The Odd Couple: I Do, I Don't

The Odd Couple: I Do, I Don't
ABC
November 5, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
C+

I was leaning towards a B- for this episode, the only one written by Carl Kleinschmitt (although he worked on That Girl, M*A*S*H, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, etc.).  I like Oscar and Felix getting involved in straightening out the relationship of a couple, Harvey (George Furth, who would later play Belkin) and Phyllis (Joyce Van Patten, easily the best actress on the series so far), with Felix wearing his best man outfit even to the revival moviehouse.  I like the joke about Ronald Reagan and the one about how movies have changed since Doris Day and Rock Hudson.  I laughed out loud at the unmistakable voice of Garry Marshall as Man #2.  However, not only does "jellyfish" Harvey tell Phyllis to shut up but he says they'll live in a crummy apartment with two babies and she'll like it.  And she likes that!  This might work in a dark-comedy sort of way, but it's played as romantic-- with the entire unemployment office cheering them on-- so it feels like a tired and sexist trope, even if it wouldn't have seemed that way almost fifty years ago.  Still, I'm cautiously optimistic that they can recreate the spark and energy of this episode.

Richard Stahl, who's instantly recognizable to any '70s-sitcom-viewer, has his first of nine OC roles, as the Minister.