Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983)

The misadventures of two single women in the 1950's and '60's.

Creators:

Lowell Ganz, Garry Marshall, Mark Rothman

Stars:

Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, David L. Lander

Nominated for 6 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Penny Marshall	...	Laverne DeFazio (178 episodes, 1976-1983)
Cindy Williams	...	Shirley Feeney (159 episodes, 1976-1983)
David L. Lander	...	Andrew 'Squiggy' Squiggman (155 episodes, 1976-1983)
Michael McKean	...	Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski (149 episodes, 1976-1983)
Eddie Mekka	...	Carmine 'The Big Ragoo' Ragusa (147 episodes, 1976-1983)
Phil Foster	...	Frank DeFazio (145 episodes, 1976-1983)
Betty Garrett	...	Edna Babish (96 episodes, 1976-1981)
Leslie Easterbrook	...	Rhonda Lee (50 episodes, 1980-1983)

Storyline

Best friends and roommates Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney are single, working girls in late 1950s Milwaukee (later early 1960s Los Angeles) coping with dates, neighbours, and each other.

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Plot Keywords:

brewery | 1950s | roommate | 1960s | happy days spin off | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Laverne & Shirley & Company

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miller-Milkis Productions, Henderson Productions, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (178 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

David L. Lander and Michael McKean were originally hired as writers/consultants. They wrote themselves into the show as Squiggy and Lenny, two characters they created in college.

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Goofs

The show was originally set in Milwaukee, famed for its brewing history. The title characters were bottlecappers in the fictional Schotz Brewery, so they are shown working along a brewery's bottling line during the opening titles. However, this sequence was obviously shot in an Anheuser-Busch facility, as the bottles shown streaming along the conveyor are the iconic 'teardrop' bottles used for Michelob beer in the 1970s. Anheuser-Busch, the St. Louis-based maker of Budweiser, never had a facility in Milwaukee.

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Quotes

Shirley Feeney: Laverne, I'm telling you, flying is safer than driving! Nobody has ever crashed into a cloud!
Laverne De Fazio: Yeah well nobody ever fell 40,000 feet from a DeSoto either.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Harlots (1979)

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Soundtracks

"Making Our Dreams Come True"
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Music by Charles Fox
Sung by Cyndi Grecco

User Reviews

Another Hit From the Master

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.