"The Obstacle Course"

"The Obstacle Course"
February 28, 1978
B-

This Arthur-Silver-written episode starts out with a very-Three's-Company-like situation, as first the audience and then Laverne and her date, Officer Norman (Bo Kaprall in his last appearance), are led to believe that Carmine is apologizing for deflowering Shirley, who's nonchalant about it.  Of course, it's all just a Big Misunderstanding (TM), and he split his pants while they were dancing.  (I'm not sure if that explains why she's in her bathrobe, but just go with it.)

Then we find out the plot, which is that Norman has asked Laverne to try out for the LAMP (Ladies' Auxiliary Milwaukee Police), and Shirley, who never got good at athletics because her family didn't approve of scabs, wants to apply, too.  She bungles it and Norman's superior makes some sexist comments, including that women should be "barefoot and pregnant."  Laverne kicks butt at the obstacle course and the chauvinist falls in the water.  (As a Three's Company fan, there's an extra satisfaction in seeing Laverne triumph over Capt. Schmidt, as Mickey Deems played five different creeps on 3'sC.)

Laverne also literally kicks Lenny's butt when he suggests she "show some skin" for the movie that he and Squiggy are shooting.  It's another odd episode for shipping, with Edna trying to get Frank to yell less and failing.  I do think it's interesting that Laverne agrees to meet Norman's mother, and then we never see him again.  That might've been a good episode in itself, and I like Norman, although I don't think he and Laverne (Lavorman?) make a great ship.

"Mother Knows Worst"

"Mother Knows Worst"
May 18, 1976
B-


Pat Carroll makes her first and only appearance as Shirley's mother Lily in this episode written by Arthur Silver.  We can see where both Shirley's insecurities and her dreams come from, as Mrs. Feeney criticizes Shirley yet wants her to marry a successful man and move to the suburbs.  We also discover that Shirley's parents are divorced and she has a brother named Michael.  And Mrs. Feeney remembers Lenny as the boy who shaved their dog years ago, and yet she refers to Squiggy and Lenny as "Squiggly and Wiggly."  (A detail that I do remember from the time, probably because it would've amused an eight-year-old who loved words and silliness.)

Not exactly a shipping note, but Lenny bites his palm at the idea of him and Squiggy as the girls' "bosom buddies."

Helen Page Camp makes her second and last appearance as Mrs. Havenwurst, who here claims to be psychic.

The first season of Laverne & Shirley ranges from C to B, averaging out to a B-.  It is not quite the show I remember, not yet, but the elements are there and just need to be developed.  (I didn't mention it, but we see Laverne pouring milk & Pepsi in one episode and it isn't addressed, just thrown in there, which says something about the approach to comedy the first year, including not knowing how to do running jokes.)  Season One ranked #3 in the ratings for that year (after All in the Family, with Marshall's husband Rob Reiner as Michael "Meathead" Stivic, and the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man) impressive for a mid-season entry, even one boosted by the Fonz.  The still-running Mary Tyler Moore Show (then in its penultimate season and coming in at #19) asked, "How will you make it on your own?"  But Laverne & Shirley were going to do it their way, yes, their way and make all their dreams come true.  (Well, some of them.)

"Dating Slump"

"Dating Slump"

March 30, 1976

C+

This Arthur Silver story is unfocused and doesn't live up to its potential.  It does, however, manage to feature both Mark Harmon and Robert Hays, as Victor and Tom respectively.  More notably for the history of the show, Carole White is Girl "A" here but is recognizable, despite the hair, makeup, and costume as the girls' future frenemy Rosie Greenbaum.

Carmine returns from a boxing championship in New York City with a new girlfriend, who also lives in Milwaukee.  Shirley has never been in "I love you" love with him, but she always thought that she'd find someone before he did.  Now she enters the slump of the title, partly because her standards are higher than Laverne's, and partly because she's always had Carmine.  So Laverne gets them a double date, not having learned her lesson from the bank robbers.  This leads to an offscreen fight with tough chicks (Girls A and B), in which Laverne almost loses her L.  In the last scene, Carmine offers to be a big brother to the girls and still protect them.

I would've rather have seen an episode with Shirley really dealing with the loss of Carmine as back-up boyfriend.  Still, there are moments I like here, including of course Lenny and Squiggy's persistence in buying the girls' nonexistent Jeep.  (They show up at the door with flowers, but it's not shippy.)

Michael L. McManus, who's Moose here, would be Herb Prange the next year.

"Falter at the Altar"

"Falter at the Altar"
March 2, 1976
B-

Arthur Silver wrote this episode (his first of four) where Laverne almost marries her boyfriend of two months, Sal Malina (Paul Sylvan, who would return in the role five years later), until Shirley finally convinces her she shouldn't marry someone she doesn't love.  It's interesting that Laverne fears she'll never be proposed to again, which definitely wouldn't be the case.  And we again hear that her father, who hopes for a grandson, would've preferred a son rather than a daughter, although here he blames the doctor.

Note that Lenny is definitely Catholic, as the previous episode suggested, with the priest saying that Lenny has missed three years of Confession.  He doesn't really have a reaction to Laverne's impending marriage, but they do do the Stroll together when the cast and extras pair up at the end.  (And "Mona Lisa" is kept intact in an early scene so that Laverne can sing some of it later.)

In contrast, Carley (Shirmine?) is a viable if mild ship at this point.  He wins her a bunch of stuffed animals at the (unseen) carnival and when they kiss later, he bursts into song ("That's Amore" this time) after she kisses him.

Prolific Jay Sandrich (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Cosby Show, etc.) does his only directing gig for this series.  Amusingly, Al Molinaro, who was Murray on 73 episodes of The Odd Couple and Al Delvecchio on 146 episodes of Happy Days and 17 of Joanie Loves Chachi, guest stars as Father Gucci.