News: November 2013

'Laverne & Shirley's' Penny Marshall and 

Cindy Williams reunite for 'Sam & Cat'

From l., Penny Marshall, Jennette McCurdy, Ariana Grande and Cindy Williams in Friday's episode of Nick's "Sam & Cat."

Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall say art is not imitating life when they get back together Saturday night for their first scripted TV show in more than 30 years.

The stars of the iconic sitcom “Laverne and Shirley” are guest-starring on “Sam & Cat,” the new Nickelodeon show that features Jennette McCurdy from “iCarly” as Sam and Ariana Grande from “Victorious” as Cat.

Saturday’s story line is that the Williams and Marshall characters created a 1970s TV show called “SalmonCat.”

The McCurdy and Grande characters call their current baby-sitting service “Sam and Cat.” Now they need permission to keep using the name, since it sounds close to “SalmonCat.”

The problem: The Williams and Marshall characters had a fight more than 30 years ago and haven’t spoken since.

The not-so-inside joke: For years after “Laverne & Shirley,” the real-life Williams and Marshall didn’t speak.

No matter, they both say. Today they do.

“Cindy and I are fine,” says Marshall.

“When we shot the show, Penny and I drove to the studio together,” says Williams. “We’re in touch all the time.”

Williams says the idea for the reunion came from “Sam & Cat” creator Dan Schneider.

“He’s a big ‘Laverne & Shirley’ fan,” says Williams. “He asked us. Penny and I talked about it. We’re not exactly at our fighting weight, but we thought it could be funny.”

Marshall says part of the appeal for her was that “we wouldn’t have to play ourselves … even though we do.”

Marshall admits she didn’t really know “Sam & Cat,” though she admires McCurdy and Grande.

Williams has a little more history with the Nick world.

“I would sit on the couch and watch ‘iCarly’ with my ex-husband’s 6-year-old granddaughter,” she says. “It’s a real joy to watch with a 6-year-old.

Cindy Williams (l.) and Penny Marshall in "Laverne & Shirley," which aired from 1976 to 1983.

“So when I said I was going to be on ‘Sam & Cat,’ it was like, ’OMG, you’re going to meet Jennette and Ariana?!?’ ”

It isn’t lost on Williams and Marshall that “Sam & Cat,” like “iCarly,” continues a TV tradition of female buddy shows.

“They go back to Lucy and Ethel [in ‘I Love Lucy’],” Williams says. “There’s always a place for them. Girls look at life a little differently from guys.”

Most of the “Sam & Cat” audience wasn’t around for “Laverne & Shirley,” of course, never mind “I Love Lucy.”

“But we’re still in reruns,” Marshall points out. “There’s more awareness than you might think.”

Williams, 66, has done mostly live theater in recent years, including a 2007 Broadway run in “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“I don’t think much about the passage of years,” she says. “In my head, I’m always 19.”

Marshall, 70, moved behind the camera to direct a series of hit movies, including “Big” and “A League of Their Own.”

Then, she says, the business changed.

“All they care about now is foreign sales,” she says. “They want ‘Transformers 15.’ You couldn’t get ‘A League of Their Own’ made today.

“There are still movies I’d like to make, like the story of Effa Manley [who owned the Newark Eagles in the Negro Leagues]. But it’s hard to get it done.”

So she’s semi-retired, sort of.

“If I get asked to do something I like,” she says, “I’ll do it.”

She also still has her director’s instinct.

“When we were shooting the fight scene in ‘Sam & Cat,’ they told me to punch Cindy in the face. I said no, I wouldn’t do it.

“I don’t think anybody should punch anybody else in the face, especially in a show for kids.”

(Source: DailyNews)