10 TV Shows Which Completely Changed Their Premise

5. Happy Days

Paramount

Nice guy Richie Cunningham was the ostensible protagonist of Happy Days, but it soon became obvious that bad boy Fonzie was the breakout character of the series. Henry Winkler received top billing alongside Ron Howard, whose eventual departure for the directorial career for which he's now best known changed the premise of the show to revolve around the Fonz's exploits.

Happy Days also inspired the phrase 'jumping the shark', named for the episode in which Fonzie literally does just that. It's a quick reference point for the show's exaggeration of his character's abilities, and the point at which it's thought to have begun its transformation into a very different series.

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Grace Murray hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.