The New Odd Couple Explained

Genre:Sitcom
Developer:Garry K. Marshall
Director:Joel Zwick
John Tracy
Starring:Ron Glass
Demond Wilson
John Schuck
Bart Braverman
Jo Marie Payton
Liz Torres
Theme Music Composer:Neal Hefti
Composer:Dan Foliart
Howard Pearl
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:18
List Episodes:
  1. Episodes
Executive Producer:Garry Marshall
Anthony W. Marshall
Runtime:22 - 24 minutes
Channel:ABC
Company:Henderson Production Company Inc.
Paramount Television
Related:The 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 as the original Odd Couple series).

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. When production on the series began, a Hollywood writers strike was underway; as a result, eight of the early episodes 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

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).

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.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The TV Ratings Guide: 1982-83 Ratings History -- Soap Bubbles Rise, Several Veterans Part and NBC Renews Poorly Rated Masterpieces. Lina. 1 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180318054420/http://www.tvratingsguide.com/2017/07/1982-83-top-30-soap-bubbles-rise.html. 2018-03-18. dead.