Can 2 divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?

With CBS airing a new version of THE ODD COUPLE starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon beginning tomorrow night, here's a post from 2008 when I was just starting to watch season 4 of THE ODD COUPLE on dvd, and I declared that the show, in my opinion is the second greatest American sitcom ever. That's right, I said it.

After MARY TYLER MOORE, no other US sitcom is more consistently funny, well-acted or holds up as well over the years. Based on Neil Simon's Broadway play and adapted into a 1968 feature starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. The TV version, starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall premiered on September 24, 1970 and ran for five seasons in a variety of timeslots on ABC - usually on Thursday or Friday nights. The series was never a Top 10 hit, and actually was in danger of cancellation every season it aired. The first season is quite unremarkable, having been filmed with one camera and an added laugh track. The show really came to life in season two, when a live audience was added to react to the mis-matched antics of Oscar and Felix.

The show really took off in popularity in the late 1970s when syndicated reruns aired on local stations. Channel 11, WPIX air four episodes a night. Two in early evening and two at 11PM. I watched them all, repeatedly. And watching them again now on dvd is, to quote a friend of mine "a sheer delight".
What makes the show so great? Well, Felix and Oscar are such great, unique characters - and because of that, so many later sitcom characters borrow freely from them. You can certain see traits of fastidious Felix in Sheldon from BIG BANG THEORY and Niles from FRASIER. Oscar's grouchy brashness has influenced a whole generation of cranky comedy curmudgeons, notable EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND's Frank Barone. While the show lacked continuity in so many instances (don't get me started!), the interplay between the two leads and excellent supporting players make this the best thing Garry Marshall has ever been part of. While the show "jumps the shark" with celebrity guests (Monty Hall, Howard Cosell, Paul Williams, etc.), it makes up for it with clever plots that incorporate the guest stars into the world of Felix and Oscar. Since Felix is a portrait photographer and Oscar is a sportswriter, it makes sense that they encounter these folks in New York City. Why not? I once rode in an elevator with Howard Cosell. He had big ears. AND I was a contestant on the most recent version of LET'S MAKE A DEAL! (Even though that happened in L.A. and Billy Bush-yuck!-was the host, but Monty was there. See photo below)But enough about me. While I was watching the classic PASSWORD episode recently, with guests Betty White and Allen Ludden, I wondered if any other MARY TYLER MOORE alumni ever appeared on THE ODD COUPLE. With a little research I discovered that in addition to Betty White ("Herself" on OC,"Sue Ann Nivens" on MTM), there was Bill Quinn ("Dr. Melnitz" on OC,"Dr. Walter Richards," Mary's dad on MTM), Penny Marshall ("Myrna Tuner" on OC, "Paula" on MTM), Barbara Colby ("Monique" the drunk bartender on OC, "Sherry" the hooker on MTM) and the late, great Brett Somers ("Blanche Madison" on OC and "Aunt Rose" on MTM). Not bad, considering the shows aired on different network during roughly the same period.

Both actors won Emmy Awards for their roles. Jack in 1971 and 1973, Tony in 1975 - after the show was cancelled. The duo reunited for a misguided 1993 CBS TV-movie called THE ODD COUPLE: TOGETHER AGAIN. I guess ABC's miserable MARY & RHODA reunion movie was payback. Jack and Tony had become best friends in real life, and after Tony's death in 2004, Jack wrote a memoir about their relationship, called Tony and Me: A Story of Friendship. The book has been hailed as a touching portrait of a professional partnership that, in the end, became deeply personal. The book includes over 50 photographs, many from Jack and Tony's private collections, and a DVD of never-seen-before outtakes from THE ODD COUPLE.

In the 1980s, THE ODD COUPLE was revived - with an an almost all African-American cast. Demond (SANFORD & SON) Wilson is Oscar and Ron (BARNEY MILLER) Glass is Felix. THE NEW ODD COUPLE could have been a descent show if they didn't decide to recycle scripts from the original series that were already considered classics by fans of the show. Ironically another black version of a Neil Simon play, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK only lasted 12 episodes on ABC in 1970, also airing on Thursday evenings. I'm holding out for a new version of THE SUNSHINE BOYS with James Earl Jones and Samuel L. Jackson.

And now it's 2015 - and THE ODD COUPLE is back on Thursday nights - this time on CBS. Will the third time be a charm?

TV GUIDE September 1984

Every September I get a little nostalgic for the old TV GUIDE magazine, you know the one that came in digest size and had good, intelligent articles in the two color sections and exhaustively complete TV listings and crazy black & white display advertising sandwiched in between. Supposedly there is still some sort of weekly entertainment magazine that goes by the name "TV GUIDE", but strangely it is very hard to find in Los Angeles. Go figure. Anyways, in celebration of 25 years since September 1984, I ran this smattering of unusual print ads from my collection last year at this time. And now I run them again. Who better to host an important Special Report about heart disease, cancer and auto accidents than Tony Randall, star of THE ODD COUPLE, THE TONY RANDALL SHOW and LOVE, SIDNEY? Tony sure looks serious in the ad, he must have just lost a round on PASSWORD or some other game show where he was known to be a very competitive player.
Peter Popoff was a popular TV evangelist minister and "faith healer" in the 1980s, until he went bankrupt in 1987 after he was exposed as a fraud. How can that be, when that lady in the ad looks so, um, healed.
The 1st Annual MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS - when the music industry was all about white folks over 40 (and Tina Turner). And nobody wore a disgusting dress made outta meat back then.
"Miss Continental" wasn't even a TV show, but yet they took out this ad - making me wish it was a TV show!!! I wonder if it's still around? I just did a Google search for "Miss Continental" and all that came up were websites for drag competitions. Oh well.
This ad freaks me out - it's like the who's who of conservative America gathered in one place to celebrate liberty??? What the fuck? If you cared about your family, country, financial future and religious liberties you'd have watched this.
A SALUTE TO LIBERACE with David Bowie and Elton John. Nuff said.
Oh no, WELCOME TO THE FAMILY sounds like some sort of cult recruiting program, but it's really about "love, laughter and trust–cementing the bonds between parents and their children." You know, family values. Host Gary Collins has been charged with three counts of "driving under the influence" since 2002. Performer Barbara Mandrell later became an unwelcome stranger in a town where corruption ran deep and tempers burned hot!
Then she co-stared with DUKES OF HAZZARD star Tom Wopat in this TV-movie about the whole sordid experience.

SCAVENGER HUNT

Here's another re-post of a popular movie "review" from last year.The other night my friend Dennis brought over a VHS copy of a 1979 film called SCAVENGER HUNT (directed by Michael Schultz). So we invited a few like-minded friends over and after we hooked up our only dusty VCR, we watched it. As a fan of the brilliantly funny IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD, I'm always disappointed when other films try to copy the 'all-star cast on a quest format'. 1981's CANNONBALL RUN was an attempt to recapture the spirit, so was 2001's RAT RACE. Here the stars are smaller and the quest is sillier, and the laughs are few and far between.

The whole she-bang starts when a kooky old game maker Mr. Parker (played by Vincent Price) dies during the opening credits, and his will states that his multitude of heirs must compete in an elaborate scavenger hunt in order to inherit his fortune. The hunt turns out to be a zany quest where the 15 potential beneficiaries must outsmart and outrace one another to inherit the big bucks!!! EIGHT IS ENOUGH star Willie Aames plays one of Vincent's nephews. He is seen here in a costume from perhaps CIRCUS OF THE STARS?

The huge cast includes a mix of 1970s character actors and TV favorites. In the spirit of competition, our viewing crew decided to call out who was still ALIVE : Richard Benjamin, Cloris Leachman, Dirk Benedict, Willie Aames, Stephanie Faracy, Richard Masur, Stuart Pankin, Stephen Furst, Arnold Schwarznegger, and Liz Torres. And who was DEAD: James Coco, Scatman Crothers, Cleavon Little, Roddy McDowall, Robert Morley , Richard Mulligan, Tony Randall, Avery Schreiber, Ruth Gordon, Pat McCormick and Carol Wayne. It looks like the DEAD team wins by one point - two if you count Vincent Price! Here's Willie again, probably from THE BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS...

I could go into details about who played who and who is on what team, but suffice to say it would be an exercise in futility – because you'll never want to watch this film for any reason other to see 19-year-old pre-Bibleman Willie Aames running around in tight Angles Flight disco slacks. (This is Dennis' fondest memory of the film). Post-BATTLESTAR GALATICA and pre A-TEAM Dirk Benedict also provides some moments of hunkiness that can be enjoyed.

But the rest of the film, with its repetitious scenes of fast food being used to entrap fat people, French maids,  toilets named 'Monclare" and its all-star ostrich wrangling is too dumb to be enjoyable. Our group did laugh a lot, but mostly at our own comments-which due to certain circumstances I can't recall right now. Our friend Danny actually had lines memorized from repeated viewings as a child. Maybe he can provide some more insight on why one should watch this movie.

peignot: the best font ever?

What is it about the font Peignot? When used in color on a black background - it just brings me back to the 1970s - possibly the best era ever for pop culture. So much of what we enjoy today can be traced back to the 70s. To me, Peignot will always be the MARY TYLER MOORE font, but also it was used in the incredible opening titles for THE ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK. Two great pop touchstones that cannot be matched anywhere. This is why I've chosen to base the new look of this blog on the amalgamated look of both these iconic openings.

DOUGSPLOITATION will now look at ALL my pop culture obsessions, not just MOVIES THAT MAKE YOU SAY "HUH". I'll still do movie reviews from time to time, but there's plenty more stuff out there that I feel the sudden need to comment on. This includes websites, dvds, other blogs, live theatre, music, comic books and of course TV!

Well - since we're talking about Peignot and TV let's just say that (THE) MARY TYLER MOORE (SHOW) is the all-time best sitcom ever. No argument there. Despite the recent awkward OPRAH reunion (which, I must admit, skillfully recreated sets from the show) and the horrendous MARY & RHODA TV-movie (which skillfully created a constant feeling of nausea), nothing can ever erase the warm memories of Mary's office life at WJM, and her cozy apartment in the snow-covered Lindstrom house at 119 N. Weatherly in Minneapolis.


Luckily we have the first four seasons on DVD to remind us how great television can be. Hopefully the suits at Fox will one day realize that the rest of the series needs to be made available.
What could possibly be stopping them from releasing more season sets? When crap like PUNKY BREWSTER sells - don't tell me MARY doesn't!

For a great guide to the MTM show , seek out LOVE IS ALL AROUND: THE MAKING OF THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1989) by Robert S. Alley & Irby B. Brown. This book has been in my collection since it was published, and I cherish it almost as much as the show itself.

Also, another great resource for Mary info is MTM: QUALITY TELEVISION published in 1984 by the British Film Institute, which looks at the entire MTM Studio production history, including other great classic shows like THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, RHODA, PHYLLIS, LOU GRANT, WKRP IN CINNCINNATI, NEWHART, THE WHITE SHADOW, HILL STREET BLUES, ST. ELSEWHERE and REMINGTON STEELE. Plus forgotten gems like THE BETTY WHITE SHOW (remember UNDERCOVER WOMAN? the show-within-a-show starring Betty as a 'Pepper Anderson' knock-off), THE TONY RANDALL SHOW and THE DUCK FACTORY. The book also covers pilots and TV-movies made by the company as well, as flops like Mary's two variety shows. A fun, book about the MTM spin-off RHODA is the aptly titled ALL ABOUT RHODA by Peggy Herz, which Scholastic published in 1975. This was written for kids! Imagine a kid's book about THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE being published today? I don't think so.

THE ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK COMPANION by Michael Karol is a fun, loving tribute to the 90-minute TV-movie series that ran from 1968-1975 and introduced us to such classics as Steven Spielberg's DUEL, GO ASK ALICE, BRIAN'S SONG, THE POINT (featuring Harry Nilsson's "Me and My Arrow"), THAT CERTAIN SUMMER and of course THE TRILOGY OF TERROR!!!
Plus the pilots for THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, WONDER WOMAN (the Cathy Lee Crosby version), THE NIGHT STALKER, KUNG FU and STARSKY & HUTCH all aired originally as ABC MOWs. Cloris Leachman is the common element that ties these two topics together, with her starring in almost as many MOWs as episodes of MTM! The book is cheap ($11.95) and a hoot to read, plus it has Peignot and a Zuni fetish doll on the cover! You can also visit the author online at www.sitcomboy.com