Laverne & Shirley was a sitcom starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams. The series ran on ABC from 1976 to 1983. The show was the most successful of the Happy Days spinoffs, even surpassing the original series’ ratings for several years.
The first several seasons took place in Milwaukee. The characters of Laverne and Shirley were two young women sharing an apartment. They also worked together at the fictional Shotz Brewery. In the sixth season, the show was revamped and the characters moved to Burbank, California. Like most sitcoms, the series was actually filmed in Hollywood.
Paramount Studios
In the opening credits of Laverne & Shirley, we see the characters skipping down the sidewalk while reciting “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Schlemiel, Shlimazel, Hasenpfeffer Incorporated”. This scene was filmed in front of a row of townhouses on the Paramount backlot.
In the movie Wayne’s World, Wayne and Garth recreate the opening scenes from Laverne & Shirley. Despite also filming at Paramount, the scenes from Wayne’s World actually used a different area of the backlot. You can see the two locations in the photo I created below.
Laverne and Shirley was filmed on Stage 20 at Paramount Studios. This soundstage was built in 1935, and has also been home to productions like My Three Sons, Addams Family Values, and Star Trek: Voyager.
If you’d like to see these spots up close, Paramount offers a variety of tours. You can check out my page about their tours here. And click here to see the official Paramount Tours site.
The Apartment
In season 6, the characters move to Burbank and begin working at a department store. The apartment used for these locations is not actually in Burbank, but is located at 419/421 North Sierra Bonita Avenue in Los Angeles. It’s not very far from Paramount Studios.
