December 8, 1981
C+
Terry Hart's only L & S script has lots of flaws, but it's saved from a C or worse by its take on Lavenny. Laverne tells Shirley she's going to move in with a so far never seen or heard of boyfriend, David (the once ubiquitous Paul Sand). Shirley disapproves, especially when Laverne wants her to lie to Mr. DeFazio, but she doesn't stop Laverne. The lies that Shirley comes up with aren't particularly funny or plausible. Meanwhile, Laverne tries to settle in to David's place, helped by their shared love of music, although apparently they, even though "in love," never knew about the other playing guitar.
Lenny helped carry Laverne's bags out to David's car, buying the lie that Laverne was going on vacation. (And it's better than any of the lies Shirley comes up with, so why couldn't she tell Mr. DeFazio that?) But Lenny realizes that Laverne has moved in with David, and he objects, on religious grounds! (Remember, Lenny is, like Laverne, a Catholic, although not always a particularly observant one, also like Laverne.)
Lenny gets more personal when he says that Laverne is meant to be a mother (in wedlock it's implied), while his own mother was meant to be a welder. And he says that if he loved someone, really loved them, then he would marry them. His words have an impact on Laverne, and she tells David, who's been hiding in the bathroom from the angry man they'd assumed was her father, that she loves him (David) but she's old-fashioned enough to want marriage. And, yeah, like all the other prospective husbands so far, we never see him again.
As with Sabrina the previous season, David is a McGuffin character, admittedly more defined. (He has to grade papers and seems to be an English teacher.) Looking at him in the larger context of the series, he can only be here to throw new light on past Lavenny moments, including Lenny's proposal when he thought Laverne was pregnant. In a sharper script, this would've been handled better. Or they could've gone the route of having Laverne and David realize that they don't know each other well enough to make any kind of commitment yet.
And here are some pictures for your enjoyment, less than usual for a fairly long Lavenny exchange, mostly because of the discomfort that they both seem to be feeling, not so much with each other as at having to discuss something personal with anyone. Seventh-season Lavenny is not the carefree yet flirty thing that sixth-season Lavenny was, but I'm grateful for it nonetheless.
"You're a terrific man" is such Progress and development for these two.
ReplyDeleteAlso "If I really loved a girl I'd ask her to marry me." Cough. Three proposals happen in canon, if I remember right (one totally facetious [ugh S8] but still).
The interesting twist here is that only a handful of episodes later he's willing to move to New York to be with Karen! Was he planning to live somewhere else while she lived off-campus?
* Three in actual canonical "reality", I should add, since we get the fantasy marriage in TE and he also proposes in Laverne's dream.
DeleteYeah, in the larger arc of Lavenny, this is an important episode, but as a stand-alone, and the way Laverne/David is handled, it's weak.
DeleteI don't think Lenny had thought through what he'd do in New York, maybe drive a truck. Squiggy would've been devastated if Lenny had gone. But Lenny is a leap-before-he-looks kind of person when he falls in love.
Oh, definitely! And yeah, David comes out of nowhere and disappears into the ether.
DeleteOh definitely - he's heart first instead of brains. Squig would've followed him, and it likely never would've worked.
Spin-off? Lenny & Squiggy & Karen!
DeleteHEH! I would've watched!
DeleteI would've, too, but I watched Blansky's Beauties, so that's not saying much. If the boys sang every week (like Joanie and Chachi), that would've been worth it alone.
DeleteI desperately wanna see the Blansky's Beauties with Penny in it. Got to do some digging!
DeleteYoutube has the credits (with the very Garry Marshall cast). I know nothing about this dealer, or if it would be worth $25, but there is this: https://www.rewatchclassictv.com/products/blanskys-beauties-abc-1977-rare. Maybe if you get your blog going.
DeleteI mean podcast, not blog.
Delete!! Thank you!
Delete