Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas from SitcomsOnline; Remembering Jack Klugman from The Odd Couple, Quincy M.E.

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you are enjoying the holiday whether you celebrate it or not. Thanks for taking a bit of your time out today for visiting. And also thanks for continuing to visit everyday, as we enter our eighth year of everyday posting! As a reminder, don't forget to follow us on Twitter and like SitcomsOnline on Facebook. We welcome your thoughts, opinions and discussions! So join in on the action on both of those! We are everywhere--SitcomsOnline.com, the message board, right here on the blog, Twitter, Facebook, and more! It's certainly "all sitcoms, all the time!" Merry Christmas and god bless us everyone, as Tiny Tim would say!


Jack Klugman

Onto a bit of sad news, yesterday (December 24, 2012) we lost actor Jack Klugman. He is of course best known to sitcom fans as Oscar Madison on the hit '70s sitcom The Odd Couple, based on the Neil Simon play and film of the same name. The series ran on ABC from 1970-75 and Klugman co-starred with Tony Randall, who played Felix Unger. The series was of course about two divorced men living together -- a neat freak and a slob -- Klugman played Oscar Madison, the slob sportswriter to Tony Randall's overly fussy Felix Unger. The sitcom got solid ratings and received critical acclaim. Klugman won two Emmys for this role (and was nominated three other times) and a Golden Globe, not bad for a man whose first drama teacher told him he was better suited to be a truck driver. The show ran just for five years, but has lived on for decades in syndication. Klugman's co-star Randall passed away in 2004 at age 84. In 2005, Klugman published Tony And Me: A Story of Friendship, a book about his long friendship with Randall which began in 1955 (15 years prior to Odd Couple) when they both appeared on an episode of the CBS series Appointment with Adventure. For Klugman, no cause of death was mentioned, however he battled throat cancer for many years, losing his voice as a result of a 1989 surgery. He spoke in a rasp thereafter.

The Odd Couple

After The Odd Couple ended, Klugman went on to play another iconic TV character in the NBC drama Quincy, M.E. from 1976-83. In that series, Klugman became just as iconic playing the relentless Los Angeles medical examiner with a talent for forensics. He was nominated four times for an Emmy for this show, but never won. He actually got his start in show business in 1950 and by 1954 he was on the soap opera The Greatest Gift. He had various guest appearances on series in the '50s such as in Gunsmoke, Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchock Presents, and appeared in major movies like 12 Angry Men (1957), playing juror No. 5; Days of Wine and Roses (1962), starring opposite Jack Lemmon; and Goodbye Columbus (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth, starring Ali MacGraw and Richard Benjamin. He won his first Emmy Award in 1964 for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in the series The Defenders.

He starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom Harris Against the World in the 1964-65 season. After Quincy, he starred with a then-unknown John Stamos in the short-lived sitcom You Again? on NBC from 1986-87. Some of his other TV appearances were on The Virginian, Naked City, The Fugitive, Ben Casey, I Dream of Jeannie, The F.B.I., Love American Style, The Love Boat, Diagnosis Murder, Brother's Keeper, The Outer Limits, Third Watch, Crossing Jordan and Presido Med. He also appeared on many game shows like Match Game, Hollywood Squares, Password Plus, and $25,000 Pyramid. In 1993, he reunited with Tony Randall for the TV-movie The Odd Couple: Together Again, but this time on CBS. He was married to Brett Somers (Match Game), who also guest starred as his ex-wife Blanche in The Odd Couple, from 1953 until her death in 2007 (though they separated in 1974, they never divorced). His survivors include their two sons, Adam Klugman and David Klugman, and two grandchildren. In 2008, he married his longtime girlfriend Peggy Crosby, the ex-wife of Bing Crosby's son, Phillip Crosby.

The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive two-and-a-half hour interview with Klugman in 2004 that you can watch. Mr. Klugman will be deeply missed by fans of The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. for sure and all of his other work. We will keep you up to date of any on-air tributes for him. The Odd Couple is coming back to MeTV Network starting December 31, weeknights at 10pm, as we previously reported. So a best bet marathon for that series will be from them. In New York City, local independent station WLNY-TV (10/55) already had planned a marathon of The Odd Couple on New Year's Eve beginning at 12 midnight lasting through New Year's Day at 9pm. Now that marathon gets bittersweet with the passing of Klugman. We'll keep you up to date of any on-air tributes (hopefully someone will air Quincy which was last on Hallmark in 2003-04), so stay with us! Mr. Klugman was 90.

Share your memories on our The Odd Couple message board. View photos in our The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. photo galleries.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, October 20

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Downsizing" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin and Marty face permit delays at Westside Fuse Box, pushing back the grand opening, while Malcolm’s booming writing career sparks an urgent search for a new nanny. Over at the Johnson house, Dave is still struggling to bounce back after being fired.

DMV - "Stay in Your Lane" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When the insanity at the DMV causes a new hire to quit, Colette worries Noa will follow and tries to make things better despite colleague Gregg’s advice. Meanwhile, employees and customers struggle through a sweltering L.A. day with a barely functional air conditioner.

TV We Love - "The Brady Bunch" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Brady Bunch stars Barry Williams and Christopher Knight open up about growing up Brady, sharing never-before-told stories of America's favorite blended family.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 20)

Monday, October 20

  • Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) - Watch Ryan on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Laura Benanti (Life & Beth/Younger/The Detour/Go On/Starved) - Laura makes a special appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Jesse Plemons (No Activity/Bent) - Jesse is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about Bugonia on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Emma Stone (The Curse) - Emma talks about Bugonia on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Timothy Simons (Nobody Wants This/HouseBroken/Veep) - Timothy talks about Nobody Wants This on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Tamera Mowry-Housley (Sister, Sister/Roommates) - Tamera talks about Hallmark's Baked with Love baking competition on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Danielle Fishel (Girl Meets World/Boy Meets World) - Danielle talks about ABC's Dancing with the Stars on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


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Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
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06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

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