Tuesday, December 25, 2012

RIP Jack Klugman

I want to thank Jack Klugman for hours of entertaining us as Quincy and Oscar Madison. The original Odd Couple was the first TV show I loved as a kid in first run. There were other good shows like All in the Family, Sanford and Son, MASH and Happy Days but the first one that I loved as a kid was the Odd Couple. Off  screen Klugman and Tony Randall were best friends and would remain best friends for the remainder of his days. They are both gone but TV fans will always have them in reruns. I think Al Molinaro
and Penny Marshall are the only people associated with that show that are still with us.

Klugman was more of a straight actor and he found fame in Quincy. He played everyone's favorite Coroner
and Ducky from NCIS is a distant second. Quincy fought the system he cared and yes there was liberalism in the scripts but it was well written and entertaining. Quincy was what a good detective show should be about good writers, great actors and character development.

I hope that when you reach heaven that Tony Randal is there saying Oscar, Oscar, Oscar what took you so long.

3 comments:

Ducky's here said...

A real scenery chewer in his later efforts. Quincy was especially bad(of course I prefer Ducky on NCIS).

His best work was early. "12 Angry Men" was solid. He did some very good Twilight Zone episodes, In Praise of Pip, A Game of Pool, A Passage for Trumpet. His role in Goodbye Columbus was pretty good also but I just never could watch The Odd Couple, no subtlety.

Always On Watch said...

I loved Jack Klugman from the moment that I first saw him on The Twilight Zone. He made four appearances on the Serling series. Those episodes were gems!

Of course, I'll most fondly remember Klugman as Oscar Madison. Perfect portrayal of a lovable slob!

Always On Watch said...

And....Mr. AOW has been known to channel Oscar Madison. **wink**