1049 Park Avenue: An Odd Couple Podcast

The New Odd Couple (1982/83)

We start the episode intending to discuss both the 1982/83 New Odd Couple (“NOC”) AND the 1993 Odd Couple reunion TV-movie but end up speaking so long about New Odd Couple we decide on the fly to hold the movie for another episode.  Before we start I surprise Garrett with an item I bought on eBay – the full PDF can be seen here 

Odd Couple Program

Regarding NOC we 1) provide our overall opinion on the series 2) discuss the cast 3) analyze the TV ratings situation for the time 4) review why the show is made up of recycled scripts from the original series and the impact that decision had 5) discuss individual episodes 6) focus on the most annoying part of the series involving their names 7) play clips comparing and contrasting scenes from the original series that are duplicated in NOC 8) play clips of Garry Marshall, Mark Rothman and story editor Winifred Hervey who discuss various difficulties behind the scenes.   

The Neil Simon / Odd Couple Universe Outside of The TV Show

This week we delve into the world of The Odd Couple centering around the plays and the movies, some of which were made before the TV show and some of which came after.  We discuss the origins of the play and how that turned into the movie; our thoughts on the film; the updated versions of the play that Neil Simon wrote later in his career and the unnecessary film sequel. We play dialogue from the movie that was re-used in the series and the Neal Hefti theme WITH lyrics.

Super Fan Interviews

This week Ted and Garrett stop talking so much and let two other Odd Couple fans discuss the show with them.  First up: James Bradley discusses his love of S1 and explains why there is a group of fans who enjoy it passionately.  Second is Lee Spilberg who has helped the podcast with lots of information especially regarding all of the music cuts.  These are two separate interviews.  

The Murray Awards!

This week, Ted and Garrett  hand out The Murray Awards for various "best of" categories regarding The Odd Couple.  Examples include - Best Use Of Honking, Best Scene Where Felix Gets Mad at Oscar (and vice verse), Best Performance by a Male Celebrity Playing Themself, and many others. Yes, we could have just called it "The Oscars", but we have been using Murray as a metric since early on the podcast so we stuck with it.  

Odd Couple Look Back - Our Most and Least Favorite Episodes

With the episode by episode recap now over we look back and discuss our most and least favorite episodes by season and of the series overall.  We focus on S2-S5 but do have some discussion of S1.   

”Felix Remarries”

Felix and Gloria get back together in the series finale “Felix Remarries”.  In our discussion we cover 1) some new info our listeners provided to fill in the gaps on our prior episode about Laugh Clown Laugh, 2) the return of Janis Hansen / Doney Oatman / Leif Garrett 3) the multiple classic lines in the episode – some of which came from the play/movie 4) goop mélange 5) who is and who is not at the wedding, 6) the behind the scenes planning for the finale 7) and our plans for future episodes of the podcast now that the episode-by-episode analysis is over.

”Laugh Clown Laugh”

Felix has a feud with Oscar’s latest TV show co-host Richard Dawson in the series’ penultimate episode Laugh Clown Laugh.  We cover 1) Dawson’s career and how he came to appear on this episode 2) the resume of guest star magician Mark Wilson, the quality of his on-air tricks and the way he comes out onto the show 3) the mystery of who wrote this episode 4) Felix’s history in WWII 5) the multiple funny bits with Murray 6) the acrobats /  teeter-totter scene, the actors involved and the connection to a prior episode, 7) the unintentional appearance of Tony Randall in an establishing shot 8) the history of the song Laugh Clown Laugh, 9) the origins of the vaudeville song at the end, 10) Garrett talks about meeting Tony Randall

”Old Flames Never Die”

Felix feels old after finding out his high school sweetheart is a grandmother, and drags Oscar into his misery, in S5E20 “Old Flames Never Die”.  We discuss 1) the production order of this episode 2) the implications of this storyline on how old Felix and Oscar are; 3) the second appearance of Oscar’s “new” secretary Tina; 4) the numerous guest stars including the return of some old favorites; 5) how one of those guest stars, Leonard Barr, breaks the fourth wall and does his stand-up act for the studio audience; 6) the dancing in the episode; and 7) the reference to the wreck of the Hesperus.

”The Roy Clark Show”

Roy Clark guest stars on an episode named after him in S5E19 “The Roy Clark Show”.  We discuss the many songs and pieces of music in this episode; Clark’s resume and his time on Hee Haw; the return of John Wheeler a Mr. Felscher; guest star Albert Paulsen; edits on the version airing on Decades TV; our observations of ad-libs and laugh tracks in the episode.

”Two Men On A Hoarse”

Oscar and Felix both lose their voice in “Two Men On A Hoarse” - S5E18. We discuss 1) guest star Dick Cavett 2) Jack Klugman’s real appearance on The Dick Cavett Show and discussion of his real-life throat issues, 3) guest star Phil Foster,  4) The return of guest actors Louis Guss, Filip Field, and Joshua Shelley, 5) a mention of The Odd Couple on the new Paramount+ series The Offer 6) Laurence Oliver’s Polaroid TV ads, 7) the music cut in this episode, 8) Jack Klugman singing “Together" on the cast album of Gypsy, 9) Tony Randall breaking the 4th wall and Jack Klugman visibly laughing on camera at Al Molinaro, 10) TV edits of this episode, 11) how the doctor dresses down Felix AND supports Oscar which is unusual for the series, 12) how often the apartment is robbed.