Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 20, 1995 TAG: 9505240003
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUSAN KING LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD LENGTH: Medium
``We knew each other because we just had mutual friends,'' recalls Williams, who joins Marshall for ``The Laverne & Shirley Reunion,'' airing Monday on ABC (at 8 p.m. on WSET-Channel 13).
Twenty years ago, the two out-of-work actresses were hired by Francis Coppola's Zoetrope company as writers on a prospective TV spoof for the Bicentennial.
``They got a lot of comedy writers or people who wanted to be comedy writers,'' Williams says. ``They wanted two women. We would be assigned a certain aspect of the history of America and write a spoof on that particular aspect of American history.''
They had been writing together for a few months when Marshall's producer-director brother, Garry Marshall (``Pretty Woman''), called to ask if they would like to guest on his ABC series ``Happy Days.'' He needed two actresses to play Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney, girls from the other side of the tracks who double date the Fonz (Henry Winkler) and Richie (Ron Howard).
``Penny said `yes' and I said `yes' and we went and did it. The rest is kind of history.''
Williams and Marshall were such a hit on ``Happy Days'' they quickly got their own series. When ``Laverne & Shirley'' debuted Jan. 27, 1976, it soared to No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings. It was still in the Top 25 when it left the airwaves in 1983. Cyndi Grecco's recording of the theme song, ``Making Our Dreams Come True,'' by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, peaked at No. 25 in the charts in 1976.
Set in the 1950s and early '60s, the series revolved around the friendship between naive, sweet Shirley (Williams) and fast-talking, streetwise Laverne (Marshall). The two roommates worked as bottle cappers for Shotz Brewery.
Michael McKean and David L. Lander played their loony neighbors Lenny and Squiggy. Eddie Mekka was Shirley's long-suffering boyfriend Carmine.
``The Laverne & Shirley Reunion'' features clips, outtakes and reminisces from Williams, Marshall, McKean, Lander, Mekka, Winkler and creator-producer Garry Marshall.
``It was the very first show that featured two single women who were blue-collar workers,'' says Malcolm Leo, executive producer of the special. ``They had adult concerns - trying to get by and improve themselves and fulfilling their dreams. You had one girl who was kind of a dreamer and you had another who was more nitty-gritty, but together underneath they still had those dreams like a lot of people did at that time.''
The physical comedy between the two stars, Leo says, was ``remarkable. They felt if it made them laugh, it would make the audience laugh. One of the particular joys [of the series] was this reliance on physical comedy.''
Williams was agile and quick. Marshall had been a physical education major in college. ``So with that combination we could do just about anything,'' Williams says. ``It was like never say die. We never thought there wasn't anything we couldn't do. We had youth on our side.''
Laverne and Shirley, Williams says, reminded viewers of their own friendships. ``Those are the most beautiful and most wonderful memories you can have in life,'' she says. ``I know there were certain things we would bring to the show that Penny had done when she was a kid with her best friend and certain things I had done with my best friend.''
``Always when you make a joyous noise under the Lord, it's certainly better than grieving,'' Williams adds. ``That's basically what we were doing. We were making a joyous noise. We always kept everybody else in mind. We never thought we were above the crowd. We did it because we loved it. We knew if we loved it everybody would love it.''
by CNB