WEBVTT
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00:00:17.519Hello, I'm film historian Tony Maeta.
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00:00:21.120And I'm Brad Shreve, who's just a guy who likes movies.
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00:00:24.559We discuss movies and television from Hollywood's golden age.
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00:00:27.519We go behind the scenes and share our opinions too.
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00:00:32.159And of course, being the average guy, my opinions are the ones that matter.
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00:00:34.799As does your self-delusion.
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00:00:37.520Welcome to Going Hollywood.
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00:00:41.679Brad, I have to ask you a question.
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00:00:44.719Okay, and I'll be ready with an answer.
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00:00:52.320Just what makes that little old ant think he can move that rubber tree plant?
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00:00:58.960Everybody knows an ant can't move a rubber tree plant, but he's got what, Brad?
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00:01:00.880High hopes.
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00:01:04.480You're supposed to say a hernia, because that's what she said.
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00:01:11.760But yes, yes, I'll accept that.
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00:01:13.040I will accept that.
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00:01:15.519Sorry, that song started playing in my head.
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00:01:19.359He does have high hopes.
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00:01:20.799He has high hopes.
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00:01:24.879And I have high hopes that this episode will go well.
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00:01:30.560Because we're talking, we are taking on quite a chunk here, ladies and gentlemen.
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00:01:36.719Actually, we are doing our first two-part episode of this season.
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00:01:47.599Kind of late for us to be tackling our first two-parter, but we had to because what we were talking about today, if you didn't get it from that cute little opening we just did, is indeed Laverne and Shirley.
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00:01:49.599Isn't that fantastic?
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00:01:52.719We are celebrating, and we're only talking about Laverne and Shirley.
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00:01:57.200We are celebrating Laverne and Shirley's 50th birthday.
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00:01:58.719It aired, we're a little late.
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00:02:03.120It aired on first aired on January 27th, 1976.
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00:02:04.799I'm very excited, Brad.
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00:02:09.439I'm excited, except for this makes me feel so fucking old.
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00:02:10.960This is what makes you feel old.
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00:02:14.639It's been 50 years.
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00:02:16.479I know, I know.
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00:02:22.400This was one of the most difficult episodes to prepare for.
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00:02:25.120And listener has nothing to do with watching these episodes.
00:02:25.120 -->
00:02:27.439We've had all kinds of technical issues in this show.
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00:02:34.000It's not easy to find anywhere in streaming, and so we had to be selective, but it was worth it.
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00:02:34.800I think so.
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00:02:35.360I think so.
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00:02:44.479You know, it was this is one of those this is like when we did Bewitched, you know, that I hadn't really watched Laverne and Shirley in a very long time.
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00:02:49.599And then going back and watching these episodes, first of all, talk about difficult to pick.
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00:02:51.199I can't even go there.
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00:03:00.400But going back there and spending time in Milwaukee with Miss DeFazio and Miss Feeney and their assortment of oddball friends, it was so wonderful.
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00:03:10.960It was just, it was, I was just bathed, a warm bath of nostalgia over the past few weeks, revisiting the show and remembering why I loved it so much as a kid.
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00:03:15.919How how how much freaking fun it actually is to watch.
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00:03:26.719This actually wasn't hard for me to pick episodes, and the reason is I unlike you own this series, I don't remember these episodes from way back.
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00:03:31.039I was I was a huge the Vernon Shirley fan, but I haven't watched it in decades.
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00:03:31.439Yeah.
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00:03:43.919So I'm going by very weak memory of okay, I remember this part in this episode, and I remember this part in this episode, and I remember that particular scene was funny, and I hope the entire episode was as funny as I remember.
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00:03:48.400And there's really only one here I chose, and it's not it's not bad in any way.
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00:03:51.680It just wasn't as funny as I recall, and we'll talk about it.
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00:03:56.080But um it it was it was delightful.
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00:04:09.680Yeah, you know, I well, I had the same instance, like I think I sent you an email of one of your episodes or a text message when I was watching one of your episodes is oh my god, that's one of my favorite lines, and I could never remember what episode it was from, and it's from this episode.
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00:04:11.120So when we get to it, I'll tell you.
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00:04:12.560But I had the same reaction.
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00:04:14.080I remembered scenes.
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00:04:19.360I remembered Shirley teaching Laverne to drive on the sofa in their apartment.
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00:04:23.360I remembered, you know, the earthquake when they first get to California.
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00:04:43.600So I remembered little snippets, but there were some episodes that I thought when we decided we were going to do Laverne and Shirley, absolutely must, must, must talk about because to me they're not only exemplary of the excellence of this show when it was really firing on all cylinders, but exemplary of what great television is.
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00:04:46.399I I truly feel that way about Laverne and Shirley.
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00:04:57.279I think it truly in a different way, just it's right up there with the Mary Tyler Moore show, Taxi Cheers, as when it's hot, when it was hitting, you really couldn't touch it in these two actresses.
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00:04:58.240What do you think?
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00:04:59.120I agree.
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00:05:08.720And I I was gonna hold off on my Gary Marshall tangent, but I'm gonna go there because it really emphasize what you just talked about.
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00:05:20.879You know, I wish I could say that Gary Marshall was a talentless hack, but his his background and his history after these sitcoms proves that he was not.
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00:05:28.079He was an incredibly talented man from the Dick Van Dyke show, The Odd Couple, the first two seasons of Happy Days.
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00:05:29.839But he sold out.
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00:05:31.040The man sold out.
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00:05:32.079You think so?
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00:05:34.000Oh my god, look what happened to Happy Days.
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00:05:35.279A great series for two seasons.
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00:05:36.480Well, Happy Days.
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00:05:40.720I mean, but I don't I wouldn't call I wouldn't call Pretty Woman or Beaches a seller.
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00:05:43.680He redeemed himself after these sitcoms.
00:05:43.680 -->
00:05:48.959But when it comes to television, the first two seasons of Happy Days, I think were great.
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00:05:56.160Yeah, they were it was a slower show, it was a wholesome show to a degree, uh, even though they touched on some subjects.
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00:06:03.279But then he sold out with the whole let's give the audience more of what made them laugh.
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00:06:08.079Yeah, let's get whatever they reacted to, let's really throw it in their face.
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00:06:14.480And a lot of people blame the return to the studio audience, and I say that's bullshit because all in the family had a studio audience.
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00:06:21.040And the only negative in a show with a studio audience is the actors have to pause to wait for the audience to stop laughing.
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00:06:23.920And that's okay, that happens, it's just like watching a play.
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00:06:34.959But when the audience goes into these over-the-top hysterics, or when they applaud like crazy, every time a fucking character walks out on stage, it's like, oh my god.
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00:06:36.560So he went to this great show.
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00:06:39.120Um there's a reason for my tangent here.
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00:06:50.639Yeah, he went to what I consider a really great show with Happy Days, with a great looking set, and a great cast, great character development, and then it turned into the Fonzie show.
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00:06:54.480And this and the sets that were no longer didn't even look realistic.
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00:06:58.639And all the characters were terrible characters.
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00:07:02.079And uh to me it ruined Happy Days.
00:07:02.079 -->
00:07:07.279And here's what he did with he did the same thing with Blanchy Blanchy's Beauties.
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00:07:13.279You're bringing up Blansky's Beauties, really?
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00:07:19.920Because I'm bringing up what garbage he turned out after he turned when he decided to go for the dollar rather than art.
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00:07:20.399Yeah.
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00:07:23.120So here's what he did with Laverne and Shirley.
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00:07:28.160This is this is it's gonna sound like I'm trashing this show, and actually is the opposite.
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00:07:31.040He took that same formula with Laverne and Shirley.
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00:07:39.920He brought the studio audience in to act crazy whenever somebody, even uh even a guest who shows up that you've never even seen before, they go crazy when the guest walks out.
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00:07:41.680So he brought in the plots.
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00:07:46.160He has background characters that I think are very uninteresting.
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00:07:48.399Frank DeFazio, I don't give a shit about.
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00:07:51.439Edna, I I what is her the actress's name?
00:07:51.439 -->
00:07:51.920I love her.
00:07:51.920 -->
00:07:52.959Betty Garrett.
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00:07:54.319You don't like Betty Garrett?
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00:07:55.839I love Betty Garrett.
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00:07:57.759She was fabulous on All in the Family.
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00:08:01.759They move her to Laverne and Shirley, and she even she said she had nothing to do.
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00:08:03.040She admitted that later.
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00:08:05.920She'd like she'd glad she was on the show, but she had nothing to do.
00:08:05.920 -->
00:08:07.920So she was kind of a nothing character.
00:08:07.920 -->
00:08:10.240Carmine, don't even get me started on Carmine.
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00:08:11.120I absolutely hate his character.
00:08:11.120 -->
00:08:11.839Well, let's what?
00:08:11.839 -->
00:08:16.240Let's let's wait, wait, let's let's first of all, you're you haven't even introduced the cast yet.
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00:08:17.120You don't even know these.
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00:08:20.879But anyway, so let so anyway.
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00:08:26.800To me, just like Happy Days, you have characters that are cartoons, they're not interesting, the background characters.
00:08:26.800 -->
00:08:28.879You have the studio on screen, crazy.
00:08:28.879 -->
00:08:30.000The sets look terrible.
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00:08:34.720Their apartment looked good, but every time they left the apartment, it was always a cheese-looking set.
00:08:34.720 -->
00:08:47.919But but because of the incredible talent of these two women, yeah, and the hysterical setups, and we yeah, we're gonna compare it to Lucy Nethel, you can't help it.
00:08:47.919 -->
00:08:55.679Yeah, the hysterical setups, this show worked despite his best effort.
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00:08:57.840To make it not work, the same garbage.
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00:08:59.279Well, okay.
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00:09:01.919Yes, to make it work for radiance only.
00:09:01.919 -->
00:09:03.360I I see your opinion.
00:09:03.360 -->
00:09:05.279I think there's a lot of holes in that opinion.
00:09:05.279 -->
00:09:06.960But uh, but I agree with you.
00:09:06.960 -->
00:09:10.879I feel that Gary Marshall was an incredibly talented, talented man.
00:09:10.879 -->
00:09:13.200Um, I love some of his films after this.
00:09:13.200 -->
00:09:27.440I think his sister is even more talented, and I think what's amazing about Laverne and Shirley is nobody knew that because for so long Penny Marshall was the actress who was Gary Marshall's sister, and then suddenly Gary Marshall became Penny Marshall's brother.
00:09:27.440 -->
00:09:37.120And Penny Marshall then going on to direct films like Big and Jumpin' Jack Flash and Awakenings for Christ's sake, Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.
00:09:37.120 -->
00:09:38.159Give me a break.
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00:09:39.039Fantastic.
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00:09:40.960But I agree with you with the actresses.
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00:09:42.399And hold on a moment.
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00:09:46.320I also, but I don't know, we didn't talk about Michael McKean and Dave Landers.
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00:09:50.639We will don't go into that yet, because I also think they're brilliant.
00:09:50.639 -->
00:09:59.279But what you say about Gary Marshall is interesting, you know, because we're gonna have a lot of Lucy moments, folks, in these two episodes, by the way.
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00:10:04.080Because one of Gary Marshall's first jobs was as a writer on the Lucy show.
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00:10:17.360And it was really totally in his brain that he was going to give the make the lessons, take the lessons he got from Lucy O'Ball and from working on the Lucy show and creating a show that was very much Lucy and Ethel.
00:10:17.360 -->
00:10:27.440He was just so lucky that his sister was phenomenally talented at physical comedy and that Cindy Williams matched her step for step.
00:10:27.440 -->
00:10:29.679So we're talking about Laverne and Shirley.
00:10:29.679 -->
00:10:32.000But let me let me just clarify again, though.
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00:10:34.559I I think you misunderstood what I was first saying.
00:10:34.559 -->
00:10:37.679I wasn't saying that Marshall was not talented.
00:10:37.679 -->
00:10:43.120Like I said, everything he did before these changes happened proved that he was.
00:10:43.120 -->
00:10:48.000And then later in his movies, etc., he proved he still was talented.
00:10:48.000 -->
00:10:49.919I'm saying he sold out for the network.
00:10:49.919 -->
00:10:50.720No, I agree.
00:10:50.720 -->
00:10:51.440I see what you're saying.
00:10:51.440 -->
00:10:52.240I see what you're saying.
00:10:52.240 -->
00:10:54.799I agree with you to a certain extent about Happy Days, too.
00:10:54.799 -->
00:10:56.879But let's talk about Laverne and Shirley.
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00:11:05.600So because we're doing a two-parter here, folks, and already, I'm really glad we're doing a two-parter because already we haven't even started talking yet.
00:11:05.600 -->
00:11:06.879Um might be a three-parter.
00:11:06.879 -->
00:11:08.559What show are we talking about again?
00:11:08.559 -->
00:11:16.000So uh Laverne and Shirley aired on ABC from January 27th, 1976 to May 10th, 1983.
00:11:16.000 -->
00:11:20.799And Brad, would you like to introduce the cast of Laverne and Shirley?
00:11:20.799 -->
00:11:25.360I would love to introduce this cast because it's got some great folks in it.
00:11:25.360 -->
00:11:29.679First of all, as we were talking about, Penny Marshall, talented beyond belief.
00:11:29.679 -->
00:11:35.919Cindy Williams, who I really did not remember as being all that who do they play?
00:11:35.919 -->
00:11:37.039Please, who do they play?
00:11:37.039 -->
00:11:39.039Penny Marshall is Laverne.
00:11:39.039 -->
00:11:41.600You can spot her because she has the L on her chest.
00:11:41.600 -->
00:11:42.159She does.
00:11:42.159 -->
00:11:44.320That one's the one that says Penny Marshall.
00:11:44.320 -->
00:11:47.759The other one is Cindy Williams who plays Shirley.
00:11:47.759 -->
00:11:55.200And I sometimes think Shirley kind of got overshadowed by uh Penny Marshall, but I watch these episodes and I'm like, wow.
00:11:55.200 -->
00:11:55.759Yeah.
00:11:55.759 -->
00:11:56.639She was great.
00:11:56.639 -->
00:11:59.120She had more depth than Laverne.
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00:12:00.399She did not allow it.
00:12:00.399 -->
00:12:03.919I mean, imagine this was a Marshall family production.
00:12:03.919 -->
00:12:05.279I mean, come on.
00:12:05.279 -->
00:12:10.639And you're, you know, you're the other titular character here, and you're fighting for your time on air.
00:12:10.639 -->
00:12:13.440Cindy Williams, brilliant, brilliant comedic actress.
00:12:13.440 -->
00:12:15.279As Shirley Wilhelmina Feeney.
00:12:15.279 -->
00:12:17.120I love her middle name, Wilhelmina.
00:12:17.120 -->
00:12:24.960And then we had uh Michael McKeon, a very talented uh actor comedian.
00:12:24.960 -->
00:12:26.399He played Lenny.
00:12:26.399 -->
00:12:30.960David Lander, who I I he could be equally talented.
00:12:30.960 -->
00:12:35.279I've never really liked the characters he's played, but he plays Squiggy, who everybody loved.
00:12:35.279 -->
00:12:53.200Then we have Eddie Mecca as Carmine Ragusa, Phil Foster, longtime actor who we've seen billions of times as Frank DiFazio, Laverne's father, and the great Betty Garrett, who to Tony almost fainted because he thought I didn't like her.
00:12:53.200 -->
00:13:01.759I love Betty Garrett, as landlady Edna Babish, who is an incredibly talented woman whose role unfortunately did not give her a lot to do.
00:13:01.759 -->
00:13:02.320No, it's not.
00:13:02.320 -->
00:13:03.200And that's the main ones.
00:13:03.200 -->
00:13:04.000We have later ones.
00:13:04.000 -->
00:13:09.679We have other people that came and went, and uh people that were more in the later seasons, which we'll touch on.
00:13:09.679 -->
00:13:12.799I agree with you that she's absolutely wasted as Edna Babish.
00:13:12.799 -->
00:13:14.240It's uh it's a nothing role.
00:13:14.240 -->
00:13:16.080You're like, why did you leave all in the family?
00:13:16.080 -->
00:13:18.159And but that's what she did.
00:13:18.159 -->
00:13:22.879Um, yes, so I I just want to point out that yes, this we are doing a two-part episode.
00:13:22.879 -->
00:13:26.559And like with all of our two-part episodes, there's a natural break.
00:13:26.559 -->
00:13:27.679And that's why we're doing them.
00:13:27.679 -->
00:13:39.279Because as everybody knows, the jump the shark moment for Laverne and Shirley was when they packed up and left Milwaukee and moved to Hollywood.
00:13:39.279 -->
00:13:43.039I just don't under what was it about the 60s and 70s?
00:13:43.039 -->
00:13:46.639These characters, Lucy did it, they did it on My Three Sons.
00:13:46.639 -->
00:13:48.480What is it about moving to Hollywood?
00:13:48.480 -->
00:13:49.279I don't get it.
00:13:49.279 -->
00:13:51.919They thought that would suddenly fix the problems with the show.
00:13:51.919 -->
00:13:56.000It's like when people want to have kids because they're fighting and they think it'll save their marriage.
00:13:56.000 -->
00:13:56.960Doesn't work.
00:13:56.960 -->
00:14:00.080Moving to Hollywood never saves a show.
00:14:00.080 -->
00:14:03.919But that's that's for our part two, the Hollywood era.
00:14:03.919 -->
00:14:05.519I'm uh curious.
00:14:05.519 -->
00:14:11.600I'd like to hear don't people get tired of everything being in New York and in California?
00:14:11.600 -->
00:14:12.080Yeah.
00:14:12.080 -->
00:14:13.200What about Middleman?
00:14:13.200 -->
00:14:16.240It's so refreshing when a show is not.
00:14:16.240 -->
00:14:23.360Well, that's what was so wonderful about the original premise of Laverne and Shirley is it highlighted an area.
00:14:23.360 -->
00:14:27.120What other show is about Milwaukee other than Happy Days?
00:14:27.120 -->
00:14:28.399What other show?
00:14:28.399 -->
00:14:33.600And you know, being having been to Milwaukee several times, it's a charming, charming city.
00:14:33.600 -->
00:14:35.360It's like Chicago in a dryer.
00:14:35.360 -->
00:14:38.159It's like somebody put Chicago in a dryer and shrunk it.
00:14:38.159 -->
00:14:44.879And it's it's Milwaukee, but it's a charming city and it's full of all these wonderful ethnic characters.
00:14:44.879 -->
00:15:00.159And why you and also another reason why, and we'll get to this in the second part, when they move them to California, you're destroying the premise because the premise of Lauren and Shirley is the fact that they're underdogs, they're they're low, low, low on the social totem pole.
00:15:00.159 -->
00:15:07.200But when you move them to beautiful, sunny Southern California, they're already no longer that.
00:15:07.200 -->
00:15:08.000You know what I mean?
00:15:08.000 -->
00:15:13.200In people's minds, people who live in Southern California don't have a lot of problems because there's sunshine all the time.
00:15:13.200 -->
00:15:17.679And we all know that's not true, but that's the that's the thought behind it.
00:15:17.679 -->
00:15:21.519So moving them to California just it made no sense.
00:15:21.519 -->
00:15:22.399But we'll get to that.
00:15:22.399 -->
00:15:23.120We'll get to that.
00:15:23.120 -->
00:15:34.799You know, it may have worked if they got there and really and learned, like the rest of us, that Southern California isn't what Hollywood has made it look like, but that would have been a whole different show anyway.
00:15:34.799 -->
00:15:44.559So I want to throw out I will have but does this show did make America ask the question why does everyone in Milwaukee have New York accents?
00:15:44.559 -->
00:15:53.759Well, they covered their asses on that because the Defazios were originally from New York, and that's when they moved to Milwaukee.
00:15:53.759 -->
00:15:59.360So they did cover their asses, but yes, you're like, why does but why does Laverne have a Bronx accent?
00:15:59.360 -->
00:16:02.080Well, because it's Penny Marshall and Penny Marshall lived in the Bronx accent.
00:16:02.080 -->
00:16:07.600Yeah, but you also had Carmine and you had Squiggy and Shirley for the first few episodes of the first season, by the way.
00:16:07.600 -->
00:16:10.320Cindy Williams had a strange New York accent.
00:16:10.320 -->
00:16:29.840I think I have tidbits I'm gonna throw out there throughout it, and I think my first tidbit's going to be you know, despite the fact that the show ran for eight years and was number one for two out of those eight years, and then in the top ten, except when it fell out, it only received one Emmy nomination in eight years.
00:16:29.840 -->
00:16:30.639Did you know that?
00:16:30.639 -->
00:16:31.679No, I didn't.
00:16:31.679 -->
00:16:39.759Doesn't surprise me, but I did know one Emmy nomination in eight years, and that was in 1979 for best costumes.
00:16:39.759 -->
00:16:46.320Now, I'm sorry, but throw throw Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall a bone here academy.
00:16:46.320 -->
00:16:47.919I mean, it's just ridiculous.
00:16:47.919 -->
00:16:50.960These are brilliantly gifted comedic actresses.
00:16:50.960 -->
00:16:52.159You can't get one.
00:16:52.159 -->
00:16:58.320I'm kind of stunned that Cindy Williams didn't get at least one Emmy nomination in this show.
00:16:58.320 -->
00:16:59.120But she didn't.
00:16:59.120 -->
00:16:59.759Nobody did.
00:16:59.759 -->
00:17:00.559Nobody did.
00:17:00.559 -->
00:17:01.279It's very sad.
00:17:01.279 -->
00:17:04.319My guess, and you you would probably know more this more than I do.
00:17:04.319 -->
00:17:08.000My guess is it's a show that uh uh the ratings proved it.
00:17:08.000 -->
00:17:12.640This was a show that people watched, but certain people didn't want to admit they liked it.
00:17:12.640 -->
00:17:14.720Well, yes, it was a family show.
00:17:14.720 -->
00:17:15.519You know what I mean?
00:17:15.519 -->
00:17:29.599It wasn't it didn't have the pedigree all of ABC shows at this time, and ABC was the number one network because they had happy days in Laverne and Shirley, and that show whose name we will not mention with the three people living together, two men and a woman, uh two women and a man.
00:17:29.599 -->
00:17:32.000Um, but they were audience hits.
00:17:32.000 -->
00:17:49.839They were, you know, ABC was number one at this time, which was quite a feat for ABC, but they were also very, very, very dismissed by the intelligentsia and the uh maybe not the academics, but the intelligentsia in Hollywood in particular just looked their down, looked down their noses at Laverne and Shirley.
00:17:49.839 -->
00:17:54.880So um, so we'll talk about these episodes, but should we go into the background of the episodes?
00:17:54.880 -->
00:17:57.920Or do you want to tell people what Laverne Shirley is about in essence?
00:17:57.920 -->
00:17:59.279Why don't we do that?
00:17:59.279 -->
00:18:02.880Yes, I I will because you pretty much said it.
00:18:02.880 -->
00:18:17.359It is about two uh working, I'll say working girls, because that would have been the term used in the 50s and 60s, two working girls that work for uh a brewery comp brewing company called Shots Brewery, and they work in the bottle capping department.
00:18:17.359 -->
00:18:32.319And they're they're blue-collar women uh who are striving to do better, whether that's doing it on their own, uh frequently it has to do with meeting the right man, uh, whatever.
00:18:32.319 -->
00:18:36.640They dream, uh they want to make their dreams true for me and you.
00:18:36.640 -->
00:18:37.839It's very true.
00:18:37.839 -->
00:18:39.279And that really is what it's about.
00:18:39.279 -->
00:18:40.640It is, you're absolutely right.
00:18:40.640 -->
00:18:51.680And they are up until they moved to California, they are probably one of the best TV shows, I think, that really makes you feel like these are two people that work in a factory.
00:18:51.680 -->
00:18:55.440It's about the indomitability of the human spirit, basically.
00:18:55.440 -->
00:18:57.359That's what Laverne and Shirley is really about.
00:18:57.359 -->
00:19:08.319And believe it or not, there this was really the first instance of blue collar, other than on the family, of blue collar heroines being shown on TV.
00:19:08.319 -->
00:19:09.039Think about it.
00:19:09.039 -->
00:19:13.920Most of the, you know, Marion Rhoda, definitely not blue collar.
00:19:13.920 -->
00:19:16.559Lucy and Ethel, definitely not blue collar.
00:19:16.559 -->
00:19:18.720So this was really one of the very first.
00:19:18.720 -->
00:19:31.839Now we have Roseanne, we have uh we had a bunch of things to point to, but this was really the first time which took a sympathetic look at working women, blue-collar working women, and in this comedy format.
00:19:31.839 -->
00:19:34.319And that was what was appealing to Gary Marshall.
00:19:34.319 -->
00:19:42.319And it's interesting, you know, before Laverne and Shirley became, before Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams became Laverne and Shirley, they knew each other.
00:19:42.319 -->
00:19:48.319They were friends, they were collaborators, and they were struggling actresses living in Hollywood.
00:19:48.319 -->
00:20:07.279So it's kind of it's nice that they have that backstory together as real people, that they then come together for this show, because it is actually because of the fact that Penny Marshall knew Cindy Williams and suggested Cindy Williams to play this part, which began on Happy Days.
00:20:07.279 -->
00:20:12.160But I'm gonna get to that in a minute, but just a little bit about how this all came about.
00:20:12.160 -->
00:20:18.559According to Gary Marshall, this really came about because his mother was always nagging him to get a job for his sister.
00:20:18.559 -->
00:20:31.680Get Penny a job, get Penny a job, get Penny a job, because these were they were all the Marshall family was all in the industry, and they were a TV industry family, and Gary began his career as a writer.
00:20:31.680 -->
00:20:35.839He later developed uh the odd couple, and of course, happy days.
00:20:35.839 -->
00:20:38.960Uh their sister Ronnie worked in casting.
00:20:38.960 -->
00:20:47.279Their father was an executive later at Paramount, but Penny was always the odd Penny, if you will.
00:20:47.279 -->
00:20:52.480Penny always turned up, and people didn't have a lot of confidence in Penny's gifts.
00:20:52.480 -->
00:20:54.960And so Gary, you know, would throw her bones constantly.
00:20:54.960 -->
00:20:58.480She was on uh the odd The Odd Couple in 1971.
00:20:58.480 -->
00:21:04.799She played Myrna, she did a show called Paul Sand and Friends and Lovers, which was canceled.
00:21:04.799 -->
00:21:13.599She uh auditioned for a role on a show called All in the Family for the role of Gloria Stivik.
00:21:13.599 -->
00:21:17.839She didn't get that part, but she knew the guy who ended up playing Mike.
00:21:17.839 -->
00:21:19.200And who's that, Brad?
00:21:19.200 -->
00:21:21.519Uh a guy named Rob Reiner, I believe it was.
00:21:21.519 -->
00:21:22.079Exactly.
00:21:22.079 -->
00:21:23.839You may remember him.
00:21:23.839 -->
00:21:25.279You might remember Rob Reiner.
00:21:25.279 -->
00:21:26.960We talked about him not that long ago.
00:21:26.960 -->
00:21:30.960Um, and so Penny married Rob Reiner, and they were a couple.
00:21:30.960 -->
00:21:36.160And what happened was that Gary needed two actresses for an episode of Happy Days.
00:21:36.160 -->
00:21:42.799He wanted uh working class young women who would go on a double date with Richie and the Fonds.
00:21:42.799 -->
00:21:46.720So he called Penny and Cindy, who were still writing together at this time.
00:21:46.720 -->
00:21:56.559They're working on a project for Frances Ford Coppola, actually, and said, Would you guys like to come on Happy Days and and play some girls who uh who who would date the fleet?
00:21:56.559 -->
00:21:57.519As they said it.
00:21:57.519 -->
00:21:59.440Definitely not.
00:21:59.440 -->
00:22:01.359Laverna cheerleader became.
00:22:01.359 -->
00:22:02.640And they're like, sure, why not?
00:22:02.640 -->
00:22:03.279It'll be fun.
00:22:03.279 -->
00:22:05.759That was their that was their take on it.
00:22:05.759 -->
00:22:06.400Yeah, let's do it.
00:22:06.400 -->
00:22:06.720Why not?
00:22:06.720 -->
00:22:07.359It's a one-off.
00:22:07.359 -->
00:22:10.480It'll be a fun thing because they were good friends and they would do this together.
00:22:10.480 -->
00:22:14.559Now you watched the guest spot in Happy Days, didn't you, Brad?
00:22:14.559 -->
00:22:15.279Yes.
00:22:15.279 -->
00:22:19.200I well I I remember it distinctly when it first aired.
00:22:19.200 -->
00:22:20.720And uh I'll get into that.
00:22:20.720 -->
00:22:25.119But I also watched the clip that is on YouTube where it's not the full episode.
00:22:25.119 -->
00:22:27.759Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find that anywhere.
00:22:27.759 -->
00:22:32.960But I watched a little clip when they first walk out, and boy, they were just like they were on the TV series.
00:22:32.960 -->
00:22:34.960Especially Shirley.
00:22:34.960 -->
00:22:38.079He's being incredibly facetious here.
00:22:38.079 -->
00:22:40.960Because they're not.
00:22:40.960 -->
00:22:46.559Again, he described these characters as girls who would air quotes date the fleet.
00:22:46.559 -->
00:22:49.920And it's funny, like almost prostitutes, basically.
00:22:49.920 -->
00:22:55.440And it's funny because this was actually inspired by a real incident in Gary Marshall's life.
00:22:55.440 -->
00:22:56.720Did you know this?
00:22:56.720 -->
00:22:59.839When when he was in the army, he went on a double date.
00:22:59.839 -->
00:23:05.680And while he was on the double date, another girl approached his date and they started to get into an argument.
00:23:05.680 -->
00:23:07.440And then they started to scream at each other.
00:23:07.440 -->
00:23:09.519And then they got into an actual fist fight.
00:23:09.519 -->
00:23:11.759And she's like, here, hold my coat.
00:23:11.759 -->
00:23:13.279And they went at it.
00:23:13.279 -->
00:23:19.119And that was the that was the genesis of the characters of Laverne and Shirley on Happy Days.
00:23:19.119 -->
00:23:20.720That because they go in the bathroom and they fight.
00:23:20.720 -->
00:23:22.000They have a physical fight.
00:23:22.000 -->
00:23:29.519So yeah, they're they're nowhere near the dainty uh virgins that appeared on Laverne and Shirley later.
00:23:29.519 -->
00:23:31.200Well, what were your ideas?
00:23:31.200 -->
00:23:34.799Well, they they fought constantly on the on Laverne and Shirley.
00:23:34.799 -->
00:23:37.279They just I I don't recall.
00:23:37.279 -->
00:23:41.200I'm certain there were times it got physical, but certainly not like it was on Happy Days.
00:23:41.200 -->
00:23:43.920No, they were a little classier on Laverne and Shirley.
00:23:43.920 -->
00:23:44.880They were a little classier.
00:23:44.880 -->
00:23:47.039Well, what were your thoughts on them and happy days?
00:23:47.039 -->
00:23:49.279Well, you know, here's the reason I remember it.
00:23:49.279 -->
00:23:52.240And I uh you know, I was very young when it came out.
00:23:52.240 -->
00:24:08.559Um and the reason I remember it is after that episode, which I thought was funny, later when I heard that they were created who knows where I got probably in the TV guide back then is probably where I read it that a series was being created based on these characters.
00:24:08.559 -->
00:24:13.920And my thought was, how can they do a series based on those two characters?
00:24:13.920 -->
00:24:22.000Because they were they were there wasn't much depth to them because they were walk-on characters, they they played exactly what they should have been.
00:24:22.000 -->
00:24:26.880But I'm like, based on that, like how can you do a series?
00:24:26.880 -->
00:24:37.279Well, of course, they changed them up a little bit, they were still at the very core who they were, more Laverne than Shirley was, but um yeah, that's why I distinctly remember it.
00:24:37.279 -->
00:24:40.240They were good time girls, they were good time girls, basically.
00:24:40.240 -->
00:24:46.079They were definitely good time girls, and Shirley almost seemed like she had a mental problem.
00:24:46.079 -->
00:24:53.119She was so clingy to Richie, and uh uh but boy, she she uh was not uh demure, that's for sure.
00:24:53.119 -->
00:25:01.039Well, Cindy Williams claimed that when they originally started filming, they walked on both with cigarettes and chewing gum.
00:25:01.039 -->
00:25:05.279And the director yelled, cut, you can't have cigarettes in the family hour.
00:25:05.279 -->
00:25:06.720Get rid of the cigarettes.
00:25:06.720 -->
00:25:10.640So she had the idea that Shirley was a chain smoker and she was always chewing gum.
00:25:10.640 -->
00:25:18.000But they were both, yes, they were both kind of classless, good time girls on happy days.
00:25:18.000 -->
00:25:21.759But here's the key was was that the audience loved them.
00:25:21.759 -->
00:25:30.000And their chemistry, because they were good friends in real life and they worked together, they were colleagues in real life, their chemistry just jumped off the screen.
00:25:30.000 -->
00:25:31.119You can still see that.
00:25:31.119 -->
00:25:34.079These women are so wonderful together.
00:25:34.079 -->
00:25:37.680They are totally Lucy and Ethel, completely, completely, completely.
00:25:37.680 -->
00:25:41.279That kind of chemistry, that kind of reading each other's minds, completely.
00:25:41.279 -->
00:25:43.759So that so the audience is, so they love that.
00:25:43.759 -->
00:25:52.400And Gary Marshall said that Fred Silverman, who was now running ABC, said to him one day at a meeting, you got any ideas for spin-offs?
00:25:52.400 -->
00:25:56.880And Gary thought immediately about the chemistry between his sister and Cindy Williams.
00:25:56.880 -->
00:26:06.720But they realized that they had to basically not only class them up to make them the lead of a sitcom, they'd have to re-virginalize them.
00:26:06.720 -->
00:26:17.920So that's that was the key to getting these characters on the family viewing hour was to re-re-virginalize them and turn them into the Laverne and Shirley that we know.
00:26:17.920 -->
00:26:28.720That didn't happen immediately, and you can kind of see that in the first few episodes, but eventually, eventually they became re-virginalized and very air quotes pure.
00:26:28.720 -->
00:26:31.119They didn't fool around, they didn't voteio do.
00:26:31.119 -->
00:26:33.359They do not voteio do.
00:26:33.359 -->
00:26:34.640You voteio do.
00:26:34.640 -->
00:26:36.480I do not voteio do.
00:26:36.480 -->
00:26:38.079You voteo.
00:26:38.079 -->
00:26:42.720Um, but that's that's what they had to do in order to get these characters on the on the air.
00:26:42.720 -->
00:26:47.279Yeah, Laverne was probably the most virginal tramp ever on television.
00:26:47.279 -->
00:26:48.720She was.
00:26:48.720 -->
00:27:04.720But you know, it's funny because as I said, Gary Marshall's idea, his larger idea, was the fact that there had never been there was something unusual, well, unusual about placing two ordinary blue-collar women at the center of a sitcom.
00:27:04.720 -->
00:27:07.119It had never really been done before.
00:27:07.119 -->
00:27:13.119And what was interesting was was that Cindy Williams was not on board at first.
00:27:13.119 -->
00:27:14.079Did you know that?
00:27:14.079 -->
00:27:15.680I did hear this, yes.
00:27:15.680 -->
00:27:22.160Because Cindy Williams was really on the verge of a very potentially big film career.
00:27:22.160 -->
00:27:27.200Now, this was in the time where it's totally different now, but we've said this before.
00:27:27.200 -->
00:27:31.759Movie stars, TV stars, definitely not in the same orbit.
00:27:31.759 -->
00:27:34.079Movie stars did not do TV.
00:27:34.079 -->
00:27:37.839And if you wanted to be a film star, a movie star, you didn't do TV.
00:27:37.839 -->
00:27:49.279And Sydney Williams had just done American Graffiti with Ron Howard, ironically, and she had just done The Conversation with Gene Hackman, two very, very important films.
00:27:49.279 -->
00:27:50.480So she was like, nah.
00:27:50.480 -->
00:27:53.039And let's not forget the son of the blob.
00:27:53.039 -->
00:27:54.640That true, that too.
00:27:54.640 -->
00:27:55.519That also.
00:27:55.519 -->
00:28:04.799So she had ideas that she was going to be a film actress, and she didn't want to basically sully herself by doing television.
00:28:04.799 -->
00:28:11.599So they actually cast somebody else to do this 10-minute pilot, uh, test pilot for Laverne and Shirley.
00:28:11.599 -->
00:28:13.119Uh, did you know this, Brad?
00:28:13.119 -->
00:28:13.839I didn't.
00:28:13.839 -->
00:28:16.160I don't remember who it was, so I'm anxious to hear.
00:28:16.160 -->
00:28:19.920Her name is an actress named Liberty Williams.
00:28:19.920 -->
00:28:21.920No relation to Cindy.
00:28:21.920 -->
00:28:22.960No relation to Cindy.
00:28:22.960 -->
00:28:25.200There's a lot of Williamses in Los Angeles.
00:28:25.200 -->
00:28:25.920Okay, I don't remember.
00:28:25.920 -->
00:28:28.240I remember I remember because she had an unusual name.
00:28:28.240 -->
00:28:30.240I it I was thinking it was somebody I would know otherwise.
00:28:30.240 -->
00:28:32.720She's a she's she was a cute pert.
00:28:32.720 -->
00:28:35.039She was like Cindy Williams Light, you know?
00:28:35.039 -->
00:28:45.680But and they filmed a screen test with Liberty Williams and Penny, but it just Michael Eisner, who was head of ABC at this time, was just like, absolutely not.
00:28:45.680 -->
00:28:49.039The chemistry is between Cindy and Penny.
00:28:49.039 -->
00:28:52.160We've got to find some way to get Cindy to do this.
00:28:52.160 -->
00:28:55.759So he was able to convince Cindy Williams to do this.
00:28:55.759 -->
00:29:02.720Probably, he probably said to her, look, it'll last a season, it won't harm your movie career, and I'll make sure you get movie work after this.
00:29:02.720 -->
00:29:08.319So that's probably how he convinced her because she eventually came around and said, Yes, I will do this.
00:29:08.319 -->
00:29:12.960So that's how we got Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall in Laverne and Shirley.
00:29:12.960 -->
00:29:20.160I want to touch on, I'm sure we'll do it more, the comparison between Lucy and Ethel and Laverne and Shirley.
00:29:20.160 -->
00:29:20.880Absolutely.
00:29:20.880 -->
00:29:28.720Because one thing I one thing I think that was a benefit to these two is Lucy came from I Love Lucy.
00:29:28.720 -->
00:29:30.319Lucy was clearly the star.
00:29:30.319 -->
00:29:33.920She not only she she ran the show, she was the star.
00:29:33.920 -->
00:29:39.279And Vivian Vance, an incredibly talented woman, was always overshadowed by Lucy.
00:29:39.279 -->
00:29:42.079Just the very nature of the industry made that happen.
00:29:42.079 -->
00:29:45.680And Lucy, no shade, was an incredible talent.
00:29:45.680 -->
00:29:54.319Because Penny Marshall was not known, and despite the fact that her brother created this show, they were to me equals.
00:29:54.319 -->
00:29:54.720Yeah.
00:29:54.720 -->
00:29:57.759It wasn't it wasn't Laverne and her roommate.
00:29:57.759 -->
00:29:59.519It was Laverne and Shirley.
00:29:59.519 -->
00:30:18.720And that is one thing that I think made it, I don't want to say stronger, but it it endears me a little bit because I always felt uh again, it's not a shade on Lucy because of her talent, but I always felt like Vivian Vance, who I also find incredibly talented, was I was always sad for her that she was the you know the supporting the secondary.
00:30:18.720 -->
00:30:20.240She was a supporting player.
00:30:20.240 -->
00:30:20.480Yeah.
00:30:20.480 -->
00:30:21.440Yeah, she was supporting.
00:30:21.440 -->
00:30:22.480Supporting.
00:30:22.480 -->
00:30:25.279And and I like that these two are equals for the most part.
00:30:25.279 -->
00:30:25.920They are.
00:30:25.920 -->
00:30:27.200And that's what's wonderful about it.
00:30:27.200 -->
00:30:33.119I always think it does actresses a disservice to call them the new Lucy and Ethel, the new Marion Rhoda.
00:30:33.119 -->
00:30:34.079I mean, I get it.
00:30:34.079 -->
00:30:43.759We all do it, but no, because these actresses had qualities and characteristics which are so individual to their own specific talents and gifts.
00:30:44.000 -->
00:30:44.400Absolutely.
00:30:44.960 -->
00:30:47.440And I that's what I love about Laverne and Shirley.
00:30:47.440 -->
00:30:54.319Yeah, it's the spirit of Lucy and Ethel, but Lucy and Ethel is the spirit of the Keystone Cops.
00:30:54.319 -->
00:30:58.160I mean, you can do you can go back, back and back and back and back.
00:30:58.160 -->
00:31:01.920What's wonderful about Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall is their chemistry.
00:31:01.920 -->
00:31:13.519What made it work, just like with and I this I will give you, just like with Lucy O'Ball and Vivian Vance, their chemistry is what makes the situations work and the way they work with each other.
00:31:13.519 -->
00:31:16.400It's almost like they're finishing each other's sentences.
00:31:16.400 -->
00:31:20.799And that's what makes it so wonderful to see them on screen together.
00:31:20.799 -->
00:31:21.599The love.
00:31:21.599 -->
00:31:22.880There's love there.
00:31:22.880 -->
00:31:24.960That's what people respond to.
00:31:24.960 -->
00:31:30.480We have to bring up another duo in this show, and I'm kind of hesitant about this.
00:31:30.480 -->
00:31:32.720I'm wondering how Brad's gonna go with this.
00:31:32.720 -->
00:31:47.119Um, because another key piece of the show's success, you can't deny it, came from Michael McKean and David Lander, who played Lenny and Squiggy, who were not intentionally intended to be major characters on this show.
00:31:47.119 -->
00:31:52.480But Gary thought we have to have somebody lower on the social totem pole than Laverne and Shirley.
00:31:52.480 -->
00:31:56.319There has to be somebody lower, and that's where Lenny and Squiggy came from.
00:31:56.319 -->
00:32:00.319But what are your thoughts on Lenny and Squiggy, Brad, in the show?
00:32:00.319 -->
00:32:04.000Um, I always cringed when they came out.
00:32:04.000 -->
00:32:09.039Um, I think uh as performers or in the story, or what do you mean?
00:32:09.039 -->
00:32:14.640Their characters, um, because I always call it the the Kramer effect.
00:32:14.640 -->
00:32:18.559Kramer was great, and so they started to have him come into the door too often.
00:32:18.559 -->
00:32:30.880And I will say that is one thing that I liked about Vernon and Shirley that I felt helped keep it strong, is uh for the most part the secondary characters stayed secondary.
00:32:30.880 -->
00:32:40.799They occasionally had episodes where they came forward, like the episode where the whole lone wolf issue with with Lenny, which I I but absolutely Yeah, sweet episode.
00:32:40.799 -->
00:32:41.279Sweet.
00:32:41.279 -->
00:32:42.240Uh you say so.
00:32:42.240 -->
00:32:43.359It's like, oh, get out.
00:32:43.359 -->
00:32:44.799Let's see Laverne and Cherry.
00:32:44.799 -->
00:32:45.920Let's get past these two guys.
00:32:45.920 -->
00:32:51.759Yeah, so it's not that I disliked them, it's just that a little they were funny to walk in and then go away.
00:32:51.759 -->
00:32:53.440And that's the way I liked them.
00:32:53.440 -->
00:32:57.519It's whenever they became more than that that I was like, oh, please.
00:32:57.519 -->
00:33:03.680Well, thank God they said no to Fred Silverman when he offered to spin them off after the first year.
00:33:03.680 -->
00:33:05.279What is it with Fred Silverman?
00:33:05.279 -->
00:33:08.799Remember, he did that with Valerie Harper on Rhoda on Mary Teller Moore's show.
00:33:08.799 -->
00:33:10.319Like, we want to give you your we want to spin you off.
00:33:10.319 -->
00:33:12.000And she's like, what the hell's a spin-off?
00:33:12.000 -->
00:33:15.279They did this, he did the same thing with McKean and Landers.
00:33:15.279 -->
00:33:16.559He's like, we want to give you your own show.
00:33:16.559 -->
00:33:19.039And they're like, no, we've barely done a season.
00:33:19.039 -->
00:33:20.559We're we're not ready for this.
00:33:20.559 -->
00:33:24.720And thank God, because that show would have tanked so fast because they are.
00:33:24.720 -->
00:33:28.000They're the added spice, they're not the main event.
00:33:28.000 -->
00:33:31.359You know, you can't eat a meal that's all salt and pepper.
00:33:31.359 -->
00:33:32.480You need food.
00:33:32.480 -->
00:33:41.200And Laverne and Shirley are the food, and Lenny and Squiggy are the spice that you get attention in once in a while that makes the show interesting, and then they go.
00:33:41.200 -->
00:33:50.319But what's interesting about I find what's interesting about uh McKean and Landers is they had created these characters of Lenny, and his name was Antney.
00:33:50.319 -->
00:33:55.759They were originally Lenny and Antney, and they created them at uh Carnegie Mellon University.
00:33:55.759 -->
00:34:04.880Hello, Carnegie Mellon, when they were in school, and basically they were two stoned losers when they first created them.
00:34:04.880 -->
00:34:08.639There was a lot of cannabis involved in these characters' demeanors.
00:34:08.639 -->
00:34:10.159Did you know about that, Brad?
00:34:10.159 -->
00:34:13.760Did you know that they were originally they created them in school and they were Lenny and Anthony?
00:34:13.760 -->
00:34:16.559I knew they worked together and they had a routine together.
00:34:16.559 -->
00:34:18.239I didn't know the details of it.
00:34:18.239 -->
00:34:22.719I knew that these were not two guys that were brought together for a show that knew it didn't know each other.
00:34:22.719 -->
00:34:23.119Right.
00:34:23.119 -->
00:34:45.519So what happened was it was a party, and uh Penny Marshall knew they were going to be there, and she asked them to do, or maybe it was Rob Reiner who asked them to do these characters of Lenny and Anthony as a party game, and the executives loved it, laughed, so we had and Gary's like, we have to put them in the show because as I said, we need characters who were actually lower than Laverne and Shirley.
00:34:45.519 -->
00:34:46.639So that's that's good.
00:34:46.639 -->
00:34:49.360But they thought there were too many Italians in this show.
00:34:49.360 -->
00:34:55.599This show was full of Italians from from Phil Harris to Penny Marshall to Gary Marshall.
00:34:55.599 -->
00:34:56.880So they changed it.
00:34:56.880 -->
00:35:07.119Uh, he wasn't Antney anymore, it became Lenny and Squiggy because since the show's in Milwaukee, like we said, it's got a high German and Polish population, and that made so much sense.
00:35:07.119 -->
00:35:14.000And what's really funny is that neither Landers nor McKean were actually in the Screen Actors Guild.
00:35:14.000 -->
00:35:21.440So they were, and this is this is like a little this is a rumor, uh, urban myth, which I'm gonna punch a little hole in.
00:35:21.440 -->
00:35:25.280People always say they were originally hired as writers and they wrote themselves into the show.
00:35:25.280 -->
00:35:32.159No, they were always going to be in the show, but they were originally hired as writers because they didn't have their sag cards.
00:35:32.159 -->
00:35:36.480Now, I don't know why they just didn't buy them the SAG cards, but anyway, that's that's the way it was.
00:35:36.480 -->
00:35:40.960So they came on as writers and then they were written into the show.
00:35:40.960 -->
00:35:44.800But it is true that they usually wrote their own dialogue.
00:35:44.800 -->
00:35:46.400That's usually their scripted.
00:35:46.400 -->
00:35:50.559It wasn't part of usually that was their own creation.
00:35:50.559 -->
00:35:53.039Now that doesn't surprise that doesn't surprise me at all.
00:35:53.039 -->
00:35:53.679I don't know.
00:35:53.679 -->
00:35:54.800I kind of I like them.
00:35:54.800 -->
00:35:55.920I like when they come in.
00:35:55.920 -->
00:36:02.880I like how I love their relationship with Laverne and Shirley, you know, Lenny and Laverne and Shirley and Squiggy.
00:36:02.880 -->
00:36:05.440They have they have a special connection.
00:36:05.440 -->
00:36:06.159And did you know?
00:36:06.159 -->
00:36:07.840Here's a little tidbit for you, too.
00:36:07.840 -->
00:36:14.480Did you know that Cindy Williams and um David Landers actually dated off and on the entire run of the series?
00:36:14.480 -->
00:36:15.199Can you believe that?
00:36:15.199 -->
00:36:16.800Shirley and Squiggy together.
00:36:16.800 -->
00:36:19.039I heard the rumor, I didn't know if it was true.
00:36:19.039 -->
00:36:20.320It's delicious.
00:36:20.320 -->
00:36:21.199It's delicious.
00:36:21.199 -->
00:36:23.519Yeah, I know it's a great, it's a great rumor.
00:36:23.519 -->
00:36:26.960I like them, I think they add a wonderful flavor.
00:36:26.960 -->
00:36:31.039I mean, you can't beat, you know, every time she says, why would anybody once?
00:36:31.039 -->
00:36:38.480I remember one specifically, Laverne has eating something and she spits it out and Shirley goes, Don't do that, Laverne.
00:36:38.480 -->
00:36:40.559Who would want anything chewed up and spit out?
00:36:40.559 -->
00:36:41.599And of course, hello.
00:36:41.599 -->
00:36:44.719That's when that never got old.
00:36:44.719 -->
00:36:45.920It never gets old.
00:36:45.920 -->
00:36:46.719It never gets old.
00:36:46.719 -->
00:36:47.280I love that.
00:36:47.280 -->
00:36:47.760Hell.
00:36:47.760 -->
00:36:50.239Um, that was the running gag.
00:36:50.239 -->
00:36:50.880I like them.
00:36:50.880 -->
00:36:55.840Yeah, they could be a bit much sometimes, but I do like the levels they brought to the show.
00:36:55.840 -->
00:36:56.639I do.
00:36:56.639 -->
00:36:57.280I agree.
00:36:57.280 -->
00:37:05.119So before we get into these episodes, Brad, is there something that you want to, anything else you want to talk about, any of these characters or that you want to add to what we've said so far?
00:37:05.119 -->
00:37:12.880I just want to add one uh two more things to the whole um New Yorkers in Milwaukee kind of thing.
00:37:12.880 -->
00:37:20.480Because we have the the the of course the one, two, three, four Hasenfeffer incorporated Schlumizel Schlmazel.
00:37:20.480 -->
00:37:28.400So we have women in Milwaukee who neither the characters are Jewish, but they're singing Yiddish, they're they're talking Yiddish.
00:37:28.400 -->
00:37:29.920Well, I was gonna ask you that.
00:37:29.920 -->
00:37:30.960That was one of my tidbits.
00:37:30.960 -->
00:37:32.639I'm like, do you know what a schlemeel is?
00:37:32.639 -->
00:37:34.000Do you know what a schlamozzel is?
00:37:34.000 -->
00:37:40.960I know what a schlemeel and a I know what a schlamozzo is because I remember Louis on taxi explaining what a schlemeel and a schlmazel is.
00:37:40.960 -->
00:37:42.800Oh, tell the people, tell the people.
00:37:42.800 -->
00:37:44.079Uh I hope I get it right.
00:37:44.079 -->
00:37:50.719A schlamiel is a guy that spills soup, and the schlamazzo is the one that gets the soup spilled out of.
00:37:50.719 -->
00:37:52.000Yes, exactly.
00:37:52.000 -->
00:37:54.159That was the way Louis explained it.
00:37:54.159 -->
00:37:55.280That's it, that's it.
00:37:55.280 -->
00:37:59.920A schlemeel is a bumbling person, and a schlamozzle is an unlucky person.
00:37:59.920 -->
00:38:05.840And that whole one, two, three, four chant they do was something that Penny used to do as a child playing hopscotch.
00:38:05.840 -->
00:38:06.880That's why that's in there.
00:38:06.880 -->
00:38:07.360Yep.
00:38:07.360 -->
00:38:15.440And we're gonna uh I I was gonna save the second thing that added to that, but I'm gonna wait until we talk about that particular episode, which maybe I think next week.
00:38:15.440 -->
00:38:21.360So uh one last tidbit before we get into these episodes, um, is the fact that we talked earlier about the L.
00:38:21.360 -->
00:38:27.840Why does Penny Marshall, why does Laverne have the L on her shirt in every single episode?
00:38:27.840 -->
00:38:30.159What what's why what's the story behind it?
00:38:30.159 -->
00:38:46.639And it was a way of distinguishing who the characters were because Penny's like they we would rather have an L signifying Laverne than every time the characters came in the room at the beginning of each episode having to say, Hey Laverne, hey Shirley, even though they ended up doing that all the time.
00:38:46.639 -->
00:38:55.039Um, but that's why the L is there, and it became a I think it's you know it's mythic that L on on Laverne's shirt.
00:38:55.039 -->
00:38:56.800It's fantastic, it's wonderful.
00:38:56.800 -->
00:39:02.000So Laverne and Shirley premiered on January 27th, 1976.
00:39:02.000 -->
00:39:11.760And uh, as a bump, Penny and Cindy appeared on the Happy Days episode right before it, because Laverne and Shirley aired right after Happy Days, Tuesday night,
8:30.
00:39:11.760 -->
00:39:14.400I still remember it so very well.
00:39:14.400 -->
00:39:22.559And Gary Marshall said after the premiere that day, he was the next morning, he was searching the trades to see what the ratings were.
00:39:22.559 -->
00:39:23.920How'd the show do?
00:39:23.920 -->
00:39:26.079And he was really upset because he couldn't find it.
00:39:26.079 -->
00:39:27.519He's like, Where's Laverne and Shirley?
00:39:27.519 -->
00:39:28.800Where's Laverne and Shirley?
00:39:28.800 -->
00:39:33.920And his wife looked at him and she looked at the paper and she said, You're not looking high enough.
00:39:33.920 -->
00:39:36.320It debuted at number one.
00:39:36.320 -->
00:39:38.239Isn't that incredible?
00:39:38.239 -->
00:39:39.039That's incredible.
00:39:39.039 -->
00:39:41.840I think only four other shows had done that.
00:39:41.840 -->
00:39:43.360I know Andy Griffith did it.
00:39:43.360 -->
00:39:46.880Rhoda did it not that long before, and I can't remember what the other one is.
00:39:46.880 -->
00:39:53.840But that is astounding that the show actually debuted at number one for its very first episode.
00:39:53.840 -->
00:39:55.519That was saying something right there.
00:39:55.519 -->
00:39:58.800And Andy Griffith was known as a comedian already.
00:39:58.800 -->
00:40:03.360So he had his foot in the door a little bit, and the movie star.
00:40:03.360 -->
00:40:11.280Uh, Rhoda, obviously, everybody loved and adored Rhoda after being what on two, three seasons of Mary Tyler Moore before she spun off.
00:40:11.280 -->
00:40:11.760Four.
00:40:11.760 -->
00:40:18.079These are two women that played a role on one episode of Happy Days, which you just told me.
00:40:18.079 -->
00:40:19.760I always assumed it was a backdoor pilot.
00:40:19.760 -->
00:40:21.199I didn't know it wasn't.
00:40:21.199 -->
00:40:24.800And yet, out of the blue, it premieres at number one.
00:40:24.800 -->
00:40:25.840That's pretty amazing.
00:40:25.840 -->
00:40:27.039It is pretty amazing.
00:40:27.039 -->
00:40:28.000It is pretty amazing.
00:40:28.000 -->
00:40:42.639And it jostled between one and three and one and four for its first two years until its third season, it became the most watched television program in America, displacing from the number one spot.
00:40:42.639 -->
00:40:47.119What do you think the move the show was that it pushed out of number one spot when it became number one, Brad?
00:40:47.119 -->
00:40:48.639Cared adventure, I guess.
00:40:48.639 -->
00:40:55.199Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna take a guess only because I know that it did uh do stronger than happy days for quite a period.
00:40:55.199 -->
00:40:56.719So I'm just gonna say happy days.
00:40:56.719 -->
00:40:57.760I don't think that's right.
00:40:57.760 -->
00:41:01.840It wasn't happy days, it was All in the Family.
00:41:01.840 -->
00:41:09.199Um, can you imagine the ride home in the car between Penny Marshall and Rob Reiner when that happened?
00:41:09.199 -->
00:41:11.519They argued their way to the bank.
00:41:11.519 -->
00:41:17.679Um, but you know, all in the family had been on for five, six years by this point, so it was no big deal.
00:41:17.679 -->
00:41:19.840Um, but there was some stress that happened.
00:41:19.840 -->
00:41:27.599But before we get into these episodes, I just want to say that, you know, this is one of the very sad things, and I think we're gonna have a little grown-up moment here, folks.
00:41:27.599 -->
00:41:37.039We like to think, I like to think of everything in TV being peaches and cream and sweet as pie and just everybody loving everybody.
00:41:37.039 -->
00:41:43.440And when you're talking about a show as heartwarming and as lovely as Laverne and Shirley, you really want that to be true.
00:41:43.440 -->
00:41:46.719Unfortunately, it wasn't.
00:41:46.719 -->
00:41:53.199This was one of the most turbulent sets in the history of television.
00:41:53.199 -->
00:42:01.519In fact, Gary Marshall said his kids would come visit him when he was working, and they always wanted to go see Laverne and Shirley.
00:42:01.519 -->
00:42:04.320They always wanted to go visit the Laverne and Shirley set, and he wouldn't let them.
00:42:04.320 -->
00:42:13.199He said, because I couldn't expose them to the screaming and the swearing and the fights between Penny and Cindy and the writers.
00:42:13.199 -->
00:42:22.960It was just a nightmare to work on this show, which always astounds me because it's such a lighthearted romp when you're watching it.
00:42:22.960 -->
00:42:26.559But apparently, this was a real hell on this on this set.
00:42:26.559 -->
00:42:27.920Had you heard that?
00:42:27.920 -->
00:42:31.840I well, that that had been talked about for for ages.
00:42:31.840 -->
00:42:33.599That was talked about during the show's run.
00:42:33.599 -->
00:42:35.519So yes, I definitely had heard about that.
00:42:35.519 -->
00:42:38.559Uh, nobody knew whether it was true or not at the at those times.
00:42:38.559 -->
00:42:40.239Yeah, I know it's amazing.
00:42:40.239 -->
00:42:46.559Over the course of the series, 144 writers came and went.
00:42:46.559 -->
00:42:56.079Now, just for context, remember on I Love Lucy, there were two right, three writers, and then later five writers, but nobody left.
00:42:56.079 -->
00:42:58.159There were five writers the entire time.
00:42:58.159 -->
00:43:10.159144 writers came and went on LaVerna Shirley because they because of the fighting, because of the fact that Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall, when they weren't fighting each other, would then turn on the writers.
00:43:10.159 -->
00:43:15.519And Gary Marshall said he wishes that he could say it wasn't the case, but it was.
00:43:15.519 -->
00:43:17.440He said, Happy Days was a happy set.
00:43:17.440 -->
00:43:20.159He said, Whenever I wanted a happy set, I go to Happy Days.
00:43:20.159 -->
00:43:23.199Whenever I needed the tension, I went to Laverne and Shirley.
00:43:23.199 -->
00:43:39.440And he thinks it's he thinks it's because of the fact that this success came so fast and so intensely that these women who were still fairly young, you know, Penny was in uh Cindy was in her late 20s, Penny was in her early 30s, didn't know how to handle it.
00:43:39.440 -->
00:43:45.599They couldn't handle this sudden fame and the pressure of having the number one show on television.
00:43:45.599 -->
00:43:53.280And that's a tremendous reason why there was so much heartache on this show and so many problems on this show.
00:43:53.280 -->
00:43:54.719Yeah, that is sad to hear.
00:43:54.719 -->
00:43:59.199But but it certainly being professionals that they are, it never showed on the show.
00:43:59.199 -->
00:44:00.400No, it Didn't.
00:44:00.400 -->
00:44:08.800And for her part, Penny said that Penny was no big surprise here, incredibly insecure about her looks, always her entire life.
00:44:08.800 -->
00:44:15.519And to be on screen next to cute, petite Cindy Williams was very difficult on her ego.
00:44:15.519 -->
00:44:22.880And also, think about Cindy Williams, you're basically in the Marshall family business.
00:44:22.880 -->
00:44:30.880You know, you're your co-star, the creator, uh, the casting person, the studio executive are all Marshall.
00:44:30.880 -->
00:44:33.119So that's pretty intimidating, too.
00:44:33.119 -->
00:44:44.000So when we get into these episodes and we talk about how wonderful they are, um, remember that the set was hell, but the show, but the product was wonderful.
00:44:44.000 -->
00:44:45.039Wonderful.
00:44:45.039 -->
00:44:47.280So we should get into these episodes, Brad.
00:44:47.280 -->
00:44:49.840Uh otherwise, we're gonna, it is gonna be a three-part episode.
00:44:49.840 -->
00:44:50.320Yes.
00:44:50.320 -->
00:44:54.559So as I said, Laverne and Shirley ran eight years.
00:44:54.559 -->
00:44:58.480There were 178 episodes uh in the eight years.
00:44:58.480 -->
00:45:01.360Strangely enough, this happens sometimes with us.
00:45:01.360 -->
00:45:05.519We didn't pick any episodes from the first year, from the first half season.
00:45:05.519 -->
00:45:09.599I like the first season, but the actresses are still kind of finding their characters.
00:45:09.599 -->
00:45:16.320Uh like I said, Shirley still has a New York accent in the first few episodes, and she's a little hard.
00:45:16.320 -->
00:45:20.719Um, but there are some really good episodes uh near the end of the first year.
00:45:20.719 -->
00:45:23.519I also didn't like it when Fonz would make his cameos.
00:45:23.519 -->
00:45:24.639You know what I mean?
00:45:24.639 -->
00:45:27.199It's like uh we don't need this, you know.
00:45:27.199 -->
00:45:32.400These women are the reason we're watching this show, not to see this middle-aged James Dean Wannabe come in.
00:45:32.400 -->
00:45:35.119And I just like we don't need Fonz.
00:45:35.119 -->
00:45:36.239These women are fine.
00:45:36.239 -->
00:45:38.159So nothing from the first season.
00:45:38.159 -->
00:45:46.639We picked from the second season, and I had a very difficult time choosing between from my first episode, so I kind of did both of them.
00:45:46.639 -->
00:45:47.920Sorry, Brad.
00:45:47.920 -->
00:45:56.239Um, so I remember as a kid loving the episode where Laverne, where Shirley taught Laverne how to drive.
00:45:56.239 -->
00:46:02.000And I also remembered loving this episode where they were candy stripers or volunteer nurses.
00:46:02.000 -->
00:46:03.360So I combined them.
00:46:03.360 -->
00:46:06.960So our first two episodes is from season two, episode one.
00:46:06.960 -->
00:46:09.119It's called Drive, she said.
00:46:09.119 -->
00:46:17.280It was written by Jack Winter, directed by Howard Storm, and it originally aired on September 28th, 1976.
00:46:17.760 -->
00:46:20.639I'm afraid to drive, and I just don't want everyone to know, okay?
00:46:20.639 -->
00:46:21.280Think about this.
00:46:21.280 -->
00:46:22.000Not okay.
00:46:22.000 -->
00:46:22.639Think about it.
00:46:22.719 -->
00:46:25.599You're an adult woman, you shouldn't be afraid to drive.
00:46:25.599 -->
00:46:29.119Shh, what you crazy the whole neighborhood's gonna hear?
00:46:29.119 -->
00:46:31.119Maybe I want to shout it out to the whole neighborhood.
00:46:31.119 -->
00:46:33.519Then you get embarrassed enough and you might at least try to drive.
00:47:28.800 -->
00:47:30.559Uh Laverne doesn't know how to drive.
00:47:30.559 -->
00:47:39.920And Shirley wants to purchase a car from Carmine's friend Lucille, but she wants $200 from it, and Shirley only has $119.37.
00:47:39.920 -->
00:47:43.679So she wants to get the rest of the money from Laverne, but there's only one problem.
00:47:43.679 -->
00:47:46.320Laverne is afraid to drive and doesn't know how.
00:47:46.320 -->
00:47:48.239So guess who volunteers to teach her?
00:47:48.239 -->
00:47:49.039Shirley.
00:47:49.039 -->
00:47:50.079And that's the show.
00:47:50.079 -->
00:47:51.039That's the episode.
00:47:51.039 -->
00:47:52.800What do you think of this episode, Brad?
00:47:52.800 -->
00:47:54.159I thought it was a lot of fun.
00:47:54.159 -->
00:48:10.239I actually, it's one thing that made me uh realize I really admired on this show is it makes all of this I'm sure was soundstage, but it makes Milwaukee feel real because Laverne and Shirley for that time era did a lot more outdoor shots than most shows did.
00:48:10.239 -->
00:48:12.000And this is one where they really did.
00:48:12.000 -->
00:48:16.960You I mean, you you can clearly see their sets, but they're driving around, real people are there.
00:48:16.960 -->
00:48:19.599Um we always saw the front of their store.
00:48:19.599 -->
00:48:22.800They utilize that paramount lot, that paramount back lot.
00:48:22.800 -->
00:48:23.599They use that.
00:48:23.599 -->
00:48:24.000Yeah, I did.
00:48:24.000 -->
00:48:42.000And I bring it up because like I said, I one thing I really like about this show is that you really feel uh it's over the top, every every show is, that's any every character ever is uh on anything you watch, but you really feel like these are two women that work at this factory, and it's it makes it feel real.
00:48:42.000 -->
00:48:51.599And the fact that they did so many outside shots on this show, uh, depending on the episode, added to that realism and added to the humor to me.
00:48:51.599 -->
00:48:53.360And it was a lot of fun.
00:48:53.360 -->
00:48:54.239It was a lot of fun.
00:48:54.239 -->
00:49:14.800I just remember that uh I just remember the scene of Laverne and Shirley sitting on the sofa, and Shirley's giving Laverne the driving lesson, and she's they're using she uses a record player for the steering wheel, a banana for the shift arm, uh, the corn is the clutch, the beans are the brakes, and the peaches are the gas.
00:49:14.800 -->
00:49:18.719And Laverne says, Shouldn't we use the beans for the gas?
00:49:18.719 -->
00:49:22.639Shirley goes, Don't do that.
00:49:22.639 -->
00:49:26.320I love Cindy Williams, don't do that.
00:49:26.320 -->
00:49:28.000It's they're so great.
00:49:28.000 -->
00:49:36.639And the best part is they get into a fight, of course, and Shirley mimes getting out of the car in a huff and throwing the door closed.
00:49:36.639 -->
00:49:40.079That was classic.
00:49:40.079 -->
00:49:44.639That that is the classic, and I love the shouting of their secrets out the window.
00:49:44.639 -->
00:49:48.559Oh my god, oh my god, Shirley Feeney's middle name is Wilhelmina.
00:49:48.559 -->
00:49:51.440That's how I knew her middle name.
00:49:51.440 -->
00:49:54.239Stuff socks in her bra.
00:49:54.239 -->
00:49:55.440And I knew that was coming.
00:49:55.440 -->
00:49:59.440I didn't remember it, but I'm like, okay, she's gonna say Shirley stuffs her bra.
00:49:59.440 -->
00:50:07.440It's just it's it's this kind of specific character work that Cindy Williams does, which makes me love her so much.
00:50:07.440 -->
00:50:10.719It makes me wonder why she didn't get at least one Emmy nomination.
00:50:10.719 -->
00:50:13.840The miming slamming the car door.
00:50:13.840 -->
00:50:17.039No, I guarantee you she came up with that.
00:50:17.039 -->
00:50:24.320You know, uh, this is this is the kind of gold that these actresses found in these characters, and why it works.
00:50:24.320 -->
00:50:38.559And it also works in the second episode, right after that, from season two called Angels of Mercy, written by William Bickley and Michael Warren, directed by Howard Storm, and it aired on October 5th, 1976.
00:50:45.039 -->
00:50:46.880I've got a big problem.
00:50:46.880 -->
00:50:47.920Get in here.
00:50:47.920 -->
00:50:50.559What happened?
00:50:50.559 -->
00:50:54.719You know how you're supposed to collect all the patients' false teeth to have them clean?
00:50:54.719 -->
00:50:56.800Well, I did that.
00:50:56.800 -->
00:50:58.880Only I forgot to tag them.
00:51:00.000 -->
00:51:02.480I got a triple unmarked teeth.
00:51:02.480 -->
00:51:06.880I was about to tag them when Dr.
00:51:06.880 -->
00:51:07.920Ramble came by me.
00:51:07.920 -->
00:51:09.119I got some.
00:51:09.119 -->
00:51:12.159What am I gonna do with these teeth?
00:51:12.159 -->
00:51:13.920Okay, okay, just a second.
00:51:13.920 -->
00:51:14.800Okay.
00:51:14.800 -->
00:51:20.400Put a set in each person's glass and let the patients find it out for themselves.
00:51:20.400 -->
00:51:24.079They're lunchtime.
00:51:27.599 -->
00:51:34.639And I just want to touch on this episode briefly because I remember this episode along with the last one so clearly from my childhood.
00:51:34.639 -->
00:51:40.639And the reason I want to talk about this, this is the episode where Shirley and Laverne are volunteering at the hospital.
00:51:40.639 -->
00:51:42.320They're volunteer nurses.
00:51:42.320 -->
00:51:50.960And what's amazing about this episode was this was the real first indication of Penny Marshall's physical comedy genius.
00:51:50.960 -->
00:51:58.159Because there's a scene where she has to change the sheets of a hospital bed with the patient still in the bed.
00:51:58.159 -->
00:52:06.559And there's a moment where she pulls on the sheets and she slowly starts to slide and she slides under the bed.
00:52:06.559 -->
00:52:14.320And according to Gary Marshall, they said cut, he greased the floor so she would really fly.
00:52:14.320 -->
00:52:19.280And according to Penny Marshall, she put talcum powder on the floor so she would slide even further.
00:52:19.280 -->
00:52:24.719Regardless of how it came about, this is the moment where the Lucy connection is complete between.
00:52:24.719 -->
00:52:38.159I mean, Lucy and Viv, by the way, Lucy and Viv were also volunteer nurses on a Lucy show episode, by the way, because this is where Penny Marshall truly, truly comes into her own as a physical comedian.
00:52:38.159 -->
00:52:39.119Don't you think so?
00:52:39.119 -->
00:52:46.880Well, and that that really surprises me because uh I wouldn't know this because neither of us, as you said, picked an episode from the first season.
00:52:46.880 -->
00:52:58.159And the fact that you said this is when it first really happened surprises me because I think like most people, I think of this as a physical comedy hysterical show.
00:52:58.159 -->
00:53:06.239And I can't imagine what it makes me want to go back and watch the first season just to see that it was toned down in that sense, because I can't picture it.
00:53:06.239 -->
00:53:19.119Well, there was uh there were there were moments in the first season, like the bowling episode when she's you know she's sick and she's bowling, and they there are moments in the first season, but this is really the first time that it got the attention.
00:53:19.119 -->
00:53:20.480Not classic like this.
00:53:20.480 -->
00:53:24.400Yes, where people paid attention and went, what do we have here?
00:53:24.400 -->
00:53:34.719We have a physical comedian on the level or very close to the level of Lucille Ball, and this was even a little intimidating to Cindy with Cindy Williams um as well.
00:53:34.719 -->
00:53:36.639Um, another reason for the tension.
00:53:36.639 -->
00:53:46.880Um, but I that's what I mean is this is like the really the first really clear, good, good physical comedy moment where people were like, this is a talented girl.
00:53:46.880 -->
00:53:48.880She's just not Gary Marshall's sister.
00:53:48.880 -->
00:53:50.800This is a talented actress.
00:53:50.800 -->
00:53:51.920I I love that.
00:53:51.920 -->
00:53:52.559I love that.
00:53:52.559 -->
00:53:57.199And I also love the bit about the 300-watt light bulb in the refrigerator.
00:53:57.199 -->
00:54:03.199Remember, they're they're in the very beginning, they're out of they need a light bulb for the refrigerator, and the only one they have is 300 watts.
00:54:03.199 -->
00:54:07.840So Shirley puts on sunglasses when she goes to get in the refrigerator.
00:54:07.840 -->
00:54:09.360It's just little silly things like this.
00:54:09.360 -->
00:54:12.960And I remember it from a kid, and that's why I love this episode so much.
00:54:12.960 -->
00:54:15.920I have a a curiosity question for you.
00:54:15.920 -->
00:54:28.239And uh so much of this series is looking for a man to uh there's there it's counteracted with a lot of stuff of them trying to get out of their their situation in life on their own.
00:54:28.239 -->
00:54:35.760But there's a lot all about marrying the right man and meeting the right man to take them away from all this, their knight in shining armor.
00:54:35.760 -->
00:54:39.199And I don't think anybody ever questioned it.
00:54:39.199 -->
00:54:48.559Do you think if this show wasn't based on the f in the 50s that people would have thought more like, well, wait a minute, these are two women, can't they be independent?
00:54:48.559 -->
00:54:57.039Or you just don't it was because it was that I'm thinking too deeply about because I I sat there and I watched that and I'm like it hit me at one point.
00:54:57.039 -->
00:54:59.440I'm like, I I don't know if that would go over today.
00:54:59.440 -->
00:55:01.199I well, I don't think it would go over today.
00:55:01.199 -->
00:55:03.360I wouldn't, but you know, this is fifty years ago.
00:55:03.360 -->
00:55:05.760Hello, happy 50th birthday, Laverna Charlie.
00:55:05.760 -->
00:55:07.679Yeah, we think about this is 76.
00:55:07.679 -->
00:55:11.440So Mary Tyler Moore had been on, that girl had been on, but really, no.
00:55:11.440 -->
00:55:16.960And also setting it in the 50s, I think, took care of that because it was about Yes, that's that's what I'm thinking.
00:55:16.960 -->
00:55:17.920I think so too.
00:55:17.920 -->
00:55:19.519But again, it wasn't that common.
00:55:19.519 -->
00:55:25.599If these were 70s women, then we don't think they might not be as man-obsessed as they are.
00:55:25.599 -->
00:55:36.559But I think what the thing about uh the 50s is it gives it such a nice flavor, and that's one of the things that they can be that man-obsessed, because in the in the 50s that's the way it was.
00:55:36.559 -->
00:55:37.280Yeah.
00:55:37.280 -->
00:55:40.400So I think Brad, you have the next one.
00:55:40.400 -->
00:55:41.280What's up?
00:55:41.280 -->
00:55:57.039Okay, I am my first pick was season two, episode 16, Stepping Out, which was written by Deborah Lesson, uh, directed by Dennis Klein, and it originally aired uh February 8th, 1977.
00:55:57.920 -->
00:55:59.039Give me a coat.
00:55:59.039 -->
00:56:00.559Coat, coat.
00:56:00.559 -->
00:56:04.400Still in all, it was kind of nice of him to fix a dumb waiter.
00:56:04.400 -->
00:56:06.480Now we could uh get rid of our garbage.
00:56:06.559 -->
00:56:08.480Why don't you start with the couch?
00:56:08.480 -->
00:56:16.239I know that voice, and I hate the person it's attached to.
00:56:16.239 -->
00:56:18.880What are you doing here?
00:56:18.880 -->
00:56:19.679What's she doing here?
00:56:19.679 -->
00:56:20.480What are you doing here?
00:56:20.480 -->
00:56:24.159I just want to pick up the stuff from Shirley and then I'll leave.
00:56:24.320 -->
00:56:28.079What's the I asked her to come over?
00:56:28.079 -->
00:56:33.280She's collecting old clothes for the charity bazaar and it's real nice, Rose.
00:56:33.280 -->
00:56:34.079Yeah, well.
00:56:34.480 -->
00:56:38.079You see, whoever suits up the most dolphins gets a go plaque.
00:56:38.079 -->
00:56:39.119And I won it.
00:56:39.119 -->
00:56:42.320You got a big hunt there, get rid of from the house.
00:56:42.320 -->
00:56:44.880Um sorry, girls.
00:56:45.039 -->
00:56:47.840We don't have time to go home something else if you come back next week.
00:56:47.840 -->
00:56:52.000What you wear and it'll be just fine.
00:56:52.000 -->
00:57:03.360Going to the Shea Fister to see the five satins.
00:57:03.360 -->
00:57:08.880Well, you two, Mr.
00:57:08.880 -->
00:57:11.519Correll, with a couple of real big spenders.
00:57:11.920 -->
00:57:13.280What's wrong with them?
00:57:13.280 -->
00:57:17.599Nothing happens to be wrong with them.
00:57:17.599 -->
00:57:20.159They happen to be a couple of real dream boats.
00:57:20.480 -->
00:57:22.480Yes, they are sensational gentlemen.
00:57:22.480 -->
00:57:25.119And if you laid eyes on them, your tongue would be hanging out.
00:57:25.280 -->
00:57:26.719Yeah, more than usual.
00:57:31.760 -->
00:57:39.360Now, I chose this episode because I remember this is the one episode I remembered in exquisite detail.
00:57:39.360 -->
00:57:47.440Like every second of this episode I remembered, and we even discussed it uh uh in uh one of our previous episodes.
00:57:47.440 -->
00:57:57.519I don't know what it what it was about, but I brought up this episode and I talked about because I remembered it so distinctly because it was so brilliant that it was done in real time.
00:57:57.519 -->
00:58:04.639Lo and behold, I sat here and I watched them like, well, this the skits are there that I remember and they're funny, but this is not in real time in any way.
00:58:04.639 -->
00:58:08.400But it's a fun episode.
00:58:08.400 -->
00:58:09.519I love this.
00:58:09.519 -->
00:58:11.599I'm so happy you picked this episode.
00:58:11.599 -->
00:58:13.199Do you know why I love this episode?
00:58:13.199 -->
00:58:15.760You know why, but do you know why I love this episode?
00:58:15.760 -->
00:58:16.480Tell the people.
00:58:16.480 -->
00:58:19.440Um is it Rosie?
00:58:19.440 -->
00:58:21.119Big Rosie Greenbaum.
00:58:21.119 -->
00:58:25.360I said, Brad, we have to, have to, have to have an episode with Big Rosie.
00:58:25.360 -->
00:58:37.039Because I remember Big Rosie as a kid and just loving Big Rosie, played by the wonderful actress Carol Ida White, Big Rosie Greenbaum, Laverne's nemesis, and then she disappeared.
00:58:37.039 -->
00:58:44.800You know, you never really didn't see her much again until the last year she came back for their 10th, they had a high school reunion episode, she was in it.
00:58:44.800 -->
00:58:48.000But she's pretty much just in the second season and third season, then she was gone.
00:58:48.000 -->
00:58:50.400And I don't know why, because I love Big Rosie.
00:58:50.400 -->
00:58:51.280She's a hoot.
00:58:51.280 -->
00:58:54.559She is great, and a great uh antagonist with uh Laverne.
00:58:54.559 -->
00:58:57.039Uh I love that.
00:58:57.039 -->
00:58:59.119Uh she she's one of those you love to hate.
00:58:59.119 -->
00:59:01.519So tell everybody what this episode's about.
00:59:01.519 -->
00:59:10.320This episode is Laverne and Shirley are rushing home from work, and they only have a few hours to get ready for a date with some high-rolling guys.
00:59:10.320 -->
00:59:18.000And surprise, surprise, one thing after another gets in their way of getting ready in time for this date.
00:59:18.000 -->
00:59:23.199And there's a lot of physical comedy, uh, things from a there's a major fire.
00:59:23.199 -->
00:59:29.519They set it so-and-so's house that's on fire, and then they kept showing outside and look like 10 city blocks there.
00:59:29.519 -->
00:59:33.360Huge fire.
00:59:33.360 -->
00:59:39.920They turn off the water for the fire just when Shirley's in the shower and she's got soap on her hair, and she can't dry her hair.
00:59:39.920 -->
00:59:42.159Laverne can't find anything to wear.
00:59:42.159 -->
00:59:50.639It's it's such a fun, fun episode because all because they're going through all this stuff to get ready, and they end up getting ready.
00:59:50.639 -->
00:59:52.159And then what happens?
00:59:52.159 -->
01:00:06.079Well, they step outside, and of course, Lenny and Squiggy, being who they are, decide they want to turn on the fire hydrant for the kids to play, and Laverne and Shirley all dressed up and ready to go, and they turn on the fire hydrant.
01:00:06.079 -->
01:00:07.840You can imagine what happened.
01:00:07.840 -->
01:00:10.079So it's very cute.
01:00:10.079 -->
01:00:12.239Then walking back in the door just drenched.
01:00:12.239 -->
01:00:20.079But yeah, you remember I told you that that girl, I remembered the pop song, and like sometimes I'll be working around the house and stop.
01:00:20.079 -->
01:00:33.039And yeah, there is a scene in this episode where before Shirley takes a shower later because she has to, but earlier she doesn't have time, she doesn't think she has time for a shower, so she puts this dust in her hair.
01:00:33.039 -->
01:00:33.760That's right.
01:00:33.760 -->
01:00:41.360I remember this stuff from the 70s because I remember when my mom was uh she came back from the hospital and she couldn't get in the shower, and so we put this stuff in her hair.
01:00:41.360 -->
01:00:44.079It's it's dust and you brush it out, it's supposed to clean your hair.
01:00:44.079 -->
01:00:44.480I don't know.
01:00:44.480 -->
01:00:47.280But anyway, it's called quickie poo.
01:00:47.280 -->
01:00:48.480Quickie poo, yes.
01:00:48.480 -->
01:00:50.480Now I now now I'm drawing a blank.
01:00:50.480 -->
01:00:58.239It's something if if like your hair, if you're this isn't exactly, but if your hair is dirty full of goo, brush it out with quickie poo.
01:00:58.239 -->
01:01:06.079And I if it wasn't for recording this right now, I would remember that distinctly because for whatever reason, I always remembered that.
01:01:06.079 -->
01:01:06.880It made me.
01:01:06.880 -->
01:01:07.440Yeah.
01:01:07.440 -->
01:01:08.639I love that.
01:01:08.639 -->
01:01:10.079I love the quickie poo.
01:01:10.079 -->
01:01:12.880It's one physical thing after another.
01:01:12.880 -->
01:01:18.320And my favorite part, my absolute favorite part, is when Shirley is in the shower.
01:01:18.320 -->
01:01:26.159First of all, you clear as day see a toilet in the bathroom, which that was still new at that time.
01:01:26.159 -->
01:01:27.039True.
01:01:27.039 -->
01:01:29.280Uh, and it is front and center.
01:01:29.280 -->
01:01:32.559And Shirley is in the shower when the fire department cuts off the water.
01:01:32.559 -->
01:01:42.320Yeah, and so she's soapy, and she's screaming at Laverne to get water from somewhere, and you know, she's getting frustrated because Laverne doesn't know where to go.
01:01:42.320 -->
01:01:54.480And you see this evil grin on Laverne's face, and she looks over at the toilet and the curtain opens, and Shirley goes, Don't you think about it.
01:01:54.480 -->
01:01:59.679Don't even think about it.
01:01:59.679 -->
01:02:03.599It's so great.
01:02:03.599 -->
01:02:05.119It's the way she says it.
01:02:05.119 -->
01:02:08.079It's the way she says, Don't even think about it.
01:02:08.079 -->
01:02:14.320She knew the minute she said, give me some water, I don't care from where, that Laverne would do that.
01:02:14.320 -->
01:02:25.360That's what I think is so it's what you they're filling in their backstory of their characters, these actresses, and it just informs these situations and gives them such richness and such depth.
01:02:25.360 -->
01:02:27.840That's what I love about these episodes.
01:02:27.840 -->
01:02:32.239They're just so rich in character and fun, in my opinion.
01:02:32.239 -->
01:02:43.599And and the best part is after all of that, and they get water sprayed all over them, and we don't see the two guys show up, but apparently they took it really good natured, and the girls went out.
01:02:43.599 -->
01:02:48.719They come back, say their sweet goodbyes, and then they're like, What jerks?
01:02:48.719 -->
01:02:52.000And then we know they're never gonna go out after all of that.
01:02:52.000 -->
01:02:54.480After all that, these guys turn out to be losers.
01:02:54.480 -->
01:02:59.599It's yes, it's the perfect capper, it's the cherry on top of the shit Sunday.
01:02:59.599 -->
01:03:03.039It really, it really is after all this, and that's Laverne and Shirley.
01:03:03.039 -->
01:03:04.639That's the point of Laverne and Shirley.
01:03:04.639 -->
01:03:12.079You know, they go through all this to have these big dreams, and their balloons are constantly being pricked, and it's it's delightful.
01:03:12.079 -->
01:03:13.360A delightful episode.
01:03:13.360 -->
01:03:15.119I'm so happy you picked that one.
01:03:15.119 -->
01:03:23.519So my episode's up next, another one also from season two, season two and season three, the best of Laverne and Shirley, in my opinion.
01:03:23.519 -->
01:03:24.320Absolutely.
01:03:24.320 -->
01:03:26.159Look at all these episodes from season two.
01:03:26.159 -->
01:03:29.519We're talking about in its uh season two, episode 14.
01:03:29.519 -->
01:03:31.519It's called Guinea Pigs.
01:03:31.519 -->
01:03:37.679It was written by Jack Winter, directed by James Burroughs, which is pretty impressive.
01:03:37.679 -->
01:03:38.639I know that guy.
01:03:38.639 -->
01:03:43.840Yeah, and it originally aired on January 18th, 1977.
01:03:45.360 -->
01:03:49.599Ladies, squeaky, come down here, please, right now.
01:03:49.599 -->
01:03:59.599You know that secret place that they go to some weekends to earn money?
01:03:59.599 -->
01:04:00.480Honest.
01:04:00.480 -->
01:04:06.960Do you want to miss somebody or do you want to stay at home and hear me humbling about my sweater?
01:04:06.960 -->
01:04:45.199Sometimes big answers come in small tiny brains.
01:04:45.199 -->
01:04:51.199You know that secret place you go to to earn money sometimes?
01:04:51.199 -->
01:04:53.840Could you take us there?
01:05:24.400 -->
01:05:31.119All right, so in this episode, I think just from the title, guinea pigs, if anybody knows Laverne and Shirley, I think they know what the episode is.
01:05:31.119 -->
01:05:40.639So Laverne and Shirley have an opportunity to attend a swanky cocktail party at the Hotel Fister, which is a real place in Milwaukee.
01:05:40.639 -->
01:05:42.320I've been there, by the way.
01:05:42.320 -->
01:05:44.159It really is kind of swanky.
01:05:44.159 -->
01:05:48.639Um, but there's only one problem they're the admission to get into the party is 20 bucks.
01:05:48.639 -->
01:05:50.239And of course, they don't have 20 bucks.
01:05:50.239 -->
01:05:51.519So they turn that.
01:05:51.519 -->
01:05:53.199Yeah, it was.
01:05:53.199 -->
01:05:59.119So they turn to Lenny and Squiggy, who have this secret place they go when they need cash fast.
01:05:59.119 -->
01:06:05.280And of course, It turns out to be a place where they have to be human guinea pigs.
01:06:05.280 -->
01:06:07.519So it's for scientific experiments.
01:06:07.519 -->
01:06:18.079So Shirley enrolls in a nutrition study where she only eats air quotes natural foods, which mostly are is dirt and banana peels and crocus blossoms.
01:06:18.079 -->
01:06:23.679And Laverne enrolls in a sleep study where she gets only minutes of sleep in 48 hours.
01:06:23.679 -->
01:06:28.000And of course, the cocktail party is right after the study's over.
01:06:28.000 -->
01:06:35.920And as you can imagine, Shirley is ravenous, Laverne is comatose, and hilarity ensues.
01:06:35.920 -->
01:06:45.119And in my opinion, this is the most, and if you don't agree with me on this, please, I think this is the most iconic episode of Laverne and Shirley.
01:06:45.119 -->
01:06:50.159Because it distills, it truly distills this show down to its purest form.
01:06:50.159 -->
01:06:52.320The girls want to do better.
01:06:52.320 -->
01:06:55.760They want to better themselves, but they always need money.
01:06:55.760 -->
01:06:58.800So they do anything they can to get it.
01:06:58.800 -->
01:07:02.800And in the end, they end up humiliating themselves in the process.
01:07:02.800 -->
01:07:06.239So it's just like that's what this show is about.
01:07:06.239 -->
01:07:11.679These things these girls go through to for a better life, and they always, at the end, they always get the short end of the stick.
01:07:11.679 -->
01:07:14.079They always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.
01:07:14.079 -->
01:07:16.719I think that's why I love this.
01:07:16.719 -->
01:07:29.360The scene where they're finally at the um cocktail party, and Shirley has managed to maneuver Laverne into a chair so she can sleep because she hasn't slept in 48 hours.
01:07:29.360 -->
01:07:32.960And another brilliant physical bit by Penny Marshall.
01:07:32.960 -->
01:07:36.320She does a somersault and falls on the floor.
01:07:36.320 -->
01:07:46.079And Shirley's standing there with a rich cracker that she pounced on on the floor, and she goes, Ta-da! It's just so great.
01:07:46.079 -->
01:07:49.519It's just these women were such a great team.
01:07:49.519 -->
01:07:50.800Such a great team.
01:07:50.800 -->
01:07:55.119I think that scene at the cocktail party is one of the funniest scenes on TV ever.
01:07:55.119 -->
01:07:56.800What do you think of this episode?
01:07:56.800 -->
01:08:13.280I I love this episode, and it's almost like two separate episodes because I absolutely love the whole thing at the lab, you know, when the the absurdity of the sleep doctor keeping these four or five people up and they're exhausted.
01:08:13.280 -->
01:08:15.920And he finally says, Okay, now you can have your bedtime.
01:08:15.920 -->
01:08:23.680And they jump into the bed, he turns off the light, closes the door, and instantaneously opens the door back on, turn on the light again.
01:08:23.680 -->
01:08:30.479It is so absurd that when that part of it is end ending, it's like, oh no, this is don't don't change this.
01:08:30.479 -->
01:08:36.399But of course, we know it is all leading up to the to the cocktail party or the the party at the Hotel Fister.
01:08:36.399 -->
01:08:44.319So it it's it's like, oh, I don't want it to end, but then we're given this the second part that is hysterical in its own right.
01:08:44.319 -->
01:08:48.800And they're all they could be almost two separate things, except you need the first part to make the second one work.
01:08:48.800 -->
01:08:54.560This is like if we're gonna do a little Lucy comparison, this episode's full of Lucy moments, people.
01:08:54.560 -->
01:09:04.479This is like the Candy Factory episode from I Love Lucy or or the Lucy's Italian movie, because there are two incredible acts in this show.
01:09:04.479 -->
01:09:10.000One is just as good as the first, you know, the second one tops the first one, if possible.
01:09:10.000 -->
01:09:18.000And that's what's so brilliant about the construction of these episodes, is they are just pure comedy, pure block comedy.
01:09:18.000 -->
01:09:30.159And when Cindy Williams sees that rich cracker on the carpet and she slowly walks over and then pounces on it, and then stands up and pats her mouth and goes, I feel worlds better.
01:09:30.159 -->
01:09:35.520It's just it's insane, but they do it so well, it's it's funny.
01:09:35.520 -->
01:09:37.359You believe it, you believe it.
01:09:37.359 -->
01:09:40.880And I don't think it's an accident that this episode is so brilliant.
01:09:40.880 -->
01:09:42.640And it was directed by James Burroughs.
01:09:42.640 -->
01:09:47.439I mean, sitcom God, Friends, Cheers, Will and Grace, Frasier.
01:09:47.439 -->
01:09:51.359I mean, yes, they have this kind of quality of people.
01:09:51.359 -->
01:09:55.279He I think he directed about eight episodes of uh Laverne and Shirley.
01:09:55.279 -->
01:09:58.079This has to be the best, in my in my opinion.
01:09:58.079 -->
01:10:03.840And you just hit the nail on the head of the one thing that uh you know, we I keep getting back to it.
01:10:03.840 -->
01:10:06.319The this show is so absurd.
01:10:06.319 -->
01:10:13.920The situations are so absurd, the these our two characters are so absurd, yet they make it feel so real.
01:10:13.920 -->
01:10:17.039Yeah, no, it's some it's so real, they believe it.
01:10:17.039 -->
01:10:18.319They like Lucy.
01:10:18.319 -->
01:10:26.239That was one of the lessons that that Gary Marshall learned from Lucy O'Ball was you believe in the reality of the situation, even though it's a ridiculous situation.
01:10:26.239 -->
01:10:33.039If you can grasp onto a kernel of reality, then it works, then it's funny, and that's exactly it.
01:10:33.039 -->
01:10:39.439I equate it almost like if you sometimes you have to think about and you're like, oh yeah, Kermit is really just a puppet.
01:10:39.439 -->
01:10:45.840Yeah, oh yeah, these these two don't really exist.
01:10:45.840 -->
01:10:49.680It's it's that absurdity that they make it seem so real.
01:10:49.680 -->
01:10:56.000Which leads us to our final episode for this episode of Going Hollywood that we're going to talk about.
01:10:56.000 -->
01:10:59.039And Brad, I believe it is your episode.
01:10:59.039 -->
01:11:07.279Yes, this is another one that I remember distinctly, and it is season three, episode 11, Take My Plants, Please.
01:11:07.279 -->
01:11:16.479And it was written by Mark Sotkin and directed by Alan Rafkin, and it originally aired on December 13, 1977.
01:11:17.920 -->
01:11:18.880It's only temporary.
01:11:18.880 -->
01:11:22.880We go down to unemployment, fill out a few forms, and collect the 4250 a week.
01:11:23.279 -->
01:11:25.359I hate to go down to unemployment.
01:11:25.359 -->
01:11:26.960It's embarrassing down there.
01:11:26.960 -->
01:11:29.840Everybody down there knows that you don't have a job.
01:11:38.079 -->
01:11:39.119I don't like it.
01:11:39.119 -->
01:11:41.039I don't like to sit around for a week.
01:11:41.039 -->
01:11:42.399I'm an active penny.
01:12:29.359 -->
01:12:34.880Now, the premise of the show, and I don't know how many times this happened, Laverne and Shirley lost their jobs at the bottle cap factory.
01:12:34.880 -->
01:12:37.840It seems like it was all every it seems like it was every other episode.
01:12:37.840 -->
01:12:45.600I don't know if that was but once again they got laid off from the bottle cap factory, and I don't remember what the reasoning was, but there's always something.
01:12:45.600 -->
01:13:06.960And uh so they had to they they had the choice of either going on unemployment and making their $40 a week, I think it was, or Shirley comes up with the idea of taking what little money they had and buying plants uh at wholesale so they can turn around and resell them door-to-door uh retail price.
01:13:06.960 -->
01:13:15.439And uh what I distinctly remember from this episode was the kooky people that they dealt with at each and every door.
01:13:15.439 -->
01:13:17.920And I remember thinking how funny it was.
01:13:17.920 -->
01:13:24.399Yeah, and uh it ended up not uh my my memory served me well because I really enjoyed it.
01:13:24.399 -->
01:13:32.079And I would they will notice uh there were there was one thing that uh comes up on this show all the time, and it came up on this one once again.
01:13:32.079 -->
01:13:32.720What's that?
01:13:32.720 -->
01:13:38.079I think there were at least men cheat a lot on Laverne and Shirley.
01:13:38.079 -->
01:13:38.880Yes.
01:13:38.880 -->
01:13:42.399They cheat a lot and they see prostitutes a lot.
01:13:42.399 -->
01:13:44.159It is, it's true, and it's very true.
01:13:44.159 -->
01:13:45.680I agree with you, yes, yes.
01:13:45.680 -->
01:13:46.960What's interesting about this?
01:13:46.960 -->
01:13:52.560So so as you said, this episode was written by Mark Sotkin, who wrote many episodes of the Golden Girls, by the way.
01:13:52.560 -->
01:13:57.279Alan Rafkin, who directed a lot of Norman Lear.
01:13:57.279 -->
01:14:01.199And I, so it's an incredible team here working on this show.
01:14:01.199 -->
01:14:03.359Hopefully they weren't screaming at each other too much.
01:14:03.359 -->
01:14:07.279And I, when you you said you wanted to do this episode, I didn't remember it.
01:14:07.279 -->
01:14:13.279And then I started to watch it, and it has one of my very favorite lines ever.
01:14:13.279 -->
01:14:27.600That when they first get laid off, and Shirley hates going to unemployment, and Laverne says that she once met a doctor at unemployment, and Shirley says, Why would a doctor be unemployed?
01:14:27.600 -->
01:14:29.600Ask yourself that, Laverne.
01:14:29.600 -->
01:14:36.239And Laverne said, He was so good, he cured everybody.
01:14:36.239 -->
01:14:41.680But I have remembered that line my entire life.
01:14:41.680 -->
01:14:44.960So when I'm watching this, I'm like, oh my God, it's this episode.
01:14:44.960 -->
01:14:46.640That's what I mean by these episodes.
01:14:46.640 -->
01:14:49.199I remember bits and pieces of a lot of them.
01:14:49.199 -->
01:14:50.479I don't know where they're from.
01:14:50.479 -->
01:14:53.600And then we were watching, you're like, oh, it's this episode.
01:14:53.600 -->
01:14:58.079It's and this is also the episode where Laverne says, Doesn't that balloon ever land?
01:14:58.079 -->
01:15:00.399You know, Shirley's balloon never lands.
01:15:00.399 -->
01:15:02.800Um, or maybe Shirley goes, What about my balloon?
01:15:02.800 -->
01:15:03.680Or something like that.
01:15:03.680 -->
01:15:13.119And so that's what I love about this episode is that these little moments that I remember for 50 years, and here it is, like the first time.
01:15:13.119 -->
01:15:14.399It's wonderful.
01:15:14.399 -->
01:15:16.239It really is.
01:15:16.239 -->
01:15:56.960And again, we end up with them uh through uh they they have this book that Edna Babish gave them about how to do sales, and and they they go through the book step by step, and um of course each each each one fails or or succeeds in in an odd way, and that's a huge part of what makes it so funny, such as when they are uh when they learn that oh, you should be obnoxious so the person will pay you to get to get away, and of course they uh go they're obnoxious to the man uh the uh who's with the prostitute, though they don't know he's with the prostitute, and they're like, Well, how does your wife feel about that?
01:15:56.960 -->
01:16:02.640And he's like, Oh, oh, and he gives you know he buys all the plants from them because he thinks that they're threatening to tell his wife.
01:16:02.640 -->
01:16:16.560So there's all those little little nuggets throughout, and uh it but in the end, typical of Vernon Shirley, they sell everything, they're thrilled at how much they make, and then they start adding how much the whole thing costs.
01:16:16.560 -->
01:16:17.279Yeah.
01:16:17.279 -->
01:16:20.640And in the end, they made five dollars.
01:16:20.640 -->
01:16:27.840Oh god, it's just it's gut-wrenching, it's gut-wrenching these girls what these girls go through.
01:16:27.840 -->
01:16:31.680Actually, no, they made five dollars more than they would have made in unemployment.
01:16:31.680 -->
01:16:32.159Yeah, yeah.
01:16:32.159 -->
01:16:37.359So basically, they worked their asses off for the same amount if they just sat around.
01:16:37.359 -->
01:16:48.479But minor happy ending point, they do get a letter in the mail saying they got their jobs back at the brewery, so they don't have to sell plants anymore or go in unemployment and meet a doctor.
01:16:48.479 -->
01:16:50.640Because why would a doctor be unemployed?
01:16:50.640 -->
01:16:52.479Ask yourself that, Brad.
01:16:52.479 -->
01:16:54.800We could be a bad doctor.
01:16:54.800 -->
01:17:00.880Well, those are our episodes for part one of our Laverne and Shirley happy birthday tribute.
01:17:00.880 -->
01:17:02.079Uh, that was a lot of fun.
01:17:02.079 -->
01:17:17.119We are going to continue the conversation next week on part two, um, because something happens uh in Laverne and Shirley, which is very tragic, uh, which we will address next week, the Jump the Shark moment.
01:17:17.119 -->
01:17:21.279But we'll also have other episodes in Milwaukee to talk about too, because there's just so many.
01:17:21.279 -->
01:17:23.680We just we couldn't stop picking episodes.
01:17:23.680 -->
01:17:25.439It was crazy, it was nuts.
01:17:25.439 -->
01:17:27.039Yeah, it was difficult.
01:17:27.039 -->
01:17:35.199So, uh as usual, if you haven't left us a review, please do so on Apple Spotify or wherever you're listening to this podcast.
01:17:35.199 -->
01:17:38.319If you haven't subscribed, you want to listen next week's episode.
01:17:38.319 -->
01:17:42.079So make sure you subscribe so you'll get a notification that that episode is out.
01:17:42.079 -->
01:17:44.960You can even have it auto-download right into your app.
01:17:44.960 -->
01:17:47.600And uh, other than that, tell a friend.
01:17:47.600 -->
01:17:48.880That might be nice.
01:17:48.880 -->
01:17:50.479Tell some friends, tell some friends.
01:17:50.479 -->
01:17:52.560We're doing we're doing the Lord's work here.
01:17:52.560 -->
01:17:55.520Ongoing Hollywood, tell some friends about it.
01:17:55.520 -->
01:17:57.439We're talking about Laverne and Shirley.
01:17:57.439 -->
01:17:58.640I mean, come on.
01:17:58.640 -->
01:18:01.279Why wouldn't you want to listen to that?
01:18:01.279 -->
01:18:10.000Well, Brad, this has been a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to continuing our adventures in Milwaukee with our wonderful friends Laverne and Shirley.
01:18:10.000 -->
01:18:16.079Um, but this was a lot too, so I'm kind of wiped out, and I only have one more thing left to say.
01:18:16.079 -->
01:18:18.399But as usual, I don't want to say it.
01:18:18.399 -->
01:18:20.319So let's not say goodbye.
01:18:20.319 -->
01:18:23.920Let's just say, I don't voteio do.
01:18:23.920 -->
01:18:28.640Well, I know that's not true, but no, let's say goodbye.
01:18:28.640 -->
01:18:29.920I voteio.
01:18:29.920 -->
01:18:31.840Goodbye, everybody.
01:18:38.079 -->
01:18:42.159Nobody wants anything that's been chewed up and spit out.
