Comedy: Happy Days (1974 - 1984)
Set-Up: Classic US sitcom in which Fonzie was the amiable garage mechanic who spent most of his days hanging out in the local diner with college kids while living with the long-suffering Cunningham family. The undisputed king of cool. Well, he was if you were seven in 1979.
Standout moment: Was able to stop and start the diner jukebox with just a thump while girlfriends were purloined with a click of the fingers. Was once camping in a forest and was able to silence the twittering birds with a simple click too.
Memorable catchphrase: "Aaaaay!"
Lowest ebb: The beginning of the end is generally regarded as an episode in which Fonzie attempted to leap over a shark on water skis. This has even spawned a phrase used whenever any series begins to go pear-shaped – "jumping the shark".
Big screen potential: Freckle-faced Richie Cunningham, alias Ron Howard, went from Happy Days to real Hollywood blockbuster success, directing The Da Vinci Code and Apollo 13. Couldn't he give a break to his old bomber jacketed mate?
Why are they a hero? The most famous thumbs-upper in the world apart from Paul McCartney.
Factoid: Winkler can currently be seen in panto this Crimbo at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking playing Captain Hook in a razzle-dazzle production of Peter Pan. No, really!
