Joanie Loves Chachi
Joanie Loves Chachi is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of Happy Days that aired on ABC from March 23, 1982, to May 24, 1983. It stars Erin Moran and Scott Baio as the characters Joanie Cunningham and Chachi Arcola, respectively. The series was cancelled after 17 episodes, in its second season, due to a drop in ratings.
Joanie Loves Chachi
Cheryl Alu
James Patrick Dunne
Lowell Ganz
Terry Hart
Neil Rosen
George Tricker
"You Look at Me", performed by Scott Baio and Erin Moran
Howard Pearl
United States
English
2
17 (list of episodes)
Lowell Ganz
Robert L. Boyett
Ronny Hallin
Garry Marshall
Edward K. Milkis
Thomas L. Miller
James Patrick Dunne
Fred Fox, Jr.
22–24 minutes
March 23, 1982 –
May 24, 1983
Storyline[edit]
The series is set in the early to mid-1960s and follows the exploits of Joanie and Chachi as they moved to Chicago and tried to make it on their own with a rock band and a music career at a time when the British Invasion was looming (one episode was titled "Beatlemania"). It mixed the traditional elements of a sitcom with musical performances on each show by Baio and Moran; their characters sang to one another in the opening credit sequence of the show. Their backup band consists of a spaced-out drummer named Bingo and Chachi's blasé cousins Mario and Annette.
The series also starred Ellen Travolta as Louisa Delvecchio, Chachi's mother, and Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio, Chachi's stepfather (and formerly the owner of Arnold's Drive-In in Happy Days), who opened a restaurant in which Chachi and Joanie performed most of their music. Art Metrano played Chachi's uncle Rico Mastorelli, who was the band's manager and helped Joanie and Chachi advance in their careers. Winifred Freedman played Rico's daughter, Annette, Chachi's cousin and bandmate.
Like other Garry Marshall-related sitcoms such as Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, Joanie Loves Chachi had its share of anachronisms. The show was set in the 1960s yet characters were styled in a manner more true to the 1980s.