Monday, October 12, 2020

"We're in the Army Now" script, Scene J

This scene is a montage, where the first part, exterior field, was omitted:  "The WACS are marching.  They approach a puddle of mud.  Laverne and Shirley walk completely around the mud, then fall back in formation.  Sergeant Shannon stops the group.  The group does an about-face and marches back.  Sergeant Shannon walks next to Laverne and Shirley and sees that they walk through the mud."

We just got a little of them exercising for "assorted shots of all the WACs doing sit-ups, push-ups and jumping jacks," where "Laverne and Shirley do fine."

We lost the third part, where, in the barracks, "The WACs are preparing to load their backpacks.  On each bed there is a rolled blanket, a first aid kit, clothes, a canteen, etc.  We SEE Sergeant Shannon start the girls with a stop watch.  Laverne crams everything into her backpack.  Shirley starts to neatly pack hers.  Laverne finishes first.  Sergeant Shannon turns Laverne's backpack upside down and dumps everything out."

The fifth part, again in a field, was changed for the episode, where Sgt. Shannon pats the girls' tent and it collapses, while in the script Shirley is hiding inside Laverne's tent, supporting it.

Part six disappeared: "Laverne and Shirley have set up camp in the field.  Laverne is cooking fried eggs in a hinged pan over a sterno can.  She removes the can and the handle collapses causing the eggs to fall to the ground.  She looks around, dusts the eggs off and puts them on a plate and hands the plate to Sergeant Shannon.  We SEE Shirley using her helmet to shave her legs."

We did get the seventh part, the typing test in the barracks.  And part four, the sprint that the girls win, was moved here, although the WACs' backpacks were omitted.

Part eight, still in the barracks, was left out: "The WACs are practicing applying bandages to each other as Sergeant Shannon inspects.  First we SEE one pair of WACs.  The 'patient' stands up and displays a bandaged arm.  We MOVE ON to another pair of WACs.  The 'patient' stands up.  She has a bandaged head.  Next we PICK UP Laverne and Shirley.  Laverne has bandaged Shirley's stomach and her chair.  Shirley stands up and the chair rises with her."

Part nine, a "field" scene of the girls with a "body" on a stretcher, was changed for the episode, where the "body's" reflexes cause it to keep hitting Laverne in the head.  In the script, the WACs are supposed to move bodies on stretchers, but Laverne and Shirley "pick up the stretcher sticks and walk away leaving the stretcher and the woman on the ground."

The tenth and last part, the cone test, made it mostly intact, although sadly there is no close-up of "the world's cutest chipmunk" that Shirley swerves to avoid.  On the other hand, Laverne and Sgt. Shannon climbing a flagpole wasn't in the script.

Shirley's narration, from her Army journal, was added, as was a little dialogue, and the montage moves along quickly in the episode.  Again, this is a case where I don't find either version hilarious.

3 comments:

  1. Hmm, I like about half of their choices here, and half I wish had stayed in the episode.

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    Replies
    1. I would've added the cooking scene I think, and maybe the bandaging. Oh, and I noticed today, it's a little dog that Shirley swerves to avoid.

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