Laverne and Shirley: The Complete Second Season DVD: Review By Mushy

Laverne and Shirley: The Complete Second Season brings fans of this 1970s show 23 episodes of laughter and the trademark Garry Marshall genuineness. Having created another landmark show with Happy Days, Marshall knew how to keep the shows easy and entertaining, but littered with a seriousness that often crept on the viewers. Laverne De Fazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) are roommates who somehow find themselves in very Lucille Ball-type situations. They are often aided and abetted in these endeavors by Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander), their crazy neighbors who always seem to somehow make their problems worse.

Some of the standout episodes in this set are "Excuse Me, May I Cut In" which features Richie (Ron Howard) and Potsie (Anson Williams) from Happy Days, helping the girls out in a dance contest. "Guilty Until Proven Not Innocent" sees Laverne being pegged as a shoplifter and she handles the situation in the way that only she can. "Honeymoon Hotel" sees the girls' friendship put to the test when Shirley somehow wins a contest. Lastly, "Hi, Neighbor Book II" sees Laverne and Shirley coming to the rescue of Lenny and Squiggy when they need dates.

No Extras came with this DVD release.

Full Screen Format. After viewing the Happy Days: The Complete Second Season episodes, I really wasn't expecting much here. I was quite surprised at how sharp all the images were. They must have compressed these episodes differently because they really look sharp. They stand out in all the ways that one would hope they might. The colors were all strong and there was none of the '70s sludge that we sometimes get from shows of that era. There were a few dust particles floating around here and there but on the whole these looked better than I had ever seen them before.

Dolby Digital: Restored English Mono. I didn't notice any great improvements in the sound, but I think that's because I always thought the audio was solid. I watched Laverne and Shirley a lot when I was younger, but I don't recall noticing anything about the audio back then. Everything sounded fine and I was pleased to hear that Paramount didn't change the the opening song. Even though it does say (in very small lettering) on this packaging: "Some music has been changed for this home entertainment version," nothing about it really caught my attention like it did on Happy Days.

Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams are shown on this front cover, arm in arm, making weird gestures with their hands. The background is a mixture of yellow and white lines, even though I don't recall those colors having much to do with the show. The back features three promo shots, a description of what Laverne and Shirley is about, and some system specs. All four discs in this collection are neatly housed inside this clear amaray case. On the inside walls of this case they list out all the episodes with descriptions and air dates. They make it very easy to figure out what episodes are on which discs.

For some reason, Paramount really took their time releasing both Happy Days: The Complete Second Season and Laverne and Shirley: The Complete Second Season. After sitting through this DVD set I really can't figure out why. These shows seem like they would have rabid audiences and to withhold them from the public doesn't make sense. I was actually taken aback with how much Laverne and Shirley has held up over the years. Sure, these jokes may seem somewhat dated now, but all of the characters are so fully realized that that gets passed a lot of the issues that some people might have with when this show was created. Also, I doubt that people that like Laverne and Shirley would really be put off about when it was made.

Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams are so great in their respective roles, that I would never realize that they had some problems on the set. These two seem like they are honestly best friends, but from what I have heard they didn't always get along with one another. It seems that the public always takes to one character more than the other, but what hindsight shows us is that neither character would be as strong as they are without the other.