{"id":867,"date":"2015-02-20T20:37:28","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T20:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/?p=867"},"modified":"2015-02-20T20:37:28","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T20:37:28","slug":"odd-couple-wont-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2015\/02\/odd-couple-wont-last.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Odd Couple’ Won’t Last"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Felix<\/a>
Felix Unger (Thomas Lennon) plays the ying to Oscar Madison’s (Matthew Perry) yang in “The Odd Couple.” (CBS)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Neil Simon\u2019s original play, The Odd Couple<\/i> is a comedy classic that no TV sitcom incarnation has given the story any justice. The 1970-1975 version with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman came the closest, but it pales in comparison to the wit of the original. In 1982, a new \u201cblack\u201d version of the show dubbed, The New Odd Couple<\/i> debuted for an extra short season. Apparently changing the race of the main characters didn\u2019t make the show any funnier.<\/p>\n

Last night, CBS ran the pilot episode of yet a \u201cnew\u201d Odd Couple<\/i> that starred Matthew Perry as Oscar Madison, the messy sports radio commentator who \u201cworks\u201d from home in his boxers. Thomas Lennon plays the ying to Oscar\u2019s yang, the extremely tidy Felix Unger. The new show makes a valiant try of recreating the comedy borrowing the same theme song from the first TV show and storyline from the original play. But in the end, it is another flawed production for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n

First, the 22 minute show tries to cram in every aspect of the original two hour play which is tough to do. It tried to address about six different plot points. Second, last night, seven characters were introduced. This is a common mistake of many sitcoms as allows for virtually no time for character development. Third, the show immediately goes where all CBS comedies go these days – sex. In the pilot, Oscar meets an attractive women in his apartment complex who tells him that she really isn\u2019t wanting a meaningful relationship – she\u2019s just looking for someone to have sex with. Fourth, while Lennon is over-the-top in his role as Felix, (he could calm down the role a bit), Perry is all wrong for Oscar. Perhaps it is all of his years playing Chandler Bing on Friends<\/i> that ruined him for this role. He just isn\u2019t messy enough or have the right attitude, but he does have the sarcasm down pat. He would make a very good Felix though.<\/p>\n

I do believe that a television version of Neil Simon\u2019s work can be successful, but must have him involved in the project for it to be successful. Simon has his own brand of humor that is hard to replicate and his pace is a lot slower than today\u2019s sitcoms allow, but it still could be done. Last night\u2019s pilot could have been broken up into five episodes alone.<\/p>\n

I like Matthew Perry and I hope that he will eventually land a solid role in comedy again, but this isn\u2019t it. The Odd Couple<\/em> airs Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. on CBS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Simon\u2019s original play, The Odd Couple is a comedy classic that no TV sitcom incarnation has given the story any justice. The 1970-1975 version with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman came the closest, but it pales in comparison to the wit of the original. In 1982, a new \u201cblack\u201d version of the show dubbed,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":558,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[4,817,815,121,816,818,93],"class_list":["post-867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tv-shows","tag-cbs","tag-matthew-perry","tag-neil-simon","tag-sitcom","tag-the-odd-couple","tag-thomas-lennon","tag-tv-show-review"],"yoast_head":"\n'Odd Couple' Won't Last - Peanuts and Popcorn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Odd Couple' Won't Last - Peanuts and Popcorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Neil Simon\u2019s original play, The Odd Couple is a comedy classic that no TV sitcom incarnation has given the story any justice. 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