William S. Bickley ( show runner, first 2 seasons Happy Days; creator - Family Matters)

<p>William S. Bickley joined me to discuss faking watching television; watching Liberace with his grandparents; finally getting television and watching anything; family sitcoms were an escape from an abusive home life; going to Baylor University to study English; being a Naval Aviator for a year; being confused for another Bill Bickley; forming a correspondence with Arnold Margolin that allowed him to pitch for <em>Love, American Style</em>; gaining a quick reputation; getting taken under Garry Marshall&#39;s wing; writing a treatment for a first-season episode of <em>All in the Family</em>; writing and producing <em>Room 222</em>; meeting Dale McRaven while producing and writing <em>The Partridge Family</em>; asked to join <em>Happy Days</em> while under contract for <em>Partridge Family</em>; secretly writes episodes after hours; asked to run <em>Happy Days</em> and is let out of his contract; first season hours were hellish; asked to do two episodes a week; on first day shooting Ron Howard and Anson Williams get drunk accidentally shooting with real beer; second season test live action clip show uses scenes from the pilot; how he felt Fonzie was a tragic figure; the episode &quot;The Motorcycle&quot;; trying hard to make it look like it was the fifties; the palm tree behind Arnold&#39;s that was never seen; introducing Roger Phillips on <em>Happy Days</em>; not remembering episodes he wrote; his series <em>Please Stand By</em>; pitching <em>The Waverly Wonders</em> for Judd Hirsch and getting Joe Namath; going to <em>Out of the Blue</em> and being told to write out its star; having a character on <em>Mork &amp; Mindy</em> named after him; not remembering <em>Down to Earth</em>; his favorite series <em>Perfect Strangers</em>; the real reason Chuck left <em>Happy Days</em> and his plan for bringing him back on the finale; random <em>Happy Days </em>characters; the series &quot;Jumped the Shark&quot; when Richie left; creating Fonzie&#39;s magic and seeing it get out of hand; his new project, a sitcom based on Gl