“On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right. But he also knew that, someday, he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his childhood friend, Oscar Madison. Sometime earlier, Madison’s wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment, without driving each other crazy?”
Such began the proceedings for the 1970 comedy series “The Odd Couple” which was an adaptation of the hit play by the legendary Neil Simon. While the play featured Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, the show starred Tony Randall and Jack Klugman as Felix Unger and Oscar Madison respectively. It ran for five seasons and some “114” episodes when all was said and done. It’s a favorite for many and while I also enjoyed the show, I cannot claim any level of dedication to it. It’s the kind of thing I would love to one day binge from start to finish which leads me to this particular post. Once I learned that WLNY was going to be doing a fairly comprehensive marathon I decided to add it. As my inclusion of this marathon was a bit of a last minute decision I mostly used their own network website as a reference. So please if there are any inconsistencies I direct you to their side of the fence and not mine. I have never included this show to my usual yearly rundowns of “The Honeymooners” and “The Twilight Zone” (the latter program being posted on PiercingMetal since it fits best there) but since it had so many episodes I felt that it might make for some good Google traffic and with this being the end of the year it will be nice to get some surges for the website. Now without any further adieu please take a look at the marathon that will begin later on tonight. If you plan on programming this onto the DVR you should start doing that now to get it out of the way.
Tuesday, December 31st:
9:00PM – The Laundry Orgy
9:30PM – Felix Gets Sick
10:00PM – The Jury Story
10:30PM – The Breakup
11:00PM – It’s All Over Now, Baby Bird
11:30PM – Felix Is Missing
Wednesday, January 1st:
12:00AM – The Blackout
12:30AM – The Hideaway
1:00AM – What Makes Felix Run
1:30AM – Natural Childbirth
2:00AM – A Grave For Felix
2:30AM – Murray The Fink
3:00AM – Fat Farm
3:30AM – And Leave The Greyhound To Us
4:00AM – Partner’s Investment
4:30AM – Big Mouth
5:00AM – The Princess
5:30AM – The Pen is Mightier Than The Pencil
6:00AM – I’m Dying of Unger
6:30AM – The Odd Father
7:00AM – Password
7:30AM – I Gotta Be Me
8:00AM – The Ides Of April
8:30AM – Myrna’s Debut
9:00AM – Let’s Make A Deal
9:30AM – The Odyssey Couple
10:00AM – The Murray Who Came To Dinner
10:30AM – Odd Decathlon
11:00AM – The New Car
11:30AM – Felix Directs
12:00PM – Maid For Each Other
12:30PM – Cleanliness Is Next To Impossible
1:00PM – The Flying Felix
1:30PM – A Different Drummer
2:00PM – To Bowl or Not To Bowl
2:30PM – The Frog
3:00PM – The Hollywood Story
3:30PM – The Odd Candidate
4:00PM – Your Mother Wears Army Boots
4:30PM – Old Flames Never Die
5:00PM – Felix Remarries
5:30PM – The Roy Clark Show
Partial Cast and Characters:
Tony Randall as Felix Unger
Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison
Al Molinaro as Officer Murray Greshler
Penny Marshall as Myrna
Elinor Donahue as Miriam Welby
Eddie Garrett as Party Guest
Garry Walberg as Speed
Janis Hansen as Gloria
Larry Gelman as Vinnie
Joan Hotchkis as Dr. Nancy Cunningham
Richard Stahl as Minister
As I’ve already pointed out, this is the very first time that I’m including “The Odd Couple” in my list of marathon rundowns and if there is a decent response to it I might consider including it when the next time rolls around. You should know that its not always easy to get these listings and edit them to make it look nice on the website but this show is also one of those timeless ones that surely brings a lot of necessary laughs when one needs them. As mentioned I was never a dedicated fan since when it aired I would have been about five years old but over the years I have tuned in. I can’t record this one myself since my DVR will be busy recording all of the episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and “The Honeymooners” and its my first time doing this in a couple of years. I think I recorded “The Honeymooners” last year but my memory is a little cloudy on that right now. So what do you readers think? Are you a diehard for this show? Can you recite lines like from some of the other shows we’ve discussed? Do me a favor and chime in down below with your own favorite episodes since its always good to know which ones the readership likes the most. As I wrap this one up I should add that I wish I know of an “I Love Lucy” marathon as I’d really like to see that show. Before I go let me wish you all a very “Happy New Year” once more in advance of it turning into 2025. Please be careful if you head out somewhere and don’t overdue it. I know I sound preachy but I want to see everyone here back tomorrow. Until then, cheers.
Official Series Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odd_Couple_(1970_TV_series)
