LAVERNE & SHIRLEY: THE SOCIETY PARTY {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)

Summary

The premiere in this comedy series about two young working women, following their humorous adventures from the 1950s through the 1960s.

In this episode, Laverne and Shirley meet Tad Shotz, their boss’s nephew, who invites the two girls to a society party at his uncle’s mansion. Tad wants to prove to his Uncle Max that he can successfully mingle with the “little people” at the brewery. Laverne is leery about getting gussied up and attending, but Shirley convinces her. Later, Laverne and Shirley run into Lenny and Squiggy at Frank’s Pizza Bowl, enlisting them to find their fancy dresses. Shirley thinks she is going to meet “Mr. Right” at the party, but Laverne disagrees with her friend’s predictions. Squiggy gets the gals two dresses from the wax museum owned by his uncle. At the party, Laverne and Shirley mingle with the snooty guests before running into Tad, who only invited the girls to help him get promoted.

Tad’s grandmother is particularly horrified by the girls’ presence. Then, Laverne’s date, the Fonz, arrives, raising yet more eyebrows. Later, one of the guests, Vivian Stewart, claims that Laverne and Shirley’s dresses belonged to her daughters before being stolen from her apartment. Fonz intercedes and prevents Laverne and Shirley from getting arrested. However, Laverne is still furious at the way she has been treated, taking her dress off at the party before leaving in her slip. Shirley follows suit, much to Fonzie’s amusement. Afterward, Laverne and Shirley discuss their “bad evening” and their different outlooks on life, with Laverne defending her actions at the soiree to her friend. Ultimately, the pair make up, with Laverne promising not to make fun of Shirley’s dreams. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: January 27, 1976 8:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:30:00
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:63537
• GENRE: Comedy
• SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1976-1983
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - Gillette Cricket lighters
  • TV - Promos - "Baretta"
  • TV - Promos - "Charlie's Angels"
  • TV - Promos - "Rich Man, Poor Man: Book 1"

CREDITS

• Thomas L. Miller … Executive Producer
• Edward K. Milkis … Executive Producer
• Garry K. Marshall … Executive Producer, Director, Created by
• Tony Marshall … Producer
• Mark Rothman … Producer, Created by
• Lowell Ganz … Producer, Created by
• Nick Abdo … Associate Producer
• Bob Bruner … Writer
• Charles Fox … Music by, Theme Music by
• Norman Gimbel … Theme Music by
• Penny Marshall … Cast , Laverne DeFazio
• Cindy Williams … Cast, Shirley Feeney
• Richard Stahl … Cast, Marshall Stewart
• Kathryn Ish (See also: Mrs. Richard Stahl) … Cast, Vivian Stewart
• Mary Treen … Cast, Nana Shotz
• Henry Winkler … Cast, Arthur "Fonz" Fonzarelli
• Lyman Ward … Cast, Tad Shotz
• Robert Ball … Cast, Butler
• David L. Lander … Cast, Squiggy Squiggman
• Michael McKean … Cast, Lenny Kosnowski
• Bob Brunner … Cast, Foreman