THE ODD COUPLE MARATHON
Decades, 12:00 p.m. ET
The Odd Couple was a quality ABC sitcom of the 1970s, one of the few from that network able to compete with the new quality comedy series from CBS at the start of that decade: shows such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, and M*A*S*H. Today and tomorrow, the Decades network presents selected episodes from the 1970-75 run of The Odd Couple, which was based on the Neil Simon play and movie and successfully expanded for television by series creators Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson. This was just before Marshall brought Happy Days to ABC, and helped propel that network into first place in the mid-1970s. But first, TV’s The Odd Couple. Skip the 1993 reunion telemovie that opens this weekend marathon, then dive in for the quiet delight of the early Season 1 episodes. Jack Klugman and Tony Randall are perfectly cast as slovenly Oscar Madison and fussy Felix Unger – as good in their TV roles as Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon were in the movie. And enjoy the supporting cast, too, because they include Al Molinaro (later of Marshall’s Happy Days) and Penny Marshall (Laverne of Laverne & Shirley).