A 'Laverne and Shirley' Remake for the Big Screen?
Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Are you ready to see America's most beloved Milwaukee girls on the make on the big screen? According to director Garry Marshall, creator of 'Happy Days,' he has hopes to put the spinoff from that show, the successful 'Laverne & Shirley' to the movies. As with all the other hopes for silver screen adaptations, this one comes with some fanciful casting attached, too.Garry was on 'Extra' promoting his new romantic comedy 'Valentine's Day' and revealed the 'Laverne & Shirley' dream casting: Jennifer Garner and Jessica Biel. That's right. This pair of Shotz Brewery factory employees -- who live in a basement apartment in 1960 Milwaukee and struggle to find the men of their dreams -- would be played by two of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. Is that a cynical way of looking at it? Yes, it is.
Maybe we'll get Ashton Kutcher and Ryan Reynolds as Lenny and Squiggy. Aspiring singer Carmine Ragusa -- the big Ragu -- could be Justin Timberlake.
Aside from the pie-in-the-sky casting, the idea of a revamped 'Laverne & Shirley' isn't the worst idea ever. (That would be Will Smith as Jim West in 'The Wild, Wild West.') However, as much as Garry can see box office in Garner and Biel, the key to the comic success of the original show was the way Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams worked together. They had chemistry. They were like Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance, Lucy and Ethel on 'I Love Lucy' and even 'The Lucy Show.' The comedy was very physical and loaded with slapstick and shtick. That's stuff that's not so easy to re-create.
If enthusiasm counts for anything, then Jennifer Garner earns brownie points. She'd love to do the remake. Speaking for Jessica Biel, too, she told Mario Lopez on 'Extra,' "Are you kidding? We're dying to do it!"
Well, maybe if Garry hired Penny to direct the feature, it might have a chance? She did direct 'Awakenings,' 'Big' and 'A League of Their Own,' and she probably knows the characters better than anyone in the world, even Cindy Williams!
Sigh... where's Boo Boo Kitty when you need her?

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