Has there ever been a funnier example of mismatched friends than The Odd Couple? Neil Simon’s Broadway classic (reportedly based on his brother’s life) stars Jack Lemmon as the agonizingly neat Felix Unger and Walter Matthau as the constantly disheveled Oscar Madison, two divorced men who share a New York apartment…and a desire to wring each other’s neck. Co-stars Herb Edelman, John Fiedler, and Monica Evans and Carole Shelley as the Pigeon Sisters add to the appeal of this classic, which spawned a long-running TV series starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, several remakes on stage and screen (an updated version of which starring Matthew Perry currently runs on CBS), as well as a 1998 theatrical sequel with Lemmon and Matthau reprising their iconic roles. The reason The Odd Couple continues to resonate with audiences around the world is simple, there is endless comedy to be mined from opposites living together. It’s a simple premise, but one that will always be in style.
