Felix tells the story of how Oscar’s father tried to kill Felix’s father via a flashback to the 1920s in S5E10 “Our Fathers”.  We cover 1) the exact year of the episode 2) the character timelines and inconsistencies that occur and the ones that don’t 3) the way the 1920s/1930s setting is established 3) the connections to The Untouchables 4) the career of guest star Elijah Cook Jr. 5) Garrett’s impression of Morris Unger, 6) the removal of Tony and Jack’s toupees to play their fathers, 7) and the return of many guest players from other episodes.

Edna runs away from home to follow Paul Williams and Felix and Oscar go after her in S5E9 “The Paul Williams Story”.  Topic covered include 1) the career of guest star Paul Williams, 2) the fact that this episode was originally written for John Denver, 3) an Odd Couple reference in the current season of Billions, 4) the illogic in the episode’s plot, 5) the very funny bit when Felix reads Edna’s note after Oscar hands it to him, 6) the first meaty role for perennial bit actor Eddie Garrett, 7) and how quickly Paul Williams wrote an original song in the episode.

Felix and Oscar get trapped on a stuck subway car in S5E8 “The Subway Story”.  We go off on multiple tangents such as 1) catching up on the homework we had regarding some scenes from the prior episode ‘The Odd Candidate’, 2) Jack Klugman’s pre Odd Couple sitcom Harris Against The World, 3) New York crime in the 1960s and 1970s and a brief history of the NYC subway system, 4) the guest stars including Scatman Crothers, Barney Martin, Billy Sands and Garry Marshall himself, 5) the impressive subway set and the Marine recruiting poster that is shown, 6) The nature of Felix and Miriam’s relationship, 7) the cut music scene from the DVD, 8) and the introduction of a pet for Felix and Oscar that we never see or hear about again.

Oscar runs for NYC Council in “The Odd Candidate.”   We dive into such minutiae as 1) The many street scenes filmed in NYC, 2) the unusual angle of the kitchen that is shown which brings up issues of weirdly-placed shelving units, absence of 4th walls and a mysterious set of keys 3) 1970s local TV horror hosts 4) what footage is being used for The Mysterious Planet Debbie, 5) smoking cigarette billboards in Times Square, 6) Oscar’s campaign posters, 7) and Miriam as pollster.

Oscar owes $500 and tricks Felix into using his band into playing at a charity barn dance as payment in S5E6 “Strike Up The Band Or Else”. Topics covered include: 1) the horrendous musical cuts on the DVD featuring Cocktails For Two, while the Hulu version preserves the scenes with this song 2) the career of guest star Pernell Roberts, 3) the return of Felix’s band now called the Sophisticados 4) the connection between a poker player in this episode and The Honeymooners, 4) how “stuff you sorries in a sack mister” went from The Odd Couple to Seinfeld, 5) Ma Gump, 6) and the references to Gabby Hayes and Ish Kabibble.

Felix kidnaps a famous acting dog after witnessing poor treatment during a photo shoot in S5E5 The Dog Story.  We discuss among other topics: 1) the return of guest star John Fiedler 2) Odd Couple writer Bill Idelson who plays the judge, replacing Curt Conway, 3) the many Sanford and Son spin-offs which ties into the episode’s writers 4) how much the studio audience loves the episode, 5) the appearance of Rona Barrett, 6) the multiple returning bit players in the courtroom scene, 7) the 70s being the era of the animal-as-hero in family movies, 8) the use of a flashback in the episode, 9) and the odd Central Park scenes set in the dark and the light which were cut for TV.

Felix and Oscar go to Hollywood for Oscar’s cameo in a sports movie but Felix poses as his agent to help get him more screen time and money in S5E4 "The Hollywood Story”.  Topics covered include 1) the many plot similarities to I Love Lucy 2) the career and scandals of guest star George Montgomery 3) Bob Hope’s appearance 4) the return of Leonard Barr and Allan Arbus 5) the authentic location shooting, 6) the multiple times when TV’s 4th wall is kind of broken.

Felix and Oscar must deal with Leonard’s missing/hurt frog in S5E3 “The Frog.” Topics covered include: 1) The career of guest star Leif Garett who plays Leonard for the first time 2) the career of Sabu who is referenced in the episode 3) the return of the great Richard Stahl, 4) the dangerous stunt with the frog and the blender 5) when the frog is real and when it is fake, 6) the music cut in the DVD version of the episode.

Felix, the star bowler of Oscar’s bowling team, refuses to play in the championship out of principle but Oscar think Felix has a fear of losing in S5E2 “To Bowl Or Not To Bowl.” Topics covered include: Murray mentioning he has a son we have never heard about before; the careers of guest stars Noam Pitlik and Leonard Barr; the origins of the scene where Oscar sprays cleaner into Felix’s food; the phrase “Sorry doesn’t feed the admiral’s cat.”; the misattribution of one of the bowling players on IMDb; the return of Vinnie; and the unusual scenes with the back-stretching contraption, the discussion of additional bowlers and Felix’s conscience. 

We are back for our first episode of 2022 with the first episode of season five, “The Rain In Spain”.  We discuss guest star Rob Reiner, All In The Family, other guest star Garo Yepremian, the chopped liver football, the reason Penny Marshall left the series and her wonderful performance here, and Jerry Vale + Corbett Monica.