Monday, January 3, 2022

"Testing, Testing," Scenes P and S

Yes, that's how they letter the scenes when there are that many.   (A dozen in this case.)  Scene P is in the "breakroom - a couple days later."  In case you're curious, Lenny's opening line originally was "So, how your fingers doin'?", which became the sweeter "How's your little hand there, Laverne?"

After Lenny Ronnies at the idea of Laverne going crazy on a first date, she was scripted to say, "With a human boy."  And Squiggy didn't react at all in the script, but he loves it onscreen.

The three-person spit-take is in the script, but not Lenny putting on sunglasses.

The last bit of the scene, after Dr. Gentry's report, was dropped:

SQUIGGY
Who?

SHIRLEY
Us.

SQUIGGY
Oh, I'm touched.

SHIRLEY
Moving.

LAVERNE
Beautiful.

LENNY
I knew we'd get fired.

And so ends Act Two.

The tag is set in "the girls' apartment - living room - next morning."  In the script, Shirley is so outraged by what she sees in Carmine's drawing that she not only punches him, but she grabs his earlobe and twists it, and starts poking him.  This became two punches onscreen.  The scene ends with her "beating him with the picture," which might be happening as we hear voiceovers and see the outside of the apartment window.

It's interesting that they somewhat toned down Shirley's violence towards Carmine, and played up the Lavenny a bit more.  As for the post-report dialogue, it's not really needed, because the Core Four say all that with their facial expressions.

Overall, this is a great script that became a great episode.  I wish I could see an earlier version, but this still hints at some of the process.

2 comments:

  1. I wonder if that was a Michael adlib RE Laverne's "little hand." Oh Lenny, honey.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It feels like it, yeah. (And Laverne-Penny tends to refer to body parts as "little" as a form of affection. Sometimes even like "little leggy.")

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