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Rating:  -
This is a very sweet book. And I don't mean that in an overly sentimental or mushy way. This comes across as a very honest and sincere book that's also very touching and funny. The nice thing about it when you open any page you hear Jack Klugman's real voice and you feel it's just him telling you the true story of him and Tony. There's no baloney. It's also very funny and has the ring of truth to it on every page. It just has the feel of life and you know that when you read it. I went to a bookstore recently and grabbed five or six showbiz books that interested me and I could tell this was far and away the best even though the others had many more pages. They felt "written" and full of filler that was of really little interest. This one felt real. So don't let the fewer pages scare ya off, or the price (you'll probably get it at a discount anyway). This is the one you'll come back to and grab anytime and read over and over again. I remember a couple little Tony stories that Jack didn't put in the book. On a talk show about a year after the series ended the host asked Tony if he missed doing the show. Tony just sorta offhandedly dismissed that idea and chuckled at his own sincerity and feelings and said "I miss Jack!". And on a Dean Martin Roast for Jack I remember Tony being the last one called up to roast him and couldn't do it. He got up and just chuckled at it all and his own ability not to do the same to his buddy. He couldn't help but be sincere and said "I don't like all the jokes about you being a bad actor. You're a WHALE of an actor." And Jack just beamed very humbily and was clearly touched. And that's the appeal of this book. It's small but it's still a whale of a book. So...thanks, Jack. And Tony too.
Rating: -
This short but entertaining book is Jack Klugman's tribute to his colleague and dear friend Tony Randall. In addition to Jack's admiration of Tony, Jack reveals stories about actual incidents between he and Tony that shaped the "Odd Couple" characters and some of the story lines. While Jack's stories are both endearing and interesting, they are mostly scattered instances and examples about different periods in both of the actors' lives. As much as I love the "Odd Couple" as well as Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, this book left me wanting more and asking myself "Is that it?" Maybe Jack is still careful to reveal too much or, as he states in his book, to "bore us" with long stories. In any event, I'm glad he's decided to invite us to get a glimpse of his and Tony's life and career.
Rating:  -
The DVD is tucked into the front flap under the jacket copy. Peel it out, stick it in, and you'll be confronted with author Klugman in his raspy recconstructed voice welcoming you to a time now long gone, when he and actor Tony Randall played Oscar and Felix for five long years of TV's THE ODD COUPLE. The disk is basically about ten or twelve minutes of gag reel, and you'll enjoy seeing Tony swear like a son of a gun as he goes up in scene after scene after scene. In one episode Oscar sits up in bed in some revealing 70s underwear and Felix reproaches him for showing the TV cameras his "little thing." As the label says, this DVD is for mature audiences only. Randall and Al Molinaro have a very funny exchange over the breakfast table, but it's too risque to print here. Klugman says that each of the six actors on TV's FRIENDS made more in 2 days than he and Randall did in five years, but wonders if they could have had more fun.
The book itself is a mixed bag. Other reviewers praise Klugman for writing "briefly," but I say, for $24.95 you should write a "book" that's more than 10,000 words padded by pictures. (The photos themselves are amazing!)
The book's co-author, Burton Rocks, manages to interview Heather Harlan separately, and include that interview. It still seems like more padding. Isn't Klugman speaking to her directly? Why can't he do it?
Otherwise the story is beautifully told, of how Klugman turned from being a fearful, overly protective introvert, closed off from everyone, to being a loving friend under Tony's guidance and example.
I would have liked to hear more, more, more about Klugman's famous career--Randall's too--and maybe if this book does really well he will change his mind and reveal a little bit more than the tantalizing tastes he proffers here.
There's a great photo of Brett Somers in the book--she appears on the DVD too, showing again what a great sport she is! Good for her, and for Klugman's whole extended family, who have surrounded him with love and given him the courage to write a book like this, a book that, circumscribed by illness and the wish not to harm others with gossip, calls for a livelier sequel.
Rating: -
Whether or not you liked the "Odd Couple" or whether you have ever heard of Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, you will not regret buying this book. It is the best memoire of a friendship I have ever read. Jack Klugman writes the way he speaks, simply and directly, which allows the reader to form an immediate connection to this story of a friendship which spanned decades. Klugman never burdens the reader with his celebrity or preaches his politics. He simply gifts the reader with the story.
Give this book as a Christmas present to a friend or family member and let them know what they mean to you.
Rating: -
The Odd Couple is one of my all-time favorite TV shows (and movies). I knew this book was written by Jack Klugman, and that it came with an outtakes DVD. That alone was enough for me to make my way down to the bookstore and get. What I didn't know, however, was the great details of Jack and Tony's friendship, which extended far beyond The Odd Couple. When Jack Klugman had surgery for throat cancer, it was Tony Randall who helped him regain his career. When Tony Randall was ill during the last few months of his life, it was Jack Klugman who was right by his side. That is true friendship, and that is the basis of Klugman's book. Then there's the DVD. It is hilarious, and shows a side of Oscar and Felix you never saw in the series itself. Although The Odd Couple series is not officially out on DVD yet, I have the complete blue VHS set issued by Columbia House in the 1990s. This DVD is a great compliment to those tapes. This is the absolute best book I've ever taken the time to read. Any fan of The Odd Couple or Tony Randall will love it too.
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