My Happy Days in Hollywood (16 page)

The hours spent on a movie set can be very long. You have to grab a nap where you can. My son, Scott, and I worked and napped together on the set of
Overboard
, which I shot in Mendocino and Los Angeles.

I don’t like to dwell on success, but this picture made a lot of people successful. When Robin Williams appeared on
Happy Days
as Mork from Ork, we created a spinoff the same week.
(Courtesy of CBS Television Studios)

Penny, Ronny, and I have taught our children and grandchildren that the only thing you can really count on is family.

The first time my wife ever appeared on the big screen was as a nurse in my first movie,
Young Doctors in Love
. For a hypochondriac to marry a nurse is like a marriage made in heaven.
(Courtesy of Paramount Pictures Corporation)

Acting alongside Tom Hanks in my sister’s movie
A League of Their Own
was a treat. We had not worked together since I directed him in
Nothing in Common. (A
League of Their Own
© 1992 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved)

Directing Matt Dillon in
The Flamingo Kid
was like taking a trip down memory lane. Like Matt’s character Jeffrey, I spent many summers working at resorts on the eastern seashore when I was growing up.
(Photo by Kevin O’Callaghan)

When Bette Midler first sang the song “Wind Beneath My Wings” to me I literally got tears in my eyes.
(© Touchstone Pictures)

In
Mystic Pizza
, Julia wowed audiences with her wild mane of hair. In
Pretty Woman
, however, we purposely concealed her hair in the beginning of the film with a short, blonde wig. Then we revealed her beautiful hair to the audience and Richard Gere when they were finally alone in his hotel suite.
(Photo by Ron Batzdorff, © Touchstone Pictures)

I was so lucky to work with Michelle Pfeiffer not only once but twice: first in
Frankie and Johnny
and then again in
New Year’s Eve. (Courtesy of Berliner)

Laverne and Shirley Are Driving the Writers Crazy

I
LIKED TO BRING
my three kids to Paramount Studios when they had days off from school during the mid-1970s. They were in elementary school at the time, and I wanted them to see where their dad’s office was. When I said, “Dad’s going to work,” I wanted them to know what it meant. I was never really sure what it was my own father did day in and day out, so I was determined to show my children exactly what a television writer-producer did. For a while they thought I spent a lot of time sleeping because I would work late at night and still be in bed when they went to school in the morning. But eventually I brought them to the set and gave them a tour. They were rarely allowed to visit
The Odd Couple
because they were too young. But after I created
Happy Days
, cast and crew members brought their kids to work regularly.

One day I was walking along the lot with Lori (eleven), Kathleen (seven), and Scott (six), and I pointed out the
Happy Days
soundstage.

“
Happy Days
is one of my favorite shows,” I said.

“Where do they do
Laverne & Shirley
?” asked Lori.

“Over there,” I said and pointed to the soundstage adjacent to
Happy Days
.

“Let’s go! Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!” said Kathleen, dancing the sequence from the show’s opening credits.

“We can’t,” I said. “You don’t want to go in there. It’s not fun.”

“Why not?” asked Scott. “It looks fun on TV.”

“On the set they argue and fight a lot. Cursing happens,” I explained.

“Does Aunt Penny curse, too?” asked Lori.

“I’m afraid so,” I said.

“Lenny and Squiggy curse?” asked Scott.

“Yep,” I said.

“Are you joking, Daddy? Is that true?” asked Kathleen.

“I’m serious.
Happy Days
is Daddy’s happiest show, and
Laverne & Shirley
is Daddy’s toughest show. So I don’t take a lot of visitors to that set.”

“I overheard someone say that the cast of
Happy Days
puts cups up to the wall so they can hear Penny and Cindy screaming at the writers. Is that true?” asked Lori.

“I wanna hear that!” said Scott.

“No. No.
Laverne & Shirley
is too chaotic. Let’s go get some pizza.”

“At the Pizza Bowl?” asked Kathleen.

“No. The commissary. Less cursing goes on there.”

Laverne & Shirley
did not begin as a tough show at all but rather a dream come true. I was attending a conference on Marco Island off the coast of Florida with the ABC brass, and executive Fred Silverman asked me to create more shows.
Happy Days
was a big hit, and he felt that to make ABC a powerhouse on Tuesday night, we needed another half-hour sitcom to pair with it. Every other word out of Fred’s mouth seemed to be
spinoff
.

“So what else do you have?” asked Fred. “Any spinoffs?”