Two Much: The 50th Anniversary of TV’s “The Odd Couple”

By Michael Lyons

“On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence; that request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right, but he also knew that some day he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his friend, Oscar Madison. Several years earlier, Madison's wife had thrown HIM out, requesting that HE never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?” 

With these words from a baritone narrator, one of the sharpest, funniest and underrated sitcoms opened each episode.

“The Odd Couple” was based on a popular Broadway play and big budget movie by the brilliant Neil Simon.  As the narrator stated, it focused on Felix (a photographer and neat freak) and Oscar (sportswriter and a slob) who are forced to live together after their divorces.

Played to perfection by Jack Klugman, as Oscar and Tony Randall, as Felix, the two actors truly defined comic acting chemistry on the show.  This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of “The Odd Couple’s” debut on television and the perfect time to celebrate this enduringly entertaining sitcom.

After its success on stage and the big screen, “The Odd Couple” was shepherded to television by Executive Producer Garry Marshall, who would emerge as a sitcom wizard in the ‘70’s, with other classic shows like “Happy Days” and “Laverne & Shirley.”

“The Odd Couple” reveals the same knack for character and timing found in Marshall’s later shows.  Additionally, the ongoing, weekly format of the show allowed to expand on the characters, as the play and movie hadn’t been able to.

On “The Odd Couple,” Felix and Oscar would find themselves in such situations as contestants on game shows like “Password” and “Let’s Make a Deal,” as monks on a retreat at a monastery and even playing role reversal, to help “cure” each other’s neatness and slobbery.

These unique character traits also lent itself to some of the shows funniest and iconic moments:  Oscar’s bedroom of disarray was always one of the best sights gags on the show (“Everything you’ve ever owned is in that room!” Pronounced Felix); Felix vacuuming Oscar’s cigar smoke out of the air; Oscar bursting open a beer and a bag of chips, while Felix prepares a gourmet meal.

Jack Klugman and Tony Randall played their roles to a tee. Klugman’s reactions and sarcasm, along with his pauses are the reasons he won an Emmy for the role of Oscar.

As Felix, Randall gives such a perfectly mannered performance in each episode that the fastidious character just feels real.

The two actors were good friends off-screen, which comes across in “The Odd Couple,” as the comedy comes from how much the roommates know each other.

The two being so diametrically opposed is what fueled “The Odd Couple.”  Felix, with his love of opera and ballet was the polar opposite of Oscar, with his obsession with sports and gambling and gave the show its energy.  

This also made “The Odd Couple” one of the greatest “New York Shows” of all time: while Oscar would be off covering The Mets, Felix would be talking about going to “The Met.”

Manhattan was a true, supporting player on the show (so much so that, in the last season, “The Odd Couple” shot a number of scenes on location in New York City).

In addition to the city, the show also had a solid supporting cast.  Al Molinaro got some of the biggest laughs as good friend, innocent Murray the Cop.  Gary’s sister, Penny Marshall kicked off her career as Oscar’s nasally sweet secretary, Myrna Tyrner.  There were also a number of recurring characters, such as Monica Evans and Carole Shelley, as the neighbors, the Pigeon Sisters (who were only in the first season), Eleanor Donahue as Felix’s girlfriend, Miriam, Janis Hansen as his ex-wife Gloria, Joan Hotchkiss played Oscar’s girlfriend, Nancy and as his ex-wife Blanche, Brett Summers (Klugman’s real-life wife at the time.  Ironically, the two would later divorce).

Left to right: Betty White, Allen Ludden, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall in the “Password” episode

As “The Odd Couple” increased in popularity, so did guest stars on the show.  Roy Clark, Richard Dawson, Paul Williams, Allen Luden, Betty White and controversial tennis player Bobby Riggs are just a few of the famous guests, and well as Howard Cosell and Monty Hall who starred in two different episodes.

But the true stars were Jack Klugman and Tony Randall who have gone on to arguably define the characters of Oscar and Felix for so many.   While Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon originated the characters and, later, actors such as Ron Glass and Demond Wilson and Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon portrayed Oscar and Felix, Klugman and Randall immediately come to mind when someone says “The Odd Couple.”

The show debuted on September 24, 1970 and lasted for five years, after which it lived on for some time in reruns.  “The Odd Couple” changed through the years. In a sign of its time, the opening narration was put in place by the network, as there was actual concern that audiences would think the characters were gay.  It was eventually dropped, in favor of just the show’s oh-so-catchy theme song.  Also, after the first season, the show transitioned to being filmed in front of a live audience, which changed (and improved) its dynamic.

Still, somehow, “The Odd Couple” doesn’t often surface during conversations about some of TV’s best and classic sitcoms, which is a shame.  While not heavy on controversy or commentary like many shows of the time, such as “All in the Family,” “The Odd Couple” focused on pure laughs, which it delivered episode after episode.

In many ways, however, “The Odd Couple” did comment on the power of friendships and how differences shouldn’t drive us apart, but instead, bring us together.

After all, if “two divorced men can live together without driving each other crazy,” can’t we all?

Above: the opening of the show in front of 1049 Park Avenue in New York City

Below: the author in front of 1049 Park Avenue in New York City

Sources:

IMDb

“Tony and Me” by Jack Klugman

Wikipedia 

“Back” to School: The 45th Anniversary of “Welcome Back, Kotter”

By Michael Lyons

Going back to school used to be easier...A LOT easier!

And a reflection of that easier, simpler time, (where the biggest decision for students was what metal lunch box to choose and what color Trapper Keeper to buy) celebrates a milestone this fall.

“Welcome Back, Kotter” debuted on ABC on September 9, 1975 and, as hard as it is to believe for the generation who grew up with the show, it is celebrating its 45th anniversary.

The show was inspired by the stand-up routine of comedian Gabriel Kaplan, in which he poked fun at his high school days.  Kaplan would also take the lead in the show, as Gabe Kotter, the unconventional high school teacher, who returns to his alma mater of James Buchanan High School in  Brooklyn, NY.

Kotter had once been one of the tough, “remedial” students in the school, who were dubbed “Sweat Hogs” and he now returns to teach a new generation of “Hogs.”

While the inspiration and star of the show belonged to Kaplan, it was the young actors playing the “Sweat Hogs” who soon moved to the head of the class, so to speak, in audience popularity.

There was Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as smoother-than-smooth Freddy “Boom Boom” Washington, whose “Hi There” greeting and bright smile became a character moment that immediately elicited laughs.  There was Robert Hegyes as Juan Epstein, one of the toughest kids at Buchanan High, with a talent as a writer for notes to the teacher, all signed by “Epstein’s Mother.”

As the lovable “mensch,” Ron Palillo starred as the naive Arnold Horshack, whose eagerness to answer every question with his hand thrust in the air, while yelling “Oooh!  Oooh!  Oooh!,” became not just a hallmark of the show, but seeped into classroom culture for kids of the day.

Then, as lunkhead ladies man, there was Vinnie Barbarino, played by John Travolta, in the role that made him a star in the ‘70’s universe and catapulted him to some of the biggest movies of the decade like “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease.”  Whether it was Barbarino asking “What?  Where?”  When he knew the answer, or dancing to his trade mark “Ba-Ba-Ba-Barbarino” theme song, Travolta demonstrated the timing and moves that would endear him to audiences for some time.

In fact, the entire Cast demonstrated this: the Sweat Hogs were like a Disco-era Marx Brothers, with Mr. Kotter as Groucho, trying to keep control, while humorously commenting on the proceedings.  In fact, Kaplan was such a Marx Brothers fan, that Groucho himself was supposed to guest star on the show, but the legendary comedian’s failing health at the time, sadly prevented that.  

Many early episodes of “Welcome Back, Kotter” contain some of the biggest laughs to come out of TV at this time.  “The Telethon,” where the class goes on live TV, is just non-stop funny, even after repeated viewings.

Adding to this was a solid supporting Cast, including Marcia Strassman, as Gabe’s wife Julie, whose dry humor perfectly off-set Gabe (particularly his jokey “family stories” that closed each episode) and veteran actor John Sylvester White as the stone faced, adversary, Principal Woodman.

Recurring roles on “Welcome Back, Kotter,” also helped kick-off careers, such as Charles Fleischer (later the voice of Roger Rabbit) as bully Carvelli and James Woods as Alex, the school’s Drama teacher.

Debuting on September 9, 1975, “Welcome Back, Kotter” initially stirred up controversy, as there was a fear that the show would glamorize juvenile delinquency and issues with schools in major cities at the time.  Once critics and audiences saw the show and how, in so many ways, innocent it was, it soon became must watch TV.

“Welcome Back, Kotter” was also a merchandise phenomenon and could be found everywhere from lunch boxes and comic books to action figures and board games (years later, Quentin Tarantino actually used this board game as part of John Travolta’s “audition” for 1994’s “Pulp Fiction”).  Essentially, if you stepped foot in any store at the time, you saw the “Sweat Hogs.”

The “Welcome Back, Kotter” lunchbox and board game

In its third season, the popularity of “Welcome Back, Kotter” began to wane.  Some attributed this to a change in its scheduled night and time and/or the fact that the Cast no longer looked high school age.

Despite this, forty-five years later, the popularity of this show can still be felt, not just from the generation who grew up with it, but many others, as well, who gladly say “Welcome Back,” every time they see a rerun.

Sources:

IMDb

Wikipedia