For those unfamiliar with the show, the seventh season found the two women in Hollywood, their second year on the West Coast after spending five seasons “in Milwaukee.” Joining them in California were their friends Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David Lander), Laverne’s father Frank (Phil Foster), and Shirley’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Carmine (Eddie Mekka), who dreams of stardom.
While the series had ‘jumped the Shark” with the move to California, there was still some fun to be had. In the season opener, “The Most Important Date Ever,” Laverne and Shirley are up to their usual crazy antics when they perform in a in a Latvian acrobatic act in an attempt to save Lenny and Squiggy’s fledgling talent agency. In “Some Enchanted Earring,” Laverne’s hot date with a Hollywood producer is ruined when one of her mother’s diamond earrings turns up missing. As always, sometimes the show mixed it up a bit and made Lenny and Squiggy the focus of that weeks hijinks. In “Night at the Awards,” Lenny and Squiggy decide to crash an awards show, only to find themselves on stage, on live TV, next to entertainer Joey Heatherton!
Over an eight year run, Laverne & Shirley occasionally delivered a serious episode, but mostly, the goal was to have fun. Week after week, the girls would find themselves in a sticky situation and have to wiggle their way out of it. The move to Hollywood did give the series a chance to add in some interesting guest stars including: Joey Heatheron, Charles Grodin, Carole Cook, Jeff Goldblum, Julie Brown, Harry Shearer, Harry Dean Stanton, Anjelica Huston, Paul Wilson and Noah Hathaway. Aside from that though, longtime fans will clearly notice that the show was running out of gas. This would be the final full season for Cindy Williams, who would leave the show just a couple of episodes into the eighth and final year. Laverne & Shirley stopped becoming appointment television for me after season six.
The show’s twenty two-episodes are spread over three discs and presented in 1.33:1, consistent with their original broadcast format. The episodes look as good as they are going to, with accurate color reproduction and film grain throughout the viewing experience. Some minor fading of the image is present in spots, but it’s not severe.
The mono audio does its job, offering a clear and balanced delivery of dialogue and ambient sound. There are no significant dropouts or hiss to worry about. For a thirty-year-old series, this is fine.
In terms of extras, we get promos which accompany each episode, and a two-minute gag reel that has a couple laughs.
