Alan Brady's Hair
01-21-2019, 10:06 PM
I switch around among The Odd Couple, The Bob Newhart Show, and The Dick van Dyke Show for the best American sitcom ever. I just finished watching The Odd Couple complete on DVD, so it's moved up to No. 1 for me.
The first thing I noticed is that "the bottom" - the lesser episodes - is better than I remember. Episodes based on sentiment, like those centered around Felix's kids or when Oscar falls in love, are funnier than I remember. I watched the series from Season 5 back to Season 1, and liked the quieter first season better since I wasn't waiting to get to the classic live audience shows. In a great rarity with sitcoms, the last season, and even the last half of the last season, deliver funny episodes again and again.
These are the episodes (about half) that I think stand with the best of any sitcom. If anything, I think I might add a few to the list if I give the series another look:
1:1 Laundry Orgy
1:5 The Jury Story
1:11 Felix Is Missing
1:13 The Blackout
1:14 They Use Horseradish, Don't They?
1:15 The Hideaway
1:17 Engrave Trouble
1:20 A Taste of Money
1:23 What Does a Naked Lady Say to You?
1:24 Trapped
2:3 Hospital Mates
2:4 Sleepwalker
2:6 Murray the Fink
2:7 Does Your Mother Know You're Out, Rigoletto?
2:8 The Fat Farm
2:13 Felix the Calypso Singer
2:14 And Leave the Greyhound to Us?
2:19 Partner's Investment
2:23 Psychic, Shmychic
3:2 Big Mouth
3:5 The Odd Monks
3:8 Felix's First Commercial
3:9 The First Baby
3:11 Password
3:15 I Gotta Be Me
3:16 The Ides of April
3:18 The Hustler
3:19 My Strife in Court
3:20 Let's Make a Deal
3:22 Take My Furniture, Please
4:2 Last Tango in Newark
4:6 The New Car
4:7 That Is the Army, Mrs. Madison
4:8 The Songwriter
4:10 The Pig Who Came to Dinner
4:12 The Exorcist
4:16 The Flying Felix
4:18 Shuffling Off to Buffalo
4:20 The Insomniacs
4:21 New York's Oddest
4:22 One for the Bunny
5:1 The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in Vain
5:2 To Bowl or Not to Bowl
5:4 The Hollywood Story
5:5 The Dog Story
5:6 Strike Up the Band or Else
5:8 The Subway Story
5:10 Our Fathers
5:13 The Bigger They Are
5:14 Two on the Aisle
5:15 Your Mother Wears Army Boots
5:16 Felix the Horse Player
5:17 The Rent Strike
5:18 Two Men on a Hoarse
5:19 The Roy Clark Show
5:20 Old Flames Never Die
5:22 Felix Remarries
The first thing I noticed is that "the bottom" - the lesser episodes - is better than I remember. Episodes based on sentiment, like those centered around Felix's kids or when Oscar falls in love, are funnier than I remember. I watched the series from Season 5 back to Season 1, and liked the quieter first season better since I wasn't waiting to get to the classic live audience shows. In a great rarity with sitcoms, the last season, and even the last half of the last season, deliver funny episodes again and again.
These are the episodes (about half) that I think stand with the best of any sitcom. If anything, I think I might add a few to the list if I give the series another look:
1:1 Laundry Orgy
1:5 The Jury Story
1:11 Felix Is Missing
1:13 The Blackout
1:14 They Use Horseradish, Don't They?
1:15 The Hideaway
1:17 Engrave Trouble
1:20 A Taste of Money
1:23 What Does a Naked Lady Say to You?
1:24 Trapped
2:3 Hospital Mates
2:4 Sleepwalker
2:6 Murray the Fink
2:7 Does Your Mother Know You're Out, Rigoletto?
2:8 The Fat Farm
2:13 Felix the Calypso Singer
2:14 And Leave the Greyhound to Us?
2:19 Partner's Investment
2:23 Psychic, Shmychic
3:2 Big Mouth
3:5 The Odd Monks
3:8 Felix's First Commercial
3:9 The First Baby
3:11 Password
3:15 I Gotta Be Me
3:16 The Ides of April
3:18 The Hustler
3:19 My Strife in Court
3:20 Let's Make a Deal
3:22 Take My Furniture, Please
4:2 Last Tango in Newark
4:6 The New Car
4:7 That Is the Army, Mrs. Madison
4:8 The Songwriter
4:10 The Pig Who Came to Dinner
4:12 The Exorcist
4:16 The Flying Felix
4:18 Shuffling Off to Buffalo
4:20 The Insomniacs
4:21 New York's Oddest
4:22 One for the Bunny
5:1 The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in Vain
5:2 To Bowl or Not to Bowl
5:4 The Hollywood Story
5:5 The Dog Story
5:6 Strike Up the Band or Else
5:8 The Subway Story
5:10 Our Fathers
5:13 The Bigger They Are
5:14 Two on the Aisle
5:15 Your Mother Wears Army Boots
5:16 Felix the Horse Player
5:17 The Rent Strike
5:18 Two Men on a Hoarse
5:19 The Roy Clark Show
5:20 Old Flames Never Die
5:22 Felix Remarries