Pamela Anderson must have had a good laugh this morning when Today show host Matt Lauer burst onto the show dressed up as Baywatch Pam for Halloween. Actually he has nice legs! Our favorites were Natalie Morales and Savannah Guthrie dressed up as Laverne & Shirley. Schlemiel, schlimazel!
Photo Credit: Pacific Coast News
Photo: Lisa Rose/Nickelodeon
Frankly, we were really worried when Laverne & Shirley star Penny Marshall fell ill back in 2009. She says she was diagnosed with lung cancer and a brain tumor and it didn’t sound good. But now she says she’s recovered and she’s back in action. She and Cindy Williams reunited for the first scripted TV show they’ve done together in 30 years: It’s Nickelodeon’s “Sam & Cat” – coincidentally about two girl roommates with opposite personalities starring Jeanette McCurdy and Ariana Grande. The reunion show is scheduled for this fall. (Cindy and Penny look great in the photo above from the set).
Cindy Williams played Shirley Feeney and Eddie Mekka played her boyfriend Carmine Ragusa on one of our favorite series, Laverne & Shirley, which ran from 1976 to 1983. Apparently they are on better terms than Cindy and her costar Penny Marshall, or so we hear. After all these years, Cindy and Eddie got together again to costar in a play called Sylvia in Edmonton, Canada. They appear as an aging married couple whose life is interrupted by a dog. Cindy and Eddie’s mini-reunion was a success and the play ran for two and a half months. (Top photo: Cindy and Eddie on Laverne & Shirley, Bottom photo: in the play Sylvia)
One of our favorite sitcoms, “Laverne & Shirley,” was honored at the TV Land Awards and Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams turned up, along with costars “Lenny“ and “Squiggy.” Everybody got along fine onstage but the two leading girls were distinctly cool with each other while sitting at their table in the audience. A source told us they barely acknowledged one another and Penny (who CAN be gruff) made a point of turning her back to Cindy and chatting only with her friends. Is this an old feud or a new one?
When Jersey Shore has finally run it’s course, Snooki and Jenni JWoww will debut their new spin-off series- scheduled for 2012. The girls had become fast friends and were planning to move in together and maybe even buy an house, so naturally MTV said “Let’s film it.” Our MTV source says that Snooki is a phenomenon because “success doesn’t change her – she is who she is.” The pilot has the two roommates “just being themselves” and our insider has described them as “the new Laverne & Shirley,” (IF you can imagine Laverne and Shirley fighting and cursing and having indiscriminate sex.)
A blast from the past! A different generation has taken up residence on the Jersey Shore – in Beach Haven, to be exact.“L averne & Shirley” star Cindy Williams and Joanne Worley from “Laugh-In” are doing summer theater there – and appearing together in the female version of Neil Simon’s ”The Odd Couple.” Cindy plays messy Olive Madison (the Jack Klugman role) and Joanne plays neat freak Florence Unger (the Tony Randall role.) The Jersey Shore is loving their show – it’s such a hit that the number of performances has already doubled for the 3 week gig and the stars have no time to go to the beach.