LAVERNE & SHIRLEY - THE HAUNTED HOUSE (1977)

 NOW LET'S LOOK AT THE 'BOO' TUBE!

  Here is a Halloweeny episode of LAVERNE & SHIRLEY (tho not aired at Halloween) from March 22, 1977 entitled "THE HAUNTED HOUSE".  Gee, I wonder what drew me to THIS episode????  The girls couch collapses so Carmine tells them about a furniture sale at a condemned house set for demolition.  Unfortunately, the house in question is the spooky old Ramsdale House which Shirley has heard that no one ever returns from going there.  The curse of the old Ramsdale House is that of the monstruous 'Ramsdale Hairy Thing' whom Shirley is sure will kill them both!  The girls make Lennie & Squiggy come along and soon they are locked in by the sinister manservant; a Lurch-like giant named Bernie!  Lenny assured the girls that he has seen 'every horror movie that Vincent Price got crushed to death in" so he knows there must be a secret passage somewhere on the premises. 

(Super)Naturally, characters keep disappearing into thin air until only Laverne & Shirley are left to tremble in their saddle shoes!  Eventually, old lady Ramsdale appears in her wheelchair and explains that, in order to try to save her home from demolition, she has decided to take hostages!  Shirley, meanwhile, has found an old diary stating that Abraham Lincoln used to stay in the Ramsdale House (as well as a drunken 'Captain' Ulysses S. Grant) and the house is probably an historic landmark.  The girls convince the 'Man From the City' (who is there to conduct the sale) to convince the city of Milwaukee to save the old house and Old Lady Ramsdale jumps out of her wheelchair yelling "I CAN WALK!".  Bernie assures everyone that she ALWAYS could walk, she's just lazy!  Back at home, Laverne & Shirley have their couch fixed by a grateful Bernie and all is right with the world again!

I always loved LAVERNE & SHIRLEY (until, of course, they jumped the shark to California) and watched it from day one.  This episode would have aired about 3 months after we moved from Maple Surple to Marlton and I surely must've watched it when it was first broadcast.  Any TV show with a spooky and/or Halloween episode is a winner for me and this one was great!  All the silly old dark house tropes are dragged out for the umpteenth time but we love them and they're cozy and familiar.  At one point, Lenny puts the helmet of the ubiquitous suit of armor over Squiggy's head and uses him as a battering ram to break down the door!  Penny Marshall & Cindy Williams as well as Michael McKean and David L. Lander)still have their slapstick chops and make the episode feel like a 40's screwball horror comedy.  Shirley O'Hara as Mrs. Ramsdale not only had an uncredited role in Val Lewton's GHOST SHIP but also appeared in every TV show from TWILIGHT ZONE and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS to THE BOB NEWHART SHOW and THE ROCKFORD FILES!  Mickey Morton as the Lurch-like Bernie appeared significantly (in my mind) not only as Malla in THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL but also as Solomon Grundy in LEGENDS OF THE SUPER-HEROES!  I'll definitely be adding this cute spooky episode to the rotation in my yearly Halloween re-watches.