The Good
These digitally remastered shows look awesome.
The Bad
No Extras.
Felix Unger (Tony Randall) and Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman) are two of the best known characters on the stage, screen and TV. As two, older men who were forced to live together because they’ve both fallen out with their wives, these two characters showed us all what can happen when two completely different personalities are forced to share one roof. In The Odd Couple: The Second Season the characters keep things fresh but the storylines are also peppered by the addition of the main character’s ex-wives, some girlfriends, and others.
The The Odd Couple: The Second Season opens with the episode “Natural Childbirth.” Felix is for it, Oscar is against it but what does that matter when it’s Oscar’s niece who wants it? “Surprise! Surprise!” finds Felix scheduling his daughter’s birthday party on the same day that Oscar has scheduled a poker game. Sit back and enjoy the mess that is created by these two “grown-ups.” “Felix the Calypso Singer” finds Oscar and Felix taking a vacation. Things get thwarted when Oscar’s girlfriend shows up and Felix is suddenly odd couple man out. Lastly, “Partner’s Investment” is a funny episode that sees Felix spend Oscar’s money on a Japanese restaurant. Suddenly there’s a problem and these two entrepreneurs learn the real meaning of work.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Features
No Extras came with this release.
Video
Full Screen Format. These digitally remastered episodes sparkle on DVD. They are sharp, well composed and they all look rich. However, I am bothered by this statement:
Some episodes may be edited from their original network versions.
That said, I am not going to harp on it too much. In this four disc set they have given us almost 10 hours of content. Divided up amongst the 23 episodes in this set, that ends up giving us a little over 25 minutes per episode. When you consider that most sitcoms today run 22 minutes apiece, that extra 3 minutes sure seems like a lot.
Audio
Dolby Digital: English Mono. Before I say anything, just the know that the following disclaimer accompanies this DVD:
Some music has been changed for this home entertainment version.
While I didn’t notice anything that amazing about the sound, I don’t like knowing that I am missing something. The dialogue through all these episodes moves at a very quick pace. It would be every easy to miss a joke here and there but I never noticed that happen. Paramount seems to have done a very solid job with the audio, making things sound crisp and correctly leveled across all of these discs.
Package
Two shots of Felix and Oscar are presented on this front cover against a blue background and a gray, New York skyline. The back features more pictures of these two characters (it makes sense because they’re the stars of this show), a tiny description of The Odd Couple: The Second Season and system specs. All four discs are neatly stored inside a clear amaray case which has its walls lined with episode listings, descriptions and airdates.
Final Word
In some ways The Odd Couple plays as a very contemporary show and other ways it seems highly dated. This makes perfect sense since the episodes on this disc hail from 1971-1972, but what really surprised me was how if you look for them, there’s certainly a lot of homoerotic underpinnings to this show. First off, at its basest level, Felix is simply too neat (or at least too concerned with it). I am not saying that only gay men are neat but you get the humor, right? Secondly, these two argue and play games in such a way that it wouldn’t be surprising if they were lovers. Thirdly, there’s just something about the way they carry on that I am sure could be misconstrued by some. Today, having overtly gay characters on a TV show is a must. From what I understand there happen to be a lot of homosexuals working in the television industry. All of this fine and great, it would just be sad if that ended up being the most interesting thing about it.
The Odd Couple may or may not have been trying to break new ground. It doesn’t seem like it was going out of its way to put its agenda in people’s faces like some shows in the 21st Century. That said, I understand why that is done I just think that, if I were gay, I’d want to be represented as a human being first before anything else. It was this show’s ability to handle the themes and issues of its time, that ultimately end up making it relevant for today.
The Odd Couple was released .
