Gonna do it ...

As bizarre as this concept for a TV reality series sounds, I have to admit I'm intrigued and I'll definitely have to watch this one.

"Penny and Cindy," a new show being pitched by TV Land, will officially mark the cable network's venture into original reality TV programming.

The basic concept is simple, as described by TV Land President Larry Jones.

This show will portray the adventures of a real-life "Laverne & Shirley," or at least chronicle what it would be like if the actresses who played those roles were made to live together.

Twenty-five years after the ABC show left the airwaves, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams have agreed to do the series, and a pilot episode featuring Williams living with Marshall in her L.A. mansion is already in the can.

It was 30 years ago in 1976 when this spin-off from "Happy Days" first aired. The two title character actresses last reunited for a TV reunion movie in May 2002 that picked up where the show finale left off.

What I'm most curious about with this series is how the producers are going to angle the "conflict" for the show's premise. It's no longer an industry secret that the bulk of the entertainment that comes from any reality show is the editing of the footage and interaction of the characters to create a story-line that displays some type of "drama" and "crisis."

Of course, in real-life, it was "drama" and "crisis" that caused the original sitcom to end after eight seasons.

In what has become popular TV legend, Marshall and Williams became competitive on the show's set, causing many a headache for Marshall's brother Garry Marshall, who was the show's producer. Some of the most famous disputes were over some of the most minor details, like whose dressing room had the largest square footage and which of the actresses was given more lines to say per episode, once they were given each week's script.

By 1982, Williams, who also was expecting at the time, left the show, which limped along for just one more year with Marshall flying solo.

I've never interviewed Marshall. But I have interviewed Williams, who I met at the Star Plaza Theatre in 2000 when she was touring in "Grease" playing Principal Miss Lynch. I've also interviewed her series costars David Lander, who played Squiggy, and Eddie Mekka, who played Carmine Ragusa, Williams' character's boyfriend on the series, a few times. In fact, I just chatted with Lander when I saw him in L.A. in February. Williams and Lander both agree that, yes, there could be moments of cast disagreements during the "Laverne & Shirley" years. But they dismissed much of the attention and press headlines to "exaggerations."

As for Mekka, his response to my questions about cast feuds is a bit more telling: "I always just tried to stay out of the line of fire!"

As for when this reality series will air, depending on the shooting schedule and episode demand, look for it as a late summer debut series or as an addition to the fall 2007 line-up.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. Reach him at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

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