“The Odd Couple”, One Of America’s Best Loved Sitcoms

Many years have passed since the sitcom “The Odd Couple” was aired on television by ABC (American Broadcast Company) in the United States and I would not think it strange if many a person of younger generations then my own did not know anything about this program. After all to be precise this sitcom (word being an abbreviation for situation comedy) ran from September 7, 1970 when the first episode was broadcast till March 7, 1975 when the last one put an end to the story of Oscar Madison and Felix Unger. These two characters respectively played by Jack Klugman and Tony Randall. As for the idea that lead to the creation of this program it was a play written by Neil Simon which first inspired a film on which this TV serial was based upon.

Regarding The Odd Couple’s theme, this was based upon the lives of two fictional characters, one of which was Felix Unger and other being Oscar Madison who were middle aged divorced men sharing an apartment on the upper Westside of Central Park. Felix Unger for his part was a commercial photographer, portraits specialty as he would often say on the show while his roommate Oscar Madison was a sports columnist for the New York Herald, a fictional newspaper. This in and of itself would have served to create a contrast between these two great friends more so since Felix was also a ballet and opera fanatic while Oscar held few interests outside of sports and laying bets on them which more often then not he did not win however there was another element in this story. Felix Unger was what could be officially classified as a “neat freak” as we see through out the show in some of his habits which even lead to his divorce like him cleaning up after his wife had just done the same; all this while Oscar was the total opposite. This being more then apparent when one walked in to Oscar’s room to see all his clothes literally lying on the floor along with some of his unfinished pastrami sandwiches.

In my opinion this concept alone lends itself to many an interesting story developing but added to this there was the element of life in New York City and all the adventures that could and did arise in a metropolis such as this one. For instance I could mention the episode which is discussed in my book “New York’s Opera Society” but rather then just describe some of the episodes over all the rest I will recommend those who have curiosity apropos this program to read about it on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odd_Couple_(TV_series). Naturally those who wish to do more then read about “The Odd Couple” will be in for a treat as they may actually watch some episodes in their entirety though unfortunately not all of them on www.youtube.com .

Looking back on The Odd Couple there are many things that made it special; one of them being that it was recorded in front of a live studio audience. This meaning the laughter in the background is genuine as opposed to today’s programs which are added. Another one being how “The Odd Couple” was canceled after every one of its first four seasons due to its mediocre ratings; only to be brought back the following season on the strength of its high ratings during the summer months . This last feature proving that in fact the large following “The Odd Couple” now enjoys was not really a product of good marketing at the time as it was not till the show was aired some years later on channel 11 that it became the classic it is today along with “The Honeymooners”, “Happy Days” and “All In The Family” which enjoyed much higher ratings.

I am naturally aware that many may consider sitcoms to be boring and tiring as all we are seeing is the same actors playing the same characters under the same set of circumstances for year after year till the program becomes a copy of itself but however with reference to “The Odd Couple” this did not happen. The reason being first because only 114 episodes were made as opposed to others which have already past the 500 mark and are still being made simply because there are enough people with nothing better to do in the evenings then to watch them. Another reason in my opinion is that its two main characters were diverse enough while being able to be friends that they could bring in to the show elements from two completely different fields. This being the case since Oscar was a sports writer thanks to whom we got to see Howard Cosell, a famous American sports commentator known for hosting “Monday Night Football” and his relationship with Cassius Clay (a.k.a. Mohamed Ali) while thanks to Felix we got the cultural side of the program. By the cultural side I mean that even though Felix was by profession a photographer, he was also both an opera buff as well as a ballet one (same as me) who brought on such stars as Martina Arroyo and Richard Frederick from the opera world.

As for myself, personally I must say that The Odd Couple has influenced me in many ways; the first being how it introduced me to certain operas such as Carmen and certain composers such as Wagner in the episode I mention in my book “New York’s Opera Society”. The Odd Couple however did not limit itself to this cultural side but even introduced me to American sports such as football as opposed to the European and South American version I had known till then. With regards to my writing this perhaps not so much but it did allow me to see a certain kind of humor which I hope those who have ever seen The Odd Couple will find in my writing as well which is the ability to improvise. For instance I when writing a book have yet to make an outline of the story before I write it as I do it on the spur of the moment and this was precisely what was done between Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, who on several occasions were handed a script that simply said in this scene Oscar has to teach Felix the rules of American football.

In conclusion I can not in all honesty claim that The Odd Couple was the greatest sitcom ever as I do not believe in such words but I can say that it was the one I enjoyed the most and it is with the intension of recommending it to younger generations that I wrote this article. In the hope that they too will see that there was a time when sense of humor did not have to be phrases with double meanings that always made references to sex but simply a lighter way of looking at the world and all its oddities.

My name is Gianni Truvianni, I am an author who writes with the simple aim of sharing his ideas, thoughts and so much more of what I am with those who are interested in perhaps reading something new. As for the details regarding my life I would say that there is nothing that lifts them above the ordinary. I was born in New York City in 1967 on May 21st and am presently living in Warsaw, Poland where I wrote my first book “New York’s Opera Society” now Available on Amazon.

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