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Fonzie’s motorcycle created another amusing contrast between character and actor. The Fonz looked completely comfortable around motorcycles, and the machines became central to his rebellious image. Winkler, however, has repeatedly acknowledged that he was not nearly as comfortable riding them as the character appeared to be. Production techniques could therefore be used to create convincing motorcycle scenes without requiring him to perform extensive riding himself. Decades later, Winkler could joke about the difference between Fonzie’s skills and his own. The motorcycle nevertheless became almost as recognizable as the jacket, helping transform an initially secondary television character into an enduring pop-culture symbol.
Music was equally important in establishing the atmosphere of Happy Days. “Rock Around the Clock,” the Bill Haley and His Comets classic associated with the rise of rock and roll, provided the opening music during the program’s first two seasons. Contrary to one story that is sometimes repeated, the television series did not simply rely throughout that period on Haley’s famous 1954 hit recording. A new version was recorded for the television production in 1973. Beginning with the third season, the familiar “Happy Days” theme became the program’s regular opening song, with the version performed by Pratt & McClain becoming especially well known. Music-rights differences have also caused some later syndicated and home-video versions of episodes to use different opening music from what viewers originally heard.
The success of Happy Days also provided a remarkable opportunity for another performer who would soon become internationally famous. In 1978, Robin Williams appeared as Mork, an eccentric alien from the planet Ork. Williams was not yet the enormous movie star audiences would later know from films such as Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Mrs. Doubtfire and Good Will Hunting. His energetic physical comedy and unpredictable improvisational style immediately distinguished his performance from almost everything else happening on the show. Mork proved popular enough to become the central character of the spinoff Mork & Mindy, which premiered later in 1978. The role became one of the crucial breakthroughs that transformed Williams from an emerging comedian into a nationally recognized television star.