Thanks so much valny. That was fun. The Odd Couple has to win that award. Happy new year!

I really hope they win it Veruca. I voted for them while I was at work, so I guess I'll vote for them again on my own PC.

Happy New Year too!

Tonight at 11:30 is a good one that I haven't seen it a while:

1/17 Subway story:Felix sets out to prove that New Yorkers are friendly.

valny, wasn't that a good episode? I also liked the flashback to the early meeting between Felix and Oscar's dads. LOL, let's see, they met in a jury room, they were childhood friends, they.....

I am sooooooooo happy WPIX (they'll always be WPIX to me) showed the episodes relatively in order. I hope they rerun them from the beginning, there were a few I missed.

Another classic like 'I Love Lucy', no? So Tony Randall can complain about being associated with this show (what a dolt), but it will live on forever.

ETA: and tonight's the 'Weight Loss Ad' episode, another very funny one. Enjoy!

I was going to bump this thread up for this purpose alone:

http://www.homedecorators.com/detail.php?p...hair&subcat=ALL

Amazing, Veruca. And look at the price!

They look like something the people would use who re-decorate the rooms for unsuspecting schlubs on those 'decorating reality' shows.

I say we take up a collection stoneyburke. I'm sure everyone could use a hand. (ouch! pardon the pun!) I have my eye on a Morrocan Brown chair, myself.

Veruca, valny, now I can say it out loud!

THANK YOU, WPIX!!!

They've done it, they've shown just about all the episodes, and next week they're starting again from Season 1.

So, take that, whomever was holding back releasing the DVDs and VHS tapes. We have WPIX on whom I was reared (thank you Captain Jack McCarthy and Officer Joe Bolton and Soupy Sales and Frank Nastasi) to thank for having 'The Odd Couple' in our collections.

Oh, and Tony Randall? Get a grip.This show is as beloved by the fans THIRTY years after it went off the air as it was in 1974. So IF you get really tired of hearing the 'Odd Couple' music, tough. What would you be known for today if not for Felix Unger? Some 'judge' character you played for a minute and a half, whose name I don't even remember? Thank your lucky stars you got the opportunity of a lifetime to star in a show that will live forever.

Thank you again, WPIX.

WOO-HOO!!! PIX Rules! They must be listening. Good newsstoneyburke.

And WORD to Tony Randall's hate of all things Odd Couple. Does he think his 30-yeard old wife would have married him if not for Felix Unger?

Bingo, Veruca. Does he think he would have become a daddy at 76 if not for the wealth as a result of Felix Unger?

Makes you wonder about how the 'stars' of Hollyweird face reality, doesn't it?

[small voice]Sidney, the judge he played in Love, Sidney was named Sidney. Swoosie Kurtz co-starred and the little girl was Kaleena Kiff. Never heard of her before or since, no idea why it stayed in my head.[/sv]

I thought he was a judge on the show he did right after The Odd Couple - called Walter, I think. He was a judge on Love, Sidney too?

Tony Randall played Judge Walter Franklin on The Tony Randall Show. Sidney Shorr was a commercial artist.

Good point, Josette--I forgot about The Tony Randall Show! He was also in a number of movies in the 60s with Rock Hudson and Doris Day.

However, say the name Tony Randall or show his picture and most people will still recall The Odd Couple. When they first met, I don't think his future wife said "Look, there's Judge Walter Franklin!" :)

LOL, exactly Veruca. And no disrespect meant to older men, at ALL, but I'm sure the nubile Mrs. Randall also didn't think, "oh there is a nice older man, I think I'll get to know him for himself and his soul, whether he has a whole boat load of money or not".

Yeahhhh, right.

Sorry I didn't realize he was a commercial artist on Love, Sidney. Were portraits a specialty then as well? Commercial photographer to commercial artist - not much of a stretch there.

I saw an episode since they started the reruns again when Oscar had a bad throat and he was speaking with a really raspy voice. It was so strange since that's what Jack Klugman sounds like all the time now. Eerie.

LOL, iMissEthan, and that's what I thought when I saw the one where Felix thinks he's getting old (his former girlfriend is a grandmother), so he goes to a swinging dance club.

Finally, coming to his senses, he leaves the club and, on the way out, tells one of the young ladies to "put on a bra"!

MEANwhile, his current wife had proably just been born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used to love the episodes with Blanche (Brett Somers Klugman, as she was known then). She and Jack were absolutely perfect--I always got the feeling they weren't acting. Which is probably why she moved on to Match Game as Brett Somers :)

I remember reading something a few years ago that Jack Klugman was hit with a palimony suit by a a former girlfriend who claimed that he promised to marry her and take care of her forever, blah blah blah. What was interesting though, if memory serves me correctly, is that she cited one of her arguments as Jack refused to finalize his divorce from Brett. This would mean they were separated about 30 years. Can anyone else shed some light on this?

Funny you mentioned that one iMissEthan because it's going to be on tonight at 11:30EST.

stoneyburke and Veruca Salt: I'm happy for you that WPIX/WB is running the first season. Sometimes you actually get what you wish for! Try wishing for a million dollars next! ;) Are the first season ones just on the weekdays and not the Saturday episodes? I looked at what's going to be on next Saturday and it's the one where "Felix recalls how he and Oscar met on jury duty." I have a bad memory; is that a later one or a first season one because I don't even remember that story.

Maybe where you are - it's on at 2:30am where I am, midnight on Sunday night/early Monday.

Even Saturday, iMissEthan? All times are EST, but in NY it's on Tues-Sat 2:30am, Sat. 11:30pm, and Sunday, 12:00am.

I learned this the hard way, and now have to try to re-capture all the previous ones I missed!

Didn't know it was on Saturday - I'm in NYC as well. You see what happens when you have a steady date Saturday nights - you miss out on Odd Couples!

The episode with Felix and Oscar remembering their time on a jury is so good. It's classic that Felix drove his fellow jurors into the same rage the defendant was accused of. How does Tony Randall manage to be as adorable as he is annoying?

I was watching The Family Guy last night and there was a quick sequence where Peter was on Password with (an animated)Tony Randall. The password was "flaming" and Peter kept saying "you" and Tony Randall would say "actor," then Peter would repeat "you" and Tony would say "theater" and so on. It was only about 30 seconds long, but the bit was hilarious.

I also just read that Tony just got out of the hospital after having a bypass operation, I believe. He is 83 now, God bless.

Just found this thread and I can't believe there are people out there who LOVE the Odd Couple as much as I do! I also live in the NYC area but didn't find out about the re-airing of OC until they were running the marathon in November. I sent an email back then to say "thanks" figuring I was the only one doing it...apparently not :) This show came out around the time I was born, but I always have loved it and it kind of depresses me to see that there's nothing this good out today.

Veruca Salt--so cool that you named your messy cat Oscar!!

My basset hound is named Maddie (short for her akc name Madison). I swear it was subconscious.

Now there's no doubt in my mind that the WB has edited these OC's differently than they did for the WPIX days. I'm watching the one when they go on that retreat at the monastery and there was a parts I've definitely have never seen before: where Felix first gets there and gets his robe and also meets Brother Lowell and some other guy that shouted all the time because he worked for a megaphone company. There also was a part where Felix was trying to write a postcard on a piece of scroll paper that won't stay flat.


Brother Oscar, Monk of the Messy! Ha! and Felix was Saint of the Stool Pidgeons!

Was Felix really the first meterosexual?

I just found this thread. Veruca Salt, I read a few months ago that Jack Klugman said that while he enjoys dating women, he never wants to get married again, and so as to be absolutely sure that he never gets married again, he never actually divorced Brett. They are merely separated. He doesn't want a divorce. I guess it's okay with her.

Thanks DedicatedFan! That mystery is now solved.

I just saw the last ep where Felix finally remarries Gloria. Not one of their best--it seemed a little rushed. She agrees to remarry him because he was sick? Didn't make sense.

However, the last scene where Felix comes back into the apartment to clean up the mess that Oscar said he would clean was absolutely spot-on.

ETA: Although Felix was happy to get back with Gloria, his name is not spelled Feliz.

You're welcome, Veruca Salt. Just now, I did some checking up on Jack Klugman, and I saw that he married Brett in 1953 and that they had three children and that they separated in 1974. The article said that he started living with Barbara Neugass in 1978 - maybe she was the one who hit him with the palimony suit. They were all the rage back then, but really, when was the last time you heard the word "palimony?"

It's funny how the show's original voiceover referred to Felix and Oscar being childhood friends, yet the flashback (in the first season, yet) showed that they met while on jury duty. What's also funny is that the show's original introduction showed Felix leaving his place with his suitcases, and his wife opens the door to give him a frying pan. The viewer is supposed to get the impression that Felix's wife kicked him out, and he wound up staying with his friend Oscar, who was divorced (not separated), before the Ungers actually filed for divorce. But there was a flashback episode in which Felix persuaded Gloria to go on vacation with the Madisons, because Oscar and Blanche were always fighting, and he thought it would do them some good to be with a happily married couple. During the vacation, Gloria told Felix that she wanted a divorce, while the Madisons kept on fighting. So which couple got divorced first?

They also mentioned other times that they met in the military...

This show is definitely a classic. Wish I could find the reruns!!

I used to watch it every morning on TVLand, but they replaced it... :(

I saw part of an interview with Brett where she basically said that since neither she nor Jack want to remarry, they have no reason to divorce. She did mention, in her mildly snarky way, that Jack's current girlfriend may think otherwise, but that Jack doesn't want to divorce.

OT: Brett Somers is my second-favorite TV personality ever, behind Charles Nelson Reilly

Is this a test question: If train A leaves at x o'clock and train B....you get the picture.

On topic: This was the best show. Wish I could quote as many lines as all you guys, but do remember the essence of the eps.

Remember everyone thought Felix was dead and Murray took them to the police station? Of course he was just at a last minute photo shoot in the mountains somewhere.

Glad to see WB (PIX-11 Alive!) is still running this show even though it's late.

I heard the "Mingle, Murray, Mingle" line the other night and woke up my husband laughing.

ETA: May 18, 2004--RIP Tony Randall

http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.as...spx?news=158702

Sad and dejected and bursting with sorrow.

I had the pleasure of seeing Tony Randall on stage in A Christmas Carol. He was such a great singer.

I saw him walking around NYC several times. Most recently was in Central Park, I guess a bit over 5 years ago, since he was with his hugely pregnant wife. I remarked at the time that they were walking at the same extremely slow speed. She at least 8 months pregnant and he nearly 80 years old. It was a very sweet scene. My condolences to Heather and the two little children. I knew they wouldn't have a father to dance at their weddings, but 7 and 5 is so young to lose him.

I had no idea he changed his name. I hope there is a public memorial at a theater in NYC. I will definitely be there.

Veruca, I had to post to bump it up to page one because your edit didn't do the trick.

I don't want to live in a world without Tony Randall.

I just read the news over at The Washington Post.

One of the great things about him was that he managed to be curmudgeonly without being nasty. There was always kind of a laugh behind it.

Hopefully either Nick at Nite or TVLAND will do an ODD COUPLE marathon this weekend. I'm sure Turner Classic Movies will have some sort of tribute this week although he really wasn't a "movie star".

Class act all the way. Yes, hopefully Nick or TVland will show the Odd Couple as a tribute. RIP Mr. Randall.

Thanks so much, iMissEthan! I knew my fellow Odd Couple-ites wouldn't let the thread down!

I actually yelled out "Tony Randall's dead!" here at work. To my dismay, my 8-years-younger co-worker replied "Who's Tony Randall?" Sigh.

I'm cleaning my closets this weekend in memory of my favorite neat guy.

Veruca: They said, "Who's Tony Randall?" Aw, that's sad. I guess not everyone got to have the pleasure of knowing who he was.

I just heard the news at lunch. We were sitting around playing Triominoes and a co-worker said, "Tony Randall died." I said, "WHAT! I didn't hear that." I thought about this thread of course. I was saddened to say the least. He'll forever be Felix Unger to me. He played that role so perfectly; he WAS Felix.

Wow. I checked into this thread out of curiosity, not knowing about Randall's passing. What a shame. I loved him on "The Odd Couple", loved his "Late Night" appearances, and dug the nut commercials.

Also, watching "Love, Sidney" at a young age probably had more to do with my not having the typical adolescent homophobia I saw in my peers. He portrayed an obviously gay character in a way that was sympathetic and totally lacked the limp-wristed, lisping mannerisms that were all too common at the time.

R.I.P., Tony. Your dignity, humor, and quiet intelligence were a source of inspiration to me.

The NY Times obit is very extensive, and I love that they mention his disdain for the paper giving his National Actor's Theater productions less than stellar reviews. Free registration required, but the obit is three pages long; it's worth it.

This is the same person who never heard of Sanford & Son either.

I tried to enlighten her about Tony Randall--saying that he was on The Odd Couple. She then asked me if he was the one with the dark hair??!!!

Alas, poor Tony, we knew you well.

I heard about Tony while I was watching 'The View' (for snark on this site).
I loved the 'Odd Couple', my friends call me "Felix" because I am a neat freak. I was sad when Jack Klugman had those voice/throat problems a while ago - I was afraid he was going to die. Tony seemed so much younger, I couldn't believe he was 84.

'Pillow Talk' (TR, Doris Day & Rock Hudson) is one of my favorite all time movies and I am lucky to have it on DVD.

Thanks for the link to his NY obituary. Such a sad day.

Here are some of the Tony Randall memorial tributes that have been announced:

Tonight, if you can catch one of the rebroadcasts of Larry King Live at 12 midnight or 3 a.m. (ET), the show is devoted to memories of Tony. Included is a phone interview with his widow, Heather Harlan Randall, along with in-studio appearances by Jack Klugman, Barbara Eden, Joan Rivers, Jerry Stiller, and Anne Meara. On Sunday, LK will rerun a 2001 program with Randall & Klugman.

TV Land will have a three-hour Odd Couple block on Thursday from 9 p.m.-12 midnight (ET).

GSN will feature two of Tony's game show appearances on their "Black and White Overnight" block Friday night (technically, it's early Saturday morning at 4 a.m. Eastern, although that network still calls it Friday night).

Turner Classic Movies will have a seven-film tribute next Monday (5/24), featuring the following films:




This has not been a happy day, to say the least.

The NPR obituary ended by mentioning Randall's appearance on the David Letterman show at about the time of his son's birth, and how he was able to make fun of his age. I saw that, and it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen on a talk show. I forgot he did a Top Ten list of the advantages of having your first-born at age 77, but the obit ended with, "Number Ten: Who cares if he cries through the night? I can't hear a damn thing anyway!" Does anybody know where I can get the rest of it?

I am so psyched by the TV Land tribute: I barely remember TOC from my childhood, but I do remember liking it. I've seen several of the movies TCM is playing more recently. Randall got a lot of praise for The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, but I found the whole thing more peculiar than anything else. Boys Night Out and Send Me No Flowers, though...I'm not so crazy about the movies, but Randall is fabulous, in several senses of the term. I was talking with some older friend buff friends about how I was surprised that this character--and he, essentially, replayed the same character in all those 50's and early 60's movies--that modern sensibilities would automatically type as gay was never mentioned as such back then. They said that, at the time, the traits were considered "Eastern," not gay. Which is an interesting take on Felix, if you think about it.

Nowadays, 7 Faces is probably most famous as Joel Hodgson's favorite movie, though that didn't stop him from mispronouncing it at the end of Mitchell. There are so many good Odd Couple episodes to choose from, but the one that has to be on there is Oscar and Felix going on Password. That's an all-time classic tv episode.