# Odd Couple. Two Felixes?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 19, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064 "2015-02-19T03:48:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/1 "2015-02-19T03:48:18Z")
It starts tomorrow with Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon. Perry is supposed to be Oscar, which makes no sense. Someone really blew it, cast Perry as Felix and Matt LeBlanc as Oscar and you’ve got a major hit for the next 10 years or more.
Anyway, maybe it won’t be that bad. I’ll watch a couple of episodes to find out.
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### Author:  [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/2 "2015-02-19T06:22:08Z")
I never watched _Friends_, so I can’t comment on either Matt’s potential for either role (I do think Tom Lennon, Dangle from _Reno 911_, is a great choice for a Felix). What I can say is the makers of the show would never want to cast two actors who played iconic characters _in the same show together_ in a totally different show. Comparisons to their previous work would overshadow anything about the new series. It’s hard enough for even one TV actor to move past a hugely successful role into anything new. Aside from Jennifer Aniston becoming an A-list movie star, I can’t really think of too much any of the former \*Friends \*have done.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/3 "2015-02-19T14:10:37Z")
I expect this one to tank pretty quickly, like most of Perry’s post-Friends series have done. Has he had one that lasted more than half a season?
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/4 "2015-02-19T14:21:04Z")
Of course. There was the triumphant “Go On,” which lasted one season.
Now aren’t you ashamed of yourself for doubting Matthew Perry’s drawing power? 🙂
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/5 "2015-02-19T14:25:09Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#):
>
> Aside from Jennifer Aniston becoming an A-list movie star, I can’t really think of too much any of the former \*Friends \*have done.
Lisa Kudrow has been pretty successful, achieving critical acclaim and pretty good viewership for both _The Comeback_ and _Web Therapy._
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### Author:  [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/6 "2015-02-19T14:56:46Z")
CBS did a remake of the Odd Couple. It was called _Two and a half Men_. I didn’t really care for it though. Too sexually gross and mean.
I liked Matthew Perry in his other short lived series but Thomas Lennon is the one that I always find funny.
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### Author:  [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/7 "2015-02-19T15:32:18Z")
> [@Skammer](#):
>
> Lisa Kudrow has been pretty successful, achieving critical acclaim and pretty good viewership for both _The Comeback_ and _Web Therapy._
The Comeback does have vocal fans and good critical reviews, [but it got terrible ratings.](http://www.vulture.com/2014/12/hbo-the-comeback-ratings-flop.html)
Similarly, Courtney Cox’s show Cougar Town, has very vocal fans but fairly poor ratings. But apparently it’s made it to 100 episodes, so that’s a fairly decent success.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/8 "2015-02-19T16:28:28Z")
Kudrow was brilliant in **The Opposite of Sex.**
And really wish I there was a way to record the person who probably was the best Felix of all: Art Carney, who originated the role on Broadway.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/9 "2015-02-19T16:30:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Kudrow was brilliant in **The Opposite of Sex.**
>
> And really wish I there was a way to record the person who probably was the best Felix of all: Art Carney, who originated the role on Broadway.
When ever anyone asked Tony Randall, “Who was the best Felix, you or Jack Lemmon,” he always answered “Art Carney.”
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/10 "2015-02-19T16:37:35Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#):
>
> Of course. There was the triumphant “Go On,” which lasted one season.
The episodes I saw of that I thought were pretty good. Enough for me to watch more than one.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/11 "2015-02-19T17:24:12Z")
> [@astorian](#):
>
> When ever anyone asked Tony Randall, “Who was the best Felix, you or Jack Lemmon,” he always answered “Art Carney.”
Carney is mostly known for the Honeymooners but he was a very versatile actor. I would have liked to see him in the role on Broadway. I think Walter Matthau originated the role on Broadway, and much of what we see in the character Oscar is actually Matthau himself. Jack Klugman also played Oscar on Broadway, and his acting style was very similar to Matthau’s.
The problem I see with this production is that Matthew Perry only seems to be able to play one character, and it’s not Oscar.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/12 "2015-02-19T17:50:29Z")
Just posted in the Sequential Threads thread:
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*Odd Couple. Two Felixes?
> The Oscars: Best Visual Effects \*\*
>
> Neil Simon seeing double.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/13 "2015-02-19T17:50:52Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#):
>
> What I can say is the makers of the show would never want to cast two actors who played iconic characters _in the same show together_ in a totally different show. Comparisons to their previous work would overshadow anything about the new series.
Now you’ve got me trying to think of a counterexample, but I’m not coming up with anything, at least if you restrict it to TV: it’s not that uncommon in movies for a pair of actors who worked well together to be brought back to costar again in another unrelated movie.
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> I expect this one to tank pretty quickly, like most of Perry’s post-Friends series have done. Has he had one that lasted more than half a season?
I’ve never watched _Friends_ but I have seen Perry in Aaron Sorkin’s _Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip_, which lasted one full season. Perry was perfectly good in that, but he wasn’t exactly doing comedy.
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/14 "2015-02-19T18:04:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> The problem I see with this production is that Matthew Perry only seems to be able to play one character, and it’s not Oscar.
Good actors can play against type. I think Perry may be able to play it but will the audience accept it?
I also agree that Thomas Lennon is funny so maybe it will work.
Unfortunately, Thursday nights on CBS seems to be the home for awful comedies so it may have to take something incredible for me to switch it on.
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/15 "2015-02-19T18:09:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> Now you’ve got me trying to think of a counterexample, but I’m not coming up with anything, at least if you restrict it to TV:
I can think of one instance, at the risk of bringing up a name with unpleasant associations right now: Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad played husband and wife in both “The Cosby Show,” and the unrelated “Cosby.” I think I recall that Cosby requested her for the later show specifically because he knew they could work well together.
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### Author:  [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/16 "2015-02-19T18:53:27Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> Now you’ve got me trying to think of a counterexample, but I’m not coming up with anything, at least if you restrict it to TV: it’s not that uncommon in movies for a pair of actors who worked well together to be brought back to costar again in another unrelated movie.
Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan were together on Maude and Golden Girls.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/17 "2015-02-19T19:05:36Z")
I never watched \*Friends \*- was Perry’s character in _The Whole Nine Yards_ a redux of that?
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### Author:  [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/18 "2015-02-19T19:22:17Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#):
>
> I never watched \*Friends \*- was Perry’s character in _The Whole Nine Yards_ a redux of that?
Not really.
Perry in friends was him trying to be funny because he had a character who tried to be funny.
Whole Nine Yards Perry was him being the straight character (with quirts obviously) while his world crumbled around him. It was essentially his character in Go On too.
All of which I love cuz I’m a Perry enthusiast.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/19 "2015-02-19T19:22:40Z")
> [@Moriarty](#):
>
> Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan were together on Maude and Golden Girls.
Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance in \*I Love Lucy \*and _The Lucy Show_?
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### Author:  [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-couple-two-felixes/713064/20 "2015-02-19T20:45:38Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#):
>
> What I can say is the makers of the show would never want to cast two actors who played iconic characters _in the same show together_ in a totally different show. Comparisons to their previous work would overshadow anything about the new series. It’s hard enough for even one TV actor to move past a hugely successful role into anything new…
The Big Bang Theory seems to have done a good job with David Galecki and Sara Gilbert.
I recognize a lot of my favourite actors from OZ on Law and Order… I always think it’s nice that they got out of jail and became successful in law enforcement.
As to Matthew Perry playing Oscar in the Odd Couple. Not so sure about that one.
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