View Full Version : "The Odd Couple's" Version of A Christmas Carol Was Not Very Good! Agree? Disagree?


Brian Damage
12-23-2010, 07:50 PM
The Odd Couple, “Scrooge Gets An Oscar” (1970)

Slobby, divorced sportswriter Oscar Madison is in such a bad mood at Christmas that he refuses to take part in his roommate’s stage production of “A Christmas Carol.” (The last straw comes when Oscar’s ex-wife sends him a reminder about his late alimony, via singing telegram.) But then Oscar’s dinner of meatloaf, chili, and liverwurst begins to agitate his ulcer, so he lies down on the couch for a long winter’s nap and has a nightmare in which the fussy roommate, Felix Unger, plays a Christmas ghost, while Oscar plays Scrooge. The Odd Couple writers then do almost a Mad-magazine-style parody of Dickens, played out on a bare stage with cartoony sets and minimal props. When Oscar wakes up, he has a heartburn-induced change of heart, telling Felix that he’ll gladly be in Felix’s play, and will be a less grumpy person from now on. “This is the real you,” Felix enthuses, “that’s underneath the other real you.”

http://www.avclub.com/articles/you-will-be-visited-by-69-spirits-23-tv-episodes-b,49218/