1049 Park Avenue: An Odd Couple Podcast

S2E22 - "Oscar's Promotion" - Oscar is assigned to be the editor of a new sports supplement at his newspaper and his first assigned is a Chinese v USA exhibition wrestling match.  And he needs a photographer! We discuss guest star Jack Soo, the state of Chinese-US relations & the time and the specific event that triggered this episode, and the fact that China's best wrestler is aged 55 according t...

We divert from our normal format this week and cover four episodes of the show from S2 that we think are not very good.  We call then "Oddballs" and we give each one about 20 minutes of time to discuss why we don't like them but also the funny moments that do exist (plus a clip).  The episodes are "Natural Childbirth", "A Grave For Felix, "Does Your Mother Know You're Out Rigoletto" and "Where's G...

This week we cover S2E21 "A Night To Dismember" -- a Rashomon-style episode depicting the New Year's Eve episode that led to Oscar and Blanche's divorce.   Among the details we discuss are 1) the timeline inconsistencies this episode create 2) the origin and use of Rashomon in pop culture 3) Ted's search for the restaurant depicted in the opening scene and 4)guest star Joan Van Ark

S2E20 "Good, Bad Boy" is our topic this week.  Oscar and Felix help out a reform-school teen ager who asks Edna to the school dance.  We discuss the KLM building in NYC, the career of guest actor Johnny Silver and the careers of Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Walt Frazier and Earl The Pearl Monroe.

In our Podcast this week we analyze S2E19 "Partner's Investment".  In this episode Felix invests his money, and money he has stolen/secured from Oscar, in a Japanese restaurant.  The topics we address include 1) the biography of guest star Pat Morita 2) the racist undertones of this episode 3) the absurd moments of this episode 4) and the history of Japanese food popularity in the U.S. in the 1970...

In this installment we discuss S2E17 "You Saved My Life" in which Felix becomes a pest by constantly thanking Oscar who saves him from falling out a window. Oscar tries to get Felix to save HIS life so they can be even.  We discuss the introduction of Penny Marshall as Myrna Turner, the location of Oscar's office building and the bizarre Japanese grenade scene. Here is the picture of Felix we disc...

S2E16 “Speak For Yourself” Is our topic this week.  We go back in time to watch the story behind Oscar proposing to Gloria for Felix in the 1950s. Among the topics covered are the major inconsistencies of the plot compared to other tales of how Felix and Oscar met; the bizarre fact that an actress plays a character named Mitzi in this episode set in the 1950s and essentially the same character in...

This week we analyze S2E15 - the classic "Security Arms".  Felix and Oscar movie into a high-security apartment building after determining their building and neighborhood is unsafe. Topics include - character actor John Fiedler, what NYC was really like in the 1970s, the wonderful set design in this episode and the cartoonish scene that propels the storyline.  

This week we analyze S2E14 in which Oscar wins a racing greyhound named Golden Earrings in a poker game.  References/topics we discuss include Tuesday Weld, Death Of A Salesman, Father Flanagan, hijackings to Cuba and custom felt card-playing mats.

This week our topic is S2 E13 "Felix, The Calypso Singer".  Oscar takes Felix on his Caribbean vacation when Nancy has to stay behind for work, but when Nancy eventually shows up Felix is kicked to the curb.  We discuss the terrible tragedy of actress Barbara Colby who appears in this episode, the state of air travel in the 1970s and how Felix loves to be a martyr.

This week we dive into S2E12 "Surprise, Surprise".  Felix throws his daughter Edna a party for her 10th birthday. The surprise for Edna is  his hiring of Sherman The Clown. Among the topics we cover are 1) Garrett's personal connection to one of the writers of this episode who had a bad experience with Tony Randall working on the show  2) the meaning of "x-rated movies" in the early 1970s and 3) w...

This week we cover S2E11 - "Being Divorced Is Never Having To Say I Do" - in which Oscar's ex-wife Blanche gets married to a man she just met.  We discuss Brett Somers, since this is her first appearance on the show, and her on-screen chemistry with her-real-husband-at-the-time Jack Klugman, + how we learned about alimony as children from watching The Odd Couple. 

We tackle (pun!) S2E10 - "Win For Felix" - in which Oscar teaches Felix how to coach Leonard's (Felix's son) football team.  We discuss how The Odd Couple was a pioneer in showing a divorced dad on TV acting emotionally open with his son, the pedigree and professionalism of Willie Aames, and Knute Rockne.

This week we cover S2E9 "The Odd Couple Meet Their Host", guest starring comedian David Steinberg who puts both Felix and Oscar on his TV show where they make fun of each other.  Topics include why Steinberg was such a big deal at the time, the location of Felix's photography studio in NYC, the "meta" aspects of this episode and the fact this features the maddest we ever hear Felix get at Oscar.

This week we cover S2E8 "Fat Farm" in which Felix and Oscar go to Dr. Berger's health retreat to lose weight and get in shape.  We discuss the famous dining room scene where desserts are served on empty plates, the numerous bad audio and video cuts in this episode and the resume of the numerous guest players.

This week we cover S2 E6 entitled "Murray The Fink" -- Felix and Oscar are arrested by Murray during their poker game after they tease him for being too timid and nice.  Topics include a deep dive into Speed, Vinnie, Murray and the other guest characters in this episode; the great use of courtroom scenes in the series; and the fun names - real and fictional - used throughout the episode.

We discuss a great episode - S2E4 "Sleepwalker" - in which Oscar attacks Felix while asleep because he is being extra nice while awake.  This episode contains the famous "pits in my juice" and "Bolivian chickens" scenes.

We discuss S2 E3 "Hospital Mates" - when Felix and Oscar have operations at the same time and then come home with Felix blind and Oscar on crutches.  We also discuss the famous Felix Unger "honk" and the difference in Jack Lemmon's and Tony Randall's delivery of said honk.

This week we discuss S2E2 of The Odd Couple, "Felix's Wife's Boyfriend".  We also cover how we chose this episode to tackle next, how we plan to chose episodes in the future, viewer feedback, where you can watch The Odd Couple and a shout out. 

Welcome to the first episode of "1049 Park Avenue: An Odd Couple Podcast" - the only podcast devoted to the 1970-1975 classic sitcom starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman - one episode at a time.   For this first installment we introduce ourselves - Ted Linhart and Garrett Eisler - and discuss the S3 episode "The Pen Is Mightier Than The Pencil."