Al Delvecchio's Curse - On the Halloween episode
No. 124 on the sitcom HAPPY DAYS/ABC/1974-84 an old lady places a curse on
restaurant owner Al Delvecchio (Al Molinaro). When his right hand begins to move
uncontrollably, Al fears the worse. His friends, however, realizes it's only in his
mind and arrange a mock séance to dispel his fears.
To remove the curse, Richie
Cunningham (Ron Howard) dresses in a Merlin costume and instructs Al to lie on a
table. Then reading a ceremony from the same book that the old lady used, Richie proclaims:
"Al, behold that the evil will be caste from your body when you see the eyes of
Isis and the bones of Zeus...Do I hear the sirens call of music" ["Take out the
papers and the trash" accidentally played] "I am calling on the spirits of
darkness. Gather oh spirits and help caste out the you know what from this
pitiful hulk of a man. Enter spirits." [door opens and slams shut] "And now I
call on the eye of Isis...I call on the bones of Zeus." [Thunder booms] "Hear me
spirits arise, arise and cast out this curse... Presto! Chango!, Rotten
Tomatoes!, Arise and cast out the curse."
As evidence the curse was being removed, Richie's friends dangle a large
eye and a skeleton in the air [Thunder
booms, lightning flashes] but suddenly, the witch who placed the curse on Al bursts
into the room. "Who calls upon the spirits of darkness? Who dares to challenge
my powers of evil."
Enter Fonzie saying, "Let me tell you something lady, your
old curse is full of malarkey." To punish Fonzie for his insolence, the woman
pulls out a voodoo doll dressed just like the Fonz and begins to twist its
head and abuse its body. At first the Fonz seems to be affected by her magic and
falls to the floor in defeat.
But, after a moment, the Fonz stands up and announces
that he is fine. With that, Ralph cries, "The Good Fairy saved him!" "No, no, no, Ralph,"
said Fonzie assuredly. "No Good Fairy, no magic, no witches. What we got here is
a wonderful old lady who is a little misguided, you know. What you got here is
the power of suggestion."
Now enlightened, Al realizes he was foolish to believe in such superstitious
nonsense and quickly recovers the use of his arm.
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