DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: The Odd Couple: The Final Season (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Hom]

In Our fathers, did they cut out that whole charleston dance routine at the speakeasy, or is it there? I would not be surprised if that was excised.

 

[pitchman]

After reading the past several posts, I have changed my mind and I will NOT be purchasing the season five set (despite already owning the other four.) It seems like with each new release, CBS/Paramount draws another line in the sand as if to test the waters to see how much more fans are willing to put up with and still pay them top dollar for what is clearly an inferior product. From this point forward, I am limiting my vintage TV on DVD purchases to companies like Shout! Factory (or even a "little guy" like Arts Alliance America) who still seem to care about delivering a quality product to consumers.

 

[FanCollector]

Yes, about the Charleston scene. They removed it.

Weirdest cut ever..."Give My Regards to Broadway" was cut from Two on the Aisle. The song is unquestionably in the public domain. Written in 1904, it is available for public use, as its copyright expired before all the laws extending copyrights were passed. Felix sings it wistfully as he leaves Oscar's office, but it is missing here. I hate to be a whiner, but they're cutting free songs now.

 

[FanCollector]

Just wanted to clarify about "Our Fathers". The Charleston music per se is not cut. It is Barbara Rhoades's song that is edited out.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

If I may say, this doesn't seem to make sense. You've put up with the cuts before and even own the other four seasons but somehow this one goes "too far" and you're not owning the complete series?

 

[FanCollector]

I have also been reliably informed that there is another edit to Our Fathers. Giorgio Tozzi sings a bit of "Ol' Man River". That scene has always been edited out of the reruns I have watched, so I did not know about it myself, but it makes sense. Why hire Giorgio Tozzi and not have him sing?

Haven't gotten to Paul Williams and Roy Clark yet. Are they unaffected, as I heard somewhere? Also, has anyone watched The Rent Strike? I fear for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head".

 

[redbird]

The craziest cut of this season has to be from "The Odd Candidate". In the opening sequence shown before every ep we see Oscar in his room with his feet in a basting pan who then gets up and wipes his feet. Yet in the ep we never see him wipe his feet. Now why would THAT be cut?
I'm wondering now if that opening sequence reveals some more cuts in eps.

I am glad though that this show is completed because I kept wondering what would be cut in each season. I'm also glad that other shows that I like that CBS puts out (crime shows mostly) generally don't get cut up like this (as far as I know) although they do take the hatchet frequently to some of their other shows. I did see some things restored to eps that I don't recall seeing years ago in TV reruns so I guess that sort of makes up for the cuts.

Sort of.

 

[Brian Himes]

I've watched the first disc and finished watching upto the Our Fathers episode on disc two last night. I'd guess I'm about half way through the final season.

There are a couple of really bad and obvious cuts. The one that stands out was the end of Strike Up The Band Or Else. What is the missing song that Pernell Roberts sings at the end? The cut is really bad. The Oscar square dance number is there and it was totally hilarious.

The Scatman Crothers ditty missing was also really obvious.

Since I don't know this show very well and I haven't seen it in syndication for years I haven't noticed all that many really obvious cuts. For the most part Paramount has been pretty good at not making them really stand out.

Now as to the free song being cut. If that is really the case, then Paramount has dropped the ball here and it stands to reason that they are not going the extra mile in their research and just being lazy. That I find to be a bit distasteful. Do we know 100% for sure that Give My Regards to Broadway is in the Public Domain?

Finally, yes I also noticed the cut scene in the Odd Candidate that is shown in the opening. I rewatched the section of that episode twice and I'm not sure that the scene was ever used in the actual episode itself. The way the section of that episode played out was it was a montage with music playing througout the section. We do see Oscar soaking his feet, and the music is still playing as it cuts to another scene and the music is still playing uninterupted with no distinguishable jumps. From the opening it is clear that Felix is talking in the scene. That is not to say that there aren't other scenes in the montage where people are talking and all you hear is the music. However the part where Oscar gets up and wipes his feet looks to me to be promted by something that Felix says to him. I suppose that the scene could have suddently interrupted the music for a quick diologue scene and went back into the music montage but since the flow of the music isn't interruped, I don't think the feet wiping scene was ever used in the episode. The scene was filmed and the Oscar moment of him wiping his feet was too cute to waste so they used in the opening instead.

This in not an unusual thing to have happen. For years now in the original opening to the first season of Charlies Angels, there is a scene where Sabrina turns around towards the camera quickly as if startled by someone behind her. That particular scene is nowhere to be found in any season one episode of the series. The episode where it should belong is the episode The Killing Kind. I know this because I have the novelization of that episode and the scene takes place in the murdered girl's (Brooke Anderson) apartment and Sabrina is startled by the sherrif coming in and asking her what she's looking for. The scene was obviously filmed and cut from the episode before it ever aired, but by that time it had already been used in the opening.

Anyway, that is my guess as to what might have happened to the Oscar feet wiping scene from The Odd Candidate. I could be wrong, but that is what it looks like to me.

 

[jdee28]

I guess the best that can be said about CBS/Paramount's Odd Couple releases is that they are better than nothing at all. I will pick this release up, as I have all the other Odd Couple ones, holding my nose all the way. It would be great to see the Odd Couple in its complete, unaltered state with stellar transfers and sound. Until that day, I guess I can live with this...

 

[Gary Seven]

I have the first two seasons but stopped purchasing them after all the posts regarding the music cuts. I loved the show when it was on and enjoyed the two sets I have but I cannot bring myself to purchasing the remainder due to all the edits. Just too many. However, once these sets reach the bargain bin, I may change my mind.

 

[jdee28]

I wonder if the series had stayed with Time/Life, though the picture quality would not have been as stellar, if they would have released the series with music intact.

 

[Brian Himes]

Well, I finished the set last night and all I can say is that I'm going to miss Felix and Oscar. While I can now watch the series at anytime I want, it won't be the same as anticipating new seasons that I haven't seen yet. This is a classic show and I have enjoyed it tremendiously. Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, in my eyes and in my heart, will always be Felix and Oscar.

I was a bit disappointed in the series finale. It just didn't have the emotional impact that I had hoped it would have. It also felt very, very rushed. Things just came together all too quickly. The final scene was good, but again it just didn't have the emotional impact I had expected.

All in all a great classic series that I'm really glad to have finallly gotten completed on DVD.


I can't help but wonder the same thing. It is possible that Time/Life might have gone to better lenghts to preserve more of the music, but we'll never know.

 

[TVAdam]

I have a feeling that Time-Life would NOT have made these edits. However, that may be the reason they didn't continue. Maybe it was too expensive in their eyes and they decided to stop after season 1. Paramount has no problems cutting the episodes up, so they took on season 2 - 5, making all those annoying (and hurtful) edits.

 

[Brian Himes]

From what I understand, Time/Life were unimpressed with the sales of seson 1 so they opted not to continue with the series. The special features on season 1 definately have that Time/Life stamp. It is clear that they put some thought into the set but if the sales were less then they expected, I can understand their reluctance to continue. It's unfortunate because I do feel that they would have done a better job with the series than Paramount has. I would guess that maybe 50% (possibly more) of the music Paramount cut Time/Life could have found a way to include it. The sets might have been a bit more expensive in the long run, but well worth it to have more complete episodes.

That's not to say that I'm displeased with the series as it stands now, but I would have liked to have a more complete version. If the truth be told, I was not all that familiar with the series enough know what was cut. In some cases it was really obvious that things were cut but I haven't seen the series since it originally aired in the 70s. Considering how young I was at the time, it doesn't surprise me that I don't recall any of the episodes clearly. That and its sporadic (at best) runs in syndication didn't improve my recollections of specific moments or scenes. I think in the last 20 years or so, I may have seen one or two episodes in syndication but not many more. In my area of the country (at the time) the show just semed to vanish after it ended its original run.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Too bad no gag reels/bloopers were included. I saw a few outtakes which I think were from Jack Klugman's collection (they came along with his book, I think).

 

[Corey3rd]

The Richard Dawson episode proves that "The Aristocrats" wasn't merely a joke made up for the documentary.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I have played many of these episodes and even though there are some cuts with the music, they are still VERY funny! I never thought I felt the 5th season was the best, but I'm now re-evaluating that opinion because I am really loving this! Some great episodes here. I think those who are denying themselves the overall laughter of this great show because of a snip here or there are really cheating themselves. The episodes are still 24-25 minutes long; and that's pretty damn near complete, or certainly more complete than we'd ever seen since they were originally broadcast.

 

[FanCollector]

I agree completely, Joe.

I always thought of the fifth season as weaker than 2, 3 and 4 (the first year is a whole other show for the most part), and in truth, I haven't changed that opinion, but watching all 22 shows in four days makes me put it a lot closer to the others in terms of consistency. Also, there are three or four of the very best shows in this season. I usually think of the "seasons" in terms of how they were filmed, but if you look at them as the DVDs present them, as they were originally aired, the fifth season benefits from Felix, the Horseplayer and Two on the Aisle, two very good shows.

As far as cuts, the fifth season is the one from which I've seen the fewest unedited episodes in the past, so it was fun to see so many new bits. I miss the music as much as anyone (I like that kind of music in general), but still very happy to have the shows in this form.

 

[redbird]

I must congratulate CBS on this show. Even though there were cuts in all five seasons I am impressed that it took them only a year and a half to put out the entire series. I had long wanted this series and once they started putting out the seasons they did deliver them rather quickly. Too bad other studios can't or won't do the same!

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Just adding to what I said in my last post ---- some of these episodes even run over 26 minutes.