• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Fifities Web
  • Fashion
    • 1950s Women’s Fashion
    • 1950s Men’s Fashion
    • 1960s Women’s Fashion
    • 1960s Men’s Fashion
  • Celebrity Deaths
    • 2023 Deaths
    • 2022 Deaths
    • 2021 Deaths
    • 2020 Deaths (Covid-19)
    • Other years..
  • Cars
    • 1950s Cars
    • 1960s Cars
    • 1970s Cars
  • TV
    • Classic Directory
    • TV Westerns
    • Wagon Train
  • Music
    • 1950s Music
    • 1960s Music
    • Elvis 50s
  • Pop History
    • 1950s Pop History
    • 1960s Pop History
    • Fads / Toys
    • 1950s Slang
    • 1960s Slang
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Fifities Web

Fifities Web

1950s and 1960s Music, TV, History, Fashion, Slang, Cars and so much more...

  • Fashion
    • 1950s Women’s Fashion
    • 1950s Men’s Fashion
    • 1960s Women’s Fashion
    • 1960s Men’s Fashion
  • Celebrity Deaths
    • 2023 Deaths
    • 2022 Deaths
    • 2021 Deaths
    • 2020 Deaths (Covid-19)
    • Other years..
  • Cars
    • 1950s Cars
    • 1960s Cars
    • 1970s Cars
  • TV
    • Classic Directory
    • TV Westerns
    • Wagon Train
  • Music
    • 1950s Music
    • 1960s Music
    • Elvis 50s
  • Pop History
    • 1950s Pop History
    • 1960s Pop History
    • Fads / Toys
    • 1950s Slang
    • 1960s Slang
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
FiftiesWeb.com » TV » Laverne & Shirley

Laverne & Shirley

by Michael Rich — Updated: August 3, 2023 Comment

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Buy Laverne & Shirley on DVD

The First Season (1976)
The Second Season (1976)
The Third Season (1977)
The Fourth Season (1978)
The Fifth Season (1979)
The Sixth Season (1980)
The Seventh Season (1981)
The Final Season (1982)

Contents

  1. Laverne & Shirley
  2. Opening theme
  3. CAST
  4. STORYLINE
  5. Video Clip of Laverne & Shirley
  6. Passings

Laverne & Shirley

January 27, 1976 – May 10, 1983
(178) one half hour episodes (8 seasons)
in color ABC
Created by: Garry Marshall, Lowell Ganz and Mark Rothman

Opening theme

Written By: Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox
Performed By: Cyndi Grecco

“Making Our Dreams Come True”

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated.
We’re gonna do it!

Give us any chance, we’ll take it.
Give us any rule, we’ll break it.
We’re gonna make our dreams come true.
Doin’ it our way.

Nothin’s gonna turn us back now,
Straight ahead and on the track now.
We’re gonna make our dreams come true,
Doin’ it our way.

There is nothing we won’t try,
Never heard the word impossible.
This time there’s no stopping us.
We’re gonna do it.

On your mark, get set, and go now,
Got a dream and we just know now,
We’re gonna make our dream come true.
And we’ll do it our way, yes our way.
Make all our dreams come true,
And do it our way, yes our way,
Make all our dreams come true
For me and you.

CAST

  • Penney Marshall
  • Cindy Williams
  • David L. Lander
  • Michael McKean
  • Eddie Mekka
  • Betty Garrett
  • Phil Foster
  • Laverne DeFazio
  • Shirley Feeney
  • Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman
  • Leonard “Lenny” Kosnowski
  • Carmine “The Big Ragoo” Ragusa
  • Edna Babish
  • Frank DeFazio

STORYLINE

Laverne & Shirley was a spin-off of Happy Days, both were Garry Marshall productions. Set in the late 1950s in Milwaukee the two girls who are childhood friends, who share a basement apartment and work at the same brewery, as bottle cappers.

Also in the cast are Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander) who are upstairs neighbors of the girls. Frank De Fazio (Phil Foster) is Laverne’s father and owner of the Pizza Bowl which is a local hangout like Arnold’s in Happy Days but with bowling. Edna Babish (Betty Garrett) is the girls landlady and later marries Laverne’s dad becoming her step-mother. Carmine Ragusa (Eddie Mekka) is Shirley’s ex-boyfriend who still has an on again off again relationship with her. Both Betty Garrett and Eddie Mekka get the chance to showcase their singing and dancing talents in a few episodes.

The series moves to California in the sixth season with the girls getting jobs at a department store as gift wrappers. In the eighth (final) season Cindy Williams departs the show and Penney Marshall continues the season without the Shirley character. Marshall is asked to do another solo season but she wanted the show moved to New York but ABC felt that move couldn’t be cost effective so the series wasn’t renewed for the 1983-’84 season.

Video Clip of Laverne & Shirley

Passings

Phil Foster passed away in 1985 of a heart attack, he was only 72
Betty Garrett died of a aortic aneurysm in 2011, she was 91
Penney Marshall was 75 when she died in 2018 of heart failure and diabetes
David Lander passed of multiple sclerosis in 2020 he was 75
Eddie Mekka died in 2021 he was only 69

1970s classic tv

1970s sitcoms

1970s oldies comedy series

70s old tv sitcoms

1970s tv

1970s tv comedy show

70s classic television sitcoms

TRIVIA:

Cindy Williams became pregnant during the 1982-1983 season. She asked the studio for certain considerations (demands) during and after the pregnancy which they promptly refused. She was forced to leave the series for which she filed a 20 million dollar lawsuit. The suit was eventually settled out of court with Williams getting her fair share.

OTHER TRIVIA
Michael McKean and David L. Lander were originally hired as writers/consultants on the series. They convinced the studio to let them write themselves into the show as “Lenny” and “Squiggy”, who were based on two characters they had developed while in college.

7os tv sit-com Laverne & Shirley

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Did I miss anything? If so, please send me a message or leave a comment below!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Classic TV

  • TV Ratings - US & UK
  • Quiz Shows
  • Variety Shows
  • News Shows
  • Mickey Mouse Club
  • Wagon Train Website

Western TV

  • TV Main Page
  • Index of All TV Shows
  • Horses and their Riders!
  • TV Ratings - US & UK
  • See how the TV Western Stars look today!

Wagon Train

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

SEARCH THIS SITE

NEVER MISS A POST

Categories

  • Cars
  • Celebrity Deaths
  • Fashion
  • TV
  • Music
  • Fads & Toys
  • Pop History
  • Slang
  • Privacy Statement
  • Useful Links
  • Sitemap
  • About
  • Contact
  • Bibliography

Fifities Web
Online since 1996

FiftiesWeb is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Pictures, clips, and other media on FiftiesWeb are used fairly. The original creator keeps all copyrights. Unless noted, FiftiesWeb doesn't claim to own any of it.
FiftiesWeb is not endorsed or sponsored by or affiliated with any of the products, services, programs, celebrities or entities mentioned on the website. We try our best to offer good educational information.

© Copyright 1996-2023. FiftiesWeb.com All rights reserved.

DMCA.com Protection Status