Monday, June 6, 2022

"The Bachelor Party," Prologue and Scenes A and B

On January 8, 1976, exactly one month before "The Bachelor Party" aired, its Rev. Shooting Script was done.  Unlike other Season One scripts I own, this one in fact lists the series title as "Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney," just like we'd see on the opening credits throughout that season.

Another difference is that we get an unlettered little prologue, set on the "brewery assembly line - day."  It has the girls reacting to Laverne being summoned on the loudspeaker, as we'd see on the air.

Then Scene A is in the "break room," still day.  They added Shirley asking a couple girls if they know what happened to Laverne.  In the script, she's instead eating lunch, which makes her seem less worried.  Otherwise, what's here is what we got.

The next scene is at the Pizza Bowl, also daytime:

FRANK DE FAZIO IS AT THE CASH REGISTER.  THE PHONE RINGS.

FRANK
(INTO PHONE) Pizza Bowl, Frank De Fazio.  Yeah we deliver.  Yeah it'll be hot.  What are you, a gourmet?  What's your address?  (STARTS TO WRITE)  You want it in ten minutes.  You got it.  (HE HANGS UP)

SQUIGGY AND LENNY ENTER.  THEY ARE DELIVERING A KEG OF BEER TO FRANK DE FAZIO.  LORENZO IS OFF TO THE SIDE MAKING PIZZA.

SQUIGGY
Where do you want it?

FRANK
The same place I've wanted it every week for the last eight years.

SQUIGGY
Where's that?

FRANK
You don't know?

SQUIGGY
Hey, we ain't been comin' here no eight years.

LENNY
Yeah, three, four years at the most.  Can't you count?

LENNY AND SQUIGGY LAUGH.

FRANK
Put it in the back.

SQUIGGY
Where's the back?

FRANK
This is the front.  That's the back.

SQUIGGY
Why didn't you just say so.

LENNY
Hurry up my arms are getting tired.

THEY EXIT TO THE BACK AD LIBBING.

SQUIGGY
Oh, here's the back.

LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY ENTER.  FRANK SEES THEM.

LAVERNE
Hi, Pop.

FRANK
Hey, Laverne.

LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY GO UP TO THE TABLE.

LAVERNE
You all packed and ready to go?

FRANK
(TO LAVERNE) Yeah I'm ready.  (NICE) Hiya, Shirley.  (PINCHES HER CHEEK)

SHIRLEY
I'm very sorry about your Uncle Nunzio.

FRANK
He kept telling everyone he was sick.  For forty years no one believed him.

SHIRLEY GASPS.

LAVERNE
It was his time.

LAVERNE IS SILENT.

FRANK
Let me make sure you know what you're doing here.  You open at eleven for the lunch crowd.

LAVERNE
Open at eleven.

FRANK
(TO SHIRLEY) Make sure she does it.  (TO LAVERNE) If they want anchovies on half, you charge for the whole thing.

LAVERNE
Charge for anchovies.

FRANK
(TO SHIRLEY) Make sure she does it.  (TO LAVERNE) When you close up -- and this is very important, Shirley -- you --

LAVERNE
Why do you keep checking with her?  I'm the one you're leaving in charge.  Why don't you trust me.

FRANK
(LOOKS AT SHIRLEY AFFECTIONATELY) Because a face like this you can trust...  (TO LAVERNE) And a face like this you watch like a hawk.  (TO SHIRLEY) Did she tell you how she wrecked the place the last time she was in charge?  She beat up two sailors.  Knocked 'em through a two hundred dollar window.

SHIRLEY STARES AT LAVERNE.

SHIRLEY
How could you do that?

LAVERNE
... A lucky punch.

FRANK
No more lucky punches.  Mary is here to wait tables, Lorenzo is here to make the pizza.

LORENZO WAVES.

LAVERNE
Don't worry.

FRANK
If I had a son I wouldn't have to worry.

LAVERNE
I fought like a son.  What'd you want me to do, grow a moustache?

FRANK
That reminds me.  I'm gonna have to see your Aunt Josephine.  See you Monday.  (GIVES APRON TO LAVERNE)

SHIRLEY
I never saw you in a suit before, Mr. De Fazio.

FRANK
Yeah, I was saving it for Laverne's wedding but I figure it can turn to dust before then.  (TO LAVERNE) Remember, Laverne, open at eleven... anchovies... no fighting.  Got it.

LAVERNE
Got it.

FRANK
(TO SHIRLEY) Make sure she's got it.

HE KISSES LAVERNE AND EXITS.

LAVERNE
See how he doesn't trust me.  This time I'm gonna show him I can run this place as good as anyone.

SHIRLEY
You bet you will.  Laverne, how did you knock two sailors through the window with one punch?

LAVERNE
The wind was with me.

That entire scene was dropped.  Some of my many thoughts:
  • Ten minutes to cook and deliver a pizza seems mighty speedy, unless there was already that kind in the oven and the address is on Knapp Street (or whatever the street was called at this point).
  • I hadn't realized that the original cook was Lorenzo, but Mary the waitress, bless her, is there, as she will be to the end.
  • Squiggy and Lenny (and, yes, that order feels weird) don't get much to do here, especially compared to later, but I am intrigued by a few things in this exchange.
    • Frank apparently has had the Pizza Bowl for eight years, or at least has had Shotz beer delivered to the back for eight years.  If I remember correctly, it's his tenth anniversary in Season Four's "Date with Eraserhead."
    • The boys have been coming to the P.B. only three or four years, but I don't know if this is as deliverymen or includes them coming in as customers.
    • They don't know where the back is, which might be a fair question, since we're never shown it.
  • I like that Laverne calling her father "Pop" is already established in the second episode.
  • Why is Frank extra nice to Shirley?  That feels off to me.
  • The thing of the hypochondriac finally dying is an old, sort of vaudeville/Catskills kind of joke.
  • Ah, the answer to one of my lingering questions, the P.B. opens at eleven for the lunch crowd.  At least in this version anyway.
  • Laverne does mention, in Scene A, that she started a fight, but we get the details here.  This is a very tough Laverne, beating up two sailors and knocking them through the window, although, yes, the wind was with her.
  • Laverne will eventually wear a false mustache, as will Shirley for that matter.
  • An Aunt Josephine mention!  I think she has a mustache in the other mention, too.
  • I guess Frank is wearing a suit on the bus/train/plane to get to Brooklyn, since people used to dress up for travel back then.
  • The line about Laverne's wedding is harsh, especially she can't be that old at this point, even in the days of establishing canon.
  • Scene B isn't strictly necessary, since we get from the other scenes that Laverne wants to make her father proud, but it's still an interesting early glimpse at Frank De Fazio, and the boys.

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