Matthew Perry stars as Oscar and wrote with Joe Keenan (“Desperate Housewives,” “Hot In Cleveland” “Sean Saves The World”) the pilot, which contains Oscar’s poker buddies and hot neighbors – if not quite Murray, Speed or Gwendolyn and Cecily Pigeon.
Thomas Lennon, a “The State” alumnus who worked with a lot other “State” alumni on “Reno 911,” plays Felix Unger. Maybe Lennon got the job because his “911” deputy, Jim Dangle, was at least as effeminate as Tony Randall’s Felix. Or maybe because his last name is so similar to that of Jack Lemmon, who played Felix in two movies.
Variety writes: “Absurdly, Oscar has his very own video wall to monitor games, which must put him somewhere in Rush Limbaugh’s tax bracket.” While I too host a radio show, I reside nowhere near Limbaugh’s tax bracket – yet I do have my own video wall. So not so absurd.
... isn’t so bad. It may even work. …
... uncooked at the center … It’s Perry, now in his eleventyseventh mediocre sitcom in the post-Chandler years, who flails about in the pilot episode as this modern-day Oscar. He’s a cretin, he’s a sex hound, he’s gross, he’s obnoxious — yeah, yeah, but he’s not any of these things in a convincing or even freshly interpreted way. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... genial — but not hilarious — multi-cam sitcom business as usual. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... it’s clear that better writing — make that funnier writing— is needed if whatever nascent chemistry Perry and Lennon have is going to amount to much. …
... sad because it is so dully written. … sad because it represents the nadir of Perry’s efforts to find a home on series TV after the massive success of “Friends.” …
… not funny. ... Did you laugh? Then take this Odd Couple, please! And far away from me. D+
... a show that feels so tired and out of touch, the network would have been far better off rerunning the Jack Klugman/Tony Randall original. … The result is a laugh-free, thought-free enterprise that wastes talent, time and the benefits of a Big Bang lead-in. …
... less a sitcom than a cover band performance, mostly competent but entirely unnecessary. …
... Will this new Odd Couple work? Well, 22 minutes is not enough to say. (Networks really need to be more generous with episodes, especially during midseason.) If the pilot (written by Perry and co-executive producer Joe Keenan) is passable, my guess would be that the pedigree and talent involved will overcome the shortcomings and give viewers something better soon enough. …
... feels especially dated in this day and age, what with Felix as the nonsexual spouse, essentially, to Oscar’s slovenly husband. Good casting provides some hope, but this still feels oh-so-20th century. … given how tired the show feels already, if the collective response from the younger audience the network covets is signed “FU,” for once, that actually might not mean Felix Unger. …
8:30 p.m. Thursday. CBS.
