Originally written as a play before it became a successful film starring America’s favorite Grumpy Old Men, Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, later Simon’s Odd Couple would go on to evolve into a female stage version, an African-American version on television, yet none would become more popular than the original television series which ran for five years on ABC. Although it suffered from low ratings and constant schedule shuffling during its inclusion in the primetime schedule from 1970 to ’75 and the first season filled with loathsome canned laughter and a cinematic one-camera production style hampered it creatively, when it hit it stride, it felt as fresh and entertaining as a night watching Simon’s play from the front row of any of a dozen theatres in America where no doubt it’s playing tonight.
Once the show developed into a three-camera style televised stage play filmed in front of a live-studio audience, helping recreate the theatrical effect in a way that made the actors freer and more irresistible in this case as opposed to the risk of going too broad, The Odd Couple became an excellent comedy training ground. With a strong behind-the-scenes group in executive producer Garry Marshall, his sister Penny Marshall turning in a supporting role as Oscar’s secretary, and excellent writers who would go on to create further comedy gold including Jerry Belson, Jerry Paris, Harvey Miller, Bob Brunner, Mark Rothman, and Lowell Ganz, The Odd Couple seemed to be at the peak of its powers in its fifth and final season, releasing this week from CBS DVD and Paramount Home Entertainment.
With the unforgettable Emmy award-winning actors Jack Klugman as the persistently grumpy Oscar (in the Matthau part) and the irreplaceable Tony Randall filling Lemmon’s shoes as Felix Unger—always the scene stealer and center of the show—the twenty-two episode fifth season arrives on three digitally remastered discs. With an amusingly retro cameo by Rob Reiner (Penny Marshall’s then-husband) as her boyfriend in the first episode, the series gets off to a funny if slightly insider-like slow start as Felix and Oscar take it upon themselves to remake the frumpy Myrna (Marshall) into marriage material but it grows stronger with the next four successive episodes.
When Oscar’s bullying and pressure on talented bowler Felix results in his wish to withdraw from their team the Bon Vivantes, the two feud into predictable silence (a regular gag in the series) but later team up to try and replace a missing frog belonging to Felix’s son in one of those up-all-night comical misadventure episodes, until Felix’s tendency towards obsession alienates everyone in Tinsletown in a fun episode called “The Hollywood Story.”
Article comments
1 - Jordan "Boss" Richardson
Very, very good review, Jen. Really enjoyed reading that and always loved this show. Sweet!