‘The Odd Couple’ premiered 52 years ago today, September 24, 1970

52 years ago today, September 24, 1970, The Odd Couple (titled onscreen Neil Simon's The Odd Couple) premiered. It is an American sitcom television series broadcast from September 24, 1970 to March 7, 1975 on ABC. The show, which stars Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison, was the first of several sitcoms developed by Garry Marshall for Paramount Television. The series is based on the 1965 play The Odd Couple written by Neil Simon, which was also adapted into the 1968 film The Odd Couple. The story examines two divorced men, Oscar and Felix, who share a Manhattan apartment and whose opposite personalities inevitably lead to conflict and laughter.

In 1997, the episodes "Password" and "The Fat Farm" were ranked No. 5 and No. 58, respectively, on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[4] The show received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Throughout its five years on ABC, The Odd Couple was juggled several times around the network's programming schedule, never reaching the Top 30 in the Nielsen ratings. However, ABC continually renewed the show because the ratings for the summer reruns were consistently high.