Be My Valentine

How could Joanie go with a Binkie. Even if Binkie is really Peter Brady. But we had to put up with all these cheesy old songs. The only saving grace was Mr. C straightening his back. Terrible episode.

I remember seeing this episode first time around when I was young and I loved it, sure wasn't sure exactly what was happening-I might have missed the first minute- but loved the songs. I was less cynical then of course but now that I've watched it just now, and although I'm more cynical now, I can definitely say I still loved it! I don't know what wrong with people? It's a little corny but maybe people don't appreciate lovely music and nice singing. Not perfect singing by some of them (I'm talking about Scott Baio as Chachi which was the most embarrassing he must have had a lot of lessons to get to the stage of Joanie and Chachi time). But this was genuine fun and love with them singing songs mainly from the classic musical Gigi. To me a highlight is Ralph singing My Funny Valentine both now and back then! Sure it didn't have a plot as such but who cares? At least it was a genuine day dream sequence. Unlike in a couple of episodes to come they have the ridiculous Mork alien episode! And to top it off Peter Brady as Joanie's boyfriend. This is actually a must see fun episode for all. Even Al sings too!

I like "Happy Days", but tonight's episode (this one) was just plain bad. Instead of taking the premise of Valentine's Day and using it to explore an actual plot or any sort of humorous story, the writers decided to take a day off with the worst song and dance show I've seen (although most of them are about equal). No matter which way you look at it, there's absolutely no real quality in any of the half-hour show, even if you do like the type of cheesy bullcrap they put on display; a disappointing excuse for a holiday episode which really lacks any backbone or originality.

"Be My Valentine" (unoriginal title too) starts off promising, with Richie, Potsie and Ralph giving their girlfriends cards. Joanie doesn't get one though, because her date (Binky) was getting a job. It was all looking to be an interesting premise, but then Joanie starts imagining every single couple she knows (including her own parents) doing a song and dance routine together on a stage setup with red lights. I was hoping there would be more to it than this, but it just kept going. The worst one was having Chachie (who is still a kid) dancing with a bunch of grown women in leotards - and that was where I realized just how bad this was getting. I was even hoping after the commercial break in the middle the story would come into play, but that ended up not being the case, with just more of the same, albeit a few funny bits. The two exceptions which were okay were Fonzie and his girls, and Marion and Howard who actually had a clever song. The rest were poor to truly horrid, and the fact that this is all the episode consisted of is just sad. I know the writers could have come up with something more resembling a narrative, but they were simply lazy. Oh well, at least this is the exception episode, as the other "Happy Days" episodes I've seen were pretty good.

I just watched this episode for the first time in quite a few years. I first saw it as a kid and liked it, and I still find it enjoyable. This episode first aired in the variety show laden seventies, which might explain the choice of a musical theme. There are little bits of comedy interspersed with the musical numbers, all of which are performed very well. The one exception was Scott Baio, who had such a weak singing voice I was surprised when they later gave his character musical aspirations. My favorite performance on this episode was and is that of Mr. And Mrs. C, perhaps one of the most perfectly cast couples on tv. And I liked that Christopher Knight played Joanie's love interest, although it's a little ironic that he appeared in a musical-themed episode when he hated what singing and dancing he had to do as Peter Brady. Overall, a very good episode!

Awful!! By far the worst episode. No real story just cheesy corny dancing and singing. I feel sorry for the audience who were expecting to watch a normal episode being taped. I didn't mind Potsies singing in the first few seasons but now it's just annoying. He can obviously sing but going all out crooner ala Bing and Perry just don't work. Introducing Scott Baios' Chachies character ruined the show for me. The Wah Wah Wah is just so baaaaad!!! Cringe! I don't like episodes with Chachie in it. Funny thing is after Scott Baio left Diagnosis Murder it got a lot better. He was ok though in Bugsy Malone. Probably playing a screen version of himself. I can't think of anything positive to write about this episode. It's lucky to get 1 star!! Watch at your Peril!