(1976-1983) - Television sitcom, originally aired on ABC, starring Penny Marshall as Laverne, and Cindy Williams as Shirley. Set in the 50's in Milwaukee, "Laverne and Shirley" was about the title characters sharing a job, an apartment, their loves and their lives.
This classic sitcom of the 70's was a spinoff of Happy Days, where the two girls appeared as friends of Fonzie. Premiering right after Happy Days (already a successful show), it rapidly climbed to the top, even surpassing the popularity of its progenitor, Happy Days. The popularity of the show stemmed partly from the realistic day-to-day struggling existence of two working-class girls, and partly from the almost vaudevillian caricatures played by the co-stars: Michael McKean (Lenny) and David Lander (Squiggy).
In 1980, in order to "shake up" the show a little, all of the main characters moved to Los Angeles, where the girls tried to get into show business, and mostly ended up in a series of bad odd-jobs. From 1981-1983, an animated version was shown on Saturday mornings. The live-action show continued in its prime time slot until it ended in 1983, after Cindy Williams, then pregnant, left the show, and it was renamed simply "Laverne".
"Laverne and Shirley" can still be seen on Nick at Night's "TV Land".