The Odd Couple

The Odd Couple was a play, written by Neil Simon, about two divorced men who live together. One of them, Felix Ungar (spelled "Unger" in the television sitcom), is extremely neat, while the other, Oscar Madison, is extremely messy. The play was later adapted into a movie in 1968, a television series from 1970-1975, and later made into another television series, The New Odd Couple, in 1982.

References

• The commercial for "Johnny Fiama's Pasta Playhouse", seen in episode 208 of Muppets Tonight, advertizes a performance of The Odd Couple, featuring Dr. Phil van Neuter as Felix Ungar and Mulch as Oscar Madison.
• In Episode 3891 of Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch was visited by an old friend, Felix the Grouch, who by then turned out to be a grouch who actually likes to clean. This was an obvious reference to The Odd Couple, with both characters having the names of the main characters and one being neat while the other is sloppy. However, despite both characters being messy, it should be noted that Oscar the Grouch was not named after Oscar Madison.

Muppet Mentions

• In The Odd Couple episode Surprise, Surprise!, while Felix's daughter is waiting for her birthday party to begin, Oscar suggests that she watch Sesame Street.

Connections

• Jack Lemmon played Felix Ungar in the 1968 film version.
• Walter Matthau played Oscar Madison in the 1968 film version.
• Tony Randall played Felix Unger on the 1970-1975 television series.
• Paul Williams guest starred in one epsiode of the original series, The Paul Williams Show.
• Roy Clark guest starred in an episode of the original series, The Roy Clark Show.