"Lonely At the Middle," Scene A

On December 15, 1976, three and a half months before "Lonely At the Middle" would air (and in between the airdates of "Two of Our Weirdos Are Missing" and "Oh Hear the Angels' Voices," neither of which I currently have scripts for), the Rev. Final Draft came in for LatM.  That was enough time to add a frame device and make the bulk of the episode a flashback, but here's what was in this version, starting with the "Labelling Room - day":

Confusingly, "LeRoy Wanda, one of the group, is standing, addressing them.  Wanda is a very fat lady.  She's all fired up."  I guess "LeRoy" could be a girls' name, but by filming this character became a man named Big Henry.

They left out LeRoy asking, "Does management have to clip grocery coupons out of the newspaper?", and the crowd replying, "No."

Onscreen, Iris asks if people like getting felt up on their way to work, and Laverne is ambivalent about it.  Here's the original dialogue:

LAVERNE

When's the last time he [Tompkins] got felt up on the way to work!

CROWD

Yeah!

IRIS

(BITTERLY) When's the last time I got felt up on the way to work?

The rest of the scene was mostly left out:

LAVERNE

(TO SHIRLEY) We'll show them.  Let's just see how many beers they can sell without bottles!

CROWD

Yeah.

LEROY

All right.  Everyone over here to sign up for picket duty.

THE CROWD MOVES TOWARDS WANDA.  SHIRLEY STOPS LAVERNE.

SHIRLEY

(TO LAVERNE) Laverne, I don't want to go out on strike, again.

LAVERNE

What?  Don't you think we deserve a raise?

SHIRLEY

Of course we deserve a raise.

LAVENE

Doesn't it make your blood boil that we earn less than Lenny and Squiggy?

SHIRLEY

Of course, but every year we have these meetings, and LeRoy gets up and quotes lines form Pete Seeger songs.

LAVERNE

So, what's wrong with that?

SHIRLEY

Nothing, except we get all fired up, and we picket the factory, and lie down in front of the trucks, and what do we wind up with?  A ten cent raise that doesn't make up for all the money we lose by striking.

LAVERNE

What else are we gonna do?  No one is listening to our demands.

SHIRLEY

Maybe they can't hear them.  It's hard to hear a person under a truck.

LEROY

(TO CROWD) Now, when we go out on strike, wear your most tattered clothes.  Those who can do so, try to look pregnant.  And this time, no obscene hand gestures to reporters.  Got that, Laverne!

LAVERNE

Got it.

SHIRLEY

(TO LAVERNE) See!  Isn't that ridiculous!  Dress up pregnant!  Last time it was borrow thin children!

LAVERNE

    We have to do anything we can to get back at rats like Tompkins.

SHIRLEY

I saw Mr. Tompkins at the company picnic.  He seemed like a nice man.

LAVERNE

How could you tell?  He was hopping on one leg in a gunny sack.

SHIRLEY

That's my point... he seemed human.  Why can't we send a representative -- one of us -- to talk to him?

LEROY

You'll be assigned picket duty -- sixteen hours on... eight hours off.

LAVERNE

Sixteen hours?  That's worse than work.  Maybe your way's better, Shirl.

LAVERNE RAISES HER HAND.

LEROY

The chair recognizes Laverne De Fazio.

LAVERNE

(STANDS) Um... Laverne De Fazio, cappers and labellers [sic] division, row six.  Shirley has something to say.

LAVERNE SITS.

SHIRLEY

(TO LAVERNE, SOTTO) What?

LAVERNE

Get up, Shirl.

SHIRLEY

(SOTTO) Laverne!

LAVERNE

Just tell them what you told me.

SHIRLEY RISES.

SHIRLEY

Um... Shirley Feeney.  Cappers and labellers division, same row.  I was just telling Laverne that... some person -- a member of the rank and file -- one of us... an ordinary person...

LAVERNE CUTS HER OFF.

LAVERNE

I nominate Shirley Feeney.

Onscreen, there's no side conversation between the girls and Shirley just gets up, without pushing from Laverne, and says there must be a better method than striking.  (And the raise is only five cents, rather than ten.)  But Laverne does nominate her as the rank & file member to talk to Tompkins.

Thoughts:

• Starting right in with this scene gives us more of a feel for the union meeting, although of course I miss the Lavenny frame.
• I wonder why they did the switch to Big Henry.  (And I wonder if this is a transition from an earlier draft, where the union leader was a woman named Wanda, or a man named LeRoy.)
• It's interesting that they switched the perspectives on getting felt up between Iris and Laverne, so that the filmed version fits the "horny virgin Laverne" image of the early seasons.
• I like the Pete Seeger joke.
• Small spoiler, the "pregnant" thing turns into a bit of a running joke.
• Of course Laverne was the one making obscene hand gestures.