LeVeaux is a flamboyant, enthusiastic actress from New York. She was briefly engaged to Jack Thornton, but they both realized that it wouldn't work out. Rosie immediately disliked Elizabeth and viewed her as "the competition," but eventually came to really care about Elizabeth, even if she has a hard time showing it. At the beginning of season 2, Rosemary began working at the cafe with Abigail and the two quickly became friends. Spending time with Abigail helped tone down some of Rosemary's enthusiasm and made her a more likable person. Rosemary even came to like Elizabeth, even if only on an acquaintance level. Truthfully, she cares about everyone in Hope Valley, especially Lee, with whom she shares an mutual attraction. When Rosie is not spending time with Lee, talking to Abigail, or dreaming about the glamorous life of an actress, she can often be found somewhere writing her weekly advice column for Hope Valley's newspaper! In season 3, Rosemary's friendship with Elizabeth deepened. Instead of viewing her as an adversary, she finds a friend in Elizabeth. Throughout season 3, Rosemary's relationship with Lee becomes more romantic. In "Heart Of A Hero," seeing that Lee needs to spend more time at the sawmill to help the new settlers find jobs, Rosemary tells Lee that the theatre doesn't have to be built. He insists, but she says how important his job is. He smiles and tells her he will one day build her theatre, telling her that she is "the best part of his life." The couple shares in their first kiss. In "A Gentle Heart," Lee is injured. Thinking he is asleep, Rosemary pours out her heart to him, telling how much she loves him. In "Heartbreak," Rosemary is offered a job in Hollywood filming. This has always been Rosemary's dream, to be an actress. Lee unselfishly tells her to do whatever she feels best, but it is obvious that the thought of her leaving Hope Valley hurts him. Rosemary considers her options and realizes that her place is in Hope Valley, with Lee. Lee then tells her that he has another "role" that he thinks would be perfect for her and proposes marriage. She happily accepts. In "Hearts In Question," Rosemary enthusiastically plans for their wedding. The couple weds in the season 3 finale "Prayers From The Heart," with Elizabeth and Abigail as her maids of honor.
Leland "Lee" Coulter is a kind, laidback, patient man who opens a sawmill in Hope Valley. When timber becomes Coal Valley's major source of natural resources, the town is renamed Hope Valley. He shares a mutual attraction to Rosemary and proves to be one of the few people who can outwit her. When she declines his romantic intentions, Lee recruits his friend, Molly Sullivan, to make Rosemary jealous; the ploy succeeds and Rosemary accepts his suit, appreciating Lee's good qualities. Despite her dramatic and occasionally prickly personality, Lee's compassion and patience never fails with her. With Rosemary's help, Lee beat Mr. Gowen at his own game in "Heart and Home." When not at work, Lee enjoys being with friends, including Jack Thornton, who shares Lee's simple and laidback outlook, allowing the men to discuss their lives and exchange romantic advice. In season 3, Lee's mill is unfortunately sabotaged by a man inside. Through Bill and Jack's investigation, they find the culprit. In season 3's "Heart Of A Hero," Rosemary unselfishly gives up the theatre that Lee promised to build her. Lee promises that one day, he will build her the theatre at a time when he isn't so involved with the sawmill and finding people jobs. In "A Gentle Heart," Lee is injured. Thinking Lee is asleep, Rosemary pours out her heart to Lee, telling him how afraid she was when she heard he had been injured. He however hears each and every word. She told him how much she loves him and to never leave her. In the episode "Heartbreak," Lee thinks Rosemary may leave Hope Valley when she is offered a movie job in Hollywood. When she gives up the movie, seeing her future in Hope Valley with him, he asks her to marry him. The couple weds in the season 3 finale, "Prayers From The Heart." Jack serves the role of Lee's best man.
Julie Thatcher is Elizabeth's hopeless romantic younger sister. She often gets herself into sticky situations by falling head over heels for men who aren't quite what they seem. In season 2 she gets involved with Jack's brother Tom, which causes trouble with her family and for Jack and Elizabeth's relationship.
Cat Montgomery is a kind, encouraging woman in Coal Valley. She is a widow and mother of three: Gabe, Miles, and Emily. Cat was one of the first mothers to show kindness to Elizabeth when she first came. She desperately wants her children to remember the good memories of their father as seen by her self-sacrificing acts in "Secrets and Lies." Possessing a great sense of teamwork and encouragement, Cat supports the women of Coal Valley while working in the mines in "Cease and Desist." She is good friends with Elizabeth and Abigail. In "These Games," she also helps Jack catch a thief.
Florence Blakeley is a feisty gossip in Hope Valley. She often has a pessimistic perspective and always seems to find the negative, even in a very positive situation. In "Heart and Home," Abigail told Florence what she really thought about her, which causes Florence to rein in her negativity somewhat, though she remains fairly outspoken. While not always likable, Florence adds spice to life in Hope Valley.
Molly Sullivan is a friend of Lee Coulter and Elizabeth Thatcher. Molly's husband was killed in the mine disaster. She has a daughter Rosaleen. In season 1's "A Telling Silence," Rosaleen has trouble in school because she misses her father so much. When she runs away, Elizabeth finds her in the mine, feeling guilty that she didn't bring her father his lunch the day of the disaster because she wanted to play with a friend instead. She fears her mother will blame her, but Elizabeth convinces her that Molly will "say that she loves her more than life itself." Molly is reunited with her daughter, to the joy of the town's people. In season 2's "With All My Heart," Lee feels it's time to "play hard to get" with Rosemary, so he enlists help from Molly. She pretends to be interested in him romantically. This ploy works and Rosemary admits that she does in fact like him. Molly is a kind woman and was among the first to welcome Elizabeth to town.
Clara Stanton is the wife of Abigail's late son Peter, and is a sweet, quiet, and sensitive young woman. Abigail never knew she had a daughter-in-law until season 2's "Trials of the Heart;" with Peter having married Clara only three days before he was killed. In "Heart's Desire," Abigail invites Clara to come live with her in Hope Valley, an offer that Clara accepts.
Charles Kensington III is an old friend of Elizabeth with whom she reconnects while in Hamilton. He is interested in her, though her feelings for Jack get in the way of their relationship.

text: Broadcast[edit]

text: The first season of the series was subsequently picked up by CBC Television for rebroadcast as a summer series in 2015.[17] The network has since aired the second and third seasons.[18][19] The series became available internationally on Netflix in August 2017.