''The Tony Randall Show'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

during its first season from September 23, 1976, to March 10, 1977, and on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

for its second (and final) season from September 24, 1977, to March 25, 1978.

Synopsis

The series starred

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play ''The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...

as Walter Franklin, a middle-aged widowed judge, and took place in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The show followed the reserved Franklin dealing with being a single parent, raising his teenage daughter, Roberta ( Devon Scott) and preteen son, Oliver (

Brad Savage Brad Savage (born December 9, 1965) is an American actor and singer best known for his role as Danny in the 1984 movie ''Red Dawn'', for which he received a nomination for the Young Artist Award in the category "Best Young Supporting Actor in a ...

). At times he also had to play surrogate parent to his daffy English housekeeper ( Rachel Roberts), whose inedible cooking was a frequent source of humor. At work, Judge Franklin had to contend with his stuffy and acerbic secretary, Miss Janet Reubner (

Allyn Ann McLerie Allyn Ann McLerie (December 1, 1926 – May 21, 2018) was a Canadian-born American actress, singer and dancer who worked with many of Golden Age musical theatre's major choreographers, including George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, and Jerome Robb ...

), and his court reporter, Jack Terwilliger ( Barney Martin), as well as presiding over court cases. Actor

Zane Lasky The name Zane may be a given name or a surname. Its western usage derives from the Venetian form of ''Gianni'' or an alternate spelling of the German and Jewish name ''Zahn''. An Arabic name Zain, Zayn, or as it is often anglicized Zane, is an Arab ...

played the recurring role of Mario Lanza, an annoying, nerdy, overbearing assistant who irritated Judge Franklin, but who kept getting rehired by Miss Reubner. Another recurring role was played by

Diana Muldaur Diana Muldaur (born August 19, 1938) is an American film and television actress. Muldaur's television roles include Rosalind Shays on ''L.A. Law'' and Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. She also ...

, who appeared as Judge Franklin's love interest, Judge Eleanor Hooper. Annette O'Toole played the role of Melissa (Oliver's teacher, to whom Walter was attracted) in two episodes, one in each season. In the show's second season, Devon Scott was replaced in the role of Roberta by

Penny Peyser Penelope Allison "Penny" Peyser is an American actress, writer, and filmmaker. Early life Peyser was born in Irvington, New York, and attended Irvington High School, where she starred in student musical theatre productions. She is the daughter ...

, and

Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's '' Dud ...

joined the cast in the occasional recurring role of Walter's irascible father Wyatt. Towards the very end of the series run, Walter began teaching a night class in law;

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...

was seen as Zeke Zacharias, one of Water's students, in two late-running episodes. The show was produced by

MTM Enterprises MTM Enterprises (also known as MTM Productions) was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' for CBS. The name for the productio ...

and aired for one season on ABC. For its second season, the series moved to CBS where it aired for one more season before being canceled. Writer/producer

Gary David Goldberg Gary David Goldberg (June 25, 1944 – June 22, 2013) was an American writer and producer for television and film. Goldberg was best known for his work on ''Family Ties'' (1982–89), ''Spin City'' (1996–2002), and his semi-autobiographical seri ...

discusses behind-the-scenes stories in his autobiography, ''Sit, Ubu, Sit''.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1976–77)

Season 2 (1977–78)

Award nominations

External links

* 1976 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings 1970s American legal television series 1970s American workplace comedy television series 1970s American sitcoms American Broadcasting Company original programming CBS original programming Television series about families Television series by MTM Enterprises Television shows set in Philadelphia Television series created by Tom Patchett {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub