Season 7 was just weird

[Big D In Charge]

Now I'm in no means offend of the California years but even season 6 still had some episodes that still had that L&s formula. This season was just weird because of the fact that even though Cindy and Penny was not in all the episodes it's like they would throw them in the intro and it will just be majority lenny and squiggy and 9 times out of 10 they would go for a huge dramatic episode. Next thing you know it I watch this episode called lightning Man and I got to say this was just a bad episode with carmine and squiggy. Laverne and Shirley in the beginning and Lenny in the tag. And to think David lander and Michael McKean got top billing

[SarahBellum]

This was another show that should have ended sooner.

[RetroGuy2000]

I have watched some Season 6 and 7 episodes, and they are definitely nowhere near as good as the Milwaukee Seasons. Most are okay... then comes Season 8, where the show became "Laverne and". And that stunk.

I don't remember "Lightning Man" at all; will have to check it out.

[TVFactFan]

Shirley's Hair is the hightlight of the california era

[shotzette]

I'm a huge Laverne & Shirley fan--my screen name should be a clue--but I am the first to say that they should have ended it with Season 6.

Pretty much everything about Season 7 was strained. The main leads didn't appear in all of the episodes, the actors were aging out of their roles, and the move to California and five year time jump had been squeezed for all it was worth. It was very obvious that most of the main actors were just over the whole thing and the animosity between Penny and Cindy was at it's peak.

I know they wanted a full eight+ seasons, for the syndication $, but the end result was just so sad to watch.

I think that they could have done something wonderful with the writing if they just had the baIIs to take a chance. The characters were approaching thirty, the fifties were now the sixties, they were in a brand new town--there were so many options that they could have taken, but no one wanted to take chance.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by shotzette

I'm a huge Laverne & Shirley fan--my screen name should be a clue--but I am the first to say that they should have ended it with Season 6.

Pretty much everything about Season 7 was strained. The main leads didn't appear in all of the episodes, the actors were aging out of their roles, and the move to California and five year time jump had been squeezed for all it was worth. It was very obvious that most of the main actors were just over the whole thing and the animosity between Penny and Cindy was at it's peak.

I know they wanted a full eight+ seasons, for the syndication $, but the end result was just so sad to watch.

I think that they could have done something wonderful with the writing if they just had the baIIs to take a chance. The characters were approaching thirty, the fifties were now the sixties, they were in a brand new town--there were so many options that they could have taken, but no one wanted to take chance.

What do you think they should have done, Shotzette?

[shotzette]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

What do you think they should have done, Shotzette?

Season 7 was supposed to be the last season, but Cindy Williams decided to do Season 8 at the last minute. Unfortunately, the actress's real life pregnancy was horribly mishandled and we received the "Laverne and ?" final season.

There were a lot of opportunities during the California era than just have a few celebrity cameos.

-They really could have milked the whole FOOW thing more.

-They could have addressed the Civil Rights and the Women's Movements, which would have brought about storylines regarding prejudice and sexism.

-They could have done more regarding the cast's aging and how they had grown; how they've changed. The dreams people have in their twenties are much different than in their thirties.

-They could have maybe mentioned Vietnam since the four lead characters were all in the Army reserves.

-They could have addressed the possibility of Shirley being a single mother, or have her marry Carmine. At the very least, place the actress behind a vase of flowers until she'd had the kid.

-There was talk of having the cast relocate to NYC instead of southern California. I personally don't think that would have been any better, but could have been worth an episode or two; maybe a longer arc like when Ricky and Lucy went to Hollywood and Europe on ILL.

Oh well...

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by shotzette

Season 7 was supposed to be the last season, but Cindy Williams decided to do Season 8 at the last minute. Unfortunately, the actress's real life pregnancy was horribly mishandled and we received the "Laverne and ?" final season.

Yes, all this I know. S8 was a disaster. But I was asking about what you would have done in S7. Ooh! Good answers!

There were a lot of opportunities during the California era than just have a few celebrity cameos.

-They really could have milked the whole FOOW thing more.

-They could have addressed the Civil Rights and the Women's Movements, which would have brought about storylines regarding prejudice and sexism.

I can see that potentially being a good topic for a couple of episodes.

-They could have done more regarding the cast's aging and how they had grown; how they've changed. The dreams people have in their twenties are much different than in their thirties.

-They could have maybe mentioned Vietnam since the four lead characters were all in the Army reserves.

That's a good point.

-They could have addressed the possibility of Shirley being a single mother, or have her marry Carmine. At the very least, place the actress behind a vase of flowers until she'd had the kid.

I always wondered if things would have been so much better in S8 if Gary Marshall had just allowed Cindy to do five or six pre-taped head-shot phone segments ("Laverne, you know I'm back in Milwaukee for a few weeks..."). Then Cindy could have had her baby, rested up, and then could have been ready to rejoin the show when she was ready, allowing us more episodes with actual Shirley instead of just Laverne. I honestly don't know why that wasn't an option.

-There was talk of having the cast relocate to NYC instead of southern California. I personally don't think that would have been any better, but could have been worth an episode or two; maybe a longer arc like when Ricky and Lucy went to Hollywood and Europe on ILL.

Oh well...

I don't think the problem was the actual locale, but a trip to NYC could have been nice; we were told Laverne was from there, so we could have seen her "old neighborhood".

[shotzette]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yes, all this I know. S8 was a disaster. But I was asking about what you would have done in S7. Ooh! Good answers!



I can see that potentially being a good topic for a couple of episodes.



That's a good point.





I always wondered if things would have been so much better in S8 if Gary Marshall had just allowed Cindy to do five or six pre-taped head-shot phone segments ("Laverne, you know I'm back in Milwaukee for a few weeks..."). Then Cindy could have had her baby, rested up, and then could have been ready to rejoin the show when she was ready, allowing us more episodes with actual Shirley instead of just Laverne. I honestly don't know why that wasn't an option.



I don't think the problem was the actual locale, but a trip to NYC could have been nice; we were told Laverne was from there, so we could have seen her "old neighborhood".

LOL, can you tell that I have given this a lot of thought?

Having read the autobiographies of Cindy, Penny, David, and Garry Marshall; the main gist is that everyone wanted to move on, but the money was too good.

[Missygal21880]

IMO there's enough episodes in season seven (That's Entertainment, Perfidy in Blue, Helmut Weekend, Moving In, The Most Important Day Ever) that at least some of it salvagable. Shotzette has some good suggestions, but they really shoud've been planning An Ending at this juncture of the show's existence.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by shotzette

LOL, can you tell that I have given this a lot of thought?

Yeah, I totally respect that!

Having read the autobiographies of Cindy, Penny, David, and Garry Marshall; the main gist is that everyone wanted to move on, but the money was too good.

But surely Cindy didn't make out so well, since she was very quickly written out. There had to have been a better way. I'm also not a fan of Edna being written out, as having left her husband. This was such unoriginal writing, and felt unbelievable.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Missygal21880

IMO there's enough episodes in season seven (That's Entertainment, Perfidy in Blue, Helmut Weekend, Moving In, The Most Important Day Ever) that at least some of it salvagable. Shotzette has some good suggestions, but they really shoud've been planning An Ending at this juncture of the show's existence.

I think part of Season 7 is salvageable, too. It's certainly better than Season 8.

[shotzette]

Originally Posted by Missygal21880

IMO there's enough episodes in season seven (That's Entertainment, Perfidy in Blue, Helmut Weekend, Moving In, The Most Important Day Ever) that at least some of it salvagable. Shotzette has some good suggestions, but they really shoud've been planning An Ending at this juncture of the show's existence.

I totally agree. This sounds selfish, but the fans really deserved some closure. Then again, I'm pretty sure none of TPTB would have considered we'd still be talking about it 40 years later, LOL!