The Odd Couple

The man is a comedy actor who simply cannot shake a depressive streak off his back. It simply plagued his other attempts at comedy series. This one, though, got the right combo to allow laughs that were not undermined by some sad backstory. It did not have the ambitus nor time to become an A cathegory series, but it reminds of Frasier, and it is an enjoyable B series, who should not have been cancelled.

I remember watching the 70s incarnation of The Odd Couple with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman and to me it was one of my favorite sitcoms.

I also remember with the New Odd Couple with Ron Glass and Demond Wilson and it wasn't very good since many of the episodes were remakes of the Randall-Klugman series.

Now, more than 30 years later, The Odd Couple is back, with Thomas Lennon as Felix and Matthew Perry (who is also the executive producer) as Oscar. It doesn't look a lot like the first two versions since there is a different supporting cast. Instead of the poker gang of Speed, Vinnie and Roy and also the Pigeon Sisters, there's Dani, Oscar's assistant played by Yvette Nicole Brown and Lindsay Sloane as their upstairs neighbor Emily.

The one character that's absent from this version is Murray the Cop. Al Molinaro made the character famous in the original and John Schuck took over the role in the Glass-Wilson version.

Also, Oscar is no longer a sportswriter, he's a sports radio talk show host. Felix is still a commercial photographer.

On the plus side, Lennon and Perry have good chemistry as Felix and Oscar. On the minus side, the episodes have a lot raunchier humor than the Randall-Klugman version.

The one thing the producers did right was bringing in Garry Marshall, who produced the first two versions as a consultant. With The Big Bang Theory as a lead in, it has been even more successful in the ratings than the first two versions. But can it sustain itself without Big Bang?

It is so hard to get into this show today when you were so use to watching the original Odd Couple show. No one can be such a slob as Jack Klugman, he played that role so good. I'm not saying I hate the new show, it has it's good laughs. Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon do a great job to be Oscar and Felix. It's hard to fill the shoes of the original cast but they do a great job. Each episode does keeps your attention because you never know what is going to happen next. If you blink you will miss some funny thing. The thing I see wrong is that they have changed Oscar and Felix since the original show. If you are going to keep the same characters then at least keep the way they live the same. Oscar Madison was a complete slob but in the new show he is not even close to that role. I really don't see this show going to much further. It's to far away from the original show.

The laugh tracks they always put in comedy shows is so awful , just for that alone I don't want to watch this show. But I do like Perry shame he has another flop on his hands . I think he tries to hard to be funny and it just does not work . I could not even watch the show all the way through the darn laugh track really put me off. I did not laugh at all . So will try again with next episode , but do not hold out much hope . But as usual you have to write more lines for it to be published which is absolutely stupid. Anyway I was sitting her in the dark and right beside me this giant cockroach just crawled up the wall eeek , Well I am use to them so I just swatted him with my fist , so I generally need to go wash my hands now .

this contains all the right elements to make a good show , including the hit play , the great actors and the writers. but it doesn't bode well for the series that the pilot was so forced . the jokes and the dialog is just too fast and cramped . the whole writing seems forced . it looks like that the no of jokes that can be included are more important than timing , delivery or in some cases , even the quality.

the plot is just all too clear and the larger story seems likely to be non existent . the places to explore from hereon seems all too predictable and all too " so what else is new ?"

i don't personally have a problem with laugh tracks ( most of my favorite comedy shows have had them) . but at least nowadays,they do not seem necessary . i mean if the audience is not getting your joke without the track telling them , then it probably isn't that great . the pairing of the perry and Lennon is good and has a lot of potential but seriously , they need to put their hearts in and not increase the no of jokes just for the sake of it.