Let me start off by saying that I'm not trying to claim that Happy Days and That 70s Show are the same, because they're definitely not. But I see a lot of similarities between the two. Enough to where I think that Happy Days was an inspiration to the creators and writers of That 70s show. First: Happy Days is set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That 70s show, Point Place, Wisconsin.(By the way, there is no such city in Wisconsin, according to Yahoo maps.) Second: Both shows are epic shows, meaning they're set in past. Both are approximately two decades in the past from when the shows are aired. Both are centered around a young man growing up and around his friends. (Happy Days did center more stores around Joanie than That 70s show does around Laurie.) Third: Ritchie's brother Chuck mysteriously disappears from the cast and ceases to exist. Donna's sister Tina also mysteriously disappears from existence. Fourth: Fonzie moves into the Cunningham's' attic. Hyde moves into the Foreman's' basement. Fifth: (And this is a coincidence more than anything else.) Originally, Ashton Kutcher was to leave the show at the same time as Topher Grace. But Ashton is coming back, after all. But the two of them leaving (at the end of season eight)is what started to make me compare the two shows. Eric is Ritchie, and Kelso is Ralph Mouth. Ritchie and Ralph Mouth also left Happy Days at the same time (end of season seven.) Sixth: That 70s show is brining in a new actor (Josh Meyers) to try to replace the void with Topher Grace leaving. Happy Days brought in Ted McGinley to replace the void left behind with Ron Howard's disappearance. How ironic would it be if Topher Grace turns out to be a big time Hollywood director as did Ron Howard? Now, as stated before, the shows are completely different. The happy days gang never had the "circle", didn't indulge in pot, didn't drink (for the most part. They did use it as a story line at least once.), and never made it past first base with their girlfriends. And Joanie is much more "innocent" than Laurie. And Mr. C didn't call everybody dumbasses and never threatened to kick Ritchie in the ass. But I think that the 70s show is just a twisted version of what Happy Days could have been like two decades later. The 50s was still an innocent age in American pop culture. By the time the 70s came around, the innocence was started to disappear. That 70s show alludes to pop culture much more often. They even allude to Happy Days on many occasions. And Marion Ross has even guest starred on That 70s Show as Red mom. Happy Days lasted 11 seasons. That 70s Show probably won't last as long, although, they're getting close. So, I've made my argument, and I'll let you guys in the TV.com community make the call. Do we have a wolf in sheep's clothing? I think so.

I'm very proud to announce that my brother was promoted to Sargeant in the US Marine Corp. He's currently working as a guard in the Embassy in Tunisia.

I thought long and hard on what I wanted to put as my first blog. I decided to dedicate it to one of TV's greats, Johnny Carson. It has been a couple of months since we lost him, but they didn't have this forum back then. I cried when Johnny died. I cried again when I watched clips from his last show. It was 13 years between his retirement and his death. He did very, very little in public during that time. Yet, when he died, it felt like we lost him all over again, the same way we lost him when he retired. Carson was extremely funny, yet he did a marvelous job in allowing his guests to be funny. He understood that his show was a showcase for stars to get a start or promote a new project. His guest needed to look good. Pretty much any new comedian to make it during the 30 year period that Carson was on the air, owe their success to the Tonight Show. If you made Johnny laugh, you were headed to the top. Carson's skits were priceless. The Great Carnac was among his best. And if his attempts to get a laugh failed, he'd get the laugh by making fun at himself. Carson had a down home, laid back, easy-going style that made his guests feel welcome. It also made him welcome into our homes each late night. He was the kind of guy that you wished was your friend. You felt in a way that he was. That you'd be just as welcome as any of his famous guests. When I think of Carson, I think of Ed Ames as his guest, who demonstrated the throwing of a tomahawk. He threw it at a wood log, that had a cowboy drawn on the side. When it stuck into the wood, it landed in between the cowboy's legs, sticking straight up. That in itself, was funny. The crowd was dying. Now, when you look at Johnny's face, you knew he had something funny to say, but the master waited for the right timing. When he found it, he struck by saying, "I didn't even know he was jewish!" Classic. After he died, I saw that some of my younger co-workers did not know much about Carson, and had no idea how funny he really was. I cried again, because they missed out on so much. I made my young friends laugh with the memories I had from the show. In the 13 years from his retirement, I don't think I realized how much I missed him. He cannot be replaced. Jay Leno does a fine job. He's funny in his own way. Many people say he's not funny because he's not Carson. Now is that really fair? Carson left shoes too big to fill. You can never replace a masterpiece. Rest in Piece, Mr. Carson. Have fun making everybody in Heaven laugh.