As most TV viewers can attest to, taking a motion picture and translating it into a successful television show is tenuous at best. More often than not, the series offer a tepid version of what might have made the movie such a hot property. This is often because the writers and actors simply cannot live up to what came before. So imagine how difficult it must have been for a young Garry Marshall to convince network suits that a successful series could be produced based on a Broadway Play / Motion Picture. In both cases, the lead characters were played by Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, an unbeatable pair whose rapport no one could ever imagine capturing. Yet, against all odds, a TV series known as "The Odd Couple" premiered on September 24, 1970… and the rest, as they say is history. Marshall pulled together Tony Randall and Jack Klugman to portray the fastidious Felix Unger and the slovenly Oscar Madison, begging the question, "Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?"

Over the course of five seasons, the team of Randall and Klugman proved that not only would they drive each other crazy, but did it with as much gusto and aplomb as Lemmon and Matthau. The pair became synonymous with the roles, going so far as to reunite years later in a stage production of Neil Simon's original play. What I wouldn't have given to have been there for that.

"The Odd Couple" was yet another in a long list of older TV shows that I have hoped to see on DVD, so much so that I was actually shocked when Paramount finally got around to giving it a release last year. And to say it was worth the wait is an understatement. Though the series has been in syndication for years, all I've ever seen is chopped up versions. When I received the first season DVD set and began re-watching the show I remembered everything that I loved so much about it in its heyday. The two actors played off of each other so well that it was very nearly a prefect show.

It’s been nearly a year and a half since the release of that first season, and now Paramount is hitting us with the fifth and final. Watching these last episodes made me appreciate the series more than I did back when they originally aired. I’m older and wiser now and can appreciate how the humor did not fade, even after five seasons. I only wish that this final set did not fall prey to the music cuts that have started creeping up in other recent releases. The first few sets didn’t appear to have this problem, but it was kind of glaring this time around.

Now, generally when Paramount releases an older TV series, you don’t find much in the way of special features… actually there is usually nothing. However, when they released the first season they went for the gold and added in a ton of special features for show richly deserving of them. There were so many extra features that it made my head spin. There were Interviews, appearances and commentaries. From the second season on… there's nothing. There are no additional interviews or anything. It was a little disappointing.

Where Paramount's release of the first season was nearly perfect in its execution, the subsequent seasons are a little less so. The only other fault I can find is that the discs are housed in a standard DVD keepcase, with the 3rd disc held on the back panel of the case. This wouldn't be much of a nitpick, but the episode titles and synopsis are printed inside the case and that last disc had to be removed to read them. It's a little thing, but still.

Aside from those little issues, the final season DVD offers episodes that show that the series never really suffered from a lack of good writing.

Episodes:
The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in Vain
To Bowl, or Not to Bowl
The Frog
The Hollywood Story
The Dog Story
Strike Up the Band or Else…
The Odd Candidate
The Subway Show
The Paul Williams Show
Our Fathers
The Big Broadcast
Oscar in Love
Two on the Aisle
Your Mother Wears Army Boots
Felix the Horseplayer
The Roy Clark Show
The Rent Strike
Two Men on a Hoarse
The Bigger They Are
Old Flames Never Die
Laugh Clown Laugh
Felix Remarries

Starring: Tony Randall, Jack Klugman
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Mono
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 11/18/2008
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give The Odd Couple: Final Season a B+.