Fortunately, CBS/Paramount has released the final season of The Odd Couple on DVD in a barebones (but still must-have) 3-Disc set.

It’s been five years (or so) since neurotic hypochondriac neat freak Felix Unger (Tony Randall) was forced to move in with his messy and uncouth friend, Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman) and, somehow, they haven’t killed each other yet. But with this, the Final Season, something’s finally going to change…

Disc One

Episode 1: “The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly In Vain” - When Oscar’s secretary Myrna (Penny Marshall) is dumped by her meathead boyfriend (played, appropriately enough, by Marshall’s then-real-life hubby, “Meathead” Rob Reiner), Felix decides that Myrna’s demeanor and manner of speaking are all wrong… so he sets out to give her a makeover (years before Sally Jesse had a show!).

Episode 2: “To Bowl Or Not To Bowl” - Felix’s OC behavior comes in most handy when it comes to winning a game of bowling, but with their league poised to win the big league championship, Felix decides that winning isn’t everything. Oscar disagrees. James Bond/Blaxploitation fans take note: the large man on the opposing league is Earl Jolly Brown (who played the part of Whisper in Live And Let Die).

Episode 3: “The Frog” - Oscar accidentally loses Felix’s sons prized jumping frog the night before the big frog-jumping contest and our intrepid heroes get to spend all night in Central Park looking for a suitable replacement. Murray the Cop (Al Molinaro) is seen in drag during this episode while on a stakeout.

Episode 4: “The Hollywood Story” - Oscar goes to Tinseltown to shoot a scene for a movie. When his date bails on him, he takes Felix instead. Big mistake. Soon, Felix is acting as Oscar’s agent… and screwing everything up in the process (naturally). George Montgomery and Leonard Barr (another James Bond alumnus) guest star. Bob Hope makes a cameo as himself.

Episode 5: “The Dog Story” - Felix brings home a famous trained collie. Oscar approves. Felix confesses to kidnapping the dog from its abusive owner. Oscar disapproves. Felix and Oscar go to court. Felix opts to defend himself and creates a courtroom scene that not even the “Boston Legal” staff could rival. John Fiedler (the voice of Piglet) plays the dog owner. Rona Barnett guests as herself.

Episode 6: “Strike Up The Band Or Else” - Losing a bet to wealthy Texan football team owner (Pernell Roberts), Oscar cons Felix and his band into performing at a hoedown. This show has a weird variety show quality to it, but it’s better than watching Pure Country any ol’ day.

Episode 7: “The Odd Candidate” - When the present elected district official threatens to destroy the neighborhood playgrounds, Felix cons Oscar (for once) into running as candidate for the new city councilman. Howard K. Smith plays himself.

Disc Two

Episode 8: “The Subway Show” - “You’re going to eat those words and I’m going to pour the ketchup!” Felix objects to Oscar’s “good-natured” article implying that New Yorkers are mean and that the city is overrun with crime so much that he’s determined to prove him wrong -- and what better way to test it than when you’re stuck in the subway? Elinor Donahue makes one of her two appearances in this season as Miriam Welby, Felix’s on-and-off girlfriend. Look for Scatman Crothers and former Ed Wood regular Ben Frommer as subway patrons.

Episode 9: “The Paul Williams Show” - Felix’s daughter Edna (Doney Oatman) wants desperately to get tickets to the Paul Williams concert (back when people would have actually done that), so Uncle Oscar pulls a few strings and it isn’t long before the man himself is presenting tickets in person (this episode aired only a week after Phantom Of The Paradise bombed at the box office, so I’m sure Paul was glad to have some sort of exposure).

Episode 10: “Our Fathers” - Felix returns from Chicago with his panties all in a bunch after hearing a tale of how Oscar’s father once tried to murder his own father. This different take on the usual Odd fare has Randall and Klugman playing themselves in a flashback (Klugman’s own son, Adam, plays a young Oscar). Barbara Rhodes and Elisha Cook, Jr. (as Eliot Ness!) guest star.

Episode 11: “The Big Broadcast” - Oscar has a new gig hosting a radio show. Felix interferes (surprised?) by convincing him to try several different formats (such as the rude talk show host and performing a vintage radio program) and succeeds with a Great Moments In Sports show… which Felix erroneously writes. The absolutely gorgeous Tina Andrews fills in for Penny Marshall as Oscar’s secretary.

Episode 12: “Oscar In Love” - Oscar is madly head over heels about his new girlfriend Anita (Dina Merrill) and Felix tries to get him to marry her. Richard Stahl makes the last of nine appearances on the show in this episode written by Carl Gottlieb (Jaws).

Episode 13: “Two On The Aisle” - Oscar is given the (unwanted) opportunity to write the theater review while the regular critic is away. Instead, he gives the tickets to Felix and asks his opinion after the show is over, secretly taking Felix’s words and turning them into his own plagiarized reviews (he should write for Variety).

Episode 14: “Your Mother Wears Army Boots” - Howard Cosell returns as himself to go head-to-head with Oscar when Oscar is given the opportunity to co-host Monday Night Football. Roone Arledge and Martina Arroyo guest star as themselves.

Disc Three
Episode 15: “Felix The Horseplayer” - With the assistance of a jockey (Jerry Maren), Oscar and Felix get the long overdue opportunity to live the highlife when they get on a winning streak at the horse tracks. Fritz Feld plays a maître d' (talk about typecasting!).

Episode 16: “The Roy Clark Show” - Country musician (and regular “Hee-Haw” performer) Roy Clark guest stars as Willie Boggs, an old army friend of Oscar’s with a habit of playing practical jokes on people who comes to town and somehow winds up performing classical music with Felix (giving Clark the opportunity to show his more “serious” musical side -- which is quite impressive, I must say). Albert Paulsen also guest stars.

Episode 17: “The Rent Strike” - When various utilities around the apartment complex start to fail, Felix appoints himself as the voice of the tenants and organizes a rent strike, to which the building’s manager, Mr. Lovelace (played to the hilt by a bushy-white-bearded Victor Buono as a kook who talks to his plants) shuts off all of the building’s utilities.

Episode 18: “Two Men On A Hoarse” - Oscar goes in for a throat operation after losing his voice on “The Dick Cavett Show”(Dick Cavett appears as himself) and has to stay silent for two days. Next thing you know, Felix has lost his voice. A pair of burglars (Louis Guss and Joshua Shelley) add to the fun. Phil Foster (who would land a regular role on “Laverne & Shirley” as Frank DeFazio the following year) plays the surgeon in need of an attitude adjustment.

Episode 19: “The Bigger They Are… ” - Felix’s fat cousin (the great Cliff Emmich) bails on his manic ad exec (the also great John Byner) for a Before And After photoshoot to promote some new diet pills. Felix’s solution? Use an old photo of a fat Oscar and a new photo of the current Oscar. Felix tells the story to Murray the Cop via flashback. Maggie Peterson (Charlene Darling to Andy Griffith fans) shows up as Oscar’s blind date.

Episode 20: “Old Flames Never Die” - Felix gets a wake-up call when he runs into his old high school sweetheart and discovers she’s now a grandma. More than a bit daunted, Felix begins to feel “old”, so Oscar tries to cheer him up, only to wind up feeling the same way… and so the duo takes off to a discotheque to feel “young” again. Sexpot Christina Hart guest stars and John Harmon can be seen as the old hippie dancing in the club. Tina Andrews makes her second and final appearance in the series.

Episode 21: “Laugh, Clown, Laugh!” - Oscar gets to co-host the “Wide World Of Entertainment” with “Hogan’s Heroes” co-star Richard Dawson, which enrages Felix, citing that the popular television star and comedian stole his chance to be famous. Magician Mark Wilson appears as himself.

Episode 22: “Felix Remarries” - Talk about a spoiler of a title, eh? Yes, our final episode of the Final Season finds Felix at long last reunited with his beloved ex, Gloria (Janis Hansen) and their kids, Edna and Leonard (Leif Garrett), after Oscar finally teaches Felix how to not act so slobby (he even eats Oscar’s food and sleeps in Oscar’s bed!).

Hmm… I wonder how Miriam would have taken to all of this?

Presentation
As usual, CBS/Paramount has done a grand job restoring The Odd Couple - The Final Season for its home video debut, and the video quality is exceptional (especially when you stop to take note that it’s a 35-year-old television show), with very vibrant colors that rarely (if ever) look very dull (I’m only aware of one episode that had any noticeable problems, The Rent Strike). My only problem is that CBS/Paramount have changed the music and snipped some footage from several episodes again, most notably in Your Mother Wears Army Boots, Two Men On A Hoarse and Strike Up The Band Or Else, which completely removes Pernell Roberts’ rendition of “Cocktails For Two” (the episode simply ends abruptly), while replacing copyrighted music with newer (presumably) royalty-free music. Frown.

The only soundtrack accompanying the episodes is that of an English Mono Stereo one which suffices admirably (just don’t go expecting something on par with Rambo on Blu-ray and you’ll be OK).

Extras
Apart from the usual assortment of mandatory promos for other TV shows on DVD at the beginning of Disc One, there is nothing offered in the Special Features department. A pity, really, since this was the last season and all!

The Bottom Line
Sure, the series was a bit of hit-and-miss at times (70s sitcoms weren’t known for their superb writing… much like most of today’s sitcoms), but The Odd Couple still manages to make me chuckle like a happily stoned cherub. I say “Buy it, dammit.”