Ron Howard is feeling nostalgic about his happy days on the set of Happy Days … though not quite enough to revisit it. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, he opened up about why the show still has so many devoted fans, whether there will ever be a reboot, and how he clicked right away with his costar and now friend Henry Winkler. The pair met on the show playing Richie and Fonzie and developed a decades-long friendship.
Howard shared about their friendship with PEOPLE, “Henry’s a few years older than I am. Yale educated, and he looked at acting in a way that was — it wasn’t Hollywood. It was a little more intellectual. It was theater based, and that was new to me. But more than anything, we just got along beautifully and worked well together.”
Unfortunately for fans, Howard won’t be reuniting with Winkler on a new reboot anytime soon. During his appearance at The WSJ Future of Everything event on May 28 in New York City, Howard confirmed that he wouldn’t reprise his role as Richie in a Happy Days reboot and said that there isn’t one in the works. While his business partner Brian Grazer has expressed interest in a reboot or revival, Howard has seemingly shot it down for good: “It’s amazing, but we’re not doing a reboot,” the director said.
HAPPY DAYS, Henry Winkler, Ron Howard, (Season 2 episode), 1974-1984
However, he did talk about why he believes the show’s legacy lives on. “The fact that the show endures, and that The Andy Griffith Show is still on — both of these shows have never left the air — and it kind of blows my mind in an interesting way,” Howard said. There’s something about that that doesn’t age — it was nostalgia when it was made.”
The 71-year-old added, “For that reason, [both shows] seem to endure, and it means the world to me.”
