More "Odd Couple" blogging: Digging further into the Season 2 DVD, I found that the series reached its formidable plateau in episode six, "Murray the Fink." That's the one where Felix and Oscar end up in night court, and Felix puts Oscar on the stand and offers a ringing condemnation of Oscar's character, culminating in "J'accuse! Madison!"
What elevates that scene from exemplary situation comedy to a kind of genius is that Tony Randall pronounces the "Madison" in the same French accent as the "J'accuse." I wonder if that was Randall's idea; I like to think it was.
In a subsequent episode, Felix and Oscar both appear on a talk show hosted by David Steinberg, who apparently had the free rein to ask non-celebrities to appear with him. Steinberg's hair deserves a post of its own: it covers one ear but not the other, and his monobrow goes unplucked.
When I was in college I knew a couple of guys who did impressions of David Steinberg. The archetypal phrase to use to imitate to adenoidal Torontonian, as "Judy, Judy, Judy" is used for Cary Grant, is thus: "This is what I would do. I would boot." Just say those simple sentences, and you'll have the best David Steinberg imitation in town.
2 comments:
David Steinberg was one of my biggest comedy influences, Tony Randall inspired me to clean the house, and Jack Klugman reminded me to have an a autopsy performed.
Thanks for bringing up some old friends. http://joedyson.blogspot.com
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