Series synopsis
Laverne & Shirley is an American comedy family television series that premiered on ABC on January 27, 1976. It ended on May 10, 1983. It was created by Garry Marshall, Mark Rothman, Lowell Ganz. It stars Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Betty Garrett and David L. Lander.
Best friends, roommates, and polar opposites, Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney work together at the Shotz Brewery in Milwaukee and keep each other's spirits up at home.
Premise
Best friends, roommates, and polar opposites, Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney work together at the Shotz Brewery in Milwaukee and keep each other's spirits up at home.
Premise: Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Penny Marshall as Laverne DeFazio
- Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney
- Betty Garrett as Edna Babish
- David L. Lander as Squiggy
- Michael McKean as Lenny
- Phil Foster as Frank DeFazio
- Eddie Mekka as Carmine Ragusa
- Carole Ita White as Rosie Greenbaum
Supporting cast
- Leslie Easterbrook as Rhonda Lee
- Ed Marinaro as Sonny St. Jacques
- Fred Dryer
- Larry Gelman
- Troy Donahue
- Keith Coogan
- Ilene Graff
- Scatman Crothers
- Richard Stahl
- Billy Sands
- Vicki Lawrence
- Jack Lukes
Guest cast
Episodes
This series spans 8 seasons with 178 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 15 | January 27, 1976 | May 18, 1976 |
| Season 2 | 23 | September 28, 1976 | April 5, 1977 |
| Season 3 | 24 | September 20, 1977 | May 30, 1978 |
| Season 4 | 24 | September 5, 1978 | May 15, 1979 |
| Season 5 | 26 | September 13, 1979 | May 13, 1980 |
| Season 6 | 22 | November 18, 1980 | May 26, 1981 |
| Season 7 | 22 | October 13, 1981 | May 11, 1982 |
| Season 8 | 22 | September 28, 1982 | May 10, 1983 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Society Party Shotz brewery bottle-cappers and best friends, Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, are invited by the boss' nephew, Tad Shotz, to the Shotz formal society party. Shirley is excited about going while Laverne finds it insulting. |
January 27, 1976 |
| 2 |
The Bachelor Party While Mr. DeFazio is away for a few days, Laverne and Shirley take over running the Pizza Bowl for him. Later, The Fonz convinces the girls to let him host a wild bachelor party at the Pizza Bowl - it goes against Shirley's better judgement, but Laverne doesn't see any problem with it. When the party gets started, however, the girls both begin to realize just how much of a mess they've gotten themselves into. |
February 3, 1976 |
| 3 |
Bowling for Razzberries During the annual Shotz bowling tournament, Laverne decides to get even with her bowling rival, Karen from the past 5 years. However, on the big night, Laverne falls ills and takes heavy medication, leaving Laverne ""jerky"" during the tournament. |
February 10, 1976 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Drive! She Said Shirley offers Laverne free driving lessons in exchange for some money to buy a new car. |
September 28, 1976 |
| 2 |
Angels of Mercy Laverne & Shirley become hospital volunteers. |
October 5, 1976 |
| 3 |
Bachelor Mothers Since the girls have no dates that night, they agree to babysit Fonzie's godson. When they get a call for a big date only one of them can go, the other has to stay home and watch the baby. Laverne gets to go but when the date gets cancelled, Shirley has to stop Laverne from getting on a bus and going to Chicago to meet her date. Shirley asks Lenny and Squiggy to watch the baby while she goes to get Laverne. When the girls return to the apartment they find Lenny and Squiggy there but the baby is gone. Lenny and Squiggy gave it back to a guy who claimed to be it's father, the girls go berserk thinking all manners of horrible things has happened only to find out in the end it was indeed the father that they gave the baby to. |
October 19, 1976 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Airport '59 Laverne & Shirley go on their first plane trip and end up flying it when their pilot faints at the controls. |
September 20, 1977 |
| 2 |
Tag Team Wrestling Laverne starts off by telling Shirley how a driver had cut her off so she had shouted back to her that she was a 'banana face'. Later on, Laverne's big tag team partner from the brewery can't compete due to injury and Shirley has to take her place. Once in the ring, they discover that the professional wrestlers their facing are the ladies Laverne insulted that morning and the match is now on for real. |
September 27, 1977 |
| 3 |
The Pact Laverne and Shirley get into a huge fight after Shirley's new boyfriend asks Laverne out. The girls agree to make a pact swearing never to let a guy come between them again. |
October 4, 1977 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Festival (1) The girls go to New York to visit all of Laverne's relatives and to attend the Italian festival. Laverne's Grandmother, Frank's mother takes a liking to Squiggy and treats him like a son. |
September 5, 1978 |
| 2 |
Festival (2) Frank tries to win the climbing the greased pole contest so he can win a trip to Italy for his mother. |
September 12, 1978 |
| 3 |
Playing the Roxy Laverne comes out the bedroom wearing only her slip and reading a magazine about a stripper named Roxy's adentures. It turns out that Shirley has read the article and when Laverne is about to go outside to collect the mail, Shirley gives Laverne a telling off for wearing only her slip outside. So she goes to collect the mail. Lenny and Squiggy appear wearing their new lodge hats, The Order Of The Bass, and then tell Laverne that Shirley is taking a nap outstide at the bottom of the stairs. Shirley has fallen and hit her head and now thinks she is Roxy from the magazine. She then shows a complete change in her persoanlity as she practices bumps and grinds. Carmine thinks he'll have more luck with Roxy and chats her up just as Laverne tells him to leave. Later when Shirley/Roxy is all alone, Lenny and Squiggy arrive and try to get Roxy to strip. She says she will if it's at a mens club and she gets paid, so they arrange for her to strip at their lodge's big party. Laverne comes home late |
September 19, 1978 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Shotgun Wedding (II) The girls get engaged to Richie and Fonzie to avoid a shotgun wedding. The crossover starts on Happy Days S07E01 Shotgun Wedding (I). |
September 13, 1979 |
| 2 |
One Heckuva Note Shirley finds an old love note written to Laverne from Carmine. This practically ends the girls friendship. |
September 20, 1979 |
| 3 |
Fat City Holiday The girls get jobs at a weight loss camp. |
September 27, 1979 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Not Quite New York After being fired from the brewery, the girls decide to pack up and move out to California. The only way they can afford to get out there is to have Lenny and Squiggy drive them there in an old ice cream truck. |
November 18, 1980 |
| 2 |
Welcome to Burbank The girls are ready to return to Milwaukee after experiencing an earthquake on their first night in California. |
November 25, 1980 |
| 3 |
Studio City The girls are hired to play stunt women in a Troy Donohue movie. |
December 2, 1980 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Most Important Day Ever Laverne and Shirley appear on television as part of a Latvian acrobatic act in an effort to help Lenny and Squiggy's new talent agency. |
October 13, 1981 |
| 2 |
It Only Hurts When I Breathe Laverne and Shirley recall their high school days only to find themselves embroiled in a slugfest that leaves Laverne with a broken jaw. |
October 27, 1981 |
| 3 |
I Wonder What Became of Sal? Laverne's old boyfriend Sal, comes to California looking for her. Now Sal is a succesful millionaire businessman and he once again proposes to Laverne. |
November 3, 1981 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Mummy's Bride Shirley marries Walter Meeney. |
September 28, 1982 |
| 2 |
Window on Main Street The girls agree to live in Bardwell's main show window for a weekend in order to demonstrate the 'House Of The Future' |
October 12, 1982 |
| 3 |
The Note Laverne gets depressed and then angry after she finds a very short note from Shirley saying that she has left to go overseas with her husband who was just transferred there. Laverne just can't believe that Shirley would leave and only write a few words to say goodbye. To try and help cheer her up, each of the gang tries to find Laverne a new roommate. But things turn out okay after Laverne finds the rest of Shirley's note which had fallen under the bed. |
October 19, 1982 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | ABC |
|---|---|
| First aired | January 27, 1976 |
| Last aired | May 10, 1983 |
| Runtime | 25 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Tuesday at 20:30:00 |