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

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

Wednesday, March 29

The Conners - "Stuck in the Middle and Stuck in the Past" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene and Ben get into a fight and ignore Becky’s boundaries in the house. Elsewhere, Dan accuses Jackie of losing all of their home videos.

The Conners - "New Pipes and Old Secrets" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene has issues with Dan’s plumbing work in her new house. Elsewhere, Jackie tries to find a caregiver for Bev.

Abbott Elementary - "Fundraiser" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Barbara organizes a candy-selling fundraiser to raise money for a school field trip to the science museum. When sales don’t go as planned, Ava steps in to teach the students new, unconventional selling tactics. Elsewhere, Mr. Johnson and Jacob butt heads about how to take care of a cat found in the janitor’s closet.

Not Dead Yet - "Not a Tiger Yet" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
As Nell tries to settle into her new job, she gets increasingly annoyed by her latest ghost. Meanwhile, Edward works on a project that sparks Nell’s journalistic curiosity.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Just Payne Trippin" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The family has trouble adjusting to Jazmine's new found independence. Miranda gets an offer that Calvin would like for her to refuse.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Houston, We Have a Karen" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
When an old white woman moves into Pleasant Days, her Karen behavior throws everyone for a loop; Reginald fears an escaped convict he put in prison has plans to take revenge.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 27)

Wednesday, March 29

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jay Pharoah (White Famous) - Jay is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He talks about taking his impressions to the next level in the new film Spinning Gold on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Adam Scott (Party Down/Ghosted/Parks and Recreation) - Adam will be on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred sits-in with the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John guest hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso) - Brendan is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Ali Wentworth (Nightcap) - Ali guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Juliette Lewis (Camping/I Married Dora) - Juliette appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock) - Dwayne is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kim Fields (The Upshaws/Living Single/The Facts of Life/Baby, I'm Back) - Kim chats about the new season of the hit comedy The Upshaws on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Judy Gold (All-American Girl) and BD Wong (All-American Girl) - Judy and BD discuss their new play Yes, I Can Say That! on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Zach Braff (Scrubs/Alex, Inc.) - Zach Braff is telling Drew about the real-life inspiration behind his new film, working on it with Florence Pugh and why he got his pilot's license on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jason Ritter (Another Period/The Class) - Jason will be on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Reba McEntire (Reba/Malibu Country) - Reba is a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
Alex Borstein (Family Guy/Getting On/The Cleveland Show), Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Wings) and Marin Hinkle (Two and a Half Men/Speechless) - Alex, Tony and Marin talk about The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Lena Waithe (Master on None) - Lena talks about A Thousand and One on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Paula Newsome (Barry/Conrad Bloom) - Paula chats about CSI: Vegas on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Nancy Travis (Last Man Standing/The Bill Engvall Show/Work with Me/Almost Perfect) - Nancy talks about Hallmark Channel's Ride on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Gabriel Basso (The Big C) - Gabriel talks about Netflix's The Night Agent on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother) - Kyra talks about Space Oddity on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Andi Mack) - Peyton will be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.