Laverne & Shirley

When Laverne and Shirley first debuted on Happy Days, little did anyone know that that supposed one off appearance would lead to a classic. Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams were perfect as the wild Laverne and the prissy Shirley. However, the rest of the cast deserves credit for this excellent slice of life comedy, especially Michael McKeon and David Lander as everyone's favorite losers Lenny and Squiggy. But the thing that made this show great was the fact that it was one of the all-time great slapsctick comedies.

In the seventies, so many sitcoms were making an effort to change something, to make a point. And this show did it without anybody really ever realizing it. Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney are hardworking girls, out on thier own, putting up with men, work, neighbors, and other life problems. Laverne had her "L", on every single item of clothing that she owned, Shirley had her security Boo-Boo-Kitty, and wrote in her diary. The annoyance and sometimes utter stupidity of Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew Squiggmann just made you have to love the guys. Lenny was the soft one, who looked up to his best friend, had a toy lizard, a slight crush on Laverne, and a tough childhood. Squiggy seemed to be above the world, yet he did show emotions, if you only looked. He loved Lenny more than anything. Laverne and Shirley had their quarrels, but they were always best friends, and Shirley did finally achieve her dream: she married a doctor and lived happily ever after (much to the downfall of the series, but none the less). Laverne and Shirley is my favorite show, as you may have noticed, and there is so much to be seen in it, as there is with many comedies, if we only try to look hard enough!

If you seen the movie Wayne's World, there's a reference to the original show Laverne and Shirley where Wayne and Garth parody the intro to the show by working at a factory in Milwaukee, that's how i know the show and also watched it in reruns on TV Land as I was too young to remember the last episode more than 35 years ago. The success of this show led to a cartoon in which the main characters join the army; that cartoon was made by Hanna Barbera, who also did another show with Paramount called Fonz and the Happy Days Gang which later teamed up with Mork and Mindy for an hour long show on saturday mornings. Before this show came out, the producers of the show came out with the hit show Happy Days which was a spinoff show of Love, American Style. Happy Days also spun off Joannie Love Chachi which featured the late Erin Moran. All of these shows first aired on ABC during ABC's glory years in the late 1970s. It's a funny show!!!

It's late 50s. Working class best friends Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) are roommates in a Milwaukee basement apartment. Shirley is the sweet one and Laverne is the tougher one. Laverne's favorite drink is milk and Pepsi. Shirley has her stuffed animals like Boo Boo Kitty. They are Fonzie's friends working at the Shotz Brewery with annoying former classmate Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander). Laverne's father Frank DeFazio (Phil Foster) owns the Pizza Bowl. He starts dating the girls' landlord Edna Babish (Betty Garrett). Their school friend Carmine Ragusa (Eddie Mekka) is a Golden Gloves boxer, singer, and dance teacher.

This popular sitcom is a spin-off from Happy Days. Over the years, there are cameos and cross-over from the mother show. The girls stay independent modern women as they search for Mr. Right. Laverne is hounded by her father to get married and have children. Shirley has a long running romance with Carmine. The sixth season starts with Frank and Edna in California about four years later. When the bottling department gets replaced with machines, the girls follow them to Burbank. They are joined by Carmine, Lenny & Squiggy. The gang is befriended by their new neighbors Rhonda Lee and Sonny St. Jacques. The show fades a little and the move to California doesn't help. California takes away the midwest working class vibe although the show continues to have fun like the earthquake.

This show is legendary for the fights between Williams and the Marshall clan. It never got into the way of the fun on screen except for the last season. Cindy Williams got pregnant and a lawsuit followed. She would miss most of the last season and is the final nail on the coffin. The girls' friendship is modeled after Lucy and Ethel especially during their physical comedy gags. The gags are always fun. I love getting hung up on the coat rack. It's silly fun.

The girls struggle to move beyond singledom. Even with Carmine, Shirley could never go off with him for fear of splitting the girls apart. That is the Archilles heel of the show. The obvious move is for the girls to have more work situations and marry them off in a double wedding. They could live in connected apartments. The show never got to that point. This is a classic girl friendship show but it couldn't figure out how to get past the single girl stage.

"Happy Days" spin-off about the two titled characters (Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams) and their total comedic and romantic misadventures as Milwaukee brewery workers in the 1950s and 1960s. The series seemed to work in spite of itself due to the likable leads and their ever-lasting love interests (scene-stealers Michael McKean and David L. Lander). The characters were silly, but had a reality to them that could not be over-looked. Adequate writing and above average direction were sufficient in keeping the show a ratings winner for a good eight years from 1976 through 1983. Still a show that has a strong following as it survives the years in relatively wide-spread syndication. 4 stars out of 5.