Does anybody else find it ODD that they remade the Odd Couple in the early 80's with an all black cast? Did anybody like it? Why the heck did ABC remake it after totally destroying the much better version just a few years earlier???

http://tvseriesfinale.com/assets/newoddcouple05m.jpg

http://www.padutchcountryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/the-odd-couple-240x300.jpg

I remember it, and thought it was justOK; you know: not good but not bad either AFTER they stopped doing remakes of the Jack Klugman/Tony Randall version. (which they did at first because of a writers strike)

Randall & Klugman weren't the first ones to play Oscar & Felix on TV or film, but I think the remake series came too soon after the original went off the air. And the fact that they remade scripts from the first series did not bode well for a long run on this show.

I think Two And A Half Men is the modern-day equivalent of The Odd Couple. Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer play off each other much in the same way Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon and Tony Randall & Jack Klugman did.

Does anybody else find it ODD that they remade the Odd Couple in the early 80's with an all black cast? Did anybody like it? Why the heck did ABC remake it after totally destroying the much better version just a few years earlier???

http://tvseriesfinale.com/assets/newoddcouple05m.jpg

http://www.padutchcountryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/the-odd-couple-240x300.jpg

"Totally destroying?" Could you clarify that comment, please?

"Totally destroying?" Could you clarify that comment, please?


I think ABC ruined the Odd Couple by moving it around on the schedule and then ultimately canceling it, which I feel personally was unnecessary.

I think Two And A Half Men is the modern-day equivalent of The Odd Couple. Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer play off each other much in the same way Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon and Tony Randall & Jack Klugman did.

I absolutely agree with that 100%

I think ABC ruined the Odd Couple by moving it around on the schedule and then ultimately canceling it, which I feel personally was unnecessary.

Gotcha. I thought you were referring to the show creatively, which was making me scratch my head.

The OC should have been a big hit, but was always just barely renewed for the following season.

The acting in the remake wasn't as good as the original, plus the eps were a rehash from the original and not original stories. Demond Wilson's Oscar seemed like he was reading the lines. My pet peeve was his nickname for Felix calling him Feel it got on my nerves.

I think this new version will be good if they get someone good to play FELIX.
I know Mathew Perry's going to play Oscar; I can see him doing it.

I don't know him, I never saw RENO 911

I liked the African-American version. It was enjoyable.

They had also made an African-American version of another of Neil Simon's plays, Barefoot in the Park.

Never saw the 80s remake. I'd like to know when the reboot is going to air?

I liked the African-American version. It was enjoyable.

They had also made an African-American version of another of Neil Simon's plays, Barefoot in the Park.
that's right; I had forgotten about that.
I remember it was also on ABC in the early 70s, I think it only lasted 1 season I haven't seen it since it first aired but from what I remember it was pretty good.
I wonder if it's on DVD; I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

I think this new version will be good if they get someone good to play FELIX.
I know Mathew Perry's going to play Oscar; I can see him doing it.
Thomas Lennon is hilarious - regardless of whether what he is doing has a good script, or any script at all in fact.

Matthew Perry I can take or leave him, but I am willing to check out the new version.

I never saw the 80's remake version.

I'd like to know when the reboot is going to air?

Sometime in 2015 a mid season replacement.

either next month or in Feb.-I forget which.

Will probably be able to tell within thirty seconds if there's any chance of it being worthwhile. I'd say the odds are about ten to one against it.

yea, that's true. But last night ME TV showed the first one and I'd seen it before and thought it was just OK but last night I thought it was pretty good.

Anyway, you should watch at least 3 or 4 episodes of any new show before making a final judgment.

Hopefully they'll be on for 3 or 4 episodes so you can make a judgment.

Thirty seconds is enough. It's gonna be terrible.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erBtxIU1ww


More proof if you need it. I can't see how anyone who liked the genuinely talented comedy acting by Jack and Tony will like this. We'll see, but even the weaker first season of that looked much better than this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1dZVjc99dc

Thirty seconds is enough. It's gonna be terrible.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erBtxIU1ww


More proof if you need it. I can't see how anyone who liked the genuinely talented comedy acting by Jack and Tony will like this. We'll see, but even the weaker first season of that looked much better than this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1dZVjc99dc


You made it through the whole 30 seconds?????

I disagree; it looks good. Especially Mathew Perry as Oscar.

If people like it, I'm glad. It's better than a reality show. The only way to have better shows on TV is to make more sitcoms again. There's less chance if there are fewer sitcoms. I like that it's a multi-camera show filmed in front of an audience. Whether this one makes it or not, I always have much more hope for shows done in that classic style.

that's right; I had forgotten about that.
I remember it was also on ABC in the early 70s, I think it only lasted 1 season I haven't seen it since it first aired but from what I remember it was pretty good.
I wonder if it's on DVD; I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

I believe Barefoot in the Park is sometimes included as part of the Love, American Style syndication package. So maybe you can catch reruns that way. Incidentally, Barefoot in the Park was considered a very promising series and received a lot of praise from the critics. Unfortunately, there was a lot of conflict between Scoey Mitchell and the director and Mitchell got fired after 12 episodes. Perhaps if things had not gone so badly behind the cameras, it would have lasted. Interestingly, Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple both premiered in 1970 and aired back to back. This particular critic was not too impressed with The Odd Couple, but had a lot of praise for Barefoot in the Park.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19700925&id=b5cbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=slEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6960,2040075

that's right; the 2 shows WERE back-to-back, I'd forgotten that. I believe there were on Monday nights at 9 and 9:30 EST.

that's right; the 2 shows WERE back-to-back, I'd forgotten that. I believe there were on Monday nights at 9 and 9:30 EST.

The article says Thursday night, but maybe it got moved.

The article says Thursday night, but maybe it got moved.

The Odd Couple was on Friday. The best known lineup was:

8:00 The Brady Bunch
8:30 The Partridge Family
9:00 Room 222
9:30 The Odd Couple
10:00 Love, American Style

Eventually The Odd Couple was moved to Thursday, I believe in its last season.

That's correct, but it was also on Thursdays in its first season, specifically 9:30PM following another freshman sitcom adapted from Broadway, namely Barefoot in the Park. I think it moved to Friday at midseason.

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This week, it's ABC's ill-fated "The New Odd Couple" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Odd_Couple) from 1982. Starring Ron Glass and Demond Wilson.

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I'm surprised they never mentioned The new odd couple which was a female version. It was on Broadway in 1985 but just for the heck of it.

I'm surprised they never mentioned The new odd couple which was a female version. It was on Broadway in 1985 but just for the heck of it.

I remember that; it stared Sally Struthers and Rita Moreno

Never watched this version, though I read it redid a number of plots from the original show.

I've only seen clips of The New Odd Couple, but it was from episodes that were reshoots of the old scripts, so it just seemed like warmed over classic Odd Couple.

You can't establish a new show by rehashing old scripts.

they did that because of a writers strike

they did that because of a writers strike

I'm well aware of that, but redoing the old scripts certainly didn't help them.

Actors have to put their own stamp on a part previously played by other actors and it just appeared to viewers that they were just rehashing the classic series.

I was listening to director Joel Zwick on the TV Guidance Counselor Podcast (https://tvguidancecounselor.libsyn.com/tv-guidance-counselor-episode-542-joel-zwick) and he discusses working on The New Odd Couple (at the 00:38:37 mark). Zwick starts off by saying point blank, that The New Odd Couple was a mistake.

The series according to Zwick suffered from miscasting, in particular, casting Ron Glass in the Felix role (the Jack Lemmon/Tony Randall role). The assumption was that since Glass could play pristine and fussy, he could do exactly what Tony Randall did on the prior incarnation of The Odd Couple. Except, according to Zwick, Ron Glass really wasn't.

And in Zwick's own words, black men of that era more than likely couldn't relate the same way that that Jewish men of age 45, especially if they get into an argument. Plus, Glass was still inherently cool and non-neurotic even if he had a fussy side to him. Whereas according to Zwick, Ron Glass didn't have a neurotic bone in his body, the original characters played neurotic up the core.

To make matters worse, they were going to use all of the original Odd Couple sitcom scripts to save money. But within the first episode, they realized that these stories weren't going to hold.

I was listening to director Joel Zwick on the TV Guidance Counselor Podcast (https://tvguidancecounselor.libsyn.com/tv-guidance-counselor-episode-542-joel-zwick) and he discusses working on The New Odd Couple (at the 00:38:37 mark). Zwick starts off by saying point blank, that The New Odd Couple was a mistake.

The series according to Zwick suffered from miscasting, in particular, casting Ron Glass in the Felix role (the Jack Lemmon/Tony Randall role). The assumption was that since Glass could play pristine and fussy, he could do exactly what Tony Randall did on the prior incarnation of The Odd Couple. Except, according to Zwick, Ron Glass really wasn't.

And in Zwick's own words, black men of that era more than likely couldn't relate the same way that that Jewish men of age 45, especially if they get into an argument. Plus, Glass was still inherently cool and non-neurotic even if he had a fussy side to him. Whereas according to Zwick, Ron Glass didn't have a neurotic bone in his body, the original characters played neurotic up the core.

To make matters worse, they were going to use all of the original Odd Couple sitcom scripts to save money. But within the first episode, they released that these stories weren't going to hold.

Excellent breakdown of what went wrong.

Yes, the concept of two divorced men living together is fairly universal, but you have to adapt it to the actual people who are playing the roles and recycling old scripts was a very bad idea.

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I had previously noted elsewhere (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=6091234&postcount=37) that director Joel Zwick said that The New Odd Couple suffered from miscasting, in particular, casting Ron Glass as Felix Unger. The assumption was that since Glass could play pristine and fussy, he could do exactly what Tony Randall did on the prior incarnation of The Odd Couple. Except, according to Zwick, Ron Glass really wasn't.

And in Zwick's own words, black men of that era more than likely couldn't relate the same way that Jewish men of age 45 could relate, especially if they get into an argument. Plus, Glass was still inherently cool and non-neurotic even if he had a fussy side to him. Whereas according to Zwick, Ron Glass didn't have a neurotic bone in his body, the original characters played neurotic up the core.

Meanwhile, this is what John Schuck (https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/john-schuck/id883308059?i=1000531441091), who was Murray the cop on The New Odd Couple had to say (https://www.avclub.com/john-schuck-1798229196):
The idea was to take the Odd Couple premise and have two black guys do it, Demond Wilson and Ron Glass. But they hired all the same writers, so they were writing Jewish jokes for black guys! A friend of mine once said, “They would have been better off just showing the negatives of the original.” [Laughs.] But I had fun. I was playing Murray the cop. Most of the rehearsal was sitting around rewriting this stuff, which actors have no business doing, but… Joel Zwick was very lenient with us, and Garry Marshall was the producer, but he was fairly laissez-faire with us. We did what we wanted.