Reboots That Should've Never Been Made: "The Odd Couple"

[JamesG]

As a wise man once said, (or didn't): every generation gets "The Odd Couple" it deserves. Fifty-four years-old, this is a concept that keeps on ticking.

From the original Neil Simon play, to the 1970s Jack Klugman/Tony Randall TV version, to the 1975 cartoon featuring a cat and dog (guess which one's the slob), to a 1980s attempt (with "Sanford and Son's" Demond Wilson and "Barney Miller's" Ron Glass) to Matthew Perry's 2015 take… Felix and Oscar are truly the Reboot Kings.




Whatever the era, the basic scenario — an uptight stress-bag agitated by his relaxed-to-a-fault friend — does have comic potential. And with Perry (a decade past "Friends" at this point) as the grumbly, slovenly Oscar and "Reno 911!'s" Thomas Lennon as the clean-freak Felix, plus a strong supporting cast, you could almost imagine this working.

And maybe an FX or HBO level of freedom — no laugh tracks, no censors, a "Curb Your Enthusiasm"-level authenticity filled with awkward moments — could've fulfilled its promise. Instead, CBS shoved it into the driest of molds, cranked up the laugh track (please make these illegal), and filled it with boilerplate jokes, creating a remake dustier than Oscar's baseboards.

https://ew.com/tv/tv-reboots-should-...ver-been-made/

[Chocolate Moose]

I liked it.