Schlemiel! Schlimazel! ‘Laverne & Shirley’ Turns 50

Los Angeles, CA – 1975: (L-R) Cindy Williams, Penny Marshall promotional photo for the Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images series ‘Laverne and Shirley’, December 18, 1975. (Photo by Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Fifty years ago, television audiences were introduced to two Milwaukee bottle-cappers we simply could not get enough of. That show was ABC’s Laverne & Shirley, starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams. Its origins stemmed from the then top-rated primetime series Happy Days, which introduced the actresses as blue-collar best friends Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney — characters designed to capitalize on the parent show’s enormous popularity.

Laverne and Shirley made their debut on Happy Days on November 11, 1975, in the season three episode “A Date with Fonzie.” In the storyline, Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler) arranges a double date for himself and Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) with two “fast” girls pulled from his little black book —Laverne and Shirley. The guest appearance proved so popular that it functioned as a backdoor pilot, paving the way for a spinoff. Less than three months later, Laverne & Shirley premiered on ABC on January 27, 1976.

Unlike their introduction on Happy Days, the writers softened the characters for Laverne & Shirley, making them more relatable and more physical in their comedy, while serving as the perfect counterbalance to their kooky friends and neighbors Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander). Rounding out the season one cast were Eddie Mekka as Shirley’s sometimes-boyfriend Carmine Ragusa, and Phil Foster as Laverne’s father, Frank DeFazio, who ran the local hangout, the Pizza Bowl.

Cue the opening moments: Laverne and Shirley chanting, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 — Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated,” which launched into the show’s instantly iconic theme song, “Making Our Dreams Come True,” performed by Cyndi Grecco. An immediate hit, Laverne & Shirley replaced Happy Days as the overall top-rated series by its third season, cementing its place as one of television’s defining sitcoms of the era.

In honor of five decades, let’s take a walk down memory lane with 10 fun factoids about Laverne & Shirleyv — as we all find ourselves humming that addictive theme song.

1. Like Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley was set in the late 1950s, with the lead characters assumed to be recent high school graduates — around 19 or 20 years old. At the beginning of filming, however, Penny Marshall was 33 and Cindy Williams was 29. And in later seasons, the wardrobe occasionally seemed to forget the series was set in the past.

2. After The Odd Couple — also created by Garry Marshall — ended its run in 1975, the apartment set from that series was modified to become Laverne and Shirley’s Milwaukee residence.

3. In season two, Betty Garrett joined the cast as Edna Babish, the building’s new landlord and eventual love interest for Frank DeFazio. Garrett segued from playing Irene Lorenzo, a neighbor of the Bunkers on All in the Family (then television’s No. 1 series), to Laverne & Shirley, which soon inherited the top spot.

4. After a guest appearance as a raunchy girl in a season one episode, Carole Ita White returned in the recurring role of “Big” Rosie Greenbaum — Laverne’s high school nemesis. There was brief talk of a “Big” Rosie spinoff, but writers felt the character was too unlikable to anchor a series. The project eventually evolved into Angie, starring Donna Pescow.

Fun factoid: Carole Ita White’s father was Jesse White, best known as the lonely repairman in the Maytag commercials from 1967 to 1988.

5. Laverne & Shirley ranked no lower than No. 3 overall in its first four seasons, but an ill-fated move from Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET to the Thursday 8 p.m. ET anchor slot in the fall of 1980 proved disastrous. The sitcom plunged to No. 42 and quickly returned to its Happy Days lead-out time period. To reignite interest, the writers relocated the characters from Milwaukee to Burbank, California in season six.

There were also ongoing crossover episodes between Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley before the two leads moved out west.

6. Naturally, the Milwaukee gang also moved to Burbank. New additions included Leslie Easterbrook as Rhonda Lee, a tall, voluptuous, and ditzy aspiring actress/singer/dancer/model, and Ed Marinaro as Sonny St. Jacques, a stuntman and the girls’ new landlord. After 11 episodes, Marinaro exited to join the cast of NBC’s groundbreaking crime drama Hill Street Blues.

7. By season six, Laverne & Shirley rebounded to finish at No. 20 overall, a ranking it repeated in season seven. During season eight, then pregnant Cindy Williams left the show two episodes into production and filed a $20 million lawsuit against Paramount, alleging the studio wanted her to work on her scheduled due date. The case was later settled out of court, and Williams was released from her contract.

8. For the remainder of the final season, Penny Marshall was paired with rotating guest stars for a series of comedic misadventures. While ABC expressed interest in a ninth season without Williams, Marshall opted to end the show after the network declined to move production to New York.

9. During the series’ run, an animated spinoff titled Laverne & Shirley debuted on ABC’s Saturday morning lineup on October 10, 1981, featuring the voices of Marshall and Williams — this time reimagined as members of the Army. The series was later retitled Laverne & Shirley with Special Guest Star The Fonz, and eventually folded into Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour.

10. Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams reunited on camera several times after Laverne & Shirley ended, beginning with a sketch during ABC’s 1995 reunion special. They later appeared together in the 2002 TV special Laverne & Shirley: Together Again, and made a cameo in a 2013 episode of Nickelodeon’s Sam & Cat.

In the end, Laverne & Shirley wasn’t just about Milwaukee bottle-cappers — it was about showing up for your best friend, no matter how messy life got. The secret sauce was relatability. We wanted to hang out with them. And fifty years later, you can still hear the chant: “Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!”