"On November thirteenth, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right. But he also knew that someday he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his childhood friend, Oscar Madison. Sometime earlier, Madison's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?" - Announcer during the opening credits of "The Odd Couple"
The Odd Couple: The First Season DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Photographer Felix Unger (Tony Randall, Love, Sidney) is a fuss-budget. He's the kind of guy who is ready to clean a spill before it even hits the floor and stores his socks on hangers. Not only is he a hypochondriac, but the mere fact that people think he's a hypochondriac makes him sick. When his wife Gloria made him a special dinner, he excused himself to the kitchen to get a glass of water, taking his salad with him so that he could wash off the "grit." When his persnickety ways got to be too much - he's allergic to mayonnaise, for God's sake - Gloria kicked him to the curb. Felix moved in with his old pal Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman, Quincy, M.E.), sportswriter. Oscar is also recently divorced. The similarities between the two men end there. Oscar is a slob. He can't eat a hotdog without dropping half of the chili on his shirt. His messy room looks like "someone blew up the Salvation Army." And putting socks on hangers? Oscar can't even match his shoes, much less his socks.
So, can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy? The answer is a tentative maybe. While they disagree on many things - including personal hygiene, housekeeping, and drinking straight from the milk carton - they do agree on some things. They both like their weekly poker games with their married friends, including Murray the cop (Al Molinaro, Happy Days) and compulsive gambler Speed (Garry Walberg, Quincy, M.E.). Felix spends more time cleaning up cigar ashes than actually anteing up, but they still manage to have fun. They also agree that their upstairs neighbors - the daft Brit Pigeon sisters, Cecily (Monica Evans) and Gwendolyn (Carole Shelley) - are the best thing England has produced since the Beatles. Of course when Oscar finally finagles a date with the Pigeon sisters, Felix nearly ruins it by suggesting that rather than going to a bar or a movie they could go downstairs and do their laundry. After an exciting evening watching suds roil around in a washer, the foursome returns to Oscar and Felix's bachelor pad...where Felix proceeds to vacuum.
It is hard to believe that The Odd Couple, All in the Family, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show premiered in the same calendar year. MTM ushered in a new style of sophisticated comedy that relied heavily on character development. All in the Family, while often stagey, broke boundaries on what could and couldn't be discussed on TV. In comparison, The Odd Couple seems like a throwback to an earlier era. Its plotlines are simple and familiar, and the show's central joke - boy, are they an odd couple! - is stretched to its limits.
One big reason that the series seems old-fashioned is that the first season was shot on film with one camera and no audience. After the episodes were edited, a laugh track was added. This technique was also used in shows like Gidget, My Three Sons, and The Flying Nun, but was falling out of vogue by the 1970s, when voiceover announcements proudly touted that The Jeffersons was "taped before a live studio audience." Without an audience, the series lacks a certain spark. Incidentally, the stars and producers came to the same conclusion: subsequent seasons were shot with live audiences.
The Odd Couple's saving grace is the chemistry between its two stars. It is obvious from the first episode that Klugman and Randall were meant to play these roles and play them together. They elevate the material they are given. Sometimes this is futile, but often the result is comic gold. Take, for example, a dialogue exchange from "The Jury Story":
Felix: "Do you always talk with your mouth full?"
Oscar: "Only when I'm eating."
Felix: "Hmm..."
Oscar: "Where's the butter?"
Felix: "On your sleeve."
Simple, funny writing made even funnier by two performers with expert timing and a seemingly inbred rapport.
Regardless of the series' slightly dated feel, fans of the show will be delighted by The Odd Couple: The First Season. The set was executive produced by Paul Brownstein, who also produced stellar DVD sets of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Richard Pryor Show, Sgt. Bilko, and Gunsmoke. Once again, Brownstein has worked magic, pulling together uncut episodes and pairing them with worthy extras.
Familiar faces in season one include Ann Elder (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In), Bridget Hanley (Here Come the Brides), Barney Martin (Seinfeld), Alice Ghostley (Designing Women), Bill Quinn (Archie Bunker's Place), Richard Stahl (It's a Living), Joyce Van Patten ( The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis), Albert Brooks, Clint Howard (Gentle Ben), Ken Swofford (Fame), Herbie Faye (Sgt. Bilko), Reni Santoni (Manimal), Dub Taylor (Little House on the Prairie, Gunsmoke), Joan Hotchkis (My World and Welcome to It), Michael Constantine (Room 222), Lisa Gerritsen (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Pamelyn Ferdin (Lassie), Chris Shea (The Poseidon Adventure), John Astin (The Addams Family), Marj Dusay (Guiding Light), and Ellen Corby (The Waltons).
The twenty-four episodes that make up The Odd Couple: The First Season are divided onto four discs. A fifth disc includes Jack Klugman's and Tony Randall's favorite episodes (see below). All five discs are housed in what, from the outside, appears to be a standard DVD keepcase. Two interior swinging arms hold two discs apiece while the fifth disc is affixed to the interior rear cover. Each DVD is individually accessible. There is one tiny inconvenience - the keepcase is clear, allowing the double-sided coversheet to show through to the inside of the case. The interior features episode titles, original airdates, and brief plot synopses. Because disc five attaches to the interior rear cover, the disc must be removed in order to read the episode guide.
The vibrant full-motion menus employ clips from the episodes accompanied by the show's theme song. Viewers can choose to play all episodes on each disc consecutively or individually. There are no scene selection menus, but chapter stops are included.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Odd Couple: Season One was originally released in October 2006 by TimeLife.com. The contents of the Time/Life release are the same as those on the first four discs in the April 2007 CBS Paramount release. The Time/Life release does not include the fifth disc of Jack Klugman's and Tony Randall's favorite episodes. The packaging is also different. In the Time/Life set, the discs are housed in a foldout case decorated with production stills and publicity photos of the show's stars. Two of the panels list the episode titles and bonus materials found on each disc. This information is also printed on the discs themselves. Unfortunately, no plot synopses are included, making it somewhat difficult for viewers to choose individual episodes.
