Laverne & Shirley

Laverne & Shirleyis an American televisionsitcomthat ran for eight seasons onABCfrom January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off ofHappy Days,Laverne & ShirleystarsPenny MarshallandCindy Williamsas Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, two friends and roommates who work as bottle-cappers in the fictitious Shotz Brewery in late 1950s to early 1960sMilwaukee,Wisconsin. From the sixth season onwards, the series' setting changed to mid-1960sBurbank,California.
Michael McKeanandDavid Landerco-star as their friends and neighbors Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman, respectively; along withEddie Mekkaas Carmine Ragusa,Phil Fosteras Laverne's father Frank DeFazio, andBetty Garrettas the girls'landladyEdna Babish.
Featuring regularphysical comedy,Laverne & Shirleybecame the most-watched American television program by its third and fourth season. It received sixGolden Globenominations and oneEmmynomination.
The series is aspin-offofHappy Days, as the two lead characters were introduced on that series as acquaintances ofFonzie(Henry Winkler). The original working title wasLaverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney.The characters were originally "two girls who date the fleet", but forfamily hour, they had to be changed and mellowed down, which, in Cindy Williams' opinion, gave the show more depth.Set in roughly the same period, the timeline started in approximately 1958, when the series began, through 1967, when the series ended. As withHappy Days, it was produced byParamount Television, created byGarry Marshall(along withLowell GanzandMark Rothman) and executive produced by Garry Marshall, Edward K. Milkis, and Thomas L. Miller fromMiller-Boyett Productions.
According to formerDisneyCEOMichael Eisner, Cindy Williams had refused to do theLaverne & Shirleyspin-off, so her role was recast with Liberty Williams (no relation), and a seven-minute screen test was filmed. Between that afternoon shoot and the evening, Cindy Williams was eventually talked into doing the role and she re-filmed the scene that night with Penny Marshall, who became her co-star in the series. Executives wanted to see both versions, but Eisner hid the first reel of film in a closet of the building and said at the screening that the film from the first shoot had gotten lost, so they only watched the performance of Cindy Williams with Penny Marshall.
In the opening credits, Laverne and Shirley recite "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8Schlemiel! Schlimazel!HasenpfefferIncorporated," aYiddish-Americanhopscotchchant, which then leads into the series' theme song, "Making Our Dreams Come True" performed byCyndi Grecco. In the final season without Cindy Williams, the chant is recited by a group of schoolchildren. The hopscotch chant is from Penny Marshall's childhood.For the first five seasons, from 1976 to 1980, the show was set inMilwaukee(executive producer Thomas L. Miller's home town), taking place from roughly 1958–59 through the early 1960s. Shotz Brewery bottle cappers and best friends, Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney live in a basement apartment, where they communicate with upstairs neighbors Lenny and Squiggy by screaming up thedumbwaitershaft connecting their apartments. Also included in the show are Laverne's father, Frank DeFazio, proprietor of the Pizza Bowl, and Edna Babish, the apartment building's landlady, who later married Frank. Shirley maintained an off-again on-again romance with dancer/singer/boxer Carmine "The Big Ragu" Ragusa. During this period, characters fromHappy DaysandLaverne & Shirleymade occasional guest appearances on each other's series.
Michael McKeanandDavid Landercreated the characters of Lenny and Squiggy while both were theater students atCarnegie Mellon UniversityinPittsburgh,Pennsylvania.Lander told an interviewer in 2006 that they created the characters while high onmarijuana.After graduating, they continued to perform the characters in live comedy routines before joining the show's cast.
During the fifth season, the girls went into theArmy Reserve, and they contended with a tough-as-nailsdrill sergeantnamed Alvinia T. "The Frog" Plout (Vicki Lawrence). While their time in the Army Reserve was brief in the live action series, it did inspire an animated series with the duo in the army contending with their immediate superior, a commanding pig named Sgt. Squealy who was voiced byRon Palillo(best known for his role as Arnold Horshack onWelcome Back, Kotter) who is always threatening to report them to Sgt. Turnbuckle (voiced byKenneth Mars).
For the sixth season in 1980, Laverne and Shirley and their friends all moved from Milwaukee toBurbank, California. Laverne and Shirley took jobs at Bardwell's department store as gift wrappers. Frank and Edna managed a Texas barbecue restaurant called Cowboy Bill's, Carmine delivered singing telegrams and sought work as an actor, and Lenny and Squiggy started a talent agency called Squignowski Talent Agency. From this point until the end of the series' run,Laverne & Shirleywas set in the mid-1960s. In one of the shots in the show's new opening sequence, the ladies are seen kissing a 1964 poster ofthe Beatles. With each season, a new year passed in the timeline of the show, starting with 1965 in the 1980–81 season, and ending in 1967 with Carmine heading off for Broadway to star in the musicalHair. When the series' setting changed to California, two new characters are added: Sonny St. Jacques, a stunt man, landlord of the Burbank apartment building and love interest for Laverne; as well as Rhonda Lee, the ladies' neighbor and an aspiring actress.
In March 1982, Cindy Williams became pregnant with her first child. In August, two episodes into production of the series' eighth season, Williams left the show and filed a $20 million lawsuit against Paramount after they demanded Williams work on her scheduled due date. The case was later settled out of court and Williams was released from her contract.
The series' final season continued with two episodes with Williams still playing Shirley; then it was just Marshall as Laverne, who now worked for an aerospace company. Despite the absence of Williams and her character, the series' title remained unchanged. Ratings dipped but were strong enough for the show to be considered for a ninth season. Marshall agreed based on the condition that the show would move production to New York City. Faced with the high cost of such an endeavor, ABC opted not to renew the series and it was removed from the schedule in May 1983.
Laverne & Shirleydebuted in the 1975–76 TV season, with its first episode airing in January 1976, in the Tuesday night time slot afterHappy Days. By its third season, it had become the most-watched American television program according toNielsen ratings. In August 1979, before the start of its fifth season,Laverne & Shirleywas moved to Thursdays at 8 pm oppositeThe WaltonsonCBSandBuck Rogers in the 25th CenturyonNBC. By the end of the fifth season, ratings fell sharply and the sitcom failed to make the list of the top 30 programs. In an effort to improve the show's ratings, ABC movedLaverne & Shirleyto Mondays at 8 p.m. in December 1979. The ratings fared no better, so in February 1980 the network moved the series back to its familiar Tuesday-night berth, where it remained for the next three years.  Between 1980 and 1982, the ratings improved considerably, but, despite having regained its original time slot and changing its format,Laverne & Shirleynever regained the popularity it had attained during its first four years on the air, and during its final season struggled againstThe A-Teamon NBC. By the time of its cancellation in 1983, the series ranked at number 25 for the season.  The show aired in reruns onABC daytimefrom April 1979 to June 1980.
During the run of the main show, an animated spin-off also calledLaverne & Shirleybegan airing on Saturday mornings. The first program was aired on October 10, 1981, and features the voices of Marshall and Williams playing Laverne and Shirley in the Army with a talking pig drill sergeant named "Squealy" (voiced byRon Palillo). The show was retitledLaverne & Shirley with Special Guest Star The Fonzwhen the Fonz began working in the motorpool as the chief mechanic, and then again retitledMork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hourwhen new segments involving a teenagedMork & Mindywere added to the mix. The series ran until September 3, 1983.
The program was so successful at the time that it spawned a merchandisefranchise.Megoreleased two models of Laverne and Shirley dolls, and one model of Lenny and Squiggy dolls.Matchboxcreated a Shotz Brewery delivery van, and several novelty toys were sold such asHalloween costumes, aboard game,jigsaw puzzles,coloring books,video slot machineand other toys.
Paramount Home Entertainmentand (starting with season 2)CBS DVDhave released the entire series ofLaverne and Shirleyon DVD inRegion 1, albeit with music substitutions and scene deletions.
On June 16, 2015, CBS DVD releasedLaverne & Shirley – The Complete Serieson DVD in Region 1.
Season 1 has also been released on DVD in Region 2.
The first three seasons have been released on DVD in Region 4 by Paramount.
The theme song from the series ("Making Our Dreams Come True" as performed byCyndi Grecco) was released as a single from Cyndi's LP by the same name and became a radio favorite, becoming a top-30 American hit in 1976.
In 1976, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams released an album, performed in character, titledLaverne & Shirley Sing, which contained some original songs along with some 1950s and 1960s standards. The album was originally released onAtlantic Records. On November 11, 2003,Collector's Choicereleased it on CD. The single "Sixteen Reasons" reached #72 in Canada.
In 1979, Michael McKean and David Lander followed suit with the albumLenny and the Squigtones, also performed in character, featuring original songs (and some spoken material) penned by McKean and Lander. The album was released onCasablanca Records.
In July 1979, McKean and Lander also appeared together (in character) onAmerican Bandstandperforming the song "King of the Cars", the single released from theirLenny and the Squigtonesalbum. They also performed "Love Is a Terrible Thing", another song from the album.
In 1980,Romina Power(ofAl Bano and Romina Powerfame) recorded a separate theme tune for the show when it was introduced to the Italian market. The track, simply titled "Laverne & Shirley", featured verses in English and Italian. Released as a single in the same year, the track failed to chart.