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 TV series to be based on one of Neil Simon's plays with African-American actors playing the lead roles; the first was Barefoot in the Park (which premiered on September 24, 1970, the same day as the original Odd Couple series).
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Synopsis
In this series, Felix Unger and Oscar Madison 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 eighteen 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
Ron Glass as Felix Unger
Demond Wilson as Oscar Madison
John Schuck as Officer Murray Greshler
Sheila Anderson as Cecily Pigeon
Ronalda Douglas as Gwendolyn Pigeon
Bart Braverman as Roy
Liz Torres as Maria
Jo Marie Payton as Mona
Telma Hopkins as Frances Unger
Christopher Joy as Speed
Marvin Braverman as Vinnie
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.