A Happy Days Producer's Roast Taught This Shrinking Star A Tough Lesson

Though it must have seemed like he'd hit the jackpot when he was plucked from his modeling career to star in "Happy Days," Ted McGinley didn't have the best time on the show. Even after playing Marion Cunningham's (Marion Ross) nephew Roger Phillips on the beloved sitcom, McGinley was hounded by claims of being "TV poison" due to having joined "Happy Days" during a period when the show was seen to have declined in quality. But even before he became unfairly labeled the "patron saint of jumping the shark," McGinley found himself chastened by comments made by one of the show's producers.

Back in 2024, McGinley spoke to Variety about his long career, and he recalled some particularly low moments, one of which involved taking his parents to a holiday party for the cast and crew of "Happy Days." At the event, producer and writer Lowell Ganz delivered a roast, in which, according to McGinley, he took aim at the young actor's still-developing skills. "He gets up and starts doing his thing," recalled McGinley, "And he says: 'Ted McGinley. One word to describe his acting. S**t!'"

The actor remembered witnessing the room erupt in laughter. "It was the most brutal, damaging thing that ever happened," he added, "and I took years getting back on top of that, because I respected Lowell so much." Thankfully, it seems the producer didn't carry any of his roast hostility over to the show itself, and he actually helped McGinley where he could. Sadly, this wouldn't be the only "Happy Days"-related hurdle the actor would face.

"Happy Days" went through several transformations during its run from 1974 to 1984. After the first two seasons, the show's producers made Henry Winkler's iconic greaser, Arthur Fonzarelli, more of a focus — a move they would have to repeat in season 8 after original series lead Ron Howard left the show to pursue directing. But rather than relying solely on Fonzie to carry the series, producers decided they needed some fresh faces and introduced several characters. That included Cathy Silvers' Jenny Piccalo (the best friend of Erin Moran's Joanie Cunningham) and Lynda Goodfriend's Lori Beth Allen/Cunningham. This was also where Ted McGinley joined the cast.

At the time, McGinley was fresh out of college and pursuing a career in modeling when talent agent and casting director Joyce Selznick spotted his pictures in magazines. She called him in for a meeting before recording a screen test with the young actor. Soon, he was signed to a contract at ABC, which, according to McGinley, paid for all his acting classes before he was cast on the short-lived rescue drama "240-Robert." Once that show was canceled, McGinley joined "Happy Days" but as you might imagine, he wasn't exactly a seasoned veteran at the time.

McGinley, who later in his career was almost cast as Dr. Cox on "Scrubs," remembered in a 2012 AV Club interview that he had "no training, no nothing" when he got the job on "Happy Days." "I was just sort of an all-American kid anyway," he explained. "I really was the guy I played, so my acting was horrible [...] I know it had to be very taxing for Henry [Winkler] and everybody, because I didn't even know what comedy was, really. I didn't know the rhythms, the timing, or any of that. But that was a pretty good place to learn." Clearly, Lowell Ganz had picked up on McGinley's struggles and made light of it during his roast, which really doesn't seem like the classiest move, even with the "roast" element in mind.

As Ted McGinley recalled in his Variety interview, Lowell Ganz thankfully didn't make a habit of giving the young actor a hard time. "Lowell spent the next two years [after the roast] doing everything he could [to guide me]," the actor clarified before admitting, "He was telling the truth, by the way. He wasn't wrong." But as bad as McGinley claims to have been, he clearly wasn't so bad that he tanked the show altogether, as others have asserted.

The actor remained with "Happy Days" until its final season in 1984, after which he continued to work in both film and TV. More recently, he secured a recurring role on the thorny but charming Apple TV dramedy with depth, "Shrinking," in which he plays Jimmy's (Jason Segel) neighbor and Liz's (Christa Miller) husband, Derek. His other best known role came when he joined the cast of "Married... with Children," playing Marcy Rhoades' husband Jefferson D'Arcy. But throughout all his ostensible success, McGinley was always unfairly associated with the term "jumping the shark," with several unscrupulous commentators claiming that he represented a death sentence for any series he joined, despite the fact "Happy Days' lasted for four seasons after his arrival, and "Married... with Children" lasted six.

As such, "Happy Days" represents an odd chapter in McGinley's career. The show gave the actor his big break and prepared him for a life in show business. But with the "jump the shark" accusations and the fact McGinley endured what he claimed was "the most brutal, damaging" moment during that fateful roast, it doesn't seem like it was all that fun an experience.