"The Other Woman"

Don't tell Mom the babysitter let Squiggy
teach him the "Nantucket" limerick.

"The Other Woman"
January 6, 1981
C+

The timing feels off in this Joanne-Pagliaro-written episode where Shirley is dating a pediatrician who's separated from his wife, who happens to look like a blonde Shirley!  (Even now, I'm not quite sure how this was done "live in front of a studio audience.")  And speaking of time, the kitchen calendar shows a 30-day month with the 1st on a Monday, sometime in 1965.  The only month that fits that is November!  (I remember seeing that same calendar when I watched clips of "Sing, Sing, Sing" on Youtube, so we'll see if they ever changed the month.)

And speaking of singing, Laverne has pretty consistently had her guitar in every Californian episode, and her camera in some, like here where she has to get a picture of Shirley and the lookalike.  She has her singing debut at Cowboy Bill's, which does not go well, but I guess that's one of the perks of being the boss's daughter.

The role of Bobby McKenzie is a relatively early one for ten-year-old Keith Coogan, who I best know for his scene-stealing role of brother Kenny in the movie Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead a decade later.

"Candy Is Dandy"

"Candy Is Dandy"
December 16, 1980
C+

Joanne Pagliaro's first of two L & S stories has the girls landing jobs at Bardwell's Department Store, jobs they'd keep for awhile, although not as long as their Shotz jobs of course.   The girls are gift-wrappers, and they wrap some candy that turns out to be full of rum, although Laverne doesn't realize this when she starts eating it.  The audience is clued in because the high school boy that Shirley is attracted to (Laverne points out he's "jailbait") knows French and can read the label.  He and his buddy plan to roofy their dates with a few pieces of the candy!  (Not that it's called that, but this is what passed for wholesome entertainment in the late Carter era.)  The girls are almost fired by their new boss, Mr. Hildebrand (Norman Bartold in his first of four appearances), but then he's grateful to them for pointing out the dangers of this product.  And Lenny and Squiggy bring four or five of their clients into their apartment through the "doggy door" under the girls' staircase.