/https://www.thespec.com/content/dam/thespec/entertainment/2013/06/26/laverne-amp-shirley-stars-back-on-tv-again/B821305696Z.1_20130626091417_000_G7010V0SU.2_Gallery.jpg)
OK, let's take a look at the 2002 reunion, which I've never seen before. I'll do approximate time-stamps as I go along:00:33 The "girls" recreate their "Schlemiel" walk.
01:25 Aww, Betty Garrett!
01:39 A live, appreciative studio audience. Sigh, and I could've hypothetically been there (as a Southern Californian) had I known.
01:55 Is it just me, or do PM & CW look like they were already on better terms than in '95?
02:47 The crowd goes wild over Boo Boo Kitty, as they should.
03:08 Those blue shiny shoes are so Penny!
03:56 "No," PM's immediate answer to whether they're still friends.
05:30 CW's fave is "Murder on the Moose Jaw Express," which I wouldn't have predicted, although Shirley does go through a lot in it. And the "guinea pigs" episode.
05:57, Awww, PM, you old softy, you like "the fireman show" with Ted Danson. But head-shake at the "Army episode where I was afraid to jump out of a plane."
08:01 Yay, bloopers!
10:35 Standing O (but no Emmys) for MMK and DLL.
10:43 Quit teasing the shippers, Penny! A peck for David and lots of smooching and hugging for Michael.
11:05 LOL at Michael auditioning David's helloing.
11:20 I will never not love a "hello" montage.
13:26 "David and I dated." We know, Cindy, but thanks anyway.
13:57 Enron joke
14:35 More bloopers, yay!
16:30 Penny & David French-kissing! Also, Core Four are relationship goals! (At least platonically.)
16:58 "Cindy has this thing for animals." "Hello!" Michael's amusement. See, One True Foursome.
21:56 Nice dancing montage.
22:18 And then EM and BG enter.
23:00 Note that BG was then 82!
25:08 Ah, so we will see some of Season Eight. By the way, the questions feel staged, considering how often they just happen to have clips that fit.
26:00 "And you fell off a couch!"
28:09 OK, here's the sketch of them in the present....
29:30 Shirley is a divorced mother of three.
29:52 Laverne is a multiple divorcee, with "three wonderful children and two you'd just like to give a good slap to."
31:30 Bimbo-shaming meets 9/11 reference!
32:12 "This isn't the good licking." All righty then.
34:50 Quick question, are the "girls" the ages they would've been in 2002? This is like "A Comedy Odyssey" all over again, trying to figure out the timeline and math.
38:07 I expected Lenny & Squiggy to enter when the "disgusting hole" came along (especially when it involves licking Laverne, ahem), but that works I guess.
38:21 Ah, they were in Hole #2.
39:46 Good, they pay tribute to Phil F.
41:53 Sweet, good clips.
Well, that was definitely the superior reunion show. Not perfect, but it was good to see everyone (except Phil) together again and the clips were overall well chosen. Plus, bloopers I hadn't seen before.
I finally got to rewatch this (for reasons obvious!) and I still get a huge kick out of Penny saying she and Michael had to stand together "so Cindy and David could be together for their family albums." Matches Michael saying they were always paired together because they were "the same height" on the Emmys red carpet last year. I also loved the "Enough with the kissin'!" from Michael in a heavy Brooklyn accent after he pecked Cindy on the lips.
ReplyDelete"I got my most interesting hate mail when word got out I was dating Cindy."
Also I'm amazed that that drop during the Lost in Spacesuits ep was the worst Penny had gotten hurt. I know Michael mentioned he kicked her square in the forehead and caused her to bleed by mistake during a shoot.
I always thought it was kind of sad that Laverne was divorced four times and has a lousy relationship with two of her kids. I'm guessing Shirley got nothing out of Walter divorcing her and that's why the girls are broke again.
Yeah, the same height, Michael, give or take six inches. I still ship non-adulterous!Penny/Michael, like how he laughs at one of her wisecracks here. Sort of a mostly platonic but attracted shipping I mean.
DeleteI wanna know more about the hate mail! I wonder what people thought of Cindy/Henry W.
I hadn't known about Michael accidentally kicking her! Considering she was pushing 60 here (and probably not in great health), she did well with the physical comedy in the sketch.
Well, it's sad if this is canon, but how can it be when the girls look like they're in their 50s but should be 64 in 2002? I didn't catch all the married names, but the first sounded Italian (which would've made Frank happy).
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DeleteI meant to add - I totally need to track down the Rosie O'Donnell Show reunion.
ReplyDeleteWhat year was that?
DeleteI think 1995?
DeleteRedoing this comment because the error was driving me crazy :p
ReplyDeletePFT! I'm like "This is not why the characters work together, dear sir."
Also same. And I mean, she dated Andy Kauffman, which is even more interesting. I so need to email you in a bit.
Me either - that was from an interview he did a few years ago that I saw the other day. I'm guessing it was the Hula Babies number from The Dance Studio since that hurt like, everyone in one way or another in a minor way. He also mentioned Penny twisted her ankle severely and they had to shoot around her for two episodes, which may explain the Laverne's Broken Leg episode and/or why she's not as involved in the wrap-arounds for RTB.
I know, she did so well!
Yep, the four married names were "Garagiola-O'Brien-Weinstock-Roosevelt," so first guy (whom she might have married before Frank died) was Italian. YEP. Like it makes no linear sense but it also fits but it's all sad.
Working together as the Core Four?
DeleteThe writing wasn't great in that sketch, but the ladies' chemistry and teamwork were still there.
Did she marry Joe G? And a Roosevelt??
"I so need to email you in a bit."
Now you've got me curious.
As in what makes the Laverne/Lenny stuff work!
DeleteThe funny thing is, do you know who wrote the sketch? Judy Pioli!
Good questions - I'm guessing a random guy. And YEP.
SOON!
If Michael McKean doesn't know how Lavenny works, then who does? He was probably just being coy.
DeleteThat's awesome that they got her, even if it wasn't her best stuff. (And now I understand the Laverne-licking, LOL.)
Well, Joe Garagiola didn't die until 2016, so that will be my headcanon until I hear otherwise.
As long as it's not a pyramid scheme.
I'm still amused by him saying "Well, we were always paired together because we were the same height/because David and Cindy" when David and Cindy nipped things in the bud before S1 ended. CHARACTER CHEMISTRY KIDS.
DeleteIt isn't, but I was so pleased to notice she wrote it.
Hee! I admit "Mrs. Hyphen-Hyphen" is still somewhat funny to me.
It's not!
I liked "Mrs. Hyphen-Hyphen," too. If David/Cindy wasn't a thing in Season Two, what was going on in "Hi Neighbor, Book 2"? And, yeah, Michael, you were paired together because of height, including in publicity photos where you're sitting down and she's draped over you?
DeleteCult recruitment then? Oh, wait, that already happened.
HEH!
DeleteLIKE! Character chemistry, y'all. The Good Sister Judy Pioli would'n't've have written THAT many episodes about them if it was just height based stuff.
This I don't know, but David and Cindy told People that they were 'intensely involved' and then realized it'd be bad for the show in the first season. Take that for whatcha will!
I'm just going to blame ship-killer GM, who probably said CW/DLL would interfere with Shirley's characterization. Or the hate mail was really brutal!
DeleteSomeone really needs to track Judy Pioli down and get her to talk about Lavenny.
Hah, same!
DeleteGod, this. I want to ask her so many questions.
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