Laverne And Shirley: 12 Fascinating Things You Never Knew About This Beloved Sitcom

11. BY SEASON EIGHT, THE SHOW SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED SIMPLY LAVERNE

Cindy Williams married singer Bill Hudson in 1982 and soon became pregnant with their first child. Even as her pregnancy progressed, however, she was still working 14 hour days and eventually had to have a hospital bed provided on the set so that she could lie down in between takes. When the producers refused to reduce her workload and even had her scheduled to tape on her due date, Williams left the show. Paramount released her from her contract and Marshall pressed on alone, with Williams’s salary added on top of her own to compensate for her expanded role.

12. THE FINAL EPISODE WAS A BACKDOOR PILOT FOR A CARMINE SPINOFF

Eddie Mekka had been a successful Broadway performer when he moved to Hollywood to try his hand at television. Since his background was in musical theater, his Carmine character was given the occasional song-and-dance number on the show. The series finale, “Here Today, Hair Tomorrow,” featured The Big Ragoo frustrated and getting nowhere with this career as an entertainer in Los Angeles and venturing to New York to audition for the musical Hair. Once in the Big Apple, he takes an apartment with a group of aspiring actors where wacky hijinks would certainly have ensued, had the show been picked up as a series.

(Source: MentalFloss)