The New Odd Couple
The New Odd Couple is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from 1982 to 1983, and was an updated version of the 1970s television series The Odd Couple. The New Odd Couple was the second attempt to remake a series of one of Neil Simon's plays with a primarily African-American and European-American cast. The first was Barefoot in the Park (which also premiered on September 24, 1970, the same day the original Odd Couple series did).
| The New Odd Couple | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Based on | The Odd Couple by Neil Simon |
| Developed by | Garry K. Marshall |
| Written by | Lowell Ganz Mark Rothman Millee Taggart Kurt Taylor |
| Directed by | Joel Zwick |
| Starring | Ron Glass Demond Wilson John Schuck Bart Braverman Jo Marie Payton Liz Torres |
| Theme music composer | Neal Hefti |
| Composers | Dan Foliart Howard Pearl |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 18 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Garry Marshall Tony Marshall |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production companies | Henderson Production Company Inc. Paramount Television |
| Distributor | CBS Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | October 29, 1982 – May 26, 1983 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Odd Couple |
Synopsis
In this series, Felix and Oscar were both African-American college buddies who met in the 1950s. Felix was portrayed by Ron Glass and Oscar was portrayed by Demond Wilson. The characterizations were still the same, as Felix was a prissy neatfreak and Oscar was a fun-loving and sloppy character. John Schuck also appeared as Murray the Cop, who was kept Caucasian, as was the character of Roy, who was played by Bart Braverman.
The show ran for 18 episodes; eight of the episodes used recycled scripts from the original series. By the time the writers began producing new scripts, it was too late, as the show never found an audience. The series was cancelled in 1983.
Cast
- Ron Glass as Felix Unger
- Demond Wilson as Oscar Madison
- Sheila Anderson as Cecily Pigeon
- Bart Braverman as Roy
- Ronalda Douglas as Gwendolyn Pigeon
- Jo Marie Payton as Mona
- John Schuck as Murray
- Liz Torres as Maria
- Telma Hopkins as Frances
Production
The New Odd Couple was executive produced by Garry and Anthony W. Marshall, and produced by Paramount Television. The theme music was still the same as the original series (composed by Neal Hefti), but it was played with a more updated urban arrangement.
This marked the second time Ron Glass and Demond Wilson collaborated; nearly a decade prior, they appeared together in two episodes of Sanford and Son : "Card Sharps" (S2, E6) and "Once a Thief" (S4, E15).
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Ides of April" | Joel Zwick | Lowell Ganz & Mark Rothman | October 29, 1982 | |
| Felix receives a letter from the IRS. While correcting the error at the IRS office, he accidentally gives away the information about Oscar's tax violations. Felix helps Oscar with his backlogged taxes and saves the day. | |||||
| 2 | "The Hustler" | Joel Zwick | Lowell Ganz & Mark Rothman | November 5, 1982 | |
| Oscar is suckered into a contest with a pool hustler. | |||||
| 3 | "Frances Moves In" | Joel Zwick | Lowell Ganz & Mark Rothman | November 12, 1982 | |
| Felix' ex-wife moves in, interrupting the weekly poker game. | |||||
| 4 | "That Was No Lady" | Joel Zwick | Lee Kalcheim | November 19, 1982 | |
| Felix falls for the girlfriend of a boxing great, KO'ing Oscar's hopes of writing a book on the champion. | |||||
| 5 | "Brother, Can You Spare a Job?" | Joel Zwick | Jerry Ross | November 26, 1982 | |
| At Felix' prodding, Oscar demands a raise and is immediately promoted into the ranks of the unemployed. | |||||
| 6 | "The New Car" | Joel Zwick | Lowell Ganz & Mark Rothman | December 3, 1982 | |
| In this episode, Felix and Oscar win a car. The car becomes a problem when the two are forced to take turns getting up early to move it across the street. Problems are made worse when Felix refuses to let Oscar drive the car for fear that something will happen to it. Eventually they decide to get rid of the car so that it does not come between their friendship. | |||||
| 7 | "The Cordon Blues" | Joel Zwick | Jeffrey Duteil & Ralph Farquhar | December 10, 1982 | |
| A socialite friend thinks Felix has the panache to manage her new restaurant. | |||||
| 8 | "The Odd Triangle" | Joel Zwick | Norman Barasch | December 17, 1982 | |
| Felix suspects the model Oscar is dating is using his roommate to get to Felix—and his influence as a fashion photographer. | |||||
| 9 | "Opening Night" | John Tracy | Mary Cory Miller & Kurt Taylor | December 31, 1982 | |
| Felix helps Oscar review a Broadway play whose backer insists on a favorable notice—or else. | |||||
| 10 | "Security" | Joel Zwick | Jerry Belson | January 7, 1983 | |
| In the aftermath of a robbery, Felix gets a guard dog and looks for an apartment with tighter security. | |||||
| 11 | "Bachelor of the Year" | Joel Zwick | Mark C. Miller & Kurt Taylor | January 14, 1983 | |
| Felix and Oscar are pitted against each other in a magazine's Man of the Year contest. | |||||
| 12 | "A Grave for Felix" | Joel Zwick | Dick Bensfield & Perry Grant | January 21, 1983 | |
| The money Felix entrusts to Oscar for a cemetery-plot deposit becomes ready cash for Oscar's gambling. | |||||
| 13 | "My Strife in Court" | Joel Zwick | Lowell Ganz & Mark Rothman | January 28, 1983 | |
| Oscar can't find a date for a concert, so Felix gets them both arrested for scalping at the door. | |||||
| 14 | "Oscar Dates Felix's Frances" | Joel Zwick | Stu Silver | February 18, 1983 | |
| Oscar agrees to accompany Felix' ex-wife to a boring lecture. The unexpected happens when Oscar and Frances decide to begin dating. | |||||
| 15 | "Murray's Hot Date" | Joel Zwick | Madeline Sunshine & Steven Sunshine | February 25, 1983 | |
| Oscar gives the household money to Charity—a prostitute he hires as Murray's date for the civil servant. | |||||
| 16 | "The Perils of Pauline" | Joel Zwick | Jeffrey Duteil & Barry O'Brien | May 13, 1983 | |
| Murray's palm reading points to bad luck down the line for Felix, beginning with Oscar ruining his roommate's chances to enter a photo exhibition. | |||||
| 17 | "The Only Way to Fly" | Joel Zwick | Madeline Sunshine & Steven Sunshine | May 20, 1983 | |
| A crazed man throws a brick through Felix' studio window, and it's wrapped with a message threatening Felix for dating his wife. | |||||
| 18 | "The Night Stalker" | Joel Zwick | Ralph Farquhar | May 26, 1983 | |
| Oscar's pals surprise him with a word processor, but Oscar can't compose without "Pauline"—his trusty typewriter. | |||||
US TV Ratings
| Season | Episodes | Start Date | End Date | Nielsen Rank | Nielsen Rating | Tied With |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-83 | 18 | October 29, 1982 | May 26, 1983 | 60[1] | N/A | N/A |
Syndication
Reruns of the series aired on BET in the early 1990s. TV Land occasionally aired reruns when they were airing reruns of the original 1970s series.
References
- Lina. "The TV Ratings Guide: 1982-83 Ratings History -- Soap Bubbles Rise, Several Veterans Part and NBC Renews Poorly Rated Masterpieces". Archived from the original on 2018-03-18. Retrieved 1 April 2018.