15 Surprising Facts About ‘Happy Days’

10. Pat Morita Had to Come Up With an Accent

Pat Morita, who played Arnold the diner owner, was born in California and as American as they come, but the producers wanted him to have an accent on the show. He went with an exaggerated Chinese Pidgin English dialect, and then was told it didn’t work since he was Japanese-American. He came up with the idea that the character had a Japanese father and Chinese mother which saved him. You may also know him as Mr. Miyagi from the original Karate Kid movies.

11. The Cast Played Together On a Softball Team

Gary Marshall thought it would be fun to have a Happy Days All-Star Softball Team where all the cast and crew could play together, and that they did. They sometimes played other celebrity teams before Major League games, and they actually visited military bases in Europe and Japan.

12. The Jukebox Didn’t Always Play Real Songs

It can be expensive to get the rights to certain songs, so Anson Williams (who played Potsie) would sometimes provide the voice for whatever was coming out of the jukebox.