first 2 seaons were amazing

Totally agree. The first two seasons of Happy Days was a revelation. It was a show *about* the 50s and the morality and problems of the times. I don't know if it was in some way inspired by The Summer of '42, but it seems it did. Later on, Happy Days became just a run of the mill sitcom that happened to take place in the 1950s.

Filming in front of the studio audience changes the writing entirely. Instead of the charm, the writing took on cheap jokes meant for a live audience to laugh at.

The second season is great, the first I was very disappointed by. I mean there is an entire episode dedicated to Richie feeling self conscious because his date is taller than he is.

I wonder how much Garry Marshall should be blamed for the lack of quality control over time. I was reading on Ken Levine's blog, and he says that when Happy Days and The Odd Couple before that, switched from single-camera to multi-camera and that proved to be wildly beneficial for both.

Somebody else added that a lot of people may knock the show that Happy Days became but you can't argue with success. It was on the verge of being canceled and Garry Marshall turned it around. They were getting killed in the ratings against Good Times and Jimmie Walker with his catchphrase "Dynomite!!" So Garry decided to go in front of a live audience, add catch phrases and focus more on The Fonz.

I'll second that.

It was great until they took the show in front of a live audience.

I also felt that "less is more" when it come to the "Fonz" character. The over-the-top Richie and Fonz were not my cup of tea, but that's what they became after the first two seasons. The characters were geared for getting a reaction from the audience. Ruined it for me.

Yeah, the show was great during the first two seasons. It seemed as if it was a show from the 50's. Once season 3 came along, I really didn't like it. I was only 12 when season 3 came on, but I knew what quality was and knew that it was gone in season 3. Sure it became a sensation, but you can never rely on the public to support anything that is high quality.