New Odd Couple: Cast Photo - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

The New Odd Couple aired from September 1982 until June 1983 on ABC.

This half-hour sitcom was, of course, a remake of The Odd Couple, the popular 1970's comedy about two divorced men sharing a New York apartment. This time around, however, the principal players were black, with Ron Glass as fussy phographer Felix and Demond Wilson as sloppy sportswriter Oscar. The setting was the same, and many of the favorite supporting characters were back. Their was John Schuck as Murray The Cop; Christipher Joy as Speed; Bart Braverman as Roy; Sheila Anderson and Ronalda Douglas as Cecily and Gwendolyn Pigeon. Also appearing was Liz Torres as Maria and Jo Marie Payton-France as Mona. Felix's ex was back but she was now named Frances( played in a couple of episodes by Telma Hopkins). Unfortunately, though the cast of The New Odd Couple may have been new the stories were not; the show's producer conceded in November 1982 that seven of the series' first thirteen scripts had been recycled from the original Odd Couple. This series, anyway was no more successful than most other revivals of former hit series.

A Review From The New York Times

'NEW ODD COUPLE,' 'CHASTITY GULCH'

By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: October 29, 1982
YOU have got to have a gimmick, the old show-business adage insists, and the producer Garry Marshall (''Laverne and Shirley'' and so on) has come up with a clever one for an ABC-TV series that starts tonight at 8:30. ''The Odd Couple,'' based on a Neil Simon play, is being brought back as ''The New Odd Couple.'' The difference is that this time prissy Felix, the photographer, and slobby Oscar, the sportswriter, are black.

The tactic is hardly new. Years ago, the stage version of ''Hello, Dolly!'' was given new vigor and an extended run when it switched to a all-black cast headed by Pearl Bailey. Coming up on cable television is a version of O'Neill's ''A Long Day's Journey Into Night'' that features a black cast. So it is not exactly startling to find Felix and Oscar being played by, respectively, Ron Glass and Demond Wilson.

What may be surprising is how little the ''spine'' of the show has changed. The dialogue has been updated a little, but the plots are essentially the same. The premiere has the two roommates sparring, each in his distinctive way, with the Internal Revenue Service and themselves. Mr. Glass manages, with remarkable accuracy, even to sound like Tony Randall in the original series. Mr. Wilson, whose waistline has expanded noticeably since his days as the son in ''Sanford & Son,'' does not strive for a Jack Klugman imitation, but his reading of the insult lines is equally effective.

''The New Odd Couple'' bounces along nicely. It adds nothing new to the craft of situation comedy, but it does provide employment and a good showcase for talented black actors, who generally don't have an easy time of it on television these days. If the gimmick works, the possibilities for similar revivals are obviously endless.

For more on The New Odd Couple go to http://www.poobala.com/newandodd.html