As a spin-off from Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley was an instant hit and one of the most popular sitcoms of the '70s. It's a bit quaint by contemporary standards, and its light-hearted sentiment is strictly old-school, due to the crowd-pleasing influence of producer and cocreator Garry Marshall, a veteran of The Dick Van Dyke Show whose subsequent film career peaked early with Pretty Woman. As working-class roommates in mid-1950s Milwaukee, Laverne De Fazio (Penny Marshall, future director and Garry's sister) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) were a classic case of opposites: Laverne was relatively saucy and cynical, while Shirley was cheerfully naive and eternally optimistic. As bottle-cappers at the Shotz brewery, they regularly associated with colleagues (and eventual neighbors) Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander), and as an inaugural ratings-booster, Happy Days superstar Henry Winkler (as "Fonzie") appears in the first three episodes including "Bowling for Razzberries," later named by TV Guide as a classic episode. As Shirley's crooning would-be beau, Carmine "The Big Ragoo" Rugusa (Eddie Mekka) provided a touch of romance to Shirley's otherwise lackluster love life.

Despite personal rancor that later erupted between its energetic costars, Laverne & Shirley was always a showcase for polished, professional comedy and effortless chemistry between characters, giving it the same widespread appeal later enjoyed by Friends. A mid-season replacement with a prime time-slot (following Happy Days at 8:30 Tuesdays on ABC) the show placed its good-natured characters in a variety of standard sitcom predicaments, typically set in L&S's apartment, the "Pizza Bowl" diner run by Laverne's father Frank (Phil Foster), or the Shotz brewery, where some of the show's funniest slapstick humor emerged.

Cast and Characters

• Penny Marshall as Laverne DeFazio
• Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney
• Michael McKean as Lenny Kosnowski
• David Landers as Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman
• Eddie Mekka as Carmine Ragusa "The Big Ragu"
• Phil Foster as Frank DeFazio
• Betty Garrret as Edna
• Leslie Easterbrook as Rhonda

Broadcast History, Episode Guide & TV Schedule

First Telecast: January 27, 1976
Last Telecast: May 10, 1983
Number of Seasons: 8
Number of Episodes: 178
Original Network: ABC
Original Primetime TV Schedule:

• January 1976- July 1979, ABC, Tuesday 8:30-9:00pm
• August 1979- December 1979, ABC, Thursday 8:00-8:30pm
• December 1979- February 1980- March 1986, ABC, Monday 8:00-8:30pm
• February 1980- May 1980, ABC, Tuesday 8:00-8:30pm

Theme Song Lyrics and Intro

"Making Our Dreams Come True" by Norman Gimbel

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Sclemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated. We're gonna do it! Give us any chance, we'll take it. Give us any rule, we'll break it. We're gonna make our dreams come true. Doin' it our way. Nothin's gonna turn us back now, Straight ahead and on the track now. We're gonna make our dreams come true, Doin' it our way. There is nothing we won't try, Never heard the word impossible. This time there's no stopping us. We're gonna do it. On your mark, get set, and go now, Got a dream and we just know now, We're gonna make our dream come true. And we'll do it our way, yes our way. Make all our dreams come true, And do it our way, yes our way, Make all our dreams come true For me and you.

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