{"id":2065,"date":"2026-10-16T15:34:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T08:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/?p=2065"},"modified":"2026-10-16T15:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T08:34:26","slug":"laverne-and-shirley-launched-in-1976-and-became-the-no-1-show-in-america-by-season-8-the-2-stars-werent-speaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/?p=2065","title":{"rendered":"‘Laverne and Shirley’ Launched in 1976 and Became the No. 1 Show in America; By Season 8 the 2 Stars Weren\u2019t Speaking"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The show\u2019s success cost Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams more than it seemed.<\/p>\n

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Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams promo for \u2018Laverne and Shirley,\u2019 December 12, 1975.<\/p>\n

ABC Photo Archives \/ Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Get Parade in your Google feed<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 1975, Penny Marshall <\/strong>and Cindy Williams<\/strong> were writing sketches at Francis Coppola<\/strong>\u2019s production company for a bicentennial comedy special when Garry Marshall<\/strong> \u2014 Penny\u2019s brother \u2014 cast them both in a couple of Happy Days<\/em><\/a><\/strong> episodes as Laverne DeFazio<\/strong> and Shirley Feeney<\/strong>. The chemistry was right there. Two months later he\u2019d built a show around them. Laverne and Shirley<\/em><\/strong> hit ABC<\/a><\/strong> on January 27, 1976, in the Tuesday night slot right after Happy Days<\/em>. The debut pulled the highest Nielsen rating for a new series in over a decade. Williams hadn\u2019t even wanted the role \u2014 Marshall had spent weeks talking her into it. By Season 2, it was the No. 2 show in America. By Season 3, it was No. 1.<\/p>\n

The physical comedy was extraordinary. What was happening off screen was something else entirely. Both women were intensely competitive, and the writers were constantly trying to balance the material<\/a> \u2014 if Laverne got a standout physical gag, Shirley needed something of equal weight. Williams had very particular ideas about her character. Marshall had hers. Garry Marshall was writing for both of them and somewhere in the middle of both of them. Henry Winkler<\/strong> later said the rumors of a feud were way overblown and that what came out was \u201cthe best slapstick comedy since Lucy.\u201d That may be true. It doesn\u2019t mean it was easy.<\/p>\n

The show ran for eight seasons. In Season 6, the whole cast picked up and moved from Milwaukee to Burbank, California. The ratings had started slipping. By Season 8 in 1982, Williams was pregnant. When she came in to sign her contract, the studio had scheduled her to work on her due date<\/a>. She walked off the set two episodes in. She filed a $20 million breach of contract lawsuit against Paramount<\/strong>, claiming they\u2019d gone back on the terms of her deal. Shirley was written out \u2014 she\u2019d gotten married and moved away \u2014 and Marshall carried the final season on her own. The show without Shirley wasn\u2019t the show. ABC pulled it the following spring.<\/p>\n

After \u2018Laverne and Shirley<\/strong>\u2018<\/h3>\n

Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams barely spoke for years. Marshall later wrote in her memoir that she\u2019d run into Williams \u201conce or twice at TV Land<\/strong> specials\u201d but that it was always \u201cmore professional than personal.\u201d They eventually worked it out.<\/p>\n

Williams said she\u2019d go to Marshall\u2019s house and they\u2019d watch television together in bed. After Laverne and Shirley<\/em>, Marshall went on to direct Big<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 the first film directed by a woman<\/a> to gross over $100 million \u2014 and then A League of Their Own<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em> Penny Marshall died in December 2018. Cindy Williams died in January 2023. Both were 75. The show they made together was the No. 1 program in America for two of its eight seasons. Getting there cost them more than it looked.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfac<\/strong>\u00a0SIGN UP for Parade\u2019s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\ud83c\udfac<\/strong><\/p>\n

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About the author<\/h2>\n
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Deborah\u2019s sharp cultural commentary has appeared in HuffPost, Scary Mommy, Parents, and CafeMom Media, where she\u2019s built a reputation for delivering authentic takes on parenting, entertainment, and lifestyle topics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The show\u2019s success cost Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams more than it seemed. Oct 12, 2026 4:35 PM EDT Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams promo for \u2018Laverne and Shirley,\u2019 December 12, 1975. ABC Photo Archives \/ Getty Images Get Parade in your Google feed In 1975, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams were writing sketches at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chua-phan-loai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2066,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065\/revisions\/2066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}