This week we are joined by one of television's best comedy writers Dave Mandel (SNL, Seinfeld, Veep) to discuss an unproduced episode of The Odd Couple for which we have obtained an official script from 1973.  It is a Thanksgiving episode and would have been for the 4th season to air in November 1973.    We start by discussing Dave's history with The Odd Couple and how it influenced his TV writing. We then get into the script itself and -- spoiler - it  is not very good so we discuss in depth...

In this episode we welcome Adam Klugman to talk about his father’s legendary career in depth – for more than two hours.  Among the many topics we cover are:  Jack’s childhood in Philadelphia and a shocking story about his mother; how he discovered acting; his early working days in theater and live television; The Twilight Zone; performing in The Odd Couple the play; of course playing Oscar on the series; Adam’s two appearances on the show; Quincy; Jack’s marriage to Brett Somers; her role on...

In this episode we analyze the differences in “final” scripts vs the filmed episode for Win One For Felix and Oscar In Love.  The script for Win One For Felix is called Little League Football and is lacking four pages so we spend less time on this one.  Also, it is not dramatically different than the filmed episode but it is missing the emotional motivations behind Felix’s actions as we discuss. The script for Oscar In Love, here called Oscar Remarries, is quite different from the filmed...

We welcome back Marty Nadler to discuss his TV writing career after The Odd Couple including his work on Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Chico & The Man, The Last Resort (not a well-known show), and Perfect Strangers.  Marty shares some get great inside stories about such topics as 1) ABC wanting to rename Happy Days "Fonzie's Happy Days", 2) the toxic environment of Laverne & Shirley, 3) his theory on Freddie Prinze's tragic, early death, 4) a very funny story about the late, great...

In this episode we interview TV writer Marty Nadler who worked for Garry Marshall for 40 years. As one of his first jobs Marty punched up scripts and wrote jokes for S5 of The Odd Couple.  Marty discusses the process of how Odd Couple scripts were written; a few specific classic bits he remembers witnessing; interacting with some of the show’s famous guest stars and other insider knowledge from someone who was there!

We are honored and delighted to welcome Heather Randall to the podcast.  Heather was married to Tony Randall from 1995 until his passing in 2004 and they had two children together.  Heather shares many stories passed down by Tony and those she lived through regarding: his early life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, career beginnings on stage and radio, becoming a star on Broadway and movies, The Odd Couple of course, The Tony Randall Show, Sidney Shorr TV Movie, Love Sydney his work establishing The...

This week we welcome a special guest – Peter K Ackerman who is the son of Elinor Donahue and legendary TV producer Harry Ackerman.  He has written a new book called Mom, Dad, Me and Classic TV about their lives and his experiences growing up as the son of two TV legends. It is available wherever books are sold including here on Amazon We discuss his father’s career helping to create I Love Lucy, producing Bewitched, and also his passion for collecting.  We also review his Mom’s extensive...

In this episode we discuss the differences between original production scripts for Felix The Horseplayer (known as The Stung on the script) and Two On The Aisle.  Both scripts feature known-but-never-seen characters who are referenced during the series that are supposed to make actual on-camera appearances but were written out before the episodes were filmed.  There are some other significant scene differences between script and episode which we believe are changes that made the show...

In this episode we review two early drafts of these classic episodes and how different they are from the actual filmed episodes.  Among the topics covered are: 1) Whether or not the most famous line from The Odd Couple about assuming is in the script for Court. 2) The fact that the script for Court is structured as a flashback and how so many of the classic gags from the episode are missing while other scenes we have never seen before are included. 3) The set-up for Furniture is very...

This week we discuss scripts for two more episodes of The Odd Couple - this time from S3 - The Odd Monks and The Ides of April - and the differences between what's on the page and what's on the air.  In a major piece of revelation we find out what was said in the missing Louis Guss scene at the IRS in the Ides of April.  We also find out how The Odd Monks could have been very different as the script contains the name of a different actor playing Brother Ralph - not Richard Stahl.  These are...

In this episode we discuss the differences between  "Revised Final Scripts" for the two S2 episodes "Security Arms" and "You Saved My life" and the actual released episodes.  If you want access to PDFs of the scripts please email us at [email protected].  

We celebrate Felix Unger Day with a new podcast previewing an exciting new project that will fuel some more episodes of 1049 Park Avenue.  Take a listen to find out more details!

The second half of our discussion about Jack and Tony's series after The Odd Couple contains in-depth looks at The Tony Randall Show (1976-78), Love Sydney (1981-1983) and You Again? (1986-87).

In this episode we start looking at the four series Jack and Tony did after The Odd Couple - Quincy, The Tony Randall Show, Love, Sydney and You Again?.  This is part one where we cover only Quincy.  The next episode will cover the three sitcoms.  

This episode covers Jack Klugman and Tony Randall's TV appearances as themselves - on talk shows, in ads, on Dean Martin roast, and in song. 

In this episode our subjects are: 1) The 1993 reunion movie featuring Jack and Tony.  We cover the behind-the-scenes talent that was and was not involved with the project; who was and was not in front of the camera; the quality of the writing (or lack of it); and how it performed in the ratings. 2) The 2015-2017 CBS reboot starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon.  Topics include how this fits into the other CBS sitcoms of the era; the differences in characters vs. the original series; how...

We start the episode intending to discuss both the 1982/83 New Odd Couple (“NOC”) AND the 1993 Odd Couple reunion TV-movie but end up speaking so long about New Odd Couple we decide on the fly to hold the movie for another episode.  Before we start I surprise Garrett with an item I bought on eBay – the full PDF can be seen here  Odd Couple Program Regarding NOC we 1) provide our overall opinion on the series 2) discuss the cast 3) analyze the TV ratings situation for the time 4) review why...

This week we delve into the world of The Odd Couple centering around the plays and the movies, some of which were made before the TV show and some of which came after.  We discuss the origins of the play and how that turned into the movie; our thoughts on the film; the updated versions of the play that Neil Simon wrote later in his career and the unnecessary film sequel. We play dialogue from the movie that was re-used in the series and the Neal Hefti theme WITH lyrics.

This week Ted and Garrett stop talking so much and let two other Odd Couple fans discuss the show with them.  First up: James Bradley discusses his love of S1 and explains why there is a group of fans who enjoy it passionately.  Second is Lee Spilberg who has helped the podcast with lots of information especially regarding all of the music cuts.  These are two separate interviews.  

This week, Ted and Garrett  hand out The Murray Awards for various "best of" categories regarding The Odd Couple.  Examples include - Best Use Of Honking, Best Scene Where Felix Gets Mad at Oscar (and vice verse), Best Performance by a Male Celebrity Playing Themself, and many others. Yes, we could have just called it "The Oscars", but we have been using Murray as a metric since early on the podcast so we stuck with it.  

With the episode by episode recap now over we look back and discuss our most and least favorite episodes by season and of the series overall.  We focus on S2-S5 but do have some discussion of S1.   

Felix and Gloria get back together in the series finale “Felix Remarries”.  In our discussion we cover 1) some new info our listeners provided to fill in the gaps on our prior episode about Laugh Clown Laugh, 2) the return of Janis Hansen / Doney Oatman / Leif Garrett 3) the multiple classic lines in the episode – some of which came from the play/movie 4) goop mélange 5) who is and who is not at the wedding, 6) the behind the scenes planning for the finale 7) and our plans for future episodes...

Felix has a feud with Oscar’s latest TV show co-host Richard Dawson in the series’ penultimate episode Laugh Clown Laugh.  We cover 1) Dawson’s career and how he came to appear on this episode 2) the resume of guest star magician Mark Wilson, the quality of his on-air tricks and the way he comes out onto the show 3) the mystery of who wrote this episode 4) Felix’s history in WWII 5) the multiple funny bits with Murray 6) the acrobats /  teeter-totter scene, the actors involved and the...

Felix feels old after finding out his high school sweetheart is a grandmother, and drags Oscar into his misery, in S5E20 “Old Flames Never Die”.  We discuss 1) the production order of this episode 2) the implications of this storyline on how old Felix and Oscar are; 3) the second appearance of Oscar’s “new” secretary Tina; 4) the numerous guest stars including the return of some old favorites; 5) how one of those guest stars, Leonard Barr, breaks the fourth wall and does his stand-up act for...