Laverne & Shirley (TV Series) The Bully Show (1978) User Reviews

It's not supposed to be serious

[angelahptrio · 8/10 · 8 April 2020]

I saw discussion board long ago about this. Considering the subject matter today I think some people are taking it too seriously. Let's clarify something the audience was not laughing at the possibility of Laverne getting raped. It's the humor of her trying to stay calm or look ridiculous hoping he'll lose interest. When she does knock him out and says she is not gonna do something she doesn't want to do, the audience cheered and when Lenny and Squiggy save her, the audience applauds. So the audience is rooting for Laverne. And it is a Sitcom the audience is okay to laugh and not worry their favorite characters are gonna get hurt. In Happy days, Joanie was in the same situation as well, but it was more dramatic. I mean, look, it depends what show it is. I find it entertaining I do root for Laverne and the guys to stand up. Stuff like that wasn't taken seriously back then. It should have, I don't condone violence against women, but again it was for the physical comedy between the four and Laverne did not get hurt.

Rape is always serious

[LaverneandShirleysucks · 2/10 · 13 June 2021]

The subject matter of this episode had no place in a slapstick comedy show like L&S. The other reviewer here who feels "it's not supposed to be serious" needs their head examined.

If the show wanted an episode where Laverne does some slapstick running from a guy who wanted her, they could have easily just made him an innocent schmuck who chased her around the room wanting to make out with her.

Instead, we were treated to an obviously dangerous and violent man who was dead set on raping Laverne. There's just no comedy in that no matter how you spin it.

He orders her to strip naked, tells her he'll force himself on her right on the living room floor, and tells her "i'm coming in" to her bedroom if she's not out in a few seconds. None of this is funny, yet it's all played for laughs.

I agree with the other reviewer here that All in the Family was the right sitcom to deal with this subject matter, but not L&S. When Carmine comes in and Laverne cries from the bedroom for him not to go, he turns to leave because he thinks Laverne is having a romantic evening with a date....and the audience laughs!

Had this just been a harmless guy chasing her around for a few kisses, then I can see the comedy and they should've chosen that route instead of this.

I give it 2 stars only for Laverne ripping Boo Boo Kitty's tail off which was the only laugh this episode got out of me.

A slapsticky attempt to discuss date rape that needed more.

[chauge-73253 · 5/10 · 27 January 2019]

Lenny and Squiggy have a new foreman/boss who wants to get laid. After roughing them up a little in the breakroom, said boss tells them to get him a loose date or else. With Shirley out of town, Lenny and Squiggy decide that Laverne will do. They lie to her and tell her that the Milwaukee Man of the Year wants to go out with her, and so she agrees. Then the real trouble begins when Laverne realizes her Prince Charming is more of an attack dog than a frog. A year after All in the Family so deftly handles the topic of rape with Edith, "Laverne & Shirley" does a clumsy job of it, making it more slapstick than poignancy. The boys eventually come to realize they've done a horrible thing to Laverne, but the show tries to be more of a lesson in how to handle a bully, than how to handle a date rape situation. The ending comes out okay in the end, but the whole structure of how it is written is disappointing to say the least, especially since Norman Lear gave them such a great blueprint to work with a year earlier.