"Laverne & Shirley": The Collector's Edition, Volume 1

In 1997, Columbia House Company issued a ten-volume, forty-episode set of the series on VHS.  Copies are still floating around out there and I recently was able to purchase the complete set.  I will be reviewing these tapes on the following basis:

• How does it compare to the DVD versions I acquired last year?
• What are some notable aspects of the packaging?
• Why these episodes and these themes?

As for the numbering, these tapes don't actually say "Volume 1," etc., but this one has the lowest number, 21275, and it makes sense to start with "Meet the Girls."

The back cover says, "Shortly after Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, two ambitious and feisty girls with lower-class backgrounds, showed up in 1975 on a double date with Richie Cunningham and Arthur 'Fonzie' Fonzarelli, the two girls were given their own series.  Pessimistic Laverne and optimistic Shirley were best friends who worked together at the Shotz Brewery, lived together in a basement apartment at 730 Hampton Street [sic], and yearned for a better life.  As the theme song says: 'We're gonna make our dreams come true.  And we'll do it our way!' "

This is an OK summary, although it doesn't explain how Laverne can be both pessimistic and ambitious, "yearning for a better life."  At least it points out the main character contrast, suggesting what to expect as we "meet the girls."

The first episode is appropriately enough the first episode of the series, "The Society Party."  The look is not as sharp as on the DVD and I was disappointed that we still get just a snippet of Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'."  The content seems identical, except for Fonzie saying before a commercial break, "Hey, I'd stay tuned if I were you.  Dig it!"  Here's the summary on the videobox:

"When Laverne and Shirley need evening gowns to attend a fancy dinner party, Lenny and Squiggy borrow two dresses from an uncle's wax museum.  Note: Henry Winkler appeared as the Fonz on Happy Days.  Mary Treen (Nana Shotz) played Hilda on The Joey Bishop Show.  The episode promoted in the coming attractions at the end of this episode can be seen on tape six in this collection."

An uncle?  Well, yes, Uncle Elliott is an uncle, but why not say whose uncle?  And why is the viewer supposed to not know who Henry Winkler is and yet somehow care who was on The Joey Bishop Show?  (No offense, but Wikipedia says the 1961-64 sitcom struggled in the ratings and I can't imagine it had much of a following even in '97.)

Next up is another Season One episode, "How Do You Say, 'Are You Dead?' in German?"  Again, the only difference in content from the DVD version is Shirley saying before the last commercial break, "No, no, don't touch that dial, we'll be right back."

Here's the summary: "When a young, non-English-speaking German man working as a delivery boy for a dry cleaner faints in Laverne and Shirley's apartment, his boss fires him-- leaving the girls to break the news to him.  Note: In this episode, Shirley exclaims the classic line: 'You can't send a man out into the world with nothing but a bag of sauerkraut.' "

While there are certainly episodes I enjoy more, I can see this one being chosen to again show a contrast between the girls, here how they think it's best to help a man down on his luck.

The third episode on this tape is the first from Season Two, "Drive! She Said!"  Once again, it's just that last going-to-commercial-break "don't touch that dial" message that is missing on DVD, although this time it's a two-person announcement.

SHIRLEY:  There'll be more fun when the commercial's done.  Laverne, I made a rhyme!
LAVERNE: Whoopie.

The summary from the videobox: "After convincing Laverne to go 'halfsies' with her to buy a 1947 gray Hudson from one of Carmine's dance students, Shirley agrees to teach Laverne to drive-- using a record album as a steering wheel and a banana as a gear shift.  Note: In this episode, Laverne reveals Shirley's middle name and a few other personal secrets."  Well, one other personal secret, about her bra-stuffing.  It is nice to know the type of car they buy, since I don't think it's ever mentioned in canon.

This is a pretty good episode (it still makes me laugh), and a good example for comparison and contrast of the two girls, although I don't know that we're exactly "meeting" them by Season Two.

And lastly, there's an episode from Season Four, which, yes, is really late to meet the girls, but it is a flashback episode, making me wish that "A Nun's Story" had replaced "HDYSAYDiG." 

Here's the videobox summary: "When Laverne's father, Frank, makes a surprise visit at night dressed up as a prowler and the girls spray him with whipped cream, Laverne and Shirley calm their landlady, Mrs. Babish, by explaining how they first became roommates against Frank's wishes.  Note: Betty Garrett (Edna Babish) played Irene Lorenzo on All in the Family."

Again, the only difference (other than much higher visual quality on the DVD) is that Shirley does a pre-tag "stay tuned" message, this time, "There's more coming up, so don't you go away."

This volume is a pretty good first entry in the collection, although I don't think it's worth getting if you have the series on DVD, even if you own a VCR.  I'm still curious about the other tapes, but I'm not eager to view them.