Overview: Felix and Oscar are an extremely odd couple: Felix is anal-retentive, neurotic, precise, and fastidiously clean. Oscar, on the other hand, is the exact opposite: sloppy and casual. They are sharing an apartment together, and their differing lifestyles inevitably lead to some conflicts and laughs.

DVD Verdict: This show proves that opposites may not attract, but, with some work, they can at least peacefully coexist. Felix is not just compulsively neat, he literally worships at the altar of order. Oscar's philosophy is not to sweat the small stuff and thinks everything is small stuff.

One of the reasons this show is still funny today is that most people have personalities that lie between these two extremes and can therefore sympathize and laugh at the actions of both men. This first season of "The Odd Couple" contains four episodes from the four subsequent seasons probably for the purpose of showing the viewer how much the style of the show changed after that first 1970-71 season.

The first season focuses on the relationship between Oscar and Felix, pretty much stays in the same neighborhood as the 1968 movie from which it sprang as to storylines, and even has the same actresses from the film playing the Pidgeon Sisters. The first season is good, and helps establish the complete personalities of Oscar and Felix in a way a two hour film just doesn't have time to do, but I think it lacks something in the way of the energy and pace that the subsequent seasons had. "The Odd Couple" had the misfortune of premiering right before shows like "All In the Family" would give birth to modern television as we know it today, along with the frank discussion of controversial subject matter in a comic context.

Quite frankly, I think the show would probably have been canceled after its second season if it had not changed to the live set it used from seasons two forward and started breeching more modern topics like it did to help keep pace with the great changes that were taking place in television during the early 70's. I have to give credit to producer Garry Marshall - if he saw something that wasn't quite working in one of his shows, he wasn't afraid to make drastic changes to try and get things back on track.

I would say that the "Odd Couple" is one of the few shows that managed to never jump the shark during its five year run. Considering the fact that it aired during a period of great change in American culture - 1970-1975 - that is saying something. This 4-disc set contains all 24 episodes from the 1970-1071 season. This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and (thankfully) comes with the Special Features of:

Audio Intros by Garry Marshall
Original TV Promos
Appearances by Tony Randall and Jack Klugman on The Mike Douglas Show
Jack Klugman’s 1971 EMMY Award win footage
Jack Klugman’s Book Tour Home Videos
Gag Reel
Tony & Jack on stage in "The Odd Couple" (1993 stage play)