"Laverne & Shirley Meet Fabian"November 22, 1977
C+
Paula A. Roth wrote this episode that doesn't particularly work but is nonetheless interesting. As the title suggests, the girls meet Fabian, who plays himself. The problem is that Fabian at 34, especially with gold chains and hair and wardrobe that don't look particularly '50s, seems unable to play himself at sixteen. (This incidentally makes Shirley even more of a cradle-robber than she was with Richie Cunningham, particularly since we know that "gaga" Shirley has dreamed about Fabian at least twice.) Furthermore, the girls stalk Fabian, admittedly at the risk of their own lives, and his reaction is to welcome them in off the ledge, offer them coats, pause for the selfie they need to win a bet with Big Rosie (White is good in her couple scenes), and then, with irony that's supposed to be funny, sing "Turn Me Loose" as they cling to him.
Meanwhile there are a couple things going on with Lenny's recent lust for Shirley (Shirlen ship?), as seen on the "cruise" episodes. One is that it seems to be, for lack of a better term, tag-teaming with Squiggy, as when they grabbed her on the boat and here where he says that they have the right to see her naked since they saved her life (from frostbite waiting on line for tickets). The other is that it doesn't mean he's lost interest in Laverne, as when he snaps her bra while she's on the phone and when he roots her on in her catfight with Rosie at the Pizza Bowl. I prefer the moment in the tag, when L, L, S, and S are sitting around playing Monopoly (a scene that should've been longer and less of a throwaway), and Laverne wants Lenny to tell them more about the "midget luau" he and Squiggy went to, but Shirley says, "Don't encourage him" (or maybe it's "Don't encourage them").
Fred Fox, Jr., who wrote "Excuse Me, May I Cut In?" last season, here plays Freddie the Bellhop.
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