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Cindy Williams, Shirley Feeney on Laverne & Shirley, sat down with Dini Petty in Toronto in February 1998, and spent most of the conversation confessing the two TV jobs she walked away from and has never stopped thinking about. She turned down the mother on Home Improvement before anyone knew who Tim Allen was. Passed on Home Alone in the same breath. Then she laughed and said, "I cry at syndication." The regret is entirely real. But the more surprising story is the one she tells about Penny Marshall. Before Laverne and Shirley existed as a television show, the two of them were hired as comedy writers at Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope company, writing Bicentennial sketches alongside Steve Martin. The spinoff came later, and almost by accident. Cindy Williams died on January 25, 2023. She was 75. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 2:15 She pitched Father of the Bride to a production company 3:19 Turned down Home Improvement and Home Alone 4:07 "I cry at syndication" 5:09 Knows Harrison Ford from American Graffiti 8:20 The play: Moon Over Buffalo 10:11 Back to Laverne & Shirley 10:39 She and Penny were writing partners before the show 11:03 Writing with Steve Martin for Coppola 11:37 "It was surreal" ABOUT THE DINI PETTY SHOW The Dini Petty Show was a Canadian daytime talk show that aired on CTV from 1989 to 1999. Broadcast from Toronto, the show ran for ten years and featured in-depth conversations with Hollywood legends, music icons, politicians, and cultural figures. Dini Petty's warm yet probing interview style earned the show multiple Gemini Award nominations and a loyal audience across Canada. This channel is the official archive of The Dini Petty Show. Most of these interviews have not been seen since their original broadcast. New conversations from the vault are uploaded weekly. Subscribe to never miss a piece of television history.