Network: ABC
Episodes: 114 (half-hour)
Seasons: Five
TV show dates: September 24, 1970 — March 7, 1975
Series status: Cancelled/ended
Performers include: Tony Randall, Jack Klugman, Al Molinaro, Penny Marshall, Elinor Donahue, Janis Hansen and Garry Walberg
TV show description:
The story of divorced friends Felix Unger and Oscar Madison has entertained audiences in three different mediums: first as a stage play, then a movie, and eventually as a TV series.
When Felix’s (Tony Randall) wife divorces him, longtime friend Oscar (Jack Klugman) offers to let him move in. Being recently divorced himself, sportswriter Oscar understands his friend’s situation. However, Oscar enjoys his new found freedom from ex-wife Blanche (Brett Somers-Klugman) while Felix, a photographer at a portrait studio, spends time regretting the divorce and tries to win his ex-wife Gloria (Janis Hansen) back. Uptight Felix can’t understand how Oscar can live as messily as he does while slovenly Oscar cannot understand the healthy and compulsively neat habits of his roommate.
Oscar and Felix’s closest friends are dim-witted Murray the cop (Al Molinaro) and Oscar’s secretary, Myrna Turner (Penny Marshall). Their poker player friends include gambling-addict Speed (Garry Walberg), pragmatic Roy (Ryan McDonald), and whiny Vinnie (Larry Gelman).
For female companionship, the roommates spend time with upstairs neighbors, the Pigeon Sisters, Cecily and Gwendolyn (Monica Evans, Carole Shelley); or regular girlfriends like Dr. Nancy Cunningham (Joan Hotchkis) and Miriam Welby (Elinor Donahue).
[…] The Odd Couple and Happy Days both made the switch in their early days and those shows got much better. It remains to be seen if the change will help Up All Night. […]