NEW YORK, March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TV Land
announced today that the beloved casts of "Laverne & Shirley"
(Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Michael
McKean and David L. Lander)
and "One Day At A Time" (Valerie
Bertinelli, Bonnie Franklin,
Mackenzie Phillips, Glenn Scarpelli and Pat
Harrington Jr.) as well as pop culture phenomenon "Pee-wee's
Playhouse" will be honored at the "TV Land Awards" 10th Anniversary
celebration. The star-studded awards show, which honors classic
television, film and music icons, will be held at the Lexington
Avenue Armory at Gramercy Park on Saturday,
April 14th and air on Sunday,
April 29th at 9pm ET/PT.
More honorees will be announced in coming weeks. They join
previously announced honoree Aretha
Franklin (Music Icon Award) and second-time host
Kelly Ripa for the special decade
ceremony.
"Laverne & Shirley" still lives in the hearts of viewers
everywhere and is the recipient of this year's Fan Favorite Award, which goes to a series
that's an All-American classic, with characters who became our
friends, stories we could all relate to and irresistible laughs.
This is the first time the cast of "Laverne & Shirley" will be
reunited on television in nearly a decade. "Laverne & Shirley"
aired on ABC for eight seasons from 1976-1983 and was a spinoff of
the Garry Marshall hit "Happy Days."
But the show soon found its own avid fans, thanks to loveable stars
Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, who play best friends and
roommates working in a Milwaukee
brewery. Constantly annoyed by their neighbors, Leonard "Lenny"
Kosnowski (Michael McKean) and
Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman (David L.
Lander), Laverne and Shirley learn to navigate their lives
as two single young women in 1950s Milwaukee – and later in the series, 1960s Los
Angeles.
"One Day At A Time" is being presented with the Innovator Award,
which is given to a television series that carved out new
territory, tackled important issues of its day and helped re-define
its genre. The series, which was a hybrid drama/comedy, addressed
such taboo topics as pre-marital sex, suicide, sexual harassment
and more, breaking barriers and paving the way for future shows to
tackle these issues as well. Developed and written in part by TV
visionary Norman Lear, "One Day At A
Time" aired on CBS for nine seasons from 1975-1984. Starring
Bonnie Franklin, Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips as Ann Romano, Barbara
Cooper and Julie Cooper, the
series revolved around a family headed by a single mother
(Franklin) that relocates to Indianapolis, where their new apartment
building super, Dwayne Schneider
(Pat Harrington Jr.), befriends
them. Also taking part in the cast reunion is Glenn Scarpelli, who joined the series in 1980
as the son of Ann's boyfriend, Nick.
The 22-time Emmy® Award-winning children's series, "Pee-wee's
Playhouse," ran on CBS for five seasons from 1986-1991 and has
been a staple in pop culture for over 25 years. The title
character is portrayed by actor and comedy icon, Paul
Reubens, who created what is widely considered one of the most
innovative and ground-breaking children's programs in television
history. Reubens' wonderfully diverse and colorful playhouse filled
with puppets, genies, robots, cowboys and pterodactyls sparked
countless imaginations and brought joy and laughter to children and
adults alike. The show has been named one of "Top 25 Cult Shows
Ever" by TV Guide Magazine, and Pee-wee is more popular than
ever with a hit Broadway show, HBO Special, and enormous social
media following with millions of followers on Twitter and Facebook.
Fittingly, "Pee-wee's Playhouse" will receive the Pop Culture Award
at the "TV Land Awards" 10th Anniversary ceremony.
The "TV Land Awards" pays tribute to classic and contemporary
luminaries of television, music and movies. The 90-minute telecast
will feature exhilarating musical performances and will reunite
some of the most iconic celebrity TV casts.
Previous honorees include Regis
Philbin, Michael J. Fox,
John Travolta, Bill Cosby, Mike
Myers, Mel Brooks,
Carl Reiner, Garry Marshall, the cast of "Glee," "Desperate
Housewives" and the hilarious sitcoms "Cheers," "The Cosby Show,"
"Family Ties," "The Facts of Life," "Everybody Loves Raymond,"
"Bosom Buddies," "Welcome Back, Kotter," "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
and "M*A*S*H*." Past presenters include Academy Award©-winner
Halle Berry, Barbara Walters, Justin
Timberlake, Ray Romano,
Steve Carell, Billy Crystal, Sharon
Stone, Robin Williams and
Academy Award©-nominee Robert Downey,
Jr., to name a few. Past musical performers include
Liza Minnelli, Stevie Wonder, Blondie, Diana Ross, Willie
Nelson and Lionel Richie.
Michael Levitt ("Kathy Griffin: My
Life on the D List," "Billboard Music Awards," "Scream
Awards") is executive producer; Five-time Emmy Award©-winning
Glenn Weiss is director ("Primetime
Emmy Awards," "BET Awards," "The Tony Awards"); Greg Sills serves as supervising producer ("VH1
Rock Honors," "The Teen Choice Awards," "Nickelodeon Kids Choice
Awards"); Gary Tellalian is producer
and TV Land's Larry W. Jones and
Casey Patterson are executive
producers. Tim Bruno is executive in
charge of production for TV Land.
To apply for press credentials for the red carpet or
liveblogging, please visit the "TV Land Awards 2012" Press
Credential site.
Please log onto www.tvlandpress.com for
up-to-the-minute information, press releases and photos.
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SOURCE TV Land