Tralfaz Sunday Theatre: The Odd Couple Bonding

The U.S. government spent money to get you to give them your money to invest.

There are film examples galore where the government urges Americans to buy bonds, during war-time and peace-time. Animation fans will likely think of Bugs Bunny in Any Bonds Today? (1942). Rocky and Bullwinkle pitched Savings Stamps in a funny cartoon that is on-line somewhere.

Here’s a different example. It’s an ersatz episode of The Odd Couple, complete with the opening credit footage and the arrangement of Neal Hefti’s theme, as well as the bridge cue “Man Chases Man” (which is less gay than Sammy Cahn’s lyrics to the theme). It takes place in the apartment set used on the TV show. Not only do Tony Randall and Jack Klugman reprise their roles, so do Larry Gelman (Vinnie) and Al Molinaro (Murray). Someone other than Gary Waldman is Speed. The plot involves Felix testing out his Payroll Savings Plan pitch during one of Oscar’s poker games.

The Hagley Digital Archives site says this was made in 1970. Wrong! Here’s the background behind it, likely from a government news release, found in the Salisbury Post of May 13, 1972.

Odd Couple Aid Payroll Savings
Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, the stars of the ABC Television Network’s The Odd Couple,” have been named honorary co-chairmen of the payroll savings campaign on behalf of the U. S. Savings Bonds program by the Department of the Treasury, in ceremonies in Washington, D. C.
Randall and Klugman appear in a special Savings Bond film, “The Winning Hand,” which is being used to train payroll savings canvassers, and which was unveiled in the nation’s capital to launch the ‘72 payroll savings campaign by the Federal government.
They received individual plaques from the Department of the Treasury for their work in promoting bonds.

The laugh track despised by Klugman and Randall in the first season is absent.



As a bonus, here’s a piece on Klugman and wife Brett Somers from Earl Wilson’s column of Oct. 31, 1970.

NEW YORK — Jack Klugman, the slob sports writer on “The Odd Couple” TV show, hears unofficially and round-about and every way but officially that the show’s being renewed . . . which means that the poor man will still be hopping over to Las Vegas from Hollywood at every opportunity to spend his clay in the horse parlor.
“It’s my one vice,” Klugman says. “It’s like a job. I’m there from 9 to 6. I bet all six tracks and nearly all nine races, so I got 50 bets going.
“I go to tracks besides. One day I was doing the FBI series, I was ready to fly back to New York but they had to reshoot a scene.
“They ca1led my wife in Weston, Conn., to find out where I was in California. She said, ‘Is there a race track open?’ They said ‘Yes, the trotters at Hollywood.’ They paged me, ‘The FBI calling Jack Klugman.’ I was on the daily double line.”
Jack’s love for gambling is surpassed only by his respect for his colleague in the series. Tony Randall. “Tony once told me,” Jack says, “I’m an authority on everything.’ He is. The man knows everything — and remembers it.”
Jack’s wife, actress Brett Sommers, has a couple of tricks for saving his money from the gamblers. “She goes to auctions. She hates gambling. I hate auctions.”
When they did “He Said, She Said” recently, his wife pocketed both his fee and hers. He asked her why she took his fee.
“Listen,” she said, “if you weren’t married, you couldn’t do this show.”