The Forgotten ‘Laverne & Shirley’ Spinoff That Sent Them to the Army

In 1979, TV’s favorite brewery working roomies Laverne & Shirley joined the Army after they got stiffed for promotions at the beer plant. The Season 5 two-parter, “We’re in the Army, Now,” saw the gals, played by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, enlist, hoping to earn a little respect. What they get instead was the wrath of comically crusty Sgt. Alvinia T. Plout (Vicki Lawrence, The Carol Burnett Show) who quickly makes the ladies realize the Army was not for them and that they need of a creative way out. The episode marked the sitcom’s only hourlong outing, but it had even more significance. The “We’re in the Army Now” episode was spun off inyo the animated morning cartoon Laverne & Shirley in the Army, which debuted October 10, 1981, two years after Laverne & Shirley left the airwaves.