The two part episode THE BARDWELL CAPER is one of the best LAVERNE & SHIRLEY episodes. This episode is from Season 6 when the girls were living in California. I agree with most people that the seasons of the show where Laverne and Shirley lived in Milwaukee were better than the California episodes. Thats all the more reason why this episode stands out. It really does remind you of the earlier days where Laverne and Shirley found themselves in zany situations doing a lot of physical Laverne and Ethel type physical comedy.
Laverne and Shirley have been working at BARDWELLS Department Store for three months. They have not received the usual pay raise most employees get at the three month mark. Shirley writes the boss a polite letter asking about a possible raise. Laverne intercepts the letter and writes nasty crude insults at the boss in it. The letter is sent. And don't you know , moments later the boss calls them to his office to announce not only is he giving them a raise, hes giving them a HIGHER raise than he usually gives
The girls panic over the letter which is now sitting on the bosses desk waiting to be opened. Laverne decides that she, Shirley and Carmine will sneak into the store MISSION IMPOSSIBLE style and get the letter back.
A neat twist is because this is a two part episode we get to see two different versions of the caper. In the Part 1 "and this is how we'll do it" version, we see how the plan would go in Lavernes mind. Everything going perfectly. In the second part we get to see how the actual heist GOES. And of course it does not go well, which leads to many laughs.
The one thing I want to point out that kept this from being a "perfect" episode for me is that even though Laverne, Shirley and Carmine are in top form in this episode they have asked Lenny and Squiggy (who are dressed as trees) to be Look Outs for them. And every so often they break from the action going on in the store to show us Lenny and Squiggy outside having VERY un-funny banter back and forth. Lenny and Squiggy usually WERE funny, which makes the fact they Aren't funny here all the more obvious.
This stands out as a high point for Laverne and Shirley fans, and not long after this the show started having problems with cast members storming off set and such. So its nice to see one last great ep before the show dwindles downhill. It reminds us of the great chemistry Marshall and Williams had, Its a shame they couldn't work together peacefully the whole run of the show.
Laverne and Shirley have been working at BARDWELLS Department Store for three months. They have not received the usual pay raise most employees get at the three month mark. Shirley writes the boss a polite letter asking about a possible raise. Laverne intercepts the letter and writes nasty crude insults at the boss in it. The letter is sent. And don't you know , moments later the boss calls them to his office to announce not only is he giving them a raise, hes giving them a HIGHER raise than he usually gives
The girls panic over the letter which is now sitting on the bosses desk waiting to be opened. Laverne decides that she, Shirley and Carmine will sneak into the store MISSION IMPOSSIBLE style and get the letter back.
A neat twist is because this is a two part episode we get to see two different versions of the caper. In the Part 1 "and this is how we'll do it" version, we see how the plan would go in Lavernes mind. Everything going perfectly. In the second part we get to see how the actual heist GOES. And of course it does not go well, which leads to many laughs.
The one thing I want to point out that kept this from being a "perfect" episode for me is that even though Laverne, Shirley and Carmine are in top form in this episode they have asked Lenny and Squiggy (who are dressed as trees) to be Look Outs for them. And every so often they break from the action going on in the store to show us Lenny and Squiggy outside having VERY un-funny banter back and forth. Lenny and Squiggy usually WERE funny, which makes the fact they Aren't funny here all the more obvious.
This stands out as a high point for Laverne and Shirley fans, and not long after this the show started having problems with cast members storming off set and such. So its nice to see one last great ep before the show dwindles downhill. It reminds us of the great chemistry Marshall and Williams had, Its a shame they couldn't work together peacefully the whole run of the show.
