"A Nun's Story," Scene 2

The second scene is in "apartment - later":

WE SEE THE FEET OF SHIRLEY AND LAVERNE WALKING PAST THE WINDOW.

SHIRLEY

Laverne... wait a minute.

THE FEET STOP AT THE WINDOW.

LAVERNE

What?

SHIRLEY

Laverne... What about the time you came to school nauseous and I gave up cheerleader tryouts to put cold towels on your forehead?

LAVERNE

It was a great sacrifice, Shirl.  (THEN) But I'm still not going to the reunion.

LAVERNE'S FEET EXIT THE WINDOW.  A BEAT, THEN SHIRLEY'S FEET STOMP OFF AFTER HER.  PAN TO DOOR AS LAVERNE ENTERS FOLLOWED AFTER A BEAT BY SHIRLEY WHO GIVES LAVERNE A DIRTY LOOK AND SLAMS THE DOOR AS HARD AS SHE CAN.  LAVERNE PAYS NO ATTENTION AT ALL.  SHIRLEY CHANGES TACTS...  SHE PUTS ON A SMILE.

SHIRLEY

Laverne, Laverne... what are we fighting for?  We're close friends.  And where there are close friends, there is loyalty.  I know if you search your heart, you can't tell me you won't come to the reunion.

LAVERNE

(PLAYING THE GAME) Let me see.  (SHE CLOSES HER EYES AND PUTS FINGERS TO HER TEMPLES) I'm going into my heart now.  I'm searching.  Boy, it's wet in here.  Wait a minute.  I see something.  It's the reunion... and I'm not there.  (OPENS HER EYES)  There's your answer , Shirl.  I'm not going.

SHIRLEY

(MATTER-OF-FACTLY) Okay...

SHIRLEY DUMPS OUT THE PAPER CARNATIONS ON THE TABLE AND SITS DOWN.  LAVERNE STARES AT HER AS SHE STARTS WORKING ON THE PAPER FLOWERS.

LAVERNE

No, I mean it... I'm really not going.

This all got axed and we hear Laverne say over an exterior shot of their window, "I'm not going to your reunion."

Shirley saying Laverne should keep a diary for her children (a fascinating comment in the big picture of the series) was added.  Also, the girls getting bats when "Carmine Ragusa" (again his full name) knocks and that whole routine wasn't in the script.  Furthermore, Carmine doesn't call Shirley "Angel Face" in the earlier version, and this is how he greets them:

CARMINE

I hope I'm not interrupting your fist fight?

LAVERNE

We happen to be having a civilized discussion.  What do you want, Carmine?

CARMINE

I brought Shirley her mail.

CARMINE TOSSES THE MAIL ON THE TABLE IN FRONT OF SHIRLEY.

LAVERNE

You didn't bring mine?

CARMINE

Your mail ain't that interesting.

Onscreen, Carmine and Laverne are less prickly with each other and he does bring both girls their mail.  In fact, Laverne's is "another ad for the removal of unwanted facial hair."  After that, Shirley excitedly opens an acceptance from Anne Marie Polanski, but there's over a page of omitted dialogue in the script first:

SHIRLEY 

A lot of people must be coming to the reunion.  Four people sent back RSVP's.

CARMINE

Fine.  I brought mine.  I saved a stamp.

LAVERNE

(TO CARMINE) I get interesting mail.

SHIRLEY HAS OPENED THE FIRST ENVELOPE.

SHIRLEY

This one's from Joey Rosario.  Remember... he was voted "Most Sincere".  (READING) Dear Shirley, so it's reunion time again...  (READS FURTHER TO HERSELF, THEN) Creep.

LAVERNE

Lemme see.

LAVERNE GRABS THE LETTER AND READS:

LAVERNE (CONT'D)

"So it's reunion time again.  So what?"  That's sincere!

SHIRLEY HAS OPENED THE NEXT LETTER.

CARMINE

Don't worry, Shirley.  He was always a nerd.  People only thought he was sincere because he wore glasses.

LAVERNE

(INTERESTED) Read the next one.

A LOOK OF SHOCK COMES OVER SHIRLEY'S FACE.  LAVERNE AND CARMINE READ OVER HER SHOULDER.  LAVERNE LOOKS A LITTLE SHOCKED, TOO.

LAVERNE (CONT'D)

That one must be from Garbage-Moth Brenner.

SHIRLEY

All he had to say was "NO".

CARMINE TAKES THE LETTER AND CONTINUES READING SILENTLY.

LAVERNE

(SINCERELY) Shirley, even I don't think your reunions are that bad.

CARMINE

(AWED) I don't know how he does it.  Every word has four letters.

LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY EACH OPEN AN ENVELOPE. LAVERNE TURNS HER UPSIDE DOWN AND THE SHREDS OF A LETTER SPILL OUT.

LAVERNE

I think this is another "no."

SHIRLEY IS BUSY READING THE OTHER LETTER WITH A GROWING EXCITEMENT.

SHIRLEY

It's a "yes".  Laverne!  I got a "yes".

Then in both versions Laverne says it might be a joke.

Carmine calling the girls and Anne Marie "the Three Stooges," and Shirley correcting him to "the Three Musketeers," and his reaction to that, turned his line "You girls used to be like the Three Musketeers" into an actual joke rather than an observation.

In the script, Shirley wonders, "Wasn't she with Lenny when he cherry-bombed the toilet?", while onscreen Shirley remembers AM putting an ad in the paper to sell the school.

Onscreen, Carmine says he'll spread the word to the football team and he remembers AM being "fun in the huddle."  It's cleaner in the script, with him wanting his invitation back so he can change his answer to "Yes."

Shirley's line about "Gutsy, Nutsy, and Klutzy" is nowhere in the script.  When Laverne remembers the boys crashing the slumber party, Shirley originally said, "Yeah, Anne Marie got even," while onscreen Shirley would say she herself "fixed their wagons," and Laverne would correct her that it was all Anne Marie's idea.  But the flashback is in the script, and I'll get into it next time.

As for this scene:

• I like the little sight gag with the girls' feet at the window.  (But  it can't compare to the one in "Honeymoon Hotel," another script I've acquired recently but have not yet peeked at.)  I also like the little memory of Shirley's "sacrifice," but I can see why the first part of this scene was cut for time.
• Shirley is noticeably angrier in the script than onscreen, stomping and slamming.  I wonder if this was toned down to preserve Shirley's "niceness."
• Laverne's wet heart!
• The girls definitely argue a lot more about Laverne's potential attendance in the script.
• "We happen to be having a civilized discussion" sounds like Shirley's phrasing, not Laverne's. 
• This Carmine is rougher around the edges than the softer Carmine onscreen, more like the Carmine of the first couple episodes.
• We hear about more classmates, most of whom seem remarkably hostile to Shirley.
• This script uses the word "nerd" more than some entire seasons of the series.
• More than ever, how can Laverne find the Lenny-cherry-bombs-the-toilet incident "boring"?  Maybe she's just jealous of AM.
• Again, the onscreen version is smoother and more focused, vs. the ragged charm of the scene in the script.