"A Visit to a Funeral"

On February 27, 1979, the same night that Squiggy was "in love" with Vivian McCafferty, news reached Knapp Street that Fonzie was dead, so Carmine, Lenny, Squiggy, Laverne, and Shirley went to his funeral.  They proceeded to steal the scenery from even Arnold and now it's time to discuss that tragicomedy.

About 17 minutes in, Carmine strolls in first, relatively serious and then he performs a dance tribute to Fonzie.  Screencaps can't do it justice, but on the other hand....

I particularly like the "thumbs" part.  And Howard's reaction is great throughout.

Carmine tells Fonzie's boots, which supposedly are the only part of him that survived an explosion, that he knows that that's the way the Fonz would've wanted it.

There's a brief cutaway to Ralph and Potsie as hostages (which I doubt anyone cares about), and then Lenny & Squiggy enter with a large wreath, which I'm sure they stole.

They hand the wreath to a couple of the villains and approach the casket.  Lenny says that Fonzie's boots died with him off.  Squiggy says, "We'll miss you, Fonz.  You was the nicest guy what ever beat me up."  Lenny looks like he's going to cry.  They join Carmine, standing over by the villains.

And then the girls come in.  The studio audience, which has already been laughing and cheering, goes crazy over them. 

Laverne and Shirley are both in tears, although confused that the body isn't there.  Shirley thinks "the big boss" must've just yanked him out of his boots.  Laverne says she'll never forget Fonzie, because he was the only guy who ever hickeyed his initials on her neck.  Shirley says that's sweet, but she won't let Laverne keep a boot.  Shirley asks if Laverne wants Fonzie to "stand barefoot in that stag line in the sky," and Laverne lets go and says, "No, he'd kill me."

Laverne tries to leave Fonzie her favorite sweater, but Shirley stops her from stripping in this "holy place."  Shirley tears the L off Laverne's sweater and places it on the boots.

The five friends from the working-class side of town come over to the mourners, Carmine patting Shirley's back.  Howard Cunningham introduces "the Widow Fonzarelli," the Fonz in disguise as his own mother.  Lenny sadly asks, "Does she know?", and Laverne elbows him.  Laverne says, "We're very sorry."

The party of five starts to leave but they do some great double-takes, like Could it be...?  Nah!  Then they exit, Carmine and Shirley embracing.

By this point, the Laverne & Shirley cast were so well defined that I assume it was easier to write them in character, and it's a perfect, if odd, set-up to showcase them, although, yeah, Carmine's dance is over te top.  This might actually be my favorite minisode from the HD side of things, although I prefer most of the episodes where Richie interacts with Laverne and Shirley and company on their show.

"A Date with Morky"

"The last time I was here, I caused a big problem, too."  Right spang in the middle of the premiere of Mork & Mindy on September 14, 1978 came the ultimate Marshallverse crossover, and it's time to talk about it.  "About 20 bleems ago" (which is 40,000 years ago, but OK), Mork was on Earth to "visit his friend the Fonz."  Never mind that Mork tried to abduct Richie, threatened to destroy Arnold's for fun, and succeeded in stripping Ralph Malph down to undershorts.  Or that "it was all a dream."  It's Retcon City.  And after that initial visit, Mork apparently befriended the Fonz enough to get dating advice.  And who better to practice on than Laverne DeFazio?

MORK: Are you interested?

MINDY: Oh, definitely.

MORK: Then prepare time-warp sequence.

In what I presume is 1960, the Fonz is house-sitting for the Cunninghams, who are on vacation.  (Earlier in that week, Fonzie and the Cunninghams went to a Colorado dude ranch, and M & M is set in Colorado, but that's probably a coincidence.)  The Fonz gets annoyed that a girl calling for Richie doesn't respond to his charms.

An egg lands in the yard with sound effects, which Fonzie assumes are Ralph trying to be funny.  He's startled to find Mork on the doorstep.  Fonzie assumes he's dreaming, but Mork says previously he had to erase Fonzie's memory to preserve his sanity.

Mork is puzzled by the ritual of "men dating women."  Maybe he observed a bit of this at Arnold's.  Anyway, that's the set-up so deal with it.  They briefly discuss gender on Ork, which is retconned from before but whatever.  Fonzie describes kissing as a boy and a girl sliding their lips together.  Mork wants Fonzie to introduce him to a girl, but Fonzie says it'll be difficult.  Mork suggests that the two of them slide lips.  Fonzie's not going for it.

Mork says Fonzie is "known throughout the universe for his expertise in this field."  The flattery works so Fonzie sends Mork upstairs to change into Richie's clothes.  The Fonz says it's a good thing Mork didn't land at Potsie's house.  (Which I kind of want to see now.)

Fonzie considers various chicks, including the Hooper Triplets.  Then he thinks of the perfect one and dials.

The next scene opens with Laverne, in one of her signature outfits, coming by the Cunningham abode and yelling at I think the bus driver, since she came by bus.

The audience understandably applauds, Fonzie greets her with a kiss, she shows off her outfit, and we go to commercial.

When we return, Laverne asks if this Mork guy is tall, dark, and handsome.  Fonzie says Mork is a foreigner.  In her Brooklyn whine, Laverne says she doesn't like foreigners because they talk funny.  Fonzie is going to have to convince her more.

He tells her that Mork is from Ork and has her wait outside while he briefs Mork on American customs.

Mork reenters in plaid, jeans, white socks, and penny loafers.  He and Fonzie discuss kissing a little more, and then what Lenny would call Mork's "pleasure center" appears to be on the wrist.  Even seeing Fonzie touch his own wrist sends Mork into what the captions describe as "ecstatic gasping."  Mork tells of how the zazbot once overcame him to the point that he "jerked her earlobe."  Mork sobs in shame and Fonzie holds him.  (And poor Henry has to try to keep from laughing at Robin.)  

Laverne says Fonzie's two minutes are up and she comes in.  And worlds collide!

Laverne and Mork look at each other like they like what they see, or at least he imitates her body language.  She winks at Fonzie approvingly as she strolls over to "Morky."  He gives her the "Nanu-nanu" greeting and she gives Fonzie a look like What have you set me up with?

Fonzie tries to excuse himself out of the room but Laverne asks if he "fixed her up with another jerk."  (What other jerks has he fixed her up with?)  Mork starts dancing The Jerk, which is circa 1964, so that probably further puzzles her.

Laverne tells the Fonz she washed her hair for this and ironed her skirt.  He reminds her that Mork is a foreigner and doesn't know their customs.  She'll stay if Mork won't jerk.  Then she sprays on perfume, while Fonzie advises Mork to do what Laverne does, since "she knows the ropes."  Fonzie heads upstairs, laughing about what Mork said about ropes.

Laverne asks Morky if Ork is near Greece, so he starts talking about grease and other lubricants.  (Honestly, this episode sounds naughtier than it is when I type all this out.)  

MORK: Is it time to flatter you?

LAVERNE: Sure.

MORK: You have a lovely fungus growing out of your head.

He explains and she says, "Yeah, I always wear mildew when I wanna impress a guy.  What did Fonzie do to me?"

He asks if it's time to kiss.  She says no and has him sit on the couch.  So of course he sits on his face.  Laverne really can't believe this.  They both sit "Fonz-style."  He sits too close so they move to opposite ends of the couch.  He copies her body language.  

She thinks he's making fun of her and threatens a fat lip.  He feels rejected and "returns to hatchling state."  She tells him, "Don't suck your finger.  Your teeth will end up like mine."  She feels sorry for him and offers to be his friend.  Unfortunately, she touches his wrist.

He wants to jerk her earlobe, an act which appears to be called "gangnab."  She kicks his ankle so he kicks both of hers.  He chases her around the living room.  She says she liked him better as a baby.  He grabs her earlobe when they're behind the couch, so she slaps him and runs upstairs, yelling, "Fonz!  Fonz!  He wants my earlobe!"  He tells the empty room, "I think she likes me."

Back in present-day Boulder, Mork is still lusting after Laverne's lobes and says he just wanted to tweak them.  Mindy says that's what got him into trouble last time.  And that's the end of the crossover.

I don't like the rapey undertones, but I do like how Winkler, Marshall, and R. Williams play off of each other in this minisode.  Never again would more than two Marshallverse casts get together (not counting real life of course, like for baseball games), but this is a good melding of the three different tones of the shows, although we're sort of back to the brassy Laverne of '75.  And I guess we can be glad the Fonz didn't fix Mork up with Shirley.

"I love your feet, you know that?"

The night that Laverne and Shirley solemnly swore that they would never tell a living soul they went out with Lenny and Squiggy, Carmine was visiting the "nice" side of Milwaukee, where he was called to defend the honor of Joanie Cunningham.  This cameo isn't particularly necessary for the episode, but it's short and it works better than the one in "Football Frolics."  So from March 1, 1977, comes "Joanie's Weird Boyfriend."

My non-LAS review is here https://relivinghappydays.blogspot.com/2021/04/joanies-weird-boyfriend.html, but this is the set-up:  Fifteenish Joanie, feeling frustrated by her boyfriend who won't kiss her, annoyed with her family who treat her like a little kid, and egged on by the bad-influence (but still unseen by the audience) Jenny Piccalo, dresses like a tramp and flirts with the leader of the Red Devils gang.  He invites her to a party, but first she has to be initiated, meaning she has to neck with all eight Devils.  And she doesn't even kiss on the first date.  Big brother Richie tracks the gang down to, for some reason, the Jefferson High gym, where he confronts them single-handed, he thinks.  But his three best friends (Fonzie, Potsie, and Ralph, in that order) are already hiding in the lockers.  Now it's four against eight, since Joanie, even though she's hit at least two boys for trying to kiss her on previous episodes, doesn't defend herself.

About seventeen minutes in, Fonzie says that "an old friend happened to come and visit" him.  Presumably Carmine and Fonzie (who knew each other pretty well by the time of the "bachelor party" episode of LAS) decided to hang out at Arnold's, where they heard about Joanie and the gang from Potsie and Ralph, but Carmine isn't going to enter from a locker, good Heavens, no.

Fonzie snaps his fingers and Carmine emerges from the bleachers, singing, this will shock you, "Rags to Riches"!  He makes some gymnastic moves and Ralph's face is all of us.

Carmine twirls his way over to Fonzie, who says that he loves Carmine's feet.  Fonzie introduces Carmine Ragusa to the gang, and Carmine adds, "Of the Marjorie Ward Dance School."  The gangleader jokes that Carmine will tango them to death.  Richie puts his hand on Carmine's shoulder and says that Carmine is also Golden Gloves Champion of Milwaukee.  The Devils have heard of him.

Carmine warms up with more dance moves, but Fonzie just cracks his knuckles.  Joanie tries to stop the fight but then walks out when no one backs down, and no one stops her, even though the point of the fight was supposedly to protect her.

Carmine uses Fonzie's fist like a punching bag, as if they've worked out together before.  Richie is tired of Fonzie fighting his battles, so he insists that he, Ralph, and Potsie take on the gang.  Fonzie has the gangleader pick out three members to fight, and he and Carmine are going to sit this one out.  Which makes Mekka's cameo seem really pointless, but OK.

A comical three-on-three battle begins, with the Fonz and the Big Ragoo offering verbal encouragement, including Carmine telling Richie, "Go get 'em, Tiger!"  They also, however, make asides to each other about the patheticness of the boys' fighting styles.

Eventually Richie has had enough and Fonzie suggests ending the fight, but the gangleader refuses and even calls the Fonz "Arthur."  So Fonzie sasses back and then asks if Carmine is all warmed up.  He musically replies, "They'll never go from rags to riches."  And then the two old friends kick the gangleader and main sidekick in the face.  They scare off the gang and then slap hands to celebrate.

Carmine isn't even mentioned in the remaining couple minutes of the episode, and this is another case of a shoehorned cameo, although I do like that it expands on the Fonzie & Carmine friendship.  Mekka and Winkler have a good rapport together, and it's interesting to see what they're like without Laverne and Shirley around.  Also, it's another chance for Carmine and Richie to interact together, admittedly briefly, after "Excuse Me, May I Cut In?" back in October.  Note that this episode starts out on St. Patrick's Day, so presumably the double date to La Fondue was around then.

"Someone You Can Trust"

This will probably be the shortest of the minisodes, less than a minute of the tag.  Fonzie needs someone to babysit his godson Danny, and then he thinks of someone the mother, Louisa, can trust: Laverne and Shirley.  When Louisa asks if they babysit, Fonzie says that Danny "couldn't get better than L & S."  Louisa wonders if they should phone first, but Fonzie says they'll "just pop in."  He tells Richie (who has a date with Miss Trout, don't ask) the plan.  After Danny, Louisa, and the baby leave, Richie says, "Laverne and Shirley with a baby?"  And then he does his skeptical "huh-huh-huhs."  Cue "Bachelor Mothers."

Although the girls aren't technically in this episode, they were established enough characters in the Marshallverse by October 19, 1976 that the studio and home audiences presumably accepted this set-up, the first time that part one would be HD and part two would be LAS, although I prefer "Shotgun Wedding" of course.  Note that Richie apparently was unimpressed with the girls' babysitting skills on "Football Frolics."

"Doo-Wop-Wop"

To further refresh the viewers' memories on the night that Laverne & Shirley premiered, we get another crossover (non-L&S review here https://relivinghappydays.blogspot.com/2021/03/fonzie-superstar.html), so it's time for another minisode, from January 27, 1976, at approximately 8:15 p.m. (or almost twelve minutes into it on the DVD), it's "Fonzie the Superstar" and his backup singers:

• Fonzie calls out the girls' names and tells them to get in here, meaning into Arnold's.
• Laverne's blouse indeed has an L and, well, she looks more stacked than usual.
• He's surprising them by making them his backup singers.  Ralph resents this and the girls aren't thrilled.
• Fonzie uses the nickname "Vernie," which is kind of sweet.
• Shirley says Carnegie Hall is so classy they don't serve beer.
• Fonzie has been promising Laverne a great date, so he's going to put Friday night aside.  I think this becomes their date in "Society Party," but I wouldn't swear to that kind of continuity.
• The girls start singing backup.
• There's a moment around 13:13 where Fonzie looks at Laverne and grins, which feels like HW breaking character in amusement at PM.
• The girls have to do backup twice but Fonzie is too nervous to sing.
• As the girls follow Fonzie out, Laverne says Shirley was flat, in the singing sense.  Shirley says she was the one in the glee club, but Laverne says Shirley was a mouther.  This is their most civilized argument so far.
• The girls are sitting and waiting at the beginning of the next scene, since Fonzie hasn't shown up yet.  When he arrives with Richie, Richie hands Laverne his guitar and she strums a sour note.  (I half expected her to start singing like in LAS Season Six.)
• Arnold tells the two girls that they'll eat later, presumably after the show.  They don't look happy, as if they were promised free food.
• When the restless, mostly female crowd starts chanting, "We want Fonzie!", L & S whisper inaudibly and uneasily.
• The girls are in matching outfits, and Laverne (who still looks busty) is not wearing an L.
• Shirley comforts her when she says, "There goes my Friday night!" after Richie says Fonzie hit his head in the men's room.
• Shirley takes Laverne's hand and says, "They don't need us."
• But Arnold will sing "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" in the key of "Asia Minor," as the girls sing backup.
• Richie introduces the girls as "direct from the bottle-capping department of the Shotz Brewery," which I think is the first time the brewery gets named in canon.  He gives their full names and calls them the Arnoldettes.
• When the crowd throws things, Laverne looks like she wants to punch someone.
• The girls link arms and use their scarves, and somehow Laverne also holds the microphone.
• Fonzie finally goes on, reciting "Heartbreak Hotel," so the girls become backup dancers instead.
• When he gets into it more, he tells L & S to knock themselves out, so they both start shimmying.
• They can be seen looking at and perhaps talking to each other.
• Shirley flees when the girls in the crowd rush the stage.  I assume that Laverne hides over by Ralph and the piano.
• In the tag, Laverne wants to sell Fonzie's fringes, and she quickly convinces Shirley.
• Laverne kisses Fonzie goodbye on the cheek and says they'll see him Friday.
• Shirley's exit line is to ask Laverne how much she thinks they can get for these fringes.  Laverne says, "See?  Now it's we.  Now it's we."

NOW.  IT'S.  WE.  Penny and Cindy are utterly convincing as best friends here, completely supportive (especially, of course, Shirley supporting Laverne), squabbling a little but having roughly the same goal.  Shirley already seems much more demure than she did when first introduced, although still very working-class.  (She's a lady who works in the brewery, and she makes that not a contradiction.)  Laverne is maybe a bit less of a floozy now, although she sure wants that great date with Fonzie.  There aren't really any Shirley/Richie moments here, but he's mostly just trying to make sure the gig runs smoothly and worrying about his own best friend.

Not canonical to later (besides Shirley's accent obviously) is that Laverne thinks she's a better singer than Shirley.

"A Date with Shirley"

It is now time to look at the "Laverne & Shirley" portion of the November 11, 1975 Happy Days episode, "A Date with Fonzie."  My Happy-Days-specific review is at https://relivinghappydays.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-date-with-fonzie.html.  Here's what we can cull for (or maybe against) LAS canon:

• The episode aired in November of 1975, in the middle of HD's third season, and yet there are Valentine's decorations up at Arnold's.  That Richie and Shirley's second date will be "eleven and a half months" later, and Richie is still magically a seventeen-year-old high school senior, only confuses the issue.
• As Fonzie is dialing Laverne & Shirley's phone number, he tells Richie that these girls don't know the word no.
• We don't hear the girls' half of the phone call, but Laverne answers and then Fonzie has her put Shirley on so Richie can say hi.
• Fonzie gives them the invitation and then hangs up.  They apparently know where Arnold's is, or can find out.
• Fonzie describes Shirley as "a very cute girl," but "not your usual type of girl."  She is a little bit older than Richie, and "wouldn't give him a hard time," if you get his drift.  And she's "a good sport."  I suppose it could be argued that he means that she'll be kind to Richie and maybe make out with him.  Or Shirley hasn't yet regrown her hymen.
• The girls don't look drastically different than they would in their own Season One.  Laverne even has an L on her blouse.
• She loudly calls Fonzie "Fonzie" and he greets her as "DeFazio."
• Shirley quickly snuggles up to Richie, her head on his shoulder, which would become a signature move, sometimes preceded by the Shirley Shimmy.
• Richie, who's wearing a tie and a handkerchief, helps Shirley off with her coat.  He is probably more of a gentleman than she's used to, even in later canon.
• Laverne takes off her own coat, which she'd wear on her series.
• Shirley thinks Richie is nice and is impressed by the tie, but she resents Laverne's hanky remark, which will have, if you think about it, long-ranging consequences.
• This Laverne apparently can drive but doesn't have insurance, which shocks Richie.
• Shirley is relatively more lady-like than Laverne and at least excuses them so they can argue in the ladies' room.
• Laverne and Shirley are "a little more boisterous than Fonzie likes," and actually he does seem to prefer the quieter types, like Paula Petralunga.
• Fonzie tells Richie that Laverne and Shirley don't usually get along and they fight.  (If my theory is correct that Shirley was putting on an act for Richie, Fonzie must've been in on it.)
• The girls yell and then when Laverne emerges, she says she held Shirley's face under the sink.  The subject of the argument was Laverne's "crude" remark about Richie's hanky.
• Laverne scares Potsie and Ralph since they keep staring at her, although can you blame them?  (She'll scare Potsie more pleasantly a year later.)
• Laverne calls Richie "Red," as I believe she would in subsequent crossovers.
• Shirley is in a slinky black dress with a broken strap.
• She again rests her head on Richie's shoulder, perhaps for comfort this time.
• Saturday night is the girls' big night out, and hitting each other "gets their blood up," if you get Fonzie's drift.  Richie is understandably dubious about this.
• On their way out of Arnold's, Laverne fusses with the fallen "dip" in Shirley's hair, while Shirley brushes her off, which feels very them.
• Laverne is happy to get some alone time with Fonzie, but not if it's in the kitchen.  (It's in his "penthouse," as he calls it.)
• On the way out the back door, Fonzie says, "I respect you, Laverne."  Take that as you wish.
• Shirley calls Laverne a bimbo but her best friend.
• She puts Richie's arm around her.
• She works at the still-nameless brewery as a bottle-capper.
• She doesn't mind taking off her sweater before she finds out that Richie's cufflink is hooked in it, but she doesn't want the sweater damaged, since she just bought it at the dime store.
• Once the sweater is safe, she puts her head on Richie's shoulder again.
• He's nervous, so he goes to get her beer, pretzels, and chips.  She's agreeable to whatever he suggests.
• While he's in the kitchen, he asks about the fight.  She says she told Laverne she has "a mouth like a sewah."  She recreates the argument and refers to Laverne's "chubby little hand."
• The punch, by the way, is spectacularly timed, and the audience of course goes crazy, especially when she offers to "kiss the boo-boo."
• Having his family come home in the middle of it is icing on the cake.  Shirley's first impulse is to try to fix her broken strap.
• I love that Richie's parents shake hands with Shirley in the midst of the chaos after Richie introduces them.
• Shirley calls out to Laverne, who probably can't hear her over the sound of Fonzie breathing heavily and playing Johnny Mathis.  (I assume.)
• Shirley is sympathetic, Richie apologetic.
• With sensitivity that we wouldn't expect from a gum-chewing bimbo, she knows that Richie was pushed into this and says that if he wants to go out again, he can call her, so she'll know it's his idea.  (Ironically, she'll call him.  Although I assume they see each other on the upcoming HD crossovers this season.)
• He clearly does want to go out with her, despite this disastrous date, and she says a girl would have to be "nuts" to not want to date "a cute kid" like him.  Showing confidence for the first time this episode, he asks for a goodnight kiss, and she tells him, "You bet!"
• The kiss lasts over ten seconds and must be quite a good one, since someone in the audience whistles, and Richie hides part of it by closing the door.
• Shirley is going to make Laverne hitch home.  One hopes Fonzie gave her a ride on his motorcycle.  (No, that's not a euphemism.)

So, yes, this is not The Girls As We Know Them, but then again, with hindsight, I can see why the characters developed as they did.  And, yes, I still ship Richie/Shirley.  Despite their different backgrounds, they have things in common and she is indeed the right girl to give him back his confidence, while he treats her like the lady she wants to be.  And, clearly, they enjoy kissing each other.

As for Laverne and Fonzie, well, that would morph into something less earthy, but their relationship four years later in the "Shotgun Wedding" two-parter is not all that foreign to this episode.

"Shotgun Wedding: Part 2"

"Shotgun Wedding: Part 2"
September 13, 1979
B-

So, ABC, in its infinite late-Carter-era wisdom, broke up their winning Tuesday night lineup, taking Laverne & Shirley  out (replaced by Angie, which I admittedly liked) and over to Thursdays at eight o'clock, which sent Mork & Mindy to Sundays, which....Sixth-grade was tough enough without my network loyalties being tested like this.  And yet, yes, I do vaguely recall both parts of the "shotgun wedding" from the time, and a crossover two-parter would've been enough for me to tune in almost 48 hours later, rather than just after these messages.*

Judy Ervin wrote Part Two and it is an improvement over Part One.  (Also, Lavenny shipper that she is, she has Lenny overhear the proposals and prevent the wedding.)  I was leaning towards a B until we got to Fonzie ex machina, at his own wedding!  As with the dance contest episode, I can see Ron Howard visibly perk up when give other material to work with and other characters to interact with, and Richie is especially fun to watch in his first scene in this episode with L & S, whether reacting to Laverne slapping him twice in the face with a dead fish ("You girls live in a rough world") or proposing to both girls in quick succession, and still willing to pose for shutterbug Laverne in the midst of explaining that he has to get married because he and the Fonz are in trouble.

The episode actually starts out with Al Delvecchio's "previously."  (Or is he perhaps Father Gucci from L & S's Season One, explaining what he learned in Confession later?)  We get scenes of the L & S gang settling into the campsite that Fonzie recommended, interspersed with Richie running, before he actually shows up, and presumably the warm-up guy back in July or August of '79 explained the set-up, but the studio audience is delighted to see Ron Howard enter.  The stuff with the regulars is fine, of course the part with Lenny and Squiggy, explaining their plans to use duck puppets to trap ducks for their duck circus, being the highlight.  In fact, Lenny peeks out of a "wigwam" and McKean gamely (sorry) does reaction shots with his puppet.  So at least the boys showing up with Carmine, Frank, and Edna later makes sense.

The girls agree to pretend to be engaged, and Richie leads them back to the farm.  Richie boosts the girls over the fence and Laverne warns, "Watch the hands, Cunningham."  As he and Shirley hold hands to look engaged, Laverne calls for Fonzie, who enters bound and on a donkey.  The girls and the guys plan to leave after announcing their engagements, but Helga and Inga challenge Laverne and Shirley to a square-dancing contest, with H & I's four female cousins as the other pairs.  Of course things get a little rough, but Laverne fights back and fights dirty, impressing Fonzie.

The girls want to free the guys (Richie now has his hands tied, too) and leave, but the farmer says he's sent for a preacher, so the four of them will have to get married.  When we go to the next scene, Laverne is cheerfully thinking about the wedding night, especially since Fonzie is "real sexy and Italian."  Shirley now tries to look on the bright side, since Richie is a "college man" and "he probably keeps his room very tidy."

Laverne brings up Carmine, who early in the episode she said Shirley was lucky to have, since he was hauling everything out of the car and to the campsite.  Shirley says Carmine will understand, "and I'll explain things to Lori Beth."  Carmine will understand?  This is the same guy who (admittedly accidentally) hit her just for going to the opera with an older man!  As for Lori Beth, I'm fuzzy on this, but wasn't there an episode where Richie "cheated" on her and they had to start their relationship all over, including introductions?

Fonzie looks surprisingly calm and happy, but Richie requests, "Shirley, if our first baby's a girl, can we name her Lori Beth?"  She sensibly replies, "Richie, could we possibly talk about this some other time?"  (And again, we see more subtlety in the writing for her than we got on Part One.)

Laverne wants to know if she'll be known as "Mrs. Fonzie" and her groom tells her that "they're gonna call you the Fonzess," so she feels like she's marrying into royalty.

When the minister asks if there are any objections, Helga and Inga speak up but their father shushes them.  The minister asks the guys if they take Laverne and Shirley.  Richie answers first and solemnly says, "I do," to Shirley's delight.  Fonzie calmly says, "Me, too."  Laverne looks like she's thinking of the honeymoon again.

The minister asks if the girls take Fonzie and Richie.  Laverne nods eagerly and quickly says, "I do!", but Shirley makes a little speech out of her vows.

The minister is wrapping up when Lenny and Squiggy announce their arrival with duck calls.  The girls seem annoyed to be saved, and then the farmer shoots his shotgun, causing Lenny and Squiggy to flee for protection from Hilda and Inga.  (Squiggy and Hilda, the more brazen one, look particularly friendly for the next minute or so.)  Carmine, Frank, and Edna also arrive.  Frank doesn't want his daughter marrying without his permission, and Carmine feels the same about Shirley, who is impressed by his "forcefulness."

The farmer won't listen to any of the girls' friends, so Fonzie says he's tired of being polite and he breaks the ropes and takes the gun.  Couldn't he have done that an hour ago?  Why lead on poor Laverne with that "Fonzess" talk and all?


The Fonz recommends that the farmer take lessons from Mr. DeFazio on how to be a better father, dubious advice but they've got to resolve this somehow.  Fonzie frees Richie and everyone is happy, except the girls, who feel used and cheated out of a wedding.  They settle for a wedding photo, with everyone including the minister.  Laverne poses with her groom, but Carmine yanks Shirley away from Richie.  Yeah, I'm sure Carmine would've totally understood Shirley marrying another man.



*This is, I believe, the end of the HD/ L & S crossover saga.  At season's end, Richie would leave Happy Days for quite awhile, and the girls would soon find it difficult to return to Milwaukee, but I think it was also that that era, for Garry Marshall, for sitcoms, was coming to an end, just like the '70s were going to morph into the '80s.  We're not there yet, but this is an interesting last hoedown.

"Shotgun Wedding: Part 1"

Jumping the cow

Happy Days: "Shotgun Wedding: Part 1"
September 11, 1979
C+


Fred Fox, Jr., who'd had Richie and Potsie cross over for the high school dance contest, wrote this seventh-season-opener for Happy Days, which was one of 237 (!) HD episodes that Jerry Paris directed, and he also did the "Bachelor Party" episode for L & S's first season, which had Fonzie guest-starring.  So they certainly had experience crossing over with the sister show, but throwing the girls into the middle of the episode for a few minutes doesn't entirely work.  I mean, it makes things more entertaining but it does Flanderize Laverne and Shirley in ways that they hadn't yet been on their own show.

The Cunninghams are going camping, and meanwhile Fonzie wants to hook up (I honestly can't think of a '70s or '50s equivalent phrase) with two stereotypical Swedish farmer's daughters he's never met, even though their father likes to shoot traveling salesman.  And although Richie smooches goodbye with his girlfriend Lori Beth, I guess they have one of those Carmine & Shirley understandings, because she's dating while he's out of town (for three days!) and he has no qualms about smooching with one of the farmer's daughters (the blonde one).  The two sisters are "desperate" because of their overprotective father, who of course shows up with his shotgun and wants Fonzie and Richie to marry Helga and Inga.  How will the guys get out of this one?

"But what I really want to do is direct," and other captions that write themselves.

Fortunately, around the midpoint, wearing a cow suit and fleeing a bull, Richie gets stung by bees and Fonzie twists his ankle, so they are rescued by Laverne and Shirley, who are also camping in the vicinity.  Shirley is happy to play candy-striper, while Laverne definitely has a "bedside manner."  Laverne kisses Fonzie and mounts Richie (who's face-down), and she and Shirley accidentally further injure the guys.  They're a bit shrill and simplified here, without (I know it's weird to type this) any of the nuances that they would get on their own series, where a half hour episode would allow time for "this week's lesson" and other non-slapstick.  That said, they certainly perk up the episode, which otherwise is full of tired gags.  (And the cow-suit routine would be done better and more raunchily five years later in the movie Top Secret!)

The bottle-cappers' brief appearance is not only fortunate for the viewer but for the guys, since Fonzie claims to be engaged to Laverne DeFazio.  We saw him look pretty cozy limping around the room with Shirley (remember, Henry and Cindy used to date), but there is of course no question who he's going to pick of the two female friends that could plausibly get to the farm quickly.  He went out with Laverne on the double date four long seasons ago (maybe two or three years HD-time, since Kennedy is now president) and she would be more willing to lie for him, especially if they could smooch some more.  Richie catches on and claims to be "practically married" to Shirley Feeney.  And we know he enjoyed both of their dates, although the second one was two seasons ago.  (Note that Joanie is now almost 17, and I swear she was 12 or 13 in Season One, but Happy Days was ridiculously retconned by this point, ask brother Chuck.)  Richie is sent to go get the girls, while Fonzie must remain in front of the shotgun and the two disappointed Swedish girls, who were totally up for marriage to strangers.

Part 2 would of course see the return of Vicki Frederick (who two months later would be Sutra on the infamous Mork & Mindy Raquel Welch two-parter) as Helga and April Clough as Inga, as well as F. William Parker as their papa Vernon.  Parker was only 38 at the time, making him eight and twelve years older than his "daughters."  (And one year older than Penny Marshall, although she still looked cute and sexy at this point, again showing off her legs in shorts.)

"Anniversary Show"

Oh no, a clip show!

"Anniversary Show"
January 10, 1977
C+

Ah, yes, a dreaded clip show.  This isn't bad as such shows go, although obviously they're harder to sit through on DVD.  The screen during the opening credits says "Laverne & Shirley Birthday Show," but IMDB says "Anniversary Show,"* and the framing story is that the girls' friends, including Rosie, are throwing a party because they won a big bowling tournament.  The girls mistakenly take a train to Canada, so everyone sits around and reminisces about them, including moments that none of the people at the party were present for, like Shirley wooing Richie.  Still, it is nice to see scenes from that episode again, as well as Lenny's proposal, plus a thirty-second montage of some of Lenny & Squiggy's entrances.  And we hear that Mrs. Babish's second husband (of how many I don't know) was named Lloyd.

Paula A. Roth and Roger Garrett wrote the frame story, and he'd write ten more episodes.  I'm mostly just tagging the people listed on IMDB, which means leaving out the various writers and directors of the episodes we see clips from, but I'm also including Winkler and Howard of course.


*The actual anniversary would've been closer to January 27th, but I guess the middle episode of Season Two is close enough.

"Bachelor Mothers"

"Bachelor Mothers"
October 19, 1976
C+

The Fonz is shoehorned into this story, written by Barry Rubinowitz (his first of eight), although I suppose you could argue that only his powerful smooches, of both Laverne and Shirley, could've convinced them to babysit on a Saturday night.  He also demonstrates that his finger-snap and/or "Ayyyyy!" work as well on babies and television sets as on jukeboxes.

Actually, it looks like this was sort of a two-parter, as Udana Power (who's most recognizable to me as Nurse Nancy Darwin on Soap) also played Louisa Corrigan on Happy Days that night, although in "Fonzie the Father" she's very pregnant by one of Fonzie's oldest friends.  Anyway, if they wanted to have an episode where the girls babysit, there were probably less contrived ways to bring this about.  They turn out not to be great sitters, wanting to ditch the baby when two fellas they like call, although Laverne can't even remember which one she likes.  And when Shirley has to race in the rain to catch Laverne at the bus stop before Laverne heads pointlessly to Chicago, Shirley leaves the baby under the care of Lenny & Squiggy, who tune the TV in to Heckle & Jeckle (the magpie cartoon referenced on I believe the episode where the guys move in upstairs).

Note that Carole Ita White is credited onscreen and at IMDB as Rosie Greenbaum, but I'm not sure where she would've fit into such an apartment-centered episode.

"The Bachelor Party"

"The Bachelor Party"
February 3, 1976
C+

G. Marshall's co-creators Lowell Ganz and Mark Rothman wrote this episode that I find cruder and less funny than the premiere, although still interesting, with the obligatory heartwarming moment, as Laverne says that Shirley is the best friend anyone ever had.  Jerry Paris directed, for the only time, although he'd done eighteen episodes for The Odd Couple, and this episode arguably does have more of an OC feel and plot.*

While Mr. De Fazio is in New York to attend his 94-year-old uncle's funeral, he leaves Laverne in charge of the Pizza Bowl.  It's implied here that she's an only child, and that she thinks he would've rather had a son.  We also find out that Shirley has brothers, although not how many.  But the episode is more notable for the introduction of Foster as Laverne's father, and Mekka as Shirley's, um, I still don't know after four decades.

Carmine "Big Ragoo" Ragusa is not the Carmine I remember.  He's rougher and tougher, although he does sing the title line of Tony Bennett's "Rags to Riches."  He comes across as a not-too-bright boxer, although he does, as Fonzie puts it, "have tender feelings" for Shirley.  It's hard to tell if they're a couple or if she's just his "Angel Face," and to be honest, I never was clear how serious their relationship was.  In any case, he chivalrously comes to her rescue after Laverne pressures her into coming out of a cake at a bachelor party being hosted at the Pizza Bowl.

Fonzie is the one throwing the party, and he's in this episode more than in the debut.  He guilts and kisses Laverne to get her to fill in when the scheduled "cake girl" can't make it, but, as we learned in the previous episode, Laverne is a Size 10 while Shirley is a Size 5.  (I don't understand '50s sizes.)  The party is for a character whom we'd never see or presumably hear from again, but he's just the excuse.  It's more notable that Harry Shearer, Landers and McKean's Credibility Gap comedy colleague, does his first of six cameos on the show, as the Announcer.  (And he apparently had an uncredited role in The Robe during his kid-actor days, so I now suspect that the reference to that movie in Episode One was a sort of in-joke by DLL & MMcK, who did some uncredited writing for L & S.)

Speaking of Lenny and Squiggy, they are at the bachelor party and seem already acquainted with the Fonz, although not exactly friends.  I did spot a sort of Lenny/Shirley shipping moment, but a leering one, as Lenny says he "has feelings" for Shirley, too, because of her "cake girl" outfit.


*He would direct the Happy Days half of the "shotgun wedding" crossover night.

"The Society Party"

Fonzie approves.

The Society Party
January 27, 1976
B-

Creator Garry Marshall (yes, Penny's older brother) directed this episode, while Bob Brunner would write one more episode and here plays the Foreman.  It's a good introduction to the characters and basic premise of the show, if at times a shade awkward and/or forced.  I was worried about the Fonzie cameo, since he comes in late and then appears in the "next week" sequence before the closing credits, but Winkler underplays more than I expected, which was refreshing.  This is a spin-off, but it can stand on its own, even if he saves them from being arrested for stealing dresses that Squiggy got them.

Yes, Lenny & Squiggy are there and pretty much as we know them, down to the "hello" entrance (solo for Squiggy this time).  We learn that they went to school with "the girls" and they hang out at the Pizza Bowl.  (There's as yet no mention of Laverne's father, or for that matter Carmine.)  And, yes, there's a bit of Squigley and Lavenny, although in the former case it's Shirley trying to manipulate Squiggy by acting coyly flirtatious with him, while Laverne is just going through the motions.  That it would always be these couples, usually but not always played for laughs, is clear from the first, with Lenny saying, "I guess I get you, Laverne."  Maybe it's because of height or initials, but you rarely saw a Squiggy & Laverne pairing or a Lenny & Shirley.  It'll be interesting to see what exceptions come along.

Initial shipping fodder

As for the relationship of the girls, G. Marshall as you know also did the Odd Couple series, and Laverne and Shirley are presented as very different, although with things in common.  The song goes, "...We're gonna make our dreams come true," but Shirley is very definitely the dreamer of the two, and I did get the feels when she said, "I dream for you, too, Laverne."  Laverne will have her own dreams later, but she is definitely the tougher and more realistic friend.

I was surprised how much of this episode was both about and not about the brewery.  We first see Laverne & Shirley, and Lenny & Squiggy, there, and the party of the title is being thrown by a relative of the Mr. Shotz who owns the brewery.  Much of the credits also take place in and around the brewery.  So while I visualize the girls at home, their workplace is important, even if we don't see much of them actually working yet.

Their economic class matters, but more in relation to the (not really that rich if you think about it) snobs than as a political thing.  We're told they can't afford to buy new dresses, but I don't think that stayed true.  Other than Laverne's speech telling off the snobs (while in her slip!), it can't be described as a political episode.  As for feminism, I wouldn't call this anti-feminist, but it's not The Mary Tyler Moore Show either.  Shirley wants to meet a "nice gentleman" and we don't yet know what Laverne wants, other than a date with Fonzie.  They are "sisters" in the sense that they bicker and are devoted to each other

How '50s is it?  Well, other than fashion and a reference to The Robe (1953), the main '50sness comes through in the background music, although only Fats Domino survived music rights issues for this copy.  I read before ordering the DVD collection that these are the syndicated copies, but I figured that was better than nothing.  I don't remember any L & S episodes from the time in any great detail-- although the lyrics to "Rubber Tree Plant" of course came back to me-- so I won't be able to tell you how these versions compare to the originals, in the way I still can recite chopped-out lines from Bosom Buddies.  But I'll address this if there seem to be any glaring cuts, like lost plot threads or unexplained callbacks.

Richard Stahl makes his first of three appearances on the show, here as Mr. Marshall Stewart, while his real-life wife Kathryn Ish plays Vivien Stewart.

Re the B-, I chuckled a few times and found that reassuring.  L & S in my memory was at least a funny show, whatever else it was.