Product Description

Set in the 1950s, this half-hour situation comedy revolved around the friendship between bright-eyed, naive and demure Shirley Feeney and brassy, tough-talking, street smart Laverne De Fazio. Two bottle cappers for Shotz Brewery, the duo dated an array of questionable men, tolerated their dippy, loony neighbors Lenny and Squiggy, and forever pursued to "make all their dreams come true."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8091 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2007-04-17
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 567 minutes

Amazon.com
After its first half-season as a 1976 mid-season replacement, Laverne & Shirley entered its first complete season with a well-deserved place at the top of the ratings. The show's connection to Happy Days remained essential to its success, and after its first two episodes, the second season boosted its profile with back-to-back episodes ("Bachelor Mothers" and "Excuse Me, May I Cut In?") featuring appearances by Happy Days stars Henry Winkler ("Fonzie"), Ron Howard ("Richie Cunningham") and Anson Williams ("Potsie"). After that, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) were on their own, and the best friends and Shotz Brewery bottle-cappers settled into a popular season of sitcom highlights. As these 23 episodes make abundantly clear, L&S was steeped in the primarily Jewish traditions of Vaudeville humor, by way of I Love Lucy and other vintage sitcoms, and much of the show's charm comes from the unspoken fact that Laverne and Shirley are virginally pure, eager for fun but clearly saving themselves for the elusive men of their dreams. Sex--which is to say, dating--is a common theme in these episodes, but most of them deal with the girls protecting their virtue, as in the hilarious "Good Time Girls" (from November 30, 1976), in which L&S cope with would-be suitors who found the girls' phone number etched on the wall of a men's public restroom. Like several other episodes this season, it's a prime showcase for slapstick humor, with Marshall and Williams clearly taking their cue from the legacy of Lucille Ball, and matching Lucy's lunacy with truly inspired bits of their own.

Season 2 is also highlighted by the regular appearances of Laverne and Shirley's underachieving neighbors Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander) who continue to make priceless, well-timed entrances, with Squiggy's trademark "Hello!" as one of the series' most crowd-pleasing running gags. The show's supporting cast members are all given moments to shine, and this season is further enriched by the hilarious rivalry between Laverne and her social-climbing nemesis Rosie Greenbaum (Carol Ita White) who appears in four episodes to taunt the girls with belittling insults. Fun-loving music is also a common factor here, and the season finale "Citizen Krane" takes its cue from Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane, with the girls making their dubious show-biz debut as a singing duo, promoted by a Milwaukee impresario named "Charles Pfister Krane" (played with ham 'n' relish by character actor Severn Darden) who dubs them "The Rosebuds." It's a good example of the season's consistently high quality, owing mostly to the charms of its stars. And for those looking for a bit of pop-cultural perspective, consider this: Six weeks after Laverne & Shirley's second-season finale, Star Wars made its theatrical debut, and the world of entertainment would never be the same. (Note: There are no bonus features in this 4-disc set, and for legal and licensing reasons, some song performances and/or background music have been edited out or changed from the original TV broadcasts.) --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

The wait is finally over! Season TWO is on the way!!!!
It's about time! It looks like the two (+) year wait for the second season of Laverne and Shirley is finally over! Season two contains 23 episodes of all-out fun!!! The wonderful chemistry between Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall helped to establish this sitcom as one of the most popular of the late 70's, and in my opinion, also as one of the "all-time" best! Also, you just can't mention Laverne and Shirley without giving credit to Michael McKean ('Lenny') and David Lander ('Squiggy'). TV's original "dumb and dumber" never fail to deliver a huge supply of laughs!

Laverne and Shirley is a wonderful, light hearted trip back to a more innocent time.

HOW CAN YOU HELP TO MAKE SURE FUTURE SEASONS ARRIVE QUICKLY?

By purchasing the product "NEW" from Amazon (or another legitimate retailer) your purchase will "count" and Paramount will "get the message". When you purchase a DVD "used" you'll probably be saving money but your purchase will mostly go unheard by the releasing studio. Paramount (and other DVD releasing studios) are in the business of making money - so make every one of your purchases COUNT and remember to BUY IT NEW!

Here's a very brief break-down of the season two episodes:

- Drive! She Said (9-28-1976) Shirley teaches Laverne how to drive!
- Angels of Mercy (10-5-1976) Laverne and Shirley become volunteers!
- Bachelor Mothers (10-19-1976) "Fonzie" (Henry Winkler) makes an appearance!
- Excuse me, May I cut in? (10-26-1976) Ron Howard and Anson Williams guest star!
- Bridal Shower (11-9-1976) Are the girls a couple of "old maids"?
- Look Before You Leap (11-16-1976) A potentially pregnant Laverne???
- Dear Future Model (11-23-1976) We all know that the girls are total fashion models!
- Good Time Girls (11-30-1976) The girls suddenly become VERY popular!
- Two of Our Weirdos Are Missing (12-7-1976) Lenny and Squiggy.... missing???
- Christmas Eve at the Booby Hatch (12-21-1976) A Laverne & Shirley Christmas - with a CRAZY twist!
- Guilty Until Proven Not Innocent (1-4-1977) Laverne decides to take a five finger discount?
- Birthday Show (1-10-1977) Welp, it's that darn "flashback" episode!
- Playing Hooky (1-11-1977) The girls call in "sick", but hooky leads to a crazy adventure!
- Guinea Pigs (1-18-1977) The girls donate themselves to science!
- Call Me a Taxi (2-1-1977) The girls take up a new job.... dancing!
- Steppin' Out (2-8-1977) A couple of big dates for the girls leads to big laughs!
- Buddy, Can you spare a father? (2-15-1977) Shirley goes on a quest to find her father!
- Honeymoon Hotel (2-22-1977) The girls win a vacation to a hotel for newlyweds!
- Hi, Neighbor Book 2 (3-1-1977) A big Lenny and Squiggy and Laverne and Shirley bash!
- Frank's Fling (3-8-1977) Laverne's father gets himself mixed up with a golddiger!
- Haunted House (3-22-1977) Never buy used furniture out of a haunted house!
- Lonely at the Middle (3-29-1977) Shirley gets promoted. Will all that power go to her head?
- Citizen Krane (4-5-1977) The girls become a snappy singing duo... "the rosebuds".

I'm hoping that Paramount will surprise us with some cool "extras" and "special features". New interviews with the cast and also a few episode commentaries would be outstanding! The lack of "extras" on season one was very disappointing!

2007 is going to be a great year for TV sitcom fans! Not only are we going to finally get Laverne and Shirley season two, but also, (drum roll please) "WKRP in cincinnati" season one!! And if that news alone isn't enough to make you jump for joy, (more drums) "Bosom Buddies" season one and hopefully "Night Court" Season two!!!

Remember to buy it "new" to make your purchase "count". If we have to wait another two years for the release of season three, I think most of us will go insane!

NOTE: SOME MUSIC HAS BEEN CHANGED FOR THIS HOME ENTERTAINMENT VERSION [Quoted from the back of the DVD box]. If anyone knows exactly WHAT music was changed, please post a COMMENT to this review!

-JM

Laverne & Shirley - 2nd Season - Music Changes
The most glaring changes are 4 performed songs actually CUT from the episodes:

1. Carmine's performance at the Pizza Bowl at the beginning of "Bridal Shower" as been CUT OUT.

2. Carmine's performance of "Tutti Frutti" at the dance in "Excuse Me, May I Cut In?" as been CUT OUT.

3. A song Mrs. Babish sings in the Christmas show at the mental hospital in "Oh Hear the Angels' Voices" has been CUT OUT.

4. A song Carmine sings in the tag of "Frank's Fling" has been CUT OUT.

The rest I believe is the "jukebox" music that is heard in the background at the Pizza Bowl. You'll notice in the end credits, the names of the artists who's songs appeared in the episodes have been removed since their songs are no longer heard.

You'll also notice that the running time of most of the episodes is 25 mins and the episodes with the cut songs run shorter. That is what led me to investigate as to what had been cut. I checked the episodes with the cut songs against my videotapes of episodes taped from various syndicated and Nick at Nite airings to find out what was actually missing.

That is all I have noticed, if anyone knows if anything else, please let us know.

As the box says "some music has been changed" it does not of course say that some episodes are actually edited.

I only give the set 4 stars instead of 5 because of the cut footage. I am a big L&S fan and even though most of what is cut are just musical numbers, I would prefer to have the episodes unedited. Hopefully future episodes where music is heavily featured will not be altered. We'll have to see.

P.S. I wrote this review very early in the morning so I hope it all makes sense :-)

Finally, some more schlemiel, schlemazel!
After a long wait, fans finally got Season 2. It's full of fresh, classic episodes, such as Laverne learning to drive and nearly demolishing half of Milwaukee. There are also crossover guest appearances from Henry Winkler as the Fonz and Ron Howard as Richie, to the delight of those who are also fans of "Happy Days."

However, if you enjoy purchasing these box sets for the extras, you'll be sorely disappointed...there isn't any here. I can just imagine all the bloopers they'd have, taping Cindy Williams' and Penny Marshall's physical comedy scenes, and how much fun they'd be to watch. I'd be willing to bet if they added these little things, a lot more people would end up buying them! But, alas.