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Scott Baio had to grow taller before audiences would take Chachi and Joanie seriously
It was very carefully deployed!
Growing up isn't easy to do.
For most of her young life, Erin Moran was onscreen. She was a camera kid, both on Daktari, and then on The Don Rickles Show. But then, perhaps unexpectedly, Happy Days lasted long enough to see her age out of childhood. While the show began when she was 14, Moran was 22 by the time her character, Joanie, was spun-off for her own sitcom with onscreen beau Chachi, played by costar Scott Baio.
"Joanie has really grown up," Moran told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1981. "Next year I guess she'll be going to college.
"I'm not sure how far the romance with Chachi will go, but we're into really heavy dating. Scott and I started playing scenes together three years ago, but only cute things, not a heavy romance."
It seems like audience perception wasn't the only reason the relationship was soft-launched. Baio was cast on the show at 16 years old, meaning he hadn't totally finished growing. His short stature was a major consideration in the development of the pair's onscreen romance.
"There was nothing serious until last year when he finally grew taller and could bend over and kiss me. Then they saw definite flair there, definite dazzle!"
Of course, the ultimate test for the new pairing would be audience approval. After all, entire characters had been written out of Happy Days for failing to wow the crowd.
"The audience doesn't seem to mind that Joanie is no longer just a kid. When she got her first kiss, there was no big fuss. In fact, the studio audience showed us that they liked it. Later the general audience loved it."
While the Happy Days audience definitely okayed the romance, it seems like viewers much preferred the pair to stay where they were. Their subsequent spinoff, Joanie Loves Chachi, was canceled after just 17 episodes.
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Later on he alienated most everyone on Charles in Charge with his bullying and insults.
James Garner more than once punched out fellow "stars" who abused the crew and
cast mates, too bad he never shared the stage with Baio.