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“
Laverne & Shirley,” the hit show about two brewery bottle-cappers in Milwaukee, was a spin-off that took America by storm starring tough-talking tomboy Laverne (
Penny Marshall) and perky, upbeat Shirley (
Cindy Williams) — and by the third season in 1977 it was the nation’s most watched show! Here are some things you probably don’t know about the gals and the series:
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1. The pair first appeared on a “
Happy Days” episode and were a big hit as their double date with The Fonz (
Henry Winkler) and Richie (
Ron Howard), but had to go from "bad girls" to nice ladies when they moved onto their own show.
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2. The girls’ apartment set was previously inhabited by “The Odd Couple.” Although it was fully redecorated and refurnished, it has the same entryways and doors on a raised platform.
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3. California native Cindy struggled to do Shirley’s Midwestern accent. “I got this hideous kind of New York accent that was terrible,” and producer
Garry Marshall just told her to drop it.
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4. Penny and Cindy recorded a rock album, “Laverne & Shirley Sing” — but were outdone by castmates “Lenny & Squiggy Present Lenny and the Squigtones,” who performed on “
American Bandstand.”
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5. Pepsi Milk really was a favorite drink for
Penny. She actually liked the oddball concoction.
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6. Cindy had left the show before it ended in 1983 and has claimed Penny wanted all of the spotlight. Penny blames a feud sparked by
Kate Hudson's father
Bill Hudson, Cindy’s husband at the time.
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7. Cindy says she was pregnant and needed time off when she left in season eight. “They had me working on my due date, and they couldn’t deal with it.”
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8. The show had a cartoon spin-off in 1981: “Laverne & Shirley in the Army,” which ran Saturday mornings and featured werewolves, Bigfoot, aliens and Sgt. Squealy — a talking pig!
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9. Singer Cyndi Grecco became a one-hit wonder with the theme song, “Making Our Dreams Come True,” which peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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10. The girls reunited in 2013 on “Sam & Cat,” a spin-off of sitcom “iCarly” that featured budding singer
Ariana Grande.
