Being this was the spin-off to the successful "Happy Days" television series the characters of Laverne and Shirley made their debut premiere in a classic episode "A Date With Fonzie"(Season 3,Episode 10) from the "Happy Days" television series that originally aired on November 11,1975 and from that episode Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams made an astounding impression. The lead characters were introduced in that episode as acquaintances of "The Fonz"(Henry Winkler). It was from that episode and due to the high ratings it achieve,the producers thought it would be a great idea to create a spin-off to "Happy Days" which was at the time the highest rated show on the air not to mention a colossal hit for ABC-TV(which had five of the top ten shows in the Nielsens).
"Laverne and Shirley" was the created brainchild of Garry Marshall along with Mark Rothman, Edward L. Milkis and Thomas L. Miller(who also served as executive producers of this series)along with producers Lowell Ganz, Jeff Franklin, Arthur Silver along with Mark Rothman and Milt Josefburg that premiered on ABC's Tuesday night prime time schedule on January 27,1976 as the mid-season replacement for "Welcome Back Kotter"(which moved to Thursday nights). The series from the first episode was a colossal hit becoming ABC's top-rated sitcom that lasted eight seasons and 178 episodes until May 10,1983. During its eight year-run it went through major changes as the network moved the show to different time slots. For the first four seasons it was on Tuesday nights from January 27,1976 until May 15,1979. Then in Season 5 it moved to Thursday nights from September 13,1979 until December 13,1979 and on January 7,1980 moved to Monday nights until February 11,1980 where it was losing viewers and falling ratings. Then for the next three seasons the network moved it back to its original Tuesday night time slot after "Happy Days" from January 26,1980 until May 10,1983.
Only actress Penny Marshall was with the series for all 178 episodes. Cindy Williams was with the series for 159 episodes from 1976-1982. Williams left the series at the end of Season 7 to pursue other interests. Other recurring characters included actors David L. Lander("Squiggy" for 156 episodes); Michael McKean("Lenny" for 150 episodes),and Eddie Mekka("The Big Ragoo" for 150 episodes). Phil Foster appeared in 149 episodes while actress Betty Garrett appeared in 97 episodes of the series. The series "Laverne and Shirley" started roughly in the same time period as "Happy Days" with the timeline starting in 1958 when the series began through 1967 when the series ended.
Several writers contribute to some of the hilarious hi-jinks and slapstick comedy each week ranging from Lowell Ganz, Garry Marshall, and Mark Rothman(who were the writers for all 178 episodes of the series) along with Jeff Franklin, David W. Duclon, Marc Sotkin, Milt Josefburg, Fred Fox, Ron Leavitt, Winifred Hervey, Babaloo Mandel, Bob Brunner,and Michael Warren. Big time directors ranging from James Burrows, John Tracy, Alan Rafkin, Howard Morris, Joel Zwick, Alan Myerson, Garry Marshall, Jay Sandrich, Jerry Paris, Carl Gottlieb, Chris Thompson, and Tom Trbovich just to name a few. The guest stars who made appearances on this series featured Vicki Lawrence, Ed Begley, Jr., Carrie Fisher, Ed Marinaro, Fred Willard, Billy Sands, Jay Leno, Michael Mann, Anjelica Huston, Laraine Newman, Robert Hays, Roger C. Carmel, Scatman Crothers, Charlene Tilton, Conrad Janis, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Howard Hesseman, Fabian, Pat Carroll, Hans Conried, Troy Donahue, Toni Basil, G.W. Bailey, Severn Darden, Scott Brady, Christopher Guest, Jerry Belson, to Carl Ballantine, Mark Harmon, Fred Dryer, Dennis Haysbert, Ted Danson, and Art Garfunkel. Even had cameos from Jim Lange and Ilene Graff too.
During the peak of the show's run "Laverne and Shirley" got there own Saturday Morning cartoon show that aired on ABC on October 10,1981 with Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as the voices of there characters where it was part of "The Laverne & Shirley/Fonzie Hour". But with the original series the cast was electric not to mention the adequate writing and above average direction not to mention the slapstick antics made this show a solid ratings winner for the eight seasons it was on the air. Several great episodes do stand out here and I will start with the show's top ten which includes the two-part episodes "Murder on the Moose Jaw Express"(Season 5),"The Bardwell Caper"(Season 6), "We're In The Army Now"(Season 5). Other great episodes included "The Diner" (Season 5), "Look Before You Leap"(Season 2), "The Defiant One"(Season 7),and "Laverne and Shirley Meet Fabian"(Season 3). When the series was suddenly canceled by ABC in 1983 it faced strong competition of NBC's "The A-Team" that crushed it in the ratings. The series that replaced it in the fall of 1983 was "Foul Ups,Bleeps and Blunders" aka "The Dick Clark Show" on ABC's Tuesday night schedule.
"Laverne and Shirley" was the created brainchild of Garry Marshall along with Mark Rothman, Edward L. Milkis and Thomas L. Miller(who also served as executive producers of this series)along with producers Lowell Ganz, Jeff Franklin, Arthur Silver along with Mark Rothman and Milt Josefburg that premiered on ABC's Tuesday night prime time schedule on January 27,1976 as the mid-season replacement for "Welcome Back Kotter"(which moved to Thursday nights). The series from the first episode was a colossal hit becoming ABC's top-rated sitcom that lasted eight seasons and 178 episodes until May 10,1983. During its eight year-run it went through major changes as the network moved the show to different time slots. For the first four seasons it was on Tuesday nights from January 27,1976 until May 15,1979. Then in Season 5 it moved to Thursday nights from September 13,1979 until December 13,1979 and on January 7,1980 moved to Monday nights until February 11,1980 where it was losing viewers and falling ratings. Then for the next three seasons the network moved it back to its original Tuesday night time slot after "Happy Days" from January 26,1980 until May 10,1983.
Only actress Penny Marshall was with the series for all 178 episodes. Cindy Williams was with the series for 159 episodes from 1976-1982. Williams left the series at the end of Season 7 to pursue other interests. Other recurring characters included actors David L. Lander("Squiggy" for 156 episodes); Michael McKean("Lenny" for 150 episodes),and Eddie Mekka("The Big Ragoo" for 150 episodes). Phil Foster appeared in 149 episodes while actress Betty Garrett appeared in 97 episodes of the series. The series "Laverne and Shirley" started roughly in the same time period as "Happy Days" with the timeline starting in 1958 when the series began through 1967 when the series ended.
Several writers contribute to some of the hilarious hi-jinks and slapstick comedy each week ranging from Lowell Ganz, Garry Marshall, and Mark Rothman(who were the writers for all 178 episodes of the series) along with Jeff Franklin, David W. Duclon, Marc Sotkin, Milt Josefburg, Fred Fox, Ron Leavitt, Winifred Hervey, Babaloo Mandel, Bob Brunner,and Michael Warren. Big time directors ranging from James Burrows, John Tracy, Alan Rafkin, Howard Morris, Joel Zwick, Alan Myerson, Garry Marshall, Jay Sandrich, Jerry Paris, Carl Gottlieb, Chris Thompson, and Tom Trbovich just to name a few. The guest stars who made appearances on this series featured Vicki Lawrence, Ed Begley, Jr., Carrie Fisher, Ed Marinaro, Fred Willard, Billy Sands, Jay Leno, Michael Mann, Anjelica Huston, Laraine Newman, Robert Hays, Roger C. Carmel, Scatman Crothers, Charlene Tilton, Conrad Janis, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Howard Hesseman, Fabian, Pat Carroll, Hans Conried, Troy Donahue, Toni Basil, G.W. Bailey, Severn Darden, Scott Brady, Christopher Guest, Jerry Belson, to Carl Ballantine, Mark Harmon, Fred Dryer, Dennis Haysbert, Ted Danson, and Art Garfunkel. Even had cameos from Jim Lange and Ilene Graff too.
During the peak of the show's run "Laverne and Shirley" got there own Saturday Morning cartoon show that aired on ABC on October 10,1981 with Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as the voices of there characters where it was part of "The Laverne & Shirley/Fonzie Hour". But with the original series the cast was electric not to mention the adequate writing and above average direction not to mention the slapstick antics made this show a solid ratings winner for the eight seasons it was on the air. Several great episodes do stand out here and I will start with the show's top ten which includes the two-part episodes "Murder on the Moose Jaw Express"(Season 5),"The Bardwell Caper"(Season 6), "We're In The Army Now"(Season 5). Other great episodes included "The Diner" (Season 5), "Look Before You Leap"(Season 2), "The Defiant One"(Season 7),and "Laverne and Shirley Meet Fabian"(Season 3). When the series was suddenly canceled by ABC in 1983 it faced strong competition of NBC's "The A-Team" that crushed it in the ratings. The series that replaced it in the fall of 1983 was "Foul Ups,Bleeps and Blunders" aka "The Dick Clark Show" on ABC's Tuesday night schedule.