Night After Night

Welcome to WRITE AFTER WRITE, a mini-series covering the Laverne & Shirley tie-in novels, Lisa is joined by  @paulaschaffner476  of the "Becoming Human" podcast. The ladies take on "Teamwork" - the first of the novels written by "Con Steffanson." Ostensibly about Shirley falling into full starstruckdom over a Martin/Lewis-style comedy and music act, the story ends up taking wild turns with a m...

This is it, folks! The final episode of L&S gets a review! When Frank and Rhonda realize that Carmine has broken up with his girlfriend, turned off his utilities, and quit his job they fear the worst. But Carmine confesses to them that he's decided to leave California for busier pastures; the isle of Manhattan and the chance to be on Broadway. With the support of his friends and all of Lav...

Laverne's pop, Frank DeFazio, gets a visit at his Cowboy Bill's establishment by a local city councilman named Pike. Pike's corrupt tactics and avaricious plans will end up bulldozing the place and kicking him out for the sake of Pike's own gain. It gets Frank's dander up, and he decides to run for election against him. He gets the gang to collaborate on the campaign trail: Rho...

When Squiggy's sister (Squendolyn, also played by David Lander) comes to visit her brother after a messy divorce, she takes a real shine to Carmine. Seeing a chance to keep her out of his hair, Squig offers to pay a frustrated Carmine a couple hundred bucks to show the sister a good time... even though Carmine doesn't like Squendolyn and thinks quite lowly of her based on her appearance. B...

** SOME EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING ** (just a bit) The boys think they've discovered a treasure map when they find some junk at a swap meet, sending Lenny and Squiggy on a quest to find it somewhere out in the Mojave Desert. Stopping off at Cowboy Bills on the way, they accidentally blurt their plans out to Frank and Carmine, causing the two to argue that if Pop's going to give supplies at...

**EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING** Ghost episodes of sitcoms should be funny and weird, right? When Laverne leaves for a ski trip for singles, she has Carmine watch the place, but tells him that there's something weird with the lights and sink. Turns out her apartment is haunted by the ghost of an athlete who's upset at the outcome of the Summer Olympics. When Rhonda puts together a séance to q...

**EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING** Time for Chris to lose his mind again! In the episode reviewed, Laverne is busy as heck. She's so busy, she ends up dealing with a schedule logjam when her promise to babysit Chuck's young chimpanzee, Chucky Jr., overlaps with her plans to perform with The Spinners in concert. When she calls on her grumpy Pop, she brushes off his exceptional anger at women in...

It's time for the last Mike Bailey episode to get reviewed! For once, Laverne's latest relationship is going well. Her beau, Mike Bailey (Larry Breeding), is a fashion photographer who likes her and connects with her. The two of them share their romance in a comfortable, healthy, mature way. But, there's one problem - Laverne's jealousy flares up as she sees how close Mike is to th...

Laverne's nursing an ulcer with an awful diet and doctor's orders to rest. At work, her colleague Chuck (Charles Fleischer) tries to cheer her up with playing his harmonica and introducing her to his own love of music. Realizing he's actually pretty good, Laverne encourages him, bringing up how much Bob Dylan makes. But, Chuck dreams big, getting his science buddies together to form a...

Laverne is surprised to find out that Alvinia Plout (Vicki Lawrence), her former Sergeant in the Women's Army Corps, is back in town with two big surprises. Those surprises: she's been married and divorced since Laverne last saw her, and now has a baby on the way. Hesitant to send Alvinia on her way, Laverne lets her former superior stay with her. She helps Alvinia get a job at Cowboy Bill...

When a pair of Russian ballet dancers with plans to defect to the American side and use the bathroom at Cowboy Bills as a weigh station toward freedom, hijinks ensue. While Boris Squiggmanoff succeeds in getting away, his KGB handlers capture his wife, and then mistake Squiggy for the defecting dancer. Mr. Squiggman finds himself living in captivity, forced to fulfill Boris' ballet commitment...

*** EXPLICIT LANGUAGE & WARNING *** This podcast video includes discussions of topics such as rape, religious guilt, victim-blaming, and alcohol-induced blackouts. LISTENER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. Laverne wakes up from a black-out drunk evening on top of an aircraft carrier with her clothing torn and disheveled. On her way off the boat, she gets saluted by the sailors on board for reasons she c...

The one where we talk about Adam West! When Rhonda shows up with a spare date for Laverne, it turns out to be Edgar Garibaldi, a once great gymnast. Immediately smitten with her, Edgar takes Laverne out, but he keeps calling her by the name Louise. Laverne sticks with the relationship nevertheless and he eventually invites Laverne to his manor abode for a lovely weekend getaway. While there, Laver...

Laverne's new fella "Weezer" takes her on a double date with Carmine and his new gal Suzy to a French restaurant, only for a couple of hoods to try and hit on the girls. After Carmine and Laverne take the tough guys outside and give them a thrashing, Weezer feels incompetent about his masculinity and ability to protect Laverne. The two argue, he has a wild dance-number laden dream ab...

**EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING** The doldrums of Season 8 of Laverne and Shirley continue with this filler-esque episode. Laverne disregards a chain letter she gets in the mail and immediately a string of bad luck seems to follow her. She steps on Rhonda's dress and rips it before a big performance for a talent agent, she sprains Carmine's wrist while helping him off the floor, and while play...

*** EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING *** We cover one of the most infamous episodes of Laverne & Shirley this week. Laverne tries to scam a free set out of her local bank by creating a fresh account. But during her latest attempt at chicanery, with an equally-disguised Rhonda at her side, she's spotted by a couple of revolutionaries casing the joint for a heist. The revolutionaries, led by Aaron...

It's time to add a little T&A to your L&S! Laverne does a quick favor for a very busy Rhonda and runs down to the soon-to-be-opened local Playboy™ Club to pick up an application. Rhonda hopes to become a bunny tail wearing hostess, but a still money-hungry Laverne finds herself signing up for a try-out. Laverne soon starts training along with her new pal/possible co-worker Cathy (the e...

Laverne finally lands a new job thanks to her Pop calling in a favor with a war buddy. Mr. Ajax turns out to be a big wheel with a place in a future-facing industry, with his company making aeronautics supplies for NASA. There, her stern boss, G. Bullets Klein, puts her to the boring task of testing various products which are slated to go up into space on the latest shuttle, then boxing them up. H...

When Laverne and Carmine return to the apartment after attending the Burbank Business Association's Dancing Contest, they find that all of Shirley's things are gone ... along with the lady herself. All that's left is a single note waiting for Laverne -- a goodbye letter from Shirl that seems to brush off the many years of friendship and sisterhood. Seeing Laverne devastated by the news...

**EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING** Laverne and Shirley get a big opportunity at their department store job, only it's the kind where they have to live in an "apartment of the future" for a week. Realizing she's come down with a case of claustrophobia, Laverne isn't sure she can pull it off. With some coaxing and encouragement from their neighbor Rhonda, they seek the help of a hyp...

**EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING** The beginning of the end! With another time-jump, Shirley reveals that the guy she's been dating, Walter Meeney, has proposed! Laverne is ecstatic for her best friend. But as the two begin putting the wedding together, the timeline for it speeds up, as Walter, an Army medic, gets his orders to ship out soon. So Laverne and Shirley go into overdrive for the Feeney/...

CUE THE ORGAN MUSIC! It's time for a soap opera parody in which Shirley's guilt over borrowing Laverne's purse without permission -- and then losing it -- fuels her dreams while she falls asleep watching TV. The Baublenik family is a dynasty built on flapjack restaurants, but Shirley's dream keeps taking sinister, raunchy turns. Will "Charlene Baublenik" be poisoned to de...

The girls suspect they're being robbed (repeatedly!) after Shirley loses her (labeled!) keys at Disneyland. Food and a record player go missing from the apartment, causing them to call the police. Then the girls head off for a vacation to Palm Springs, leaving Frank and Carmine to figure out who's robbing the place. After some some snooping, trap-setting, and stories about Anzio, they capt...

When Carmine is struck by lightning and, while still addled, thwarts a robbery at Cowboy Bills, a nearby news reporter takes it upon himself to dub him "Lightning Man." Carmine discovers that the public thinks he's a superher and Squiggy seizes this opportunity and signs Lightning Man to a brand new Squignowski Talent Agency contract. Within days, Squiggy starts booking deals for Car...

Get your tap shoes on, we've reached the anthology episode! After Carmine performs a Tom Jones song for Frank, the two get into a debate about music and entertainment through the years. They fight over what's better - the rock 'n' roll stylings of the 1960s or the classics of yesteryear. As they banter, the audience is treated to renditions of Blue Moon, Call the Police, an old-fas...