Penny Marshall explained why she always had a massive ''L'' on her clothing during Laverne & Shirley

It's not just an adorable outfit.

CBS Television Distribution

It's not uncommon for characters to have a kind of "uniform." While this is typically more popular with animated movies, it's possible in live-action sitcoms as well. Would we even know The Fonz was The Fonz if he wasn't wearing his iconic leather jacket? How would we recognize Barney Fife without his uniform?

As Laverne DeFazio, Penny Marshall made a statement as her character was typically recognized with a giant cursive "L" on most of her clothing. As Marshall explained to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, that monogram doesn't just serve fashion; it also serves function.

"When you start a television show the key is to get the audience to remember the names of the characters and their occupations," said Marshall. "So an actress ends up saying her name and job many times during the first few episodes of any sitcom. When I first read the pilot script of Laverne & Shirley, it had us saying our names and that we were bottle cappers on every other page. So when I went to try on my wardrobe, I remembered the fact that I would have to keep repeating my name and it might get pretty boring."

Luckily, Marshall was able to discover an easier way to help the audience tell the characters apart from one another.

"I was looking for a shortcut as I sifted through the vintage clothing that the wardrobe department had collected from the 1950s," she said. "I came across a sweater with an initial sewn in the upper left corner. It suddenly dawned on me how I could save time. Make the initial an “L” and then everyone would remember that my name is Laverne. The wardrobe department took my suggestion and quickly changed the letter to an “L” and the rest is history."

Watch Laverne & Shirley on MeTV!

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11 Comments

Wiseguy70005 10 days ago
If I remember correctly the 'L' got smaller after the first season.
scarysminga1369 19 days ago
Tonight, I turned on the TV expecting to watch Hogan's Heroes and Chicago PD was on. When it ended the closing them for HH was playing? What happened??? (Detroit)
Tresix scarysminga1369 17 days ago
That also happened in Chicago back around 2014. Instead of “Gunsmoke”, we were getting “Daniel Boone”. Instead of “The Twilight Zone”, it was “M*A*S*H*”. This went on for some months, then things went back to normal. I never got an explanation. The weird thing was I dad asked some of my friends who were in both the city and suburbs what they were seeing and they had “Gunsmoke” and “Twilight Zone”.
Is MeTV a substation of your NBC affiliate? In my area if the NBC affiliate has special local programming (news, etc.) they might broadcast the NBC signal on the MeTV station.
AnnieM 23 days ago
Fonzie had his jacket, Laverne had her 'L's. also a great way to stand out.
WordsmithWorks 26 days ago
Excellent idea. Of course, no one can repeat it without being a very obvious copy cat.
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