Famed animator Tex Avery once famously remarked, “You can do anything in a cartoon!” A shining example of this theory might be Laverne and Shirley in the Army. Based on the hugely successful sitcom, it almost seems as if every idea (and the kitchen sink) was thrown into the mix.  

Debuting in 1981 on ABC, it followed the same path of its spin-off source, Happy Days, which had jumped into the animated pool with Fonz and the Happy Days Gang a year earlier. And while that animated series had its own quirks - a dog for Fonzie named Mr. Cool and Cupcake, a girl from the future - Laverne and Shirley in the Army decided to up the quirky ante a little by including a drill instructor pig and morphing the sitcom premise with a popular movie at the time, Private Benjamin.

Milwaukee roommates Laverne and Shirley found themselves enlisted in the army and stationed at Camp Fillmore. As one might imagine, plenty of hi jinks ensued, including plentiful run-ins with their porker drill sergeant, a talking pig named “Squealy” (which was voiced by Welcome Back Kotter actor Ron Palillo) and the ballistic Sgt. Turnbuckle.

In the second season, a certain black-leather-jacket-wearing mechanic starting working at the base motorpool and prompted producers to change the name of the show to Laverne and Shirley with the Fonz. Fonzie (voiced by Henry Winkler) brought his canine cohort Mr. Cool along for the ride but, as fate would have it, he somehow left Cupcake behind.  

Even with the original cast members lending their voices, and even with addition of the iconic Fonzie, the show didn’t live to see a third season. And interestingly enough, the sitcom it was based on would end the same year. Surely that is mere coincidence though.