Best friends, roommates and polar opposites Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney work together at the Shotz Brewery in Milwaukee and keep each other's spirits up at home for the show's first several seasons. But after losing their jobs at Shotz, the pair moves to Burbank, Calif., in season six to get a fresh start and hope to break into the movie business. Many of their friends and family, inspired by the women, move to California with them, though they make some new friends as well, including Sonny the stuntman and Rhonda, a model.