The Fonz finally got his due yesterday as he was awarded one of Britain's highest civilian honors.

Actor Henry Winkler was given an honorary O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire) in a ceremony at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The citation reads: "Henry Winkler, the well-known American actor and director, has been made an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to children with dyslexia and special educational needs."

Winkler, who was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult, has spent much of the last two years touring the U.K. educating schoolchildren, educators and policy makers about dyslexia and other learning difficulties. He said he is "very honored, very proud" to have been awarded the honorary O.B.E.

If Jim Parsons wins the Emmy tonight for The Big Bang Theory, you better believe he'll be in a position to pick and choose the projects he does in the future. But here's one that I think would be fascinating, to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper's favorite Vulcan scientist: Jim Parsons would like to appear on Friday Night Lights.

In a recent interview, Jim was asked about his favorite current show -- other than his own -- and he said it was Friday Night Lights. That's right, the NBC drama series about high school football deep in the heart of Texas! Somehow it's hard to imagine Sheldon in pads and a helmet. Maybe he could be the water boy? Or the genius offensive coordinator.

Television has often been a benchmark of current popular culture. Whether it's clothes, cars or furniture, people have always looked to TV to help them decide how to look and how to live. Here are ten great examples of how TV characters have "helped" us look our best.

Daisy Duke's Daisy Dukes (The Dukes of Hazzard)
No one knew it at the time, but when Catherine Bach slipped on those ultra-short denims, she was making an impression on more than the teenage boys who were watching. Years later, a brand new and very different generation embraced the Daisy Dukes, much to the delight of those teenage boys who were now old enough to know better.

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As reported last week, production on new episodes of Family Guy didn't stop when it's creator Seth MacFarlane, who also voices the three main male characters Peter, Stewie and Brian, stopped working to support the Writers Guild of America strike, and refused to come back to work. While MacFarlane officially gave his blessing for the studio to continue production of the series without him, according to EW.com he expressed that he hoped they wouldn't, and that doing so would be damaging to his relationship with the network, adding that "it would just be a colossal dick move if they did."

The last pre-strike produced episode aired last Sunday which left the studio with the option to continue without MacFarlane and the writing staff, or go immediately into reruns. With November Sweeps upon us and most of their live action compatriots being forced into repeats soon, network brass decided that the hopes of one creator; who you might recall they've already fired once so they could certainly do it again; paled in comparison to the hopes and dreams of beating Desperate Housewives during sweeps month and being able to jack up ad rates to Super Bowl levels (I know these are the kinds of things TV Execs dream of because I watch 30 Rock). And so, tonight will mark the premiere of the first episode ever completed without its creator's blessing.

This very important anniversary was actually a week ago today but I just realized it this morning as I was eating my Happy Days cereal and wearing my Fonz pajamas and Ralph Malph slippers.

September 20th marked the 30th Anniversary of the day Arthur Fonzarelli (aka "Fonzie," aka "The Fonz") put on his leather jacket and a pair of water skis and jumped over a cage filled with stock footage of a man eating shark. Of course, we know that the famous episode launched a very successful catch phrase and web site called "What choo talkin' bout Willis?"

After the jump, a video of that classic TV moment. I haven't seen an episode of Happy Days in years, but it was probably well on its way to getting away from the original intent of the show before this. But yeah, this scene is even more ridiculous than you remember it.

[via LAObserved.com]

Well, I don't know how it is in the rest of the country but the summer is in full swing here in Los Angeles. It's really hot here and the pool is filled with people every day. The biggest indicator, however, is the arrival of the summer reality series.

Hell's Kitchen, American Inventor and the most insidious of the summer shows, Big Brother. I look forward to the premiere of BB the same way that kids look forward to the last day of school. I revel in the voyeuristic thrill that comes from seeing complete strangers behave in the most ridiculous manner.

Smith hosted (for the final year, after long-running host Art Baker leff) the classic 1950s game show/variety show You Asked For It, where people would write in and ask to see unusual things or certain performers. The show came back in the early 80s for a short-lived version, but Smith might actually be better known for a guest appearance he made on another show in the 70s and the net craze that ensued from that episode.

Smith guest starred on the "Fearless Fonzarelli" episode of Happy Days, the one where Fonzie "jumped the shark" on water skis and unknowingly causing a catch phrase that would spawn a popular web site. Smith played himself in the episode, though they changed the name of the show Fonzie was on from You Asked For It to You Wanted To See It.

Smith died of leukemia on July 3 in California. He started out as a singer, and also guest starred in several TV shows, including Leave It To Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, I Dream of Jeannie, and Charlie's Angels.

Update: As reader Brent points out in the comments, Smith wasn't in the "jump the shark" episode, he was in the "jump the garbage" episode. I got my jumping mixed up.

Have you ever wondered how Henry "Fonzie" Winkler got his first big break in television? What about the first time he ever hard boiled an egg? If you're looking for a show that answers the first question but not the second one, TV Land is airing the premiere episode of My First Time tonight at 10 p.m. EST. The show focuses on TV celebs and the first shows they ever appeared on. In Winkler's case, he played a nerdy guy on Mary Tyler Moore (the show, not the person). Other TV personalities to be covered in future episodes include Ted Danson, Katey Sagal, Jim Belushi, and Mr. T. Sounds like more light and fluffy retrospection from TV Land, and that's fine with me. It's my "sit back and relax" channel, don't you know.

Originally I was going to list the best catchphrases in general, not limiting my choices to single words. But, as we only list five in our The Five posts, I knew early on that it would be a near impossible task to list only five favorites. So, here we have it, the five best single-word catchphrases of popular TV characters.

1. "Aeyyy!" OK, so technically this isn't a "word," but you can't deny the popularity of the trademark call of coolness from the one and only Fonz of Happy Days.

This is one of those rare times when I watched a show the same night it aired. Usually I catch shows on TiVo weeks after they air, like in our "Scrubs marathon". In this episode, Lucille Bluth takes her grandson George Michael to "Motherboy XXX" instead of her son Buster and Gob faces off in a divorce battle against his real-life wife Amy Poehler.

The most notable moment of the show (for me) was when Barry Zuckercorn (Henry Winkler) is standing on a dock next to the shark that ate the fin of the seal that ate Buster's hand. He announces that he has to go to lunch because he skipped breakfast and he jumps over the shark that is lying there. Now I've always fantasized that the writers would have him do something like that in the very last scene of the very last episode -- their way of saying that the series never went downhill. Maybe a guy on a cycle would ride by and abduct him and happen to go up a ramp and over a shark tank. But they did it in the middle of this episode.

It was also interesting that he used a rest room as his "office" when he and Gob were preparing for his divorce hearing. Very Happy Days.

The guest appearance by Dave Attell, Comedy Central's overnight insomnia guy, was great. He is playing Tobias in a movie about the Bluth family and he repeatedly questions his character's sexuality. I thought they were joking when they suggested him for the part -- I should have known.