CBS' 'The Odd Couple' remake was just plain bad

I wasn't impressed by the latest remake of The Odd Couple, which premiered last Thursday on CBS. The series, which stars Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon as Oscar Madison and Felix Unger, was to say the least, not good. Honestly, it felt like sketch comedy after awhile. The writing was recycled, boring and contrived. And the acting? Also pretty bad. Perry and Lennon had previously starred alongside each other in the 2009 comedy film 17 Again, and I was looking forward to seeing them together again. But I guess you can't make magic happen out of a bad script.

This has to be Matthew Perry's fourth new sitcom in which he is the lead star since the conclusion of Friends nearly eleven years ago. So far, one of the four have been good. First was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip during the 2006-07 season, cancelled after one season. Then came Mr. Sunshine, which aired as a midseason replacement on ABC in 2011. I genuinely enjoyed that one, honestly. Perry starred as the manager of a sports arena, with Allison Janney as his co-star. It was actually funny. The cast had chemistry, which is more then I can say for the ratings. It was cancelled after 9 episodes. Next was Go On on NBC during the 2012-13 season. It starred Perry as a man who joins a grief support group and thereafter followed the group's misadventures. It was good for those who could see the reality in it, but for the rest, it was dull. That too was cancelled after only one season. 

And now comes The Odd Couple. A remake of a classic sitcom from the 70s, and definitely not the first remake, either. There was genuine chemistry between Perry and Lennon (which makes sense), but yet there is nothing unique to the show. When you're remaking a classic, you have to have something memorable. If you don't, why would you want to watch a remake? People can just watch a rerun of the original. Maybe I should give it another episode, and maybe I shouldn't. The contrived writing and overacting (on Perry's part, unfortunately) was a little too much to handle. "This is a mess even Felix can't fix," says Deadline. Catch The Odd Couple Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS.