Laverne & Shirley | |
---|---|
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | |
Starring | |
Theme music composer |
Norman Gimbel (lyrics) Charles Fox |
Opening theme | Making Our Dreams Come True, performed by Cyndi Grecco |
Composer(s) |
|
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 178 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 22–24 minutes |
Production company(s) |
|
Distributor |
Paramount Domestic Television (original) CBS Television Distribution (current) |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Original release | January 27, 1976 | – May 10, 1983
Chronology | |
Preceded by |
Love, American Style Happy Days |
Related shows |
Laverne & Shirley is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. It starred Penny Marshall as Laverne DeFazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, single roommates who work as bottlecappers in a fictitious Milwaukee brewery called Shotz Brewery.
The show was a spin-off from Happy Days, as the two lead characters were originally introduced on that series as acquaintances of Fonzie (Henry Winkler). Set in roughly the same time period, the timeline started in approximately 1958, when the series began, through 1967, when the series ended. As with Happy Days, it was made by Paramount Television, created by Garry Marshall, and executive produced by Garry Marshall, Edward K. Milkis, and Thomas L. Miller.
At the start of each episode, Laverne and Shirley are skipping down a Milwaukee street, arm in arm, reciting a Yiddish-American hopscotch chant: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated," which then leads into the series' theme song titled "Making Our Dreams Come True," performed by Cyndi Grecco. The hopscotch chant is from Penny Marshall's childhood. In seasons six and seven (set in 1960s Southern California), the intro features Laverne and Shirley exiting their apartment building, but still reciting their original chant, and then a re-recorded version of the theme song is played. During the final season (after Cindy Williams left the show), it opens with a group of schoolchildren performing the chant and marching toward an amused Laverne before the theme song begins.