November 8, 1979
B-
Barry Rubinowitz wrote this episode where the girls help Mrs. Babish's teenage niece join their old group the Angora Debs (and we get another rendition of the song), but it turns out to be more of a gang now, given to stealing and vandalism. This episode contains kittens, more Sea Hunt references and of course Lenny and Squiggy in drag.
Uh, yeah, about that. So first of all, '70s drag for laughs, it's a definite thing on ABC sitcoms. We already had Laverne and Shirley in Lenny and Squiggy's clothes and I suspect that Squiggy is in one of Shirley's outfits since they're about the same size. Lenny is more obviously wearing at least Laverne's top, since it's got an L on it. Generally, this sort of thing hasn't aged well, although it's not bad here until the tag, when the girls joke that the guys are teases for leading "big spender" sailors on and now have to "face the music." The "half-ladies" seem perfectly comfortable in drag, but I assume we're meant to chalk this up to their general perversion and weirdness, as well as a sort of innocence that even Squiggy has, not pre-sexual but not fully mature either. Obviously, no one was meant to analyze this at the time, and you can tell that the makers of the show are just having fun, as in the credit card at the end for "Lenore" and "Squendelyn." (Bizarrely, there's a 1983 episode where Squiggy's sister visits, and she's named Squendelyn, and I'll try to figure out the canonical explanation for that when we get there.)
Judy Ervin returns as Terry Buttafucco, who we learn (or relearn) works on the loading docks. It feels a little odd to not have Big Rosie as one of the ex-Debs to show up, and I'm pretty sure Terry wasn't a member before, but oh well, retcon. This time Tracy Reiner, now 15, plays Carole. Elizabeth Daily, who's 18 here, would still look youthful enough to play Loryn in the movie Valley Girl four years later.
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