October 3, 1976: "Quincy, M.E." Premieres

October 3, 1976, 50 years ago: Only a year and a half after the last episode of The Odd Couple, Jack Klugman returns to series television in the premiere of Quincy, M.E., on NBC. It is one of the many TV shows created or co-created by Glen A. Larson, in this case co-created with Lou Shaw, who also wrote Worse Than Murder, a play about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

The drama enables Klugman to return to drama, which was how he got started. But while Los Angeles County Medical Examiner "Dr. R. Quincy" -- as shown on his office door and on his business card, and in 7 seasons no one ever said what the R. stood for -- was serious about his work, some of the Oscar Madison personality was thankfully included. And, of course, as a medical professional, Quincy had to be every bit as neat as Tony Randall's Felix Unger, not sloppy like Oscar.

Garry Walberg, who had played Felix & Oscar's poker pal Homer "Speed" Deegan, played LAPD Lieutenant Frank Monahan. Joseph Roman played his partner, Sergeant Brill.

Robert Ito played Dr. Sam Fujiyama, at the time one of the few Asian-American TV characters outside of M*A*S*H and Hawaii Five-O. John S. Ragin played Quincy and Sam's boss, Dr. Robert Asten. Jonathan Segal played laboratory technician Jeff Sellers. Eddie Garrett played Eddie the forensic photographer.

Val Bisoglio played Danny Tovo, who ran the bar that Quincy hung out in. John Nolan played John the bartender.

Quincy was a widower, and Anita Gillette played his wife, Helen, in an episode with flashback scenes. Quincy must have "had a type," because Gillette was later cast as Dr. Emily Hanover, whom Quincy ended up marrying near the end of the series.

This series, of which my mother was a big fan, may have inspired her to name a cat Quincy. It was also the first show to focus on a medical examiner venturing into solving the murders of those on whom he did his autopsies, long before NBC's Crossing Jordan and TNT's Rizzoli & Isles (both set in Boston), much less the supporting characters seen on CBS' CSI and NCIS franchises, Fox's Bones and ABC's Castle.

The other half of The Odd Couple had debuted The Tony Randall Show on September 23, 1976. Randall played a widowed judge with teenage daughters, in Philadelphia. It ran on ABC for a season, then on CBS for a season, before being canceled.

From 1981 to 1983, Randall starred in the NBC sitcom Love, Sidney. In 1986, Klugman starred on the NBC sitcom You Again? It ran 2 seasons. In 1997, he played a doctor on an episode of Diagnosis: Murder. And, in 2002, he played a medical examiner on an episode of the aforementioned Crossing Jordan. In 1993, Randall and Klugman reprised their best-known roles in The Odd Couple: Together Again.

Segal died in 1999, Nolan in 2000, Garrett in 2010, Walberg in 2012, Klugman later in 2012, Ragin in 2013, Larson in 2014, Shaw in 2015, Roman in 2017, Bisoglio in 2021. Ito and Gillette are still alive.