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S01.E02: The Ghostwriter

Kromm

By Kromm
in The Odd Couple (2015) [V]

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Kromm

Kromm

It wasn't fantastic, but I DID think it was better than the Pilot.

 

Mainly the problem with this one was that it seemed very unfocused.  I actually think Perry's delivery--the main problem with Episode 1--was somewhat better.

 

The scripts need to be tighter.  If Perry keeps up the better delivery, this has a tiny chance.

 

Although... the ratings fell 10% from the premiere (although that's still a decent number).

  • Love 1
random chance

random chance

It did have better delivery from Perry and better punchlines from the writers, but the plot really bored me.  It wasn't the kind of plot that was going to deepen the characters or have a surprise ending or a funny twist, it was just something to saddle up with jokes.   But, this episode was a big enough improvement over the pilot that I'd say there was some hope.

 

One thing I did notice - Yvette Nicole Brown has better timing and delivery than anyone else on the show. 

SmithW6079

SmithW6079

This episode wasn't as bad as the pilot, but that was primarily because of Geoff Stults (it's a crime none of his shows have lasted).

I don't understand why Thomas Lennon has adopted that clipped cadence as Felix; it's annoying. I did like seeing Felix at work, but why Oscar's apartment? Doesn't he have a professional studio space?

It appears that Matthew Perry's idea of "slob" is not shaving. At least Jack Klugman was a schlub who looked the part. Still not feeling him as Oscar because all I see is Chandler Bing.

Wasn't the waitress at the bar one of the Pigeon sisters (or whatever they're called here)?

treeofdreams

treeofdreams

I think part of the problem is that the writers have not given Oscar an actual personality.  So when he delivers his lines, since we are familiar with him as Chandler, what we see is the actor trying not to be Chandler but not being given something else to be.

 

I like Felix; he has been given a personality, and the actor is doing well with it.  I loved the glasses on-glasses off bit.

BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

This episode wasn't as bad as the pilot, but that was primarily because of Geoff Stults (it's a crime none of his shows have lasted).

I don't understand why Thomas Lennon has adopted that clipped cadence as Felix; it's annoying. I did like seeing Felix at work, but why Oscar's apartment? Doesn't he have a professional studio space?

It appears that Matthew Perry's idea of "slob" is not shaving. At least Jack Klugman was a schlub who looked the part. Still not feeling him as Oscar because all I see is Chandler Bing.

Wasn't the waitress at the bar one of the Pigeon sisters (or whatever they're called here)?

I wouldn't say "none" of Geoff Stults' shows have lasted. He was in the cast of 7th Heaven (I think as Beverley Mitchell's character's husband, who was a cop... I think) & the show didn't end the same season he joined it. It was on long enough, after he joined it, for the couple he was part of to marry, have 1 baby, then (I think) have a miscarriage & then get pregnant again. At least as I remember.

Kromm

Kromm

  • Author

I think part of the problem is that the writers have not given Oscar an actual personality.

In Episode 1 I would have agreed, but I do think they started to in Episode 2. The episode as a whole felt scattered and unfocused, but both Perry's delivery and the sense of Oscar as a person were a bit better. I mean we got that he's kind of a smug person--which of course is why he reminds everyone so much of Chandler. We got the early Klugman-like disdain of Felix's shtick and the way he throws shade at Felix (who it kind of rolls right off of, with a few exceptions). The fact that the show focused a bit more on Felix's emo qualities vs. his neatnick ones is what I think is throwing a lot of people off. Lennon said (when he was on @midnight) that the show's writers (former Frasier writers) were taking it a bit away from the original, and I can see that if Oscar is less hung up on Felix's neatness and more annoyed by how needy and emo he is. Frankly... it will all be in the execution. Which was on the poor side in Episode 2, but again, not nearly as bad as in Episode 1, so it's on an upward trajectory at the very least.
karenc3

karenc3

The episode as a whole felt scattered and unfocused, but both Perry's delivery and the sense of Oscar as a person were a bit better. I mean we got that he's kind of a smug person--which of course is why he reminds everyone so much of Chandler. We got the early Klugman-like disdain of Felix's shtick and the way he throws shade at Felix (who it kind of rolls right off of, with a few exceptions). The fact that the show focused a bit more on Felix's emo qualities vs. his neatnick ones is what I think is throwing a lot of people off. Lennon said (when he was on @midnight) that the show's writers (former Frasier writers) were taking it a bit away from the original, and I can see that if Oscar is less hung up on Felix's neatness and more annoyed by how needy and emo he is. Frankly... it will all be in the execution. Which was on the poor side in Episode 2, but again, not nearly as bad as in Episode 1, so it's on an upward trajectory at the very least.

 

I did see more of an Oscar character in the second show than I did before.  I think it's not only the smugness that is similar to Chandler, but also this Oscar is very sarcastic, and I don't remember Jack Klugman's Oscar like that, but that was a big part of the way Matthew Perry portrayed Chandler.   If it wasn't an existing character we wouldn't have these comparisons.  

 

I've wondered this before the show started, and the changes in the characters make me wonder, if it is partially because of a more modern view of certain issues.  If they focused too much Felix's neatness, it would make him seem more OCD.  If they focused too much on Oscar's messiness, he would seem like a hoarder. These issues were not defined at the time of the original show.  They can change Felix by making him more emo, but instead of the slob aspect, Oscar is being portrayed as more sarcastic and apathetic than an actual slob like he was in the original versions, but Matthew Perry doesn't have the edge that this type of character would need, as much as I like him.   

random chance

random chance

I've wondered this before the show started, and the changes in the characters make me wonder, if it is partially because of a more modern view of certain issues.  If they focused too much Felix's neatness, it would make him seem more OCD.  If they focused too much on Oscar's messiness, he would seem like a hoarder. These issues were not defined at the time of the original show.

And I think someone mentioned previously, times have also changed re the hilarity of being a drunk and a chronic gambler, and the writers can no longer get the same kind of relentless humor mileage out of implying that Felix is gay. Also, as nearly every reviewer on earth has noted in some form or another, it's not really cute anymore that the middle-aged divorced guy has no idea how to cope with household stuff, since these days men don't live with their parents right up until they marry someone who takes care of the household stuff.

It would be interesting to see someone try and reboot I Dream of Jeannie, or The Donna Reed Show.

  • Love 2
Kromm

Kromm

  • Author

I did not know that the writers are former Frasier writers.  It gives me hope for this show!

Lennon said it, but it was easy enough to double check.

Per IMDB, common writers between the shows:

Joe Keenan (24 episodes of Frasier)

Dan O'Shannon (7 episodes of Frasier)

Maybe Lennon was overemphasizing the point, with only 2 common writers, but 31 episodes isn't a tiny amount either.

Also, if you look at the specific episodes Keenan wrote, it arguably includes some of the best ones.

Kromm

Kromm

  • Author

I actually realized I put some misinformation here.  It wasn't on @midnight that Lennon mentioned the Frasier writers, it was on a radio show--one I never listen to, but downloaded as a podcast because Lennon was the guest (Dennis Miller's crappy little show, where he stopped ranting about Obama long enough to do a fairly straight interview with Lennon).  Anyway, I was erasing that podcast from my podcast client today and that reminded me that's where I heard the info.  Anyway, if you can suffer through Miller's smugness and immediately unsubscribe after listening to the Lennon podcast (so you don't have to be subject regularly to Miller's crap), it's probably worth listening to.

 

Or I think you can listen to it as a one off here: http://podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=393&pid=484478

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