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.
Another good ad image! Looks like Mort Drucker (of MAD magazine fame) drew this one.
ReplyDeleteI 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.