1049 Park Avenue: An Odd Couple Podcast Ted Linhart & Garrett Eisler

We welcome back Marty Nadler to discuss his TV writing career after The Odd Couple including his work on Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Chico & The Man, The Last Resort (not a well-known show), and Perfect Strangers.  Marty shares some get great inside stories about such topics as 1) ABC wanting to rename Happy Days "Fonzie's Happy Days", 2) the toxic environment of Laverne & Shirley, 3) his theory on Freddie Prinze's tragic, early death, 4) a very funny story about the late, great Richard Lewis, 5) and the original casting of Perfect Strangers.   Marty also worked on nine Garry Marshall movies including Pretty Woman which we only briefly touched on as there was just not enough time.  

In this episode we interview TV writer Marty Nadler who worked for Garry Marshall for 40 years. As one of his first jobs Marty punched up scripts and wrote jokes for S5 of The Odd Couple.  Marty discusses the process of how Odd Couple scripts were written; a few specific classic bits he remembers witnessing; interacting with some of the show’s famous guest stars and other insider knowledge from someone who was there!

We are honored and delighted to welcome Heather Randall to the podcast.  Heather was married to Tony Randall from 1995 until his passing in 2004 and they had two children together.  Heather shares many stories passed down by Tony and those she lived through regarding: his early life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, career beginnings on stage and radio, becoming a star on Broadway and movies, The Odd Couple of course, The Tony Randall Show, Sidney Shorr TV Movie, Love Sydney his work establishing The National Actors Theatre where he and Heather met and his appearances on David Letterman.  We also learn about Tony as a person off-camera + Heather's early life and work, both professional and philanthropic.  Please join us for this 2 hour discussion about Tony Randall from the person who knows it best .  

This week we welcome a special guest – Peter K Ackerman who is the son of Elinor Donahue and legendary TV producer Harry Ackerman.  He has written a new book called Mom, Dad, Me and Classic TV about their lives and his experiences growing up as the son of two TV legends. It is available wherever books are sold including here on Amazon
We discuss his father’s career helping to create I Love Lucy, producing Bewitched, and also his passion for collecting.  We also review his Mom’s extensive career on such shows as Father Knows Best, Star Trek, Get A Life and, of course, as Miriam Welby on The Odd Couple.  Peter also shares his experiences working in TV and how he transitioned into a very different vocation.
Join us for this fun, two-hour discussion that covers many different aspects of TV history as Peter’s parents touched so many different programs.

In this episode we discuss the differences between original production scripts for Felix The Horseplayer (known as The Stung on the script) and Two On The Aisle. 
Both scripts feature known-but-never-seen characters who are referenced during the series that are supposed to make actual on-camera appearances but were written out before the episodes were filmed. 
There are some other significant scene differences between script and episode which we believe are changes that made the show better.  
If you would like to get PDFs of any of the scripts we have reviewed please email us at 1049pod@gmail.com and ask for the dropbox link.
 

In this episode we review two early drafts of these classic episodes and how different they are from the actual filmed episodes.  Among the topics covered are:
1) Whether or not the most famous line from The Odd Couple about assuming is in the script for Court.
2) The fact that the script for Court is structured as a flashback and how so many of the classic gags from the episode are missing while other scenes we have never seen before are included.
3) The set-up for Furniture is very different as it starts in the furniture store that was Felix's client. 
4) How the clock was described in Furniture.
5) The very different tags in both episodes.