The Odd Couple

The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing but slovenly. In the original play these were male; Simon also made a version for a pair of female roommates, called The Female Odd Couple^[1].

Sources vary as to the origins of the play. Most sources claim that Simon was inspired to write the play when he saw his brother Danny Simon and theatrical agent Roy Gerber living together after recent divorces. However, in the Mel Brooks biography It's Good to Be the King, author James Robert Parish claims that the play came about after Simon observed Brooks, in a separation from his first wife, living with writer Speed Vogel for three months. Vogel later wrote that Brooks had insomnia, "a brushstroke of paranoia," and "a blood-sugar problem that kept us a scintilla away from insanity."

Danny Simon, also a writer, took the first crack at the play, but later handed over the idea to Neil. The show, directed by Mike Nichols, ran for 966 performances and won several Tony Awards, including Best Play.

Felix Ungar, a neurotic, neat freak newswriter (photographer in the television series), is thrown out by his wife, and moves in with his friend Oscar Madison, a messy sportswriter. In its original Broadway run, Ungar was played by Art Carney and Madison by Walter Matthau. Matthau was later replaced with Jack Klugman.

The play and the film both spell Felix's name "Ungar", while the television series spells it "Unger".

Characters

• Oscar Madison: A slovenly, recently divorced sportswriter.
• Felix Unger: A fastidious, hypochondriac newswriter whose marriage is ending. (In the television series, he is a professional photographer, portraits a specialty.)
• Murray: A fat cop , one of Oscar and Felix's poker buddies. (In the television series, Murray's last name was revealed to be Greshler.)
• Vinnie: One of the poker buddies. Vinnie is mild-mannered and henpecked, making him an easy target for Speed's verbal barbs.
• Speed: One of the poker buddies. Gruff and sarcastic, often picking on Vinnie and Murray.
• Roy: One of the poker buddies. Oscar's accountant. Roy has a dry wit but is less acerbic than Speed.
• Cecily and Gwendolyn Pigeon: Oscar and Felix's upstairs neighbours, a pair of British sisters. The former is a divorcée, the latter a widow.

Stage revivals

In 1970, the McMaster Shakespearean Players performed The Odd Couple with Martin Short as Felix, Eugene Levy as Oscar, and Dave Thomas as Murray -- before any of these performers were famous.

In 1994 a version of the play moved to Glasgow and toured Scotland, starring Gerard Kelly as Felix, Craig Ferguson as Oscar and Kate Anthony as Gwendolyn Pidgeon. Kelly reprised the role of Felix at the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe, opposite Andy Gray.

In 1996 Klugman and Tony Randall reprised their roles from the TV series for a three-month run at the Theatre Royal in Haymarket, London^[2]. The production was an effort to raise money to support Randall's National Actors Theatre.

In a 1997 issue of Premiere Magazine, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams announced a possible stage revival, in anticipation of success of their film Fathers' Day. When that film failed at the box office, the Crystal/Williams revival was quickly forgotten.

A similar announcement was made in Premiere in 2005 by Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, in light of their success on stage and screen as the leads in The Producers. Broderick and Lane played Felix and Oscar, respectively. The production opened at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York on October 27, 2005. Lane was replaced for two weeks due to illness by Brad Garrett, who had previously played Murray.

In 2004, Neil Simon wrote an updated version of The Odd Couple, called Oscar and Felix: A New Look At The Odd Couple. Simon's updated version incorporated updated references and elements into the original storyline.

Female version

In 1985, Neil Simon revised The Odd Couple for a female cast. It was titled The Female Odd Couple and was based on the same story line and same lead characters, now called Florence Ungar and Olive Madison. The poker game becoming Trivial Pursuit and the Pigeon sisters becoming the Costazuela brothers, Manolo and Jesus.

On Broadway, Sally Struthers and Rita Moreno starred as the couple in the original cast, with Lewis J. Stadlen and Tony Shalhoub (in his Broadway debut) as the Costazuela brothers. The play was directed by Gene Saks and ran for 295 performances.

A London production of this at the Apollo Theatre in 2001 starred Paula Wilcox (Florence) and Jenny Seagrove (Olive)^[3][4].

Film and TV adaptations

1968 film

In 1968 The Odd Couple was made into a highly successful film starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau (once more) as Oscar. Most of the script from the play is the same, although the setting is expanded: instead of taking place entirely in Oscar's apartment, some scenes take place at various outside locations. The film was also written by Simon (who was nominated for an Academy Award) and was directed by Gene Saks.

In 1998 Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau reprised their roles for the film The Odd Couple II, produced by Neil Simon.

1970-1975 ABC sitcom

The success of the film was the basis for the 1970-75 ABC television series, starring Tony Randall as Felix and Jack Klugman as Oscar. Klugman was familiar with the role as he had replaced Walter Matthau in the original Broadway run.

Randall and Klugman also reunited in 1993 for a made-for-TV reunion film based upon the series.

Animated series

DePatie-Freleng's The Oddball Couple was an animated version. Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison were replaced by a cat named Spiffy (voiced by Frank Nelson) and a dog named Fleabag (voiced by Paul Winchell). Spiffy, as his name implies, was the more orderly of the two, while Fleabag was always a shambles. 32 installments of the series (2 10-minute segments per half-hour show) were produced for the series, which aired on ABC Saturday Morning from September 6, 1975 to September 3, 1977.

1982-1983 ABC sitcom

In 1982, ABC aired a new version of the series, entitled The New Odd Couple, being the black version. Ron Glass played Felix and Demond Wilson played Oscar. This new version was not successful and was cancelled after just 13 episodes.

References

1. ^ London Theatre Guide archive: The Female Odd Couple
2. ^ Financial Times review of the 1996 London production
3. ^ Review of The Female Odd Couple at cix.co.uk
4. ^ Review of The Female Odd Couple at whatsonstage.com

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Odd Couple

• The Odd Couple (1965) at the Internet Broadway Database
• The Odd Couple (1985) at the Internet Broadway Database
• The Odd Couple (2005) at the Internet Broadway Database