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

We've met the girls, the boys, and Carmine, and visited the brewery.  Now it's time to see the "Friends from 'Happy Days' ":   "Laverne and Shirley was actually a spin-off of sorts from 'Happy Days.'  The two girls had appeared on 'Happy Days' as friends of Arthur 'Fonzie' Fonzarelli in a 1975 episode called 'Fonzie the Superstar,' and Cindy Williams had co-starred with Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham) in the movie American Graffiti, which had helped inspire 'Happy Days.'  Both 'Happy Days' and 'Laverne and Shirley' were set in Milwaukee, explaining why Richie Cunningham, Potsie Webber, and the Fonz could easily drop in on the girls."

• The way the packaging handles movie and TV titles is eclectic to put it gently.
• I guess "spin-off of sorts" compared to something like Joanie Loves Chachi, featuring regulars from a series getting their own show.
• Um, the girls' famous debut was called "A Date with Fonzie," while "Fonzie the Superstar" is a crossover episode from January 27, 1976, the same night that Laverne & Shirley premiered.  This seems like something that should've been really easy to check.  (And the Internet did exist, admittedly in a slower form, at the time of this collection.)
• And it's Potsie Weber with one B.

Anyway, since we already saw "The Society Party" on the first videocassette, this starts with "The Bachelor Party," in which "When Laverne's father leaves Laverne in charge of his pizzeria, the girls let Arthur 'Fonzie' Fonzarelli throw a bachelor party at the Pizza Bowl--where prudish Shirley gets coerced into jumping out of the cake.  Note: Henry Winkler starred as Fonzie on Happy Days.  Timothy Thomerson (Silky Mulcheck) played Jerry Baskin on Down and Out in Beverly Hills."  

• This has to be one of the most redundant blurbs of all, with them again neglecting to set off titles.
• They can call it coercion when Laverne pressures Shirley into being a cake girl, but they can't call it attempted date rape on "The Bully Show"?
• Timothy Thomerson, who is recognizable to me, a '70s sitcom viewer (most notably as a double-gendered character on Quark), apparently was considered for the role of Lenny.  Amusingly, Silky is playing a sailor and does interact a little with sailor-loving Laverne.
• That's DaOiBH the TV series, not the movie.

I checked and Elvis's "Hound Dog" is indeed audible on the DVD version, although not very loud.  There is no Stay Tuned on this or any other of the episode on this tape.

Having already provided the first episode of Season Two on the first videocassette in the collection and "Angels of Mercy" on "Laverne in Love," this tape offers the next two episodes, with "Bachelor Mothers" up first: "When the Fonz visits his friends Laverne and Shirley and drops off an infant for the girls to babysit, Lenny and Squiggy wind up taking over the babysitting job--only to lose the baby.  Note: Be sure to watch for the way the Fonz gets a baby to stop crying."  Well, the boys don't technically lose the baby, but this blurb isn't bad.

Then it's my favorite HD/LAS crossover, "Excuse Me, May I Cut in?": "When Shirley's TV explodes, the girls coax Richie Cunningham and Potsie Webber [sic again] to invite them to a high school dance to win a television set in the dance contest.  Note: Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham from Happy Days) directed Splash, Cocoon, Backdraft, Parenthood, and Apollo 13.  Stephanie Faracy (Debra Lee) starred as Gail Collins on Last Resort and Ellen Freeman on True Colors." 

Finally, a significant music edit!  Carmine sings "Tutti Frutti" as Couple No. 7 dances, badly.  This actually impacts the plot, because it makes more sense for Carmine to say that seven isn't always a good number, and for Richie to say that Potsie and Laverne have no competition.  Carmine does a decent cover (hey, better than Pat Boone), although it is short.

The last episode on the videocassette is "Shotgun Wedding," no Part 2 in the title.  Here's how it's described on the case: "While on a fishing trip, Laverne and Shirley try to help Fonzie and Richie escape from a shotgun wedding to the Boompergaard sisters by pretending to be their fiancees.  Note: F. William Parker (Mr. Boompergaard) starred as Mr. Dodd on Paradise." 

Perhaps because there's no Part 1 on this tape, Al's "previously" is omitted, along with for some reason the last part of the theme song, the clumsiest edit I've seen on these videotapes.  Still, I think Part 2 works as a stand-alone surprisingly well, since we get the gist of the cliffhanger of Part 1 from Richie's explanation to the girls.

Overall, I think this volume in the collection works, as a theme and these specific selections.  (Not that there were a lot of episodes to choose from, compared to "Laverne in Love" for instance.)  I suppose if you want to quibble, Richie isn't really and Potsie definitely isn't the girls' friend in "Excuse Me," while Richie might be by Season Five of LaS.  (I buy that he and Shirley would go along with the wedding, more than if it had happened in Season One anyway.)  The Fonz is at least the girls' friend, even if he is on those three appearances using the girls.  (Still less of an asshole than Carmine on his videocassette.)