In the middle of season two, it was decided for this episode to film in from of a live studio audience for the first time.
It's definitely a different feel, as all the actors act just a little bit differently (and sillier), and the crowd's laughter is obviously not piped in. The Cunningham house was even starting to change. Ron Howard said that the experiment in front of a live audience was the last episode of season two, but maybe he meant the final filmed episode, if they shot all these way ahead of time and out of sequence.
The plot is kind of weak and cliche, where Fonzie suddenly reveals he's getting married, only to find out his (pretty hot) wife-to-be Maureen, who was never seen or mentioned before, is a stripper.
There's even a cliched "freeze frame" to emphasize the drama as Fonzie runs towards Maureen after she leaves the strip club stage, shocked that Fonzie found out the truth.
It's just very odd how well this method of filming the show worked from season three on. The show was even almost canceled due to ratings going down in season two. It's generally accepted that the first two seasons of "Happy Days" were easily the best, as it was shot like a little movie, and the gang still did basic teen stuff. Fonzie also didn't have superpowers yet, even though a few minor instances were creeping in.
Fonzie though was exploding as a popular TV character, but in this episode, like all the ones from season three on, Fonzie doesn't seen quite as cool as the non-studio audience shows. But history is history, and the show enjoyed great success for the rest of the 1970s due to the change, even becoming the #1 show in season four, taking the #1 spot away from "All in the Family" after that show owned it for five straight seasons.
So obviously something worked, love it or not, and it all began with "Fonzie's Getting Married."
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