 The film was successful with critics and audiences, grossing over $44.5 million, making it the second highest-grossing film of 1968 in the United States.The success of the film was the basis for the ABC television sitcom of the same name, starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman as Felix and Oscar.Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) checks into a fleabag hotel near Times Square and attempts to kill himself by jumping out of the window, but he fails to open it and pulls a muscle in his back.