Laverne & Shirley (1981 TV series) explained

Genre:Comedy
Developer:Duane Poole
Tom Swale
Director:George Gordon
Carl Urbano
Rudy Zamora
Voices:Penny Marshall
Cindy Williams (1981–82)
Lynne Marie Stewart (1982)
Ron Palillo
Kenneth Mars
Henry Winkler (1982)
Frank Welker (1982)
Composer:Hoyt Curtin
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:21
Executive Producer:William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Producer:Duane Poole
Art Scott
Tom Swale
Runtime:30 minutes
Company:Hanna-Barbera Productions
Paramount Television
Channel:ABC
Related:Laverne & Shirley
Happy Days

Laverne & Shirley, also known as Laverne & Shirley in the Army, is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Paramount Television broadcast on ABC from October 10, 1981, to November 13, 1982. It is a spin-off of the live-action sitcom Laverne & Shirley with the titular characters voiced by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams and was loosely based on the 1979 two-part episode "We're in the Army, Now" in which Laverne and Shirley enlisted in the Army.[1]

Overview

The series is set at Camp Fillmore and follows the comedic antics of roommates Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney as privates with the U.S. Army. They wind up getting involved in clandestine escapades with their immediate superior, a pig named Sgt., who is always threatening to report them to his superior, Sgt. Turnbuckle. The series aired for one season of 13 episodes from October 10, 1981, to January 2, 1982.

The following season, the series was re-titled Laverne & Shirley with The Fonz and combined with a half-hour adaptation of the 1978–1982 sitcom Mork & Mindy to form the Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, which lasted for one season.[2] During the second season, Laverne and Shirley were joined by the characters of The Fonz (voiced by Henry Winkler) and his anthropomorphic dog Mr. Cool (voiced by Frank Welker; from the 1980–81 animated series The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang) working as mechanics in the army camp's motorpool. In August 1982, Cindy Williams quit her role as Shirley on the live-action sitcom Laverne & Shirley and, conversely, Williams' role in the animated series was taken over by Lynne Marie Stewart. Only eight episodes were produced from September 25 to November 13, 1982.[3]

Cast

Additional voices

Episodes

Season 2: Laverne & Shirley with The Fonz (1982)

Home media

On November 5, 2019, the 13-episode first season was released as a made-on-demand DVD-R by CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hyatt . Wesley . The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television . 1997 . Watson-Guptill Publications . 978-0823083152 . 19 March 2020. 257.
  2. Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 489–490.
  3. Book: Perlmutter . David . The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows . 2018 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1538103739 . 352.