The Oddball Couple
The Oddball Couple is an animated half-hour Saturday morning show that ran on the ABC TV network from September 6 to December 20, 1975. The show was a production of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in association with Paramount Television, and was distributed by CBS Television Distribution.[1] It is an adaptation of the TV series The Odd Couple, which had ended its run that year, after five seasons on ABC.[2]
| The Oddball Couple | |
|---|---|
 Title card for DePatie-Freleng’s The Oddball Couple, featuring Fleabag (left) and Spiffy (right). | |
| Genre | Children's television series Animation Comedy Cartoon series |
| Based on | The Odd Couple by Neil Simon |
| Directed by | Gerry Chiniquy Robert McKimson |
| Voices of | Frank Nelson (Spiffy) Paul Winchell (Fleabag) Joan Gerber (Goldie) Joe Besser Robert Holt Sarah Kennedy Don Messick Ginny Tyler Frank Welker |
| Theme music composer | Doug Goodwin, arranged by Joe Siracusa |
| Composer(s) | Doug Goodwin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 16 (32 segments) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | David H. DePatie Friz Freleng |
| Running time | 20 minutes (2 10-minute segments) |
| Production company(s) | DePatie-Freleng Enterprises Paramount Network Television |
| Distributor | CBS Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 6 – December 20, 1975 |
Overview of series
The Oddball Couple features the misadventures of a dog named Fleabag and cat named Spiffy, who live together under the same roof.[3] Spiffy is an orderly and polite cat who is a stickler for cleanliness and organization, and Fleabag is rude, obnoxious, lazy, untidy and very disorganized. Their disparate personalities are reflected in their house – which is one-half mansion and one-half dilapidated shack – and even in their car, which is half-pristine and half-junker. They have a secretary named Goldie Hound (a play on the name Goldie Hawn) who works in the office they share. The show consists of two segments lasting 10 minutes each.
In the original Odd Couple series, Felix the neat freak was a photographer and slovenly Oscar was a sportswriter. In this series, Spiffy the neatnik is a writer and Fleabag the slob is a photographer.
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Spiffy's Man Friday" "Who's Zoo" | September 6, 1975 |
| 2 | "A Day at the Beach" "Fleabag's Mother" | September 13, 1975 |
| 3 | "Spiffy's Nephew" "To Heir Is Human" | September 20, 1975 |
| 4 | "A Royal Mixup" "Paper Airplane" | September 27, 1975 |
| 5 | "The Bighouse and Garden" "The Talking Plant" | October 4, 1975 |
| 6 | "Family Album" "Hotel Boo-More" | October 11, 1975 |
| 7 | "Irish Luck" "Who's Afraid of Virginia Werewolf?" | October 18, 1975 |
| 8 | "Dive Dummers" "Do or Diet" | October 25, 1975 |
| 9 | "Klondike Oil Kaper" "Old Bugeyes Is Back" | November 1, 1975 |
| 10 | "Mugsy Bagel" "TV or Not TV" | November 8, 1975 |
| 11 | "Ali Cat" "The Joker's Wild" | November 15, 1975 |
| 12 | "Cinderbag" "Momma Fleabag" | November 22, 1975 |
| 13 | "Do It Yourself, Fleabag" "Roman Daze" | November 29, 1975 |
| 14 | "Fleabag's Submarine" "Foreign Legion" | December 6, 1975 |
| 15 | "Bats in the Belfry" "Superhound" | December 13, 1975 |
| 16 | "Jungle Bungle" "Talent Scouts" | December 20, 1975 |
Voices
- Joe Besser –
- Joan Gerber – Goldie
- Bob Holt –
- Sarah Kennedy –
- Don Messick –
- Frank Nelson – Spiffy
- Ginny Tyler –
- Frank Welker –
- Paul Winchell – Fleabag
Production credits
- Story Editor: Bob Ogle
- Writers: Bob Ogle, Joel Kane, David Detiege, Earl Kress, John W. Dunn
- Supervising Director: Lew Marshall
- Animation Directors: Gerry Chiniquy, Robert McKimson
- Storyboard Directors: Bill Perez, Art Leonardi, Jan Green, Gary Hoffman
- Graphic Design: Ric Gonzales, Gary Hoffman, Dick Ung, Al Wilson, Ken Landau, Coral Kerr, Adam Szwejkowski, Susan Scholefield
- Animation: Norm McCabe, Bob Matz, Virgil Ross, Bob Bemiller, Bob Richardson, Jim Davis, Nelson Shin, Bill Nunes, Don Williams, Joel Seibel, Bob Bransford, John Freeman, Bill Carney, Warren Batchelder, George Jorgensen, John Gibbs, Bob Goe
- Background Supervised by: Richard H. Thomas
- Backgrounds: Mary O'Loughlin, Don Watson
- Ink and Paint Supervisor: Gertrude Timmins
- Xerography: Greg Marshall
- Film Editors Supervised by: Bob Gillis
- Film Editors: Joe Siracusa, Rick Steward, Allan Potter
- Voices: Paul Winchell, Frank Nelson, Joan Gerber, Frank Welker, Sarah Kennedy, Don Messick, Joe Besser, Ginny Tyler, Bob Holt
- Music by: Doug Goodwin
- Main Title Music Arranged by: Joe Siracusa
- Conducted by: Eric Rodgers
- In Charge of Production: Lee Gunther
- Camera: Ray Lee, Larry Hogan, John Burton Jr.
- Production Mixer: Steve Orr
- Sound by: Producer's Sound Service, Inc.
- This picture has made the jurdisction of I.A.T.S.E., affiliated with A.F.L.-C.L.O.
- © MCMLXXV DePatie-Freleng Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.
- Based Upon the Play "The Odd Couple" by Neil Simon
- Produced by: David H. DePatie & Friz Freleng
- DFE Films · A DePatie-Freleng Production
Home media
This series was released on DVD from CBS via Amazon's CreateSpace on December 30, 2017.[4][5]
References
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 434–435. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Markstein, Don. "The Oddball Couple". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 204–205. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Oddball-Couple-DVDs-Planned/23116
- http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Oddball-Couple-DVDs-Available/23893