Mike McKean-David Lander team was hired as writer-consultants. They wrote themselves into the premiere as Lenny and Squiggy (Ant'ny was renamed Squiggmann to add a Teutonic touch to the otherwise disproportionately Italian cast). "The show looked like a disaster at that time," McKean marvels now. "I had never been involved in a network show before and didn't know something that seemed to be a mess could end up an enormous hit."

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20070090,00.html

http://www.mts.net/~lmauthe1/Lori/lensquigpic2.jpg

That's pretty cool. It makes you wonder how successful the show would have been if they hadn't written themselves in to it.

Mike McKean-David Lander team was hired as writer-consultants. They wrote themselves into the premiere as Lenny and Squiggy (Ant'ny was renamed Squiggmann to add a Teutonic touch to the otherwise disproportionately Italian cast). "The show looked like a disaster at that time," McKean marvels now. "I had never been involved in a network show before and didn't know something that seemed to be a mess could end up an enormous hit."

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20070090,00.html

http://www.mts.net/~lmauthe1/Lori/lensquigpic2.jpg

Yeah, Lenny and Squiggy were based on two "greaser" characters they used to play in college (and by all accounts, the act was pretty raunchy). The irony is that the original characters were intended to be a parody of that particular image, and now Lenny and Squiggy (and Fonzie) live on as three of the ultimate representatives of the same to several entire generations.

Yeah, Lenny and Squiggy were based on two "greaser" characters they used to play in college (and by all accounts, the act was pretty raunchy). The irony is that the original characters were intended to be a parody of that particular image, and now Lenny and Squiggy (and Fonzie) live on as three of the ultimate representatives of the same to several entire generations.
yea, I remember reading that somewhere back when the show premiered.

I loved the actors and those characters. I think they are tremendouly talented !

yeah i knew they created lenny & squiggy

The Lenny and Squiggy characters really helped make this show work. they made Laverne and Shirley look good by comparison. I don't think the show would have worked without those two characters.

That I never knew before, well it worked.