It’s almost impossible to talk about CBS The Odd Couple without feeling the massive, looming shadow of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Or Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Honestly, if you’re a TV executive, trying to reboot this property is basically a suicide mission. You are stepping into the ring with legends. And yet, in 2015, Matthew Perry—the man who basically defined 90s sarcasm as Chandler Bing—decided to give it a go.
It ran for three seasons. Most people forget that.
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In the world of multicam sitcoms, three seasons is a "respectable failure." It wasn't a total disaster like some mid-season replacements that vanish after three weeks, but it never became the cultural touchstone CBS clearly wanted. When we look back at the CBS The Odd Couple, we aren't just looking at a show; we’re looking at the struggle of the traditional sitcom to survive in a prestige TV world.
The Matthew Perry Passion Project
Matthew Perry didn't just star in this; he was the driving force. He developed it. He executive produced it. He was Oscar Madison.
For Perry, this was a lifelong dream. He had grown up loving the dynamic of the slob and the neat-freak. But here is the thing about the 2015 version: it felt safe. Maybe too safe. While the original 1970s series felt gritty—at least as gritty as a 70s sitcom could get—the CBS version felt polished. It had that bright, high-definition multicam sheen that makes everything look a little bit like a commercial for laundry detergent.
Thomas Lennon was cast as Felix Unger. If you know Lennon from Reno 911!, you know he is a comedic genius of physical timing. He played Felix with a hyper-specific, neurotic energy that actually worked quite well. He wasn't trying to be Tony Randall. He was doing his own thing. But the chemistry? It was... okay. It wasn't the lightning in a bottle that the franchise demands. Without that friction, the show just becomes two guys complaining about dishes.
The Supporting Cast Dilemma
Sitcoms live or die by the ensemble. You can't just have two leads. CBS The Odd Couple actually had a powerhouse supporting cast, but the show never quite knew how to use them.
Wendell Pierce played Teddy, Oscar's agent. Yes, that Wendell Pierce. Bunk from The Wire. Seeing him in a laugh-track sitcom was jarring for a lot of people, even though he's a fantastic comedic actor. Then you had Lindsay Sloane as Emily and Yvette Nicole Brown as Dani. These are heavy hitters.
The problem was the writing.
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Often, the jokes felt like they were pulled from a 1994 reject pile. In an era where Veep and Parks and Recreation were pushing what comedy could be, hearing a joke about "men being messy" felt ancient. It’s a weird paradox. You have Matthew Perry, a guy whose timing is surgically precise, trapped in scripts that felt like they were written by an AI trying to simulate 1980s humor.
Why the 2015 Dynamic Felt Off
In the original play by Neil Simon, the tension comes from the tragedy of divorce. Both men are broken. Oscar is a gambling-addicted slob who can't keep his life together, and Felix is a suicidal neuroretic who was just kicked out of his home.
The 2015 version softened those edges.
They made Oscar a successful sports radio host with a high-end apartment. It was aspirational. When Oscar is rich and successful, his "slobbishness" just looks like a choice, not a character flaw. It lowers the stakes. If Oscar doesn't actually need Felix to keep his life from spiraling, and Felix doesn't need Oscar to keep from being lonely, the show loses its heart. It just becomes a roommate comedy.
The Ratings Rollercoaster
Let’s look at the numbers because they tell a story of a slow fade.
The pilot of CBS The Odd Couple premiered to massive numbers—over 13 million viewers. People were curious. They loved Matthew Perry. They loved the IP. But by the end of the first season, that audience had started to bleed out. By season three, the show was pulling in around 5 million viewers. In 2026 standards, that sounds like a hit, but in 2017, for a prime-slot CBS comedy, it was the death knell.
The network tried everything. They moved it around the schedule. They brought in guest stars like Garry Marshall—the legendary developer of the 70s version—as Oscar's father. It was a beautiful, sentimental moment, and arguably the best episode of the entire series. It showed what the show could have been if it leaned more into the "human" side of these characters rather than the "setup-setup-punchline" rhythm.
The Garry Marshall Connection
Garry Marshall's involvement was a huge deal. He served as a consultant on the show. Before he passed away, he gave the reboot his blessing. In many ways, the 2015 series was a tribute to his style of television. It was "comfort food" TV.
But comfort food only works if it's seasoned right.
Comparing the Three Eras of The Odd Couple
If you really want to understand where the CBS version landed, you have to compare it to its predecessors. It’s the only way to see the evolution—or devolution—of the concept.
The 1968 Movie: This was the gold standard. It was dark. It was funny. It felt like a movie about two guys who were genuinely at the end of their ropes.
The 1970-1975 TV Series: This is what most people think of. The chemistry between Klugman and Randall was legendary. They were best friends in real life, and you could feel that deep, platonic love underneath the bickering. They weren't just roommates; they were a "marriage" of two men who couldn't live with or without each other.
The 2015-2017 CBS Series: It felt like a "greatest hits" album played by a cover band. The talent was there, but the soul was slightly manufactured. It lacked the grit of the movie and the genuine chemistry of the 70s show.
What the Critics Got Wrong
Critics were mean to this show. Like, really mean.
A lot of the reviews focused on the fact that it was a multicam sitcom with a laugh track, acting as if that format was inherently dead. That's not entirely fair. The Big Bang Theory was a juggernaut at the time. The format wasn't the problem; the execution was.
However, if you watch the show today on streaming, it’s actually a pretty easy watch. It’s light. It’s breezy. Matthew Perry’s physical comedy—the way he uses his face to convey exasperation—is still top-tier. Thomas Lennon’s "Felix" is genuinely funny in his extreme devotion to cleanliness. There are moments of real brilliance, particularly in the banter between Oscar and his assistant Dani.
The Legacy of Matthew Perry’s Oscar Madison
We have to talk about Matthew Perry’s legacy here. After Friends, Perry struggled to find a long-running hit. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was too expensive. Mr. Sunshine was too quirky. Go On was actually great but got cancelled too soon.
CBS The Odd Couple was his attempt at stability.
He played Oscar as a man-child who was slowly realizing he needed to grow up. It was a more mature version of the "Oscar" character than we had seen before. He wasn't just a slob; he was a man dealing with the loneliness of middle age. Looking back at it now, especially after Perry’s passing, these themes feel a lot heavier. You can see him pouring his own experiences with struggle and recovery into the subtext of the character, even when the script was just asking him to trip over a pizza box.
Was It Actually "Bad"?
No. It wasn't bad. It was just "fine."
In the Golden Age of Television, "fine" is a dangerous place to be. When viewers have 500 shows to choose from, they don't want "fine." They want groundbreaking. Or they want deeply nostalgic. CBS The Odd Couple tried to be both and ended up landing somewhere in the middle.
Lessons for Future Reboots
If Hollywood learns anything from the CBS experiment, it should be this:
- Modernize the stakes, not just the tech. Giving Oscar a smartphone isn't enough. You have to change why the characters are together. In a world of Airbnb and Tinder, the idea of two divorced men being "stuck" together needs a stronger emotional hook.
- Trust the actors to be quiet. The biggest flaw of the 2015 series was the noise. The laugh track was aggressive. The music cues were loud. Some of the best moments were the quiet ones where Oscar and Felix just talked.
- Chemistry can't be cast; it has to be built. Perry and Lennon are friends, but their comedic styles are very different. Perry is grounded; Lennon is theatrical. Finding the bridge between those two styles took almost two seasons, and by then, half the audience had tuned out.
How to Watch It Now
If you’re curious and want to give it a fair shake, CBS The Odd Couple is usually available on Paramount+ or for purchase on platforms like Amazon.
Don't go into it expecting the 1970s version. Don't go into it expecting Friends. Go into it looking for a comfortable, professional sitcom featuring some of the best comedic actors of their generation doing their best with a classic formula.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans of the Franchise
- Watch the Garry Marshall Tribute: Search for Season 2, Episode 7 ("Make Up or Break Up"). It’s a heartfelt nod to the creator and shows the true potential of the reboot.
- Compare the "Poker" Scenes: Watch the poker game scene from the 1968 movie, then the 70s show, then the 2015 pilot. It’s a masterclass in how comedy writing evolved over 50 years.
- Check out Thomas Lennon's Book: If you like his brand of humor, his writing is often even funnier than his acting.
- Revisit "Go On": If you want to see Matthew Perry in a post-Friends role that really clicked, find the single season of Go On. It captures the "group dynamic" better than the Odd Couple reboot did.
Ultimately, the CBS The Odd Couple serves as a fascinating time capsule. It was the last gasp of a certain type of big-budget, star-driven multicam reboot. It reminds us that even with the best intentions and a massive star, you can't always catch lightning twice. Or three times. But for a few years, it gave us one last chance to see Matthew Perry do what he did best: make us laugh at the absurdity of being a human being.
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Summary of Key Facts
- Developed by: Matthew Perry and Danny Jacobson.
- Original Run: February 19, 2015 – January 30, 2017.
- Episodes: 38 across three seasons.
- Main Cast: Matthew Perry (Oscar), Thomas Lennon (Felix), Lindsay Sloane (Emily), Wendell Pierce (Teddy), Yvette Nicole Brown (Dani).
- Network: CBS.
The show wasn't a total loss, but it proved that some classics are perhaps best left in the era that defined them.
To get the most out of your rewatch, start with the second season. The writers finally started to understand the specific "weirdness" of Thomas Lennon, and the show found a much better groove than the slightly stiff first season. Look for the episodes where the supporting cast gets their own subplots—that's where the 2015 version actually started to feel like its own show rather than a shadow of a ghost.