Yesterday I mentioned the Broadway revival of Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE with Rita Moreno and Sally Struthers. On the small screen, THE ODD COUPLE was revived as well - with an an almost all African-American cast. Demond (SANFORD & SON) Wilson is Oscar and Ron (BARNEY MILLER) Glass is Felix. THE NEW ODD COUPLE could have been a descent show if they didn't decide to recycle scripts from the original series that were already considered classics by fans of the show. Ironically another black version of a Neil Simon play, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK only lasted 12 episodes on ABC in 1970, also airing on Thursday evenings. I'm holding out for a new version of THE SUNSHINE BOYS with James Earl Jones and Sherman Helmsly.
1 comment:
Another good ad image! Looks like Mort Drucker (of MAD magazine fame) drew this one.
I recall watching some of these NOC shows. The recycled scripts always bugged me, too. Not even Telma Hopkins could save this show.
An earlier attempt at a TV version of Barefoot (with white actors) was developed by Garry Marshall into a pilot that didn't sell. It became part of an episode of Love, American Style; it can be found on the Season 1, Vol. 1 DVD set.
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