Tony Randall Day On The OTN.

As you probably know by now, there can never be enough Tony Randall to suit me.
And there are two series that he did, two seasons each, both post-Odd Couple, that have been unfortunately missing in action, and belong on the OTN.
Because they were both wonderful.
And Tony was, of course, wonderful in them.

The first was "The Tony Randall Show", which immediately followed the demise of "The Odd Couple"
He played Philadelphia judge Walter Franklin.
As good as John Larroquette was on "Night Court", "The Tony Randall Show" was far better.
For several reasons.
"Night Court" virtually never left the courtroom.
On Tony's show, we got into his personal life far more.
And Allyn-Ann McLerie gave John Larroquette a run for his money as a supporting player.
She played Miss Reubner, his sneering, pompous secretary, to a fare-thee well.
Mostly known for playing ingenues on Broadway when she was younger, she showed an unexpected major flair for scene-stealing and high comedy.
Somebody knew something.
Also, Harry Anderson, the judge on "Night Court", was an uninteresting cipher.
Tony's show was easily the best courtroom sitcom ever done.
And it had great writers:

Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses, who guided the Bob Newhart Show,

Gary David Goldberg, who ran "Family Ties", and

Hugh Wilson, who ran WKRP in Cincinnati.

Heavyweights all.

Tony's other post "Odd Couple" sitcom was "Love, Sidney"
In that, he played an openly gay artist who shared his apartment with a single mother and her young child.
The young mother was played by Swooosie Kurtz.
This was before she got old enough to be Molly's eternally wine-drinking mother on "Mike and Molly"
"Love, Sidney" was not as well written as "The Tony Randall Show", but it had many fine moments.
Usually because of Tony's fine work.
I was, and am, always in awe of his talent.

These shows should unquestionably be on the OTN.

One more thing about Tony:
As much as I loved him and his work on "The Odd Couple", he was not the best Felix Unger I ever saw.
He was the second best.
Next time, taking a break from OTN submissions, I will tell you who the best Felix Unger I ever saw was, and why.

Until then,

Mark Rothman, CEO of the OTN.

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My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
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