By Devin Hartmann
The remake of the classic play turned movie turned TV-show, with a sequel to the movie and two other TV remakes one with a black cast the other a cartoon, the sixth screen incarnation of The Odd Couple premiered Feb. 19, 2015 on CBS.
The show Stars Matthew Perry, who also develops and is an executive producer on the show, as the slob Oscar and Thomas Lennon as the neurotic neat freak Felix. Oscar and Felix are two divorced friends who decide to move in together in the hopes that they will rub off on each other and become better for the experience.
With a slow start and some stereotypical character as their friends it seemed The Odd Couple was destined to disappoint. From the beginning it plays on classic divorced and married guy tropes, “My wife would never let me have that” “You’ve met my wife, why would I want to live longer” and it just comes off as cheap jokes that aren’t funny or that well thought. That’s not to say the actors are bad, Wendell Pierce, who plays Teddy, was great on The Wire, and Dave Foley, as Roy, has been acting for close to 40 years.
They are just written as the cliche married men who say they would rather be divorced and hate marriage but that’s just all talk.
History
The Odd Couple was originally a play in 1965 by Neil Simon starring Walter Matthau as Oscar and Ar Carney as Felix. The play was an instant hit winning four of the five Tony nominations it was up for.
“The Odd Couple” film, premiering in 1968, starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and returning Walter Matthau in his role as Oscar. This was their second movie together, the two becoming close friends going on to make ten movies together in total. The success of the film is considered to be pivotal in the decision to adapt the story into a television show.
The first television series, officially titled Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple started in 1970 and would go on to entertain audiences for five years on the network ABC. Tony Randall played Felix while Jack Klugman played Oscar. Episodes from the show have made multiple best episodes lists with the show receiving three Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy series.
The cartoon was next, The Oddball Couple ran for three years from 1975 to 1977 on ABC as a part of it’s Saturday morning cartoon list. The twist was that instead of Oscar and Felix the main characters were a dog, Fleabag, and a cat, Spiffy and their slob/neat freak attitudes translated to their house and car, half always a mess or in shambles the other half pristine and orderly.
It would be five year before The New Odd Couple premiered in 1982, this time the show had a primarily African-American cast, starring Demond Wilson and Ron Glass. The show was short lived only having 18 episodes in total, two of which didn’t even air.
In 1998 Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau reunited to make “The Odd Couple II”. Neil Simon even attached for this one as both a producer and writer. This was the last film Lemmon and Matthau appeared in together and the last where they were in starring roles. Despite the success of the two men the film was a flop.
After the Break
Returning from the commercial break the second half of the show is a great improvement, before I had found myself wanting more, personally I like Matthew Perry, I tend to watch his shows in the hopes that he will finally land a lasting series again but nothing has come close to the success of Friends.
The men have a double date with the woman who lives above the apartment and her sister, this is where the relationship, and the show itself, shines. Oscar wants nothing more than to move on from his divorce and sleep with his neighbor, while Felix is still depressed having just found out his wife wants a divorce. throughout it all Oscar comes off as rude and mean, mainly to Felix, while at the same time realizing that he does miss his wife and misses having someone to care for him. They have a fight and Felix spends the night at the neighbors place. The two friends make up and agree to become full roommates hoping that they can learn from each other, and care for each other while they work through their divorces.
John Farella, 20, student and TV fan said, “I liked it, the start was alright but the second half I was laughing a lot, I may continue to watch it.”
The Verdict
In the end the cast is very good and I could see myself watching the series, however the writing is inconsistent and sometimes can be too cliche, too familiar. The funny moments were really funny, usually I don’t audibly laugh during a television show however there were a few times where I did in this, to me that’s a good sign especially in the first episode which can set the precedent for the series.
The Odd Couple is on my radar for sure, it is nothing groundbreaking however we knew that going in, and while I did laugh the writing was very hit or miss. Instead of a star or number rating I’ll say this, based on the premier The Odd Couple is worth watching the first three episodes. This way you will get a better feel for if what the show will be like; as the pilot may set a precedent for what is to come there is only so much development you can have in 20 minutes. Three episodes is about an hour, after that if you still don’t find it funny or entertaining then sure drop it,but the premier was genuinely funny at times and deserves a longer look.