Back in July, the entertainment world was shocked when legendary director and producer Garry Marshall died after having pneumonia that developed from a stroke he had. After his death, countless tributes took place in Hollywood.
Another tribute is taking place tonight, Nov. 7, as The Odd Couple, which stars Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon, will be paying homage to Marshall, who was an executive producer of the original show that aired in the 1970s, the New York Post reported.
Marshall also took part in the remake of the series as an executive consultant and even guest acted in an episode that aired last season, as Oscar’s (Perry) father, Walter.
The episode, entitled “Taffy Days,” has Oscar getting his father’s ashes and he has to figure out what he’s going to do with the ashes. One of Walter’s requests was that his ashes were to be spread behind the building of his candy factory.
Many well-known faces are set to appear in the episode tonight to pay tribute to Marshall, including Penny Marshall, Marshall’s sister, Cindy Williams, Ron Howard, Marion Ross, Anson Williams, Don Most and Pam Dawber.
Executive producer Bob Daily said originally the show was going to air an In Memoriam card at the beginning of the season premiere before deciding against that. “The more we thought about it, we thought, Garry devoted his life to making people laugh, so rather than doing a little short, sad card, let’s try to do something we hoped Garry would have appreciated — both heartfelt and just a fun, silly episode,” Daily said.
The show will still have an In Memoriam card that will appear at the end of the episode. A picture will appear of Marshall with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, the original stars of the 70s version that aired on ABC, before it fades into a picture of Marshall with Perry and Lennon, the two stars of the current show.
Daily said that Marshall was completely receptive to the idea of the reboot as soon as the news of the show was announced. “From the very beginning, Garry called and left a message and said, ‘Anything I can do to help; I want to be there for you. I want this to succeed.’ ”
Daily also said that Marshall would sit-in on meetings and would pitch jokes and was at every meeting the show had. “He also sent in story ideas. He always wanted to work, and we just wanted to hear his stories. It was such a thrill to have him in the room,” Daily said.
The Odd Couple airs Monday nights at 9:30 p.m. on CBS.