The Odd Couple: The Second Season

For its 23-episode 1971-72 second season, The Odd Couple was filmed before a live studio audience. In a case of casting alchemy Jack Klugman starred as sloppy Oscar, along with Tony Randall as fussy Felix, two divorced men trying to live together without driving each other crazy, in a series that boasted smart, character-based writing to go along with indelible performances. While there are no episodes that are truly classic here, several are fan favorites, including “Sleepwalker” (also included as one of the bonus episodes on the first season set); “Felix the Calypso Singer,” in which Felix becomes the third wheel during Oscar's romantic getaway with his girlfriend; and “You Saved My Life,” in which Felix almost kills Oscar with kindness after Oscar rescues him. This season fleshes out the mismatched friends' backstory with two fun flashback episodes. In “Speak for Yourself,” Oscar is forced to step in when Felix develops laryngitis on the night he was to propose to his future ex-wife Gloria, and in the fine “A Night to Dismember,” Oscar, Felix, and Oscar's ex-wife Blanche have different memories of the fateful night on which Oscar and Blanche split up. Gone this season are the daffy Pigeon sisters, while newcomers include Janis Hansen as Gloria, Joan Hotchkis as Oscar's girlfriend Dr. Nancy Cunningham, and Brett Somers (Klugman's wife) as the dread Blanche, while a pre-Laverne & Shirley Penny Marshall makes her first appearance as Oscar's secretary Myrna. The Odd Couple was a series that got better each year, although this “live” season—presented on an extra-less four-disc set—is the one that is most fondly remembered. Recommended. (D. Liebenson)