Loved Laverne's dad. The writers did not make him a jerk but a decent loving guy and he and Laverne had a good relationship. Her being afraid of telling him that she may be pregnant or when he wanted her to be in an arranged marriage (I know she was being a friend but Shirley was out of line getting into his face on that). They were wonderful. Loved the chracter. Shame sitcoms make the "father" an idiot today.

They only had each other, remember her mom was gone. They were a close, cute Italian family. A far cry from families in this day and age !

They only had each other, remember her mom was gone. They were a close, cute Italian family. A far cry from families in this day and age !


So true!

I disagree. I think that Mr. DeFazio's only shining moments occurred when Laverne thought she may be pregnant and when her almost fiancee, Randy, died. The rest of the time he was pretty much an ass.

He was pretty controlling, rigid, and judgemental, and witheld affection as a punishment. He also threatened to disown her (pretty cruel to someone who has lost one parent) when she disobeyed him--not visiting her mother's grave and not marrying the guy he'd picked out for her.

He also badgered her constantly about getting married and giving him grandchildren, when he wasn't lamenting that he'd had a daugher instead of a son. I always wondered why he wanted grandchildren since he rarely seemed thrilled to be a father.

It also creeped me out a bit when Laverne would regress into "little girl" mode to cajole her father into doing something. Even when I was a kid, that didn't seem normal.

I always said that if they ever spun Mr. DeFazio into his own show, they should call it "Old Yeller". :lol: But you gotta love the guy.