Over the weekend, someone asked on Twitter if they remembered Joanie Loves Chachi. Then another person asked Scott Baio what his take was on the show.
Baio responded with, “The pilot episode and about 6 other episodes were written by the Happy Days writers. Once they hired other writers the show, in my opinion, greatly failed.”
You see, they tested the show out during the midseason for four episodes after Happy Days, the series it spun off of, and it did well in the ratings. Then they brought it back on another night, and its ratings jumped the shark and were swallowed by Jaws.
So the problem was not only the writers. At the stage of Happy Days run, people were starting to move on to a less wholesome show. Even though Baio was popular, there were other things to watch, like Mr. T in The A-Team. So the writing was already on the wall and not by the writers of the program.
Plus, it was total cheese, and their characters worked better with an ensemble than on their own. It also felt more like Laverne & Shirley’s final seasons in California than its own show. So why watch Joanie Loves Chachi, if you are already watching a Laverne without Shirley?
So, I think, he is wrong to blame the writers. Other spinoffs did OK with different writers. His show probably could have done the same if there was an appetite for it.
And since JLC and L&S ended in ’83, and HD followed suit in ’84, I think the Cunnigham reign was over, and we were ready for something new like Family Ties and Cheers.
This weekend was The Hollywood Show and several members of the Happy Days cast reunited for the convention. There was Mrs. C, Ralph Malph, Potsie Weber, Chachi Arcola, Jenny Piccalo and Roger Phillips. Or as they go by today, Marion Ross, Donny Most, Anson Williams, Scott Baio, Cathy Silvers and show killer Ted McGinely.
Even though it has been 35 years since Happy Days ended, why can’t we get a revival? You can have it set at the turn of the century. They all look great, so why not! I am sure Henry Winkler would put on the leather jacket again to play The Fonz! I understand that not everyone can be in it, but maybe we can finally find out what happened to Chuck Cunningham.
https://youtu.be/vaCrVhiDlMQ
We have heard Nicole Eggert speak out against her TV costar and boss Scott Baio and now her TV brother is telling us what he says happened to him on the set of Charles In Charge. Alexander Polinsky held a press conference today and said that he was abused by Baio after he walked in on a then 14-year-old Eggert sitting on the then 25-year-old’s lap. Since Polinsky was just 11 at the time, he was naive about what was happening. He thought it was just an innocent story time, so he jumped on his lap too. He claims Baio threw him off and called him the F-word, the one that rhymes with maggot.
Then Polinsky says the abuse only got worse. The actor alleges that Baio, “would repeatedly tell me about gay sex acts that I would grow up to perform.” He added that one time; he pulled the young star’s pants down in front of 100 people on the set. Another time, he says that Baio cut a glory like hole in his dressing room and exposed his genitals to the child actor.
The incident that Polinsky felt was the worst was when he fake threw a basketball at Baio and Scott retaliated by throwing hot tea in his face.
The actor says that adults knew what was happening to Eggert and Polinsky but kept quiet because they were afraid to lose their job. Their attorney, Lisa Bloom, claims that 10-12 people including another cast member from the ’80s sitcom are now coming forward and telling their story of what happened back then.
What does Polinsky want? Not money, but an apology. Something he says that Baio sort of did before, but he was not ready, about a decade ago, to hear it. He has hinted over the last few months on Twitter that it was just recently he was able to accept what happened to him between the ages of 11 to around 15. This is the first time he went public with his allegations.
While Eggert and Polinsky were holding their press conference, their TV sister Josie Davis Tweeted, “Single on #ValentinesDay isn’t fun but then again, I put #love into my every day. My focus for 2017 was all about diffusing negativity with love and I’ll do this year. #LoveIsPowerful.” She has not made one single comment about the allegations as of yet.
Baio is slated to hold his press conference later in the day.
UPDATE: Scott Baio did not even show up to his own press conference. He instead is with his daughter at a school party. Through his lawyers, he denies all the charges against him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFadNev4c8g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqLwMIA-HlY About two weeks ago, Nicole Eggert once again claimed that Scott Baio stared to sexually abuse her when she was just 14 years old or the first season that they worked together on Charles in Charge. He immediately responded with a Facebook live, with what he said, was the proof that he did not do it. He then challenged her to file a police report, and yesterday she did just that.
She did not go alone; she also went with her television brother from the sitcom Alexander Polinsky, who she says corroborated her story. He also has one of his own, but I will talk about that later. Eggert told The Talk that at least 10 other people offered to be witnesses to the police claiming they witnessed inappropriate behavior between the teenage girl and the man in his mid-20’s, who was also her boss.
As I said, she was on The Talk today and she talked about filing report. She said that she was scared to do it, but it was not as bad as she thought it was going to be. She wants to encourage other victims of abuse to feel the same way and file a claim if need be. The actress said that she told the police more intimate details than what we have heard her say over the last few years.
When Julie Chen asked her if she filed because he challenged her to do it. She said she did. Therefore, he got what he asked for.
What does she want? She wants him “to admit it. The power of I am sorry is amazing.” She has forgiven him for what happened when she was a teen, but she has not forgiven him for his recent attacks on her. She feels if he were to just come clean about it, this would all go away. Which I think she is right because it has long been rumored that they dated during when they were filming the show and she was not 18 until close to the end of production. As he pointed out in his Facebook live.
It truly is a he said/she said with a lot of rumors mixed in it all.
When it comes to Alexander Polinsky, he did not appear on The Talk, but he gave his own statement. His longtime friend, Sara Gilbert, read it and she could not control her tears as he spoke his words. He said, “I witnessed Scott Baio acting inappropriately towards Nicole Eggert during my first year of working on the show. I walked in on them together behind the set. Nicole was on Scott’s lap and he did not appreciate my intrusion. He yelled at me and called me various homophobic slurs. Growing up on the show I received regular verbal attacks, mental abuse and I also suffered a physical assault at the hands of Scott Baio.” Then he ended with, “The cycle of abuse must stop. Even 30 years after the acts, they still matter.”
A few weeks ago, he tried to reach out to Baio on Twitter and the actor never responded. Since then Polinsky, who was just 11 years old when the show started, has not said anything else on the matter until this statement.
Josie Davis, who was Eggert and Polinsky’s sister on the show, has not Tweeted a single thing about this. Neither have Willie Aames or Jennifer Runyon. Back on October 30th, Eggert, Polinsky, Aames and Runyon had a mini reunion at a convention and sang the show’s theme song. I am sure they all wish they could go back to that happier time.
Eggert Tweeted today that she is in process of starting foundation to help women go through what she is going through called Take My Hand 2 Day.
Over the weekend, Scott Baio revealed that Dr Oz taped an episode with Nicole Eggert, where she claims her former co-star started sexually abusing her when she was just 14 years old as they filmed Charles in Charge. He said that his lawyers sent The Dr Oz Show a cease and desist letter and they pulled the episode.
Well, the talk show had a change of heart and will air that episode tomorrow, January 31st. Dr Oz explained to Page Six TV today why it is now airing it, “I have very high standards for everything I do. The show has always maintained philosophy we want to do the best, best possible for everyone involved. And it takes a while to vet stories that are 30 years old.” Then he added, “We have been doing that, doing our homework; but over the weekend the key folks, Scott Baio, Nicole Eggert, went to Twitter, started a little social media war and I am comfortable airing the show. So you will see the footage with Nicole tomorrow and Scott Baio’s response.”
Basically it seems like Baio is his own worst enemy. Had he stayed silent, she would not have been on Megyn Kelly Today this morning and this episode would not have aired. But by telling his side of the story, he opened the door to her story finally being told in front of the cameras.
BTW Baio will be on Good Morning America tomorrow morning.
