ODD COUPLE, THE: THE ODD MONKS (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series about Oscar Madison and Felix Unger, two divorced men who share an apartment in New York City.
Both Felix and Oscar are worn-out from their daily lives; Felix is exhausted from his work on a grueling photo shoot and Oscar has a bad stomach ulcer. A monk named Brother Ralph appears at their door collecting for his monastery, the Brotherhood of Light. He endears himself towards them by making them dinner and reveals that he was once an advertising executive who abandoned his stressful, materialistic life in favor of simple contemplation and peace of mind. Felix, fed up with the demands of his job, decides to join the monastery himself.
Felix is oriented into the monastery and takes to contemplation and simplicity. Oscar arrives soon thereafter; he was advised by his doctor to take a short rest due to his ulcer and decided to join Felix. Oscar does not adjust well to monk life and soon finds himself bored out of his mind, whilst Felix continues to embrace it. Oscar sets up a dice game with some of the other monks and Felix tells Brother Ralph, who sentences them both to serve penance by getting up early to bake bread and also not to speak for 24 hours. During the baking, Felix and Oscar continually attempt to trick the other into speaking. They fail at their task, but Brother Ralph reveals there is no punishment for failure and that they have been forgiven, advising them to adopt such an attitude towards the people in their everyday lives. The episode ends as Felix leads the other monks in song in an attempt to cheer Oscar up. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: October 14, 1972 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:26:01
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:50181
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: TV - Comedy
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1970-1975
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Garry Marshall … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Jerry Davis … Producer
- Tony Marshall … Associate Producer
- Jerry Belson … Director, Developed by
- Neil Simon … Based on the play "The Odd Couple" by
- Neal Hefti … Music by
- Tony Randall … Cast, Felix Unger
- Jack Klugman … Cast, Oscar Madison
- Richard Stahl … Cast, Brother Ralph
- Jack Collins … Cast, Brother Samuel
- Penny Marshall … Cast, Myrna
- Robert Ball … Cast, Brother Lou
- Ed Peck … Cast, Brother Horace
- Charles Lampkin … Cast, Brother Lowell