And Happy Days is 50s, AG early 60s. And the tone and content is very different. I don't think people would have made the comparison except ROn Howard was in both.

Thanks for the info, mechajutaro and movie ghoul. American Graffiti was released in 1973, whereas Happy Days debuted in 1974. I remember that when Happy Days started on t.v. that it was regularly spoken/written about in the same breath as American Graffiti, that had not long prior been such a huge hit. So I always concluded it was considered to be a spinoff (considering the similar midcentury eras depicted and the Ron Howard overlap). I was just entering the beginning of my teens at the time, when the mentioned productions came out, so reached a conclusion that seemed and essentially sounded to be the case (further reinforced when Cindy Williams, also an overlap from American Graffiti, not long after became a costar of Laverne & Shirley), that Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley were spinoffs of this movie.

Back during the '70s anything about the '50s and about "greasers" sure was in vogue.

By coincidence I was watching something on this Happy Days connection just the other day there:- https://youtu.be/7o-HkRkaq3s

If you go from ~ the 5 min mark, the Happy Days producer describes that link mentioned above...

Very interesting, Midi. Thanks!

I remember seeing American Graffiti in a theatre during its original release, though perhaps not till like '74 (this was in theatrical release for a long time). My older brother and I went together to see it and were crazy about it.

@mechajutaro said:

@genplant29 said:

I know that the classic ABC television series Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley were spin-offs of the movie American Graffiti. Did any other series spin off of either of those?

Note: The creation of Days actually predates Lucas's movie: Scroll down to the history section

American Graffiti may have come after the Happy Days pilot (which showed on Love American Style), but it was American Graffiti that actually got people interested in developing the series. As a person who watched both American Graffiti and Happy Days back in the day, you can see how different it was to the original pilot and how George Lucas's movie inspired the series.

Indeed, American Graffiti wound up having quite an influential effect during the mid '70s.