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Ron Howard thought The Andy Griffith Show was a fluke, and underestimated Happy Days' chance at longevity
Howard is a great director, but a terrible guesser.
How many among us have felt directionless? Sometimes, it feels like we just float through life searching for some deeper meaning. Finding purpose in life is one of the most fulfilling feelings we're capable of. Whether it's our children, work, or art, knowing that we have a true vocation is satisfying, and can bring us a lot of peace.
On the flip side, not grasping those same feelings of purpose can be incredibly frustrating. It's no great consolation, then, to experience success without that driving force. That was the case for Ron Howard, who grew up acting on TV and in plays and movies, only to yearn for a career behind the camera. While he reached dizzying heights of fame as an onscreen personality, Howard was more interested in directing. So, he went to film school.
"I was in the first class of freshmen accepted to USC's [film school]," Howard told the Harvard Business Review in 2023.
However, while The Andy Griffith Show was fading into Howard's rearview, another sitcom was about to insert itself into his life's plan.
"That was interrupted by being cast in Happy Days, which was a good-money job, and I didn't want to take that for granted. I took it, thinking, 'Most series don't go. The Andy Griffith Show was a fluke. I'll do a year or two and come back to film school.'"
While his plan was certainly admirable from an academic perspective, the 20/20 lens of hindsight provides us with the context to see how shortsighted his appraisal of Happy Days was. The show wasn't an immediate smash hit, but the great scripts and memorable supporting characters led to a steady increase in the show's ratings. The Fonz became an icon, and Howard was kept out of the classroom.
While Happy Days' production stretched beyond his original estimate, Howard busied himself with his own extracurricular pursuits, supplementing his steady work with an informal education.
"The show kept going and going and going, So I took it upon myself to begin making short films and then more ambitious ones with sound, rental equipment, and a crew on the weekends. I started writing my own scripts and worked with my father, who was also a writer. That ultimately led me to an opportunity with Roger Corman, who was famously king of the B movies but very influential. In 1977, he let me act in and direct a movie called Grand Theft Auto. [...] It was a hell of an opportunity to get some experience, and I learned a lot."
Next for Howard were bigger hits like Night Shift and Splash. So, while life threatened to interfere with his dreams, Howard stayed undeterred and used his high-profile acting career to his advantage. The Andy Griffith Show, of course, was not a fluke, and Happy Days lasted 11 seasons.
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