they went to the new apartment set and the 3-camera live-audience format, and each episode was the new visiting real-life celebrity of the week -- Howard Cossell, Monty Hall, and on and on and on. Then the totally unbelievable airplane episode.
Only the first season was true to the movie and all.
"Backed by the full faith and credit of the American taxpayers."
Samclyde, you write "each episode was the new visiting real-life celebrity of the week."
This is a gross exaggeration. I just looked over the plots for the final three seasons and could count no more than 8 episodes that fit that description--that's fewer than three episodes per season! (The reason I say about is because in some cases you could argue whether an episode fits your description--when an actor is playing a role similar to himself but not himself.)
This series is one of the funniest ever and that includes many, many episodes made after they switched to the live-audience format--a move which I did not prefer, by the way.
I don't understand your comment about the first season being "true to the movie" either. No episodes that year corresponded with the movie, except in basic premises and in general activities. The movie/or play could be said to be "like" a pilot for the series. But the series, with many more hours to fill, has to go far beyond whatever the characters did in that movie/play. It could not be that a series does not go far beyond a movie or a play.
Having seen The Odd Couple movie AND play, I will also say, you pick out any three episodes of the series you want and I'll get more laughs watching them than I will watching the film again. It was good, but not all that funny.
I'm not saying the episodes weren't entertaining, but it got to the point where it really wasn't The Odd Couple anymore, it was more of 'which celebrity guest star will Felix and Oscar meet this week?'
The first season is definately closer to the movie, don't know how you can't see that. The first season was just like the movie, where it was just about Oscar and Felix and the poker pals and the Pidgeon sisters and on the guys dating.
But in later seasons, you had Howard Cossell twice, Monty Hall, Paul Williams, Bobby Riggs, Billy Jean King, Jay P. Morgan, Edward Villella, Roy Clark, Bubba Smith, Deacon Jones, Dick Fredericks, Dick Cavett, David Steinberg, Hugh Hefner, Alan Luden, Betty White, that Rodney kid, and on and on.
It wasn't the Odd Couple anymore, it was more like a variety show.
"Backed by the full faith and credit of the American taxpayers."
This was a TV series that never jumped the shark.
shareThis show as a fatter of mact got better as it went along. I still think the last season was the best.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
If this show didn't jump the shark, then no show jumped the shark -- because this show did the most shark-jumping as I understand it, way more than even Happy Days.
"Backed by the full faith and credit of the American taxpayers."
So what's your definition of "jumped the shark?" To me, it's when a show stopped being good. This show had great episodes all along, well into the last three seasons.
shareI don't think you understand what "jump the shark" means. Look it up. A show can only jump the shark once.
shareI could handle the appearances of most of the celebs you list except for Rodney Allan Rippy (a semi-famous child actor who's claim to fame was doing hamburger-chain ads, and a slap in the face of an otherwise fine episode featuring the awesome Victor Buono)and maybe Fredericks, whom most people never heard of (I'm assuming Tony Randall may have pushed for or endorsed his appearance).
shareRAR was on for 30 seconds. I could live with that.
Dick Fredericks was a NY-thing. Yeah, even most New Yorkers probably didn't know about him. But it made sense, because a sportswriter playing softball in a league would likely run into guys like Fredericks, Cosell, Bubba Smith, etc.
Remember....these guys were a commercial photographer and a sportswriter. They're going to run into a David Steinberg or a famous person.
And don't forget Oscar went to college with Monty Hall !
Rodney Allan Rippy was just a poor selection for a cameo. Anyone, young or old, would have been a better choice. And it was probably 20 years before I could actually understand what he said when Felix asked him how he could afford to buy a building. Does anyone remember his line, because I don't.
share"Tax shelters!"
(Having closed captions on screen helps a great deal.)
Remember....these guys were a commercial photographer and a sportswriter. They're going to run into a David Steinberg or a famous person.
Personally I'm glad that subsequent seasons weren't as "true to the movie," because to me one of the fundamental weaknesses of Season 1 is that Klugman at times slips into what amounts to a Walter Matthau impersonation instead of letting his own personality infuse the character, which he was able to do consistently in Seasons 2-5.
shareOnly the first season was true to the movie and all.
Most ODD COUPLE fans I know have the least appreciation for the first season, if anything. I know one guy who was a fan but told me he actually only bought seasons 2 - 5 ! (???). The show is known for having really gotten better once they went to the multi-camera, and lost that stupid laugh track.
share
First seasons are usually the best with every TV show, IMO. I like the first Odd Couple season the best because the humor is more subtle.
A shining rewards a small journey backwards in time brings.
Yes, I agree most TV Series usually are best in their first season. This is one of the few exceptions that got even better later, IMO . (I do fully enjoy Season 1 though).
shareSeason 1 of Newhart seems to have undergone the same transformation. And like The Odd Couple, the change was an improvement.
shareCompletely wrong. Most shows need at least one season before they find their groove. It takes that long for the writers really get a feel for the show and the actors get a feel for the characters. The first season of Happy Days was nowhere near as funny as maybe season three or four. Likewise, the Brady Bunch's first season is almost unwatchable, as is Growing Pains. Virtually everybody agrees Star Trek TOS was best in its second season, and also that TNG was embarrassing in its first two or three seasons and DS9 similarly below average in its first three seasons. About the only shows I can remember that had good first seasons are those that only ran one season, so we never got to see what kind of improvement they might have made.
share Garry Marshall did his best to push Klugman and Randall over that shark, but
they were both such seasoned comic actors that they were able to resist his strongest efforts to ruin the show by making it hopelessly silly. I agree that
it should have jumped the shark with some of the later plots and the guest
stars, but somehow Jack and Tony were always able to pull it off and make it hilarious. (The airplane episode is fantastic!)
Marshall had much better success ruining Happy Days after its first two
seasons; it jumped the shark years before the shark even showed up.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.
[deleted]
You don't know what you are talking about.
If the show didn't evolve and bring in the guest-stars and go to the different shooting/laugh-track format, it would have been cancelled 2 years earlier.
I agree that the 1st season more closely resembled the movie, which I did not like at all.
I found the 1st season of the OC to be too dark; the acrimony between Oscar and Felix wasn't funny to me. When they moved into the bigger apartment I think the show became more funny, and the characters stopped taking themselves so seriously.
I also have to agree that some of the ones with celebrities were my least favorite. The Howard Cosell episode was a disaster, imo, and gave me a headache.
Luvvie, how can you say you didn't like the celebrity episodes ? I thought the Howard Cosell episodes (2 of them !) were very well done.
Did you check out Felix's taking over for Oscar calling the play on MNF ? "Ladies and gentlemen, I'll recap the 3 plays you just missed right after this commercial announcement" -- LOL !!
What about Oscar admitting to laying 7 points on the Bengals ?
Those Cosell episodes were GREAT !
Love the episode where Oscar is ready to zing Cosell: "Thanks, Needle-Nose -- Hey Howard, is that a new jacket you're wearing or did you have the old one re-painted". GREAT episode!
Season 5 is extremely underrated. Tony and Jack are hilarious!
I don't dislike Season 1, but there's something about it that feels more serious or claustrophobic than later when they used the second apartment. Most fans think the show really came into its own in Season 2, not 1 .
I agree with JoeKarlosi when he wrote, "Season 5 is extremely underrated. Tony and Jack are hilarious!"
One of my top episodes, "The Bigger They Are," guest starring John Byner as the bell-ringing madman ad man is a fifth season highlight.
I haven't seen many ODD COUPLE episodes since the 1980s when WPIX/11 in New York would run them around 11:00 before THE HONEYMOONERS and STAR TREK. I pre-ordered the complete series DVD set coming out on June 16 and am looking forward to watching 'em all (even the much-maligned first season, which I enjoy but not as much as 2-5).
I don't think the series ever jumped the shark, though a dorsal fin broke the water on more than a few occasions. I agree the relentless line of celebrity guests got to be too much, though I must admit I really enjoy the Howard Cosell appearances and the Paul Williams episode (I disliked the actual Hef episode, but love the one where John Astin plays a Hef-like character). The ones I remember groaning at are any episode where Felix pines for Gloria and tries for a reconciliation (and the series finale was a dud). The flashback ones to army days were never favorites either. I also found irksome the character of Myrna (made more so by the shameless nepotism in her casting).
Murray the Cop could be annoying too, especially as he became more buffoonish as the series went on. A near parallel at the time was Howard Borden on THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, who went from childlike eccentric to outright imbecilic.
Shows like THE ODD COUPLE and BARNEY MILLER are comfort TV for ex-New Yorkers such as myself, so sentimentality for the Big Apple of the 1970s will cover a multitude of shortcomings in story and casting.
Unlike today, NYC as depicted in Barney Miller, was dreary and uninviting. Sentimental would be Manhattan in Bell, Book and Candle or The Apartment
shareI am still sentimental for The Twin Towers and probably always will be.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley
I have stronger emotions about the Twin towers, sorrow, grief, anger.
shareI'd say The Odd Couple never completely jumped the shark, but it certainly veered in the sharks direction. As a 7 year old kid it was a little tough watching the show (on Friday nights?) and from what I remember there was some episode about frogs in central park and it was kind of boring and I don't think I tuned in very much after that.
In short, I think OC with Tony Randall, Jack Klugman, and Al Molinaro were just talented and at times hilarious enough to keep the show plowing on for 5 seasons.
Shall we play a game?
This is all personal opinion. Most of their 5 seasons are pretty equal to me.
I have several favorite episodes within the 1st season, but I can't pick any ONE season as a standout.
Personally, I LOATHED most of the celebrity episodes. By and large, I didn't care for any of the guest stars. Neither Roy Clark, Howard Cosell, David Steinberg, Bobby Riggs, Paul Williams, Monty Hall et all, were ANY of my favorite celebrities. The ONLY one I COULD tolerate was the "Password" episode with Alan Ludden and Betty White.
Personally, I LOATHED most of the celebrity episodes. By and large, I didn't care for any of the guest stars. Neither Roy Clark, Howard Cosell, David Steinberg, Bobby Riggs, Paul Williams, Monty Hall et all, were ANY of my favorite celebrities. The ONLY one I COULD tolerate was the "Password" episode with Alan Ludden and Betty White.
This is one show that NEVER jumped the shark. No matter what celebrity du jour was on the show, Randall and Klugman still commanded your attention. They were always hilarious and no guest star ever stole their thunder.
This show started off funny in the first season,and then became HYSTERICAL in the second season and remained that way for the remainder of the series