Winkler discussed the beloved hit ABC show at Rhode Island Comic Con on Saturday, Nov. 7

NEED TO KNOW

• Henry Winkler said he rejected ABC’s proposed title change to protect the show’s ensemble cast
• The actor also declined a Fonzie spinoff because he valued the chemistry with his Happy Days costars
• Winkler appeared in all 255 episodes of the nine-time Emmy-nominated series, which ran from 1974 to 1984

Henry Winkler is reflecting on the success of Happy Days.

While attending Rhode Island Comic Con on Saturday, Nov. 7, the actor, 81, revealed that the iconic TV show was going to be renamed after his character, Fonzie, because he was so popular with fans.

“It was very weird that all of a sudden, the Fonz started to take off,” Winkler recalled. “The president of ABC came to me and said, ‘We want to call the show Fonzie’s Happy Days.’ I said, ‘Don’t fix something that isn’t broken.’ ” 

“It would be a tremendous insult to the people that I work with, that I live with, that I’m thriving with, if all of a sudden you take [that name],” he added.

Winkler also shared that Fonzie nearly got his own spinoff show too.

“He wanted me to do my own show. And I said, ‘But I live so well with this, with this family,’ ” Winkler continued. “Can you imagine now we’re gonna cast new people? I don’t know if I’m gonna have chemistry with them. I’m just gonna go, ‘Ayyy’ for, like, a half an hour,” he added, referring to his famous catchphrase on the show.

Happy Days followed Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) and his family and friends in Wisconsin in the 1950s and 1960s. The nine-time Emmy-nominated series aired for 11 seasons from 1974 to 1984.

Winkler starred as Richie’s best friend, the biker-jacket-wearing Fonzie, who hung out together at Arnold’s diner. He appeared in all 255 episodes of the show.

“I was amazingly lucky,” Winkler added about the show. “We were, from the very first day until the last day, an ensemble. We were a team. We played ball together on Sunday … We played softball … It was awesome.”

When asked if he would ever consider appearing in a reboot of the show, Winkler jokingly replied, “By that time, I would need a walker.”

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Winkler recently shared on Good Morning America that he still receives birthday gifts from his longtime friend Howard, 72, every year.

“He sends me this unbelievable basket of cheese and crackers,” Winkler — who celebrated his 81st birthday on Oct. 30 — said of Howard.

“He’s so thoughtful,” Winkler added. “You know, I met him when he was 18. I was 27 … I love him very much,” he added about the Oscar-winning director.

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