Penny Marshall
Garry Marshall, creator and then part-time writer for "Happy Days", cast Marshall and Cindy Williams to guest on an episode of the show. The installment, titled "A Date with Fonzie", aired on November 11, 1975 and introduced the characters Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney (played by Marshall and Williams, respectively). In that episode, Laverne and Shirley were a pair of wisecracking brewery workers who were dates for Fonzie (Henry Winkler) and Richie (Ron Howard). The pair were such a hit with the studio audience that Garry Marshall decided to co-create and star them in a successful spinoff, "Laverne & Shirley" (1976–1983). The characters of Laverne and Shirley appeared in five more episodes of "Happy Days". In 1982 at the beginning of "Laverne & Shirley"s eighth season, Williams left the show due to her pregnancy. Marshall continued with the show, but it was canceled after the season's final episode aired in May 1983.
Marcy Carsey
In the 1960s, she was a tour guide at NBC, later becoming a story editor for the Tomorrow Entertainment company. In 1974, she began working for ABC as a comedy programming executive. During her tenure she developed the sitcoms "Happy Days", "Mork & Mindy" and "Soap". In 1980, she left ABC and in 1982 started Carsey Productions, an independent production company. She was joined in this venture a year later by Tom Werner who had worked with her at ABC. Together they formed Carsey-Werner Productions.