The Odd Couple
Strike Up the Band or Else
TV Flash files “Strike Up the Band or Else” as hour 98 of 114 in the TV Flash guide — The Odd Couple (1970–1975) on ABC, season 5, episode 6, aired 1974-10-17, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E06: listed hour 98 of 114 in the The Odd Couple guide, hour 6 of 22 in season 5. It aired 1974-10-17 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Dog Story” (S05E05). Next is “The Odd Candidate” (S05E07).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Strike Up the Band or Else sit in the The Odd Couple guide?
S05E06 is listed hour 98 of 114 — hour 6 of 22 in season 5, season 5 episode 6.
When did The Odd Couple S05E06 air?
Strike Up the Band or Else aired 1974-10-17 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Play, movie, or the TV series first?
The ABC series stands alone. Simon's play and the 1968 film are source cousins; Randall and Klugman are the television pairing.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Tony Randall's Felix and Jack Klugman's Oscar split a New York apartment and turn Neil Simon's neat-freak-versus-slob math into five seasons of ABC music. Poker-night ensemble, Pigeon-sister orbit, roommate mismatch as eternal sitcom architecture. Chemistry as premise, not garnish.
Flash: a New York apartment, a pile of laundry that is already a crime scene, and Tony Randall's Felix splitting the lease with Jack Klugman's Oscar like the marriage already failed — because it did. The Odd Couple (ABC, 1970–1975) multiplied Neil Simon's neat-freak-versus-slob math across five seasons, 114 episodes. Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson brought the play and 1968 film to weekly television. Al Molinaro's Murray and Penny Marshall's Myrna fill the poker-night orbit from Simon's original world. Sports…
Filed against
- Tony Randall as Felix Unger
Tony Randall’s Felix Unger split a New York apartment with Jack Klugman’s Oscar and turned Neil Simon’s neat-freak-versus-slob math into five seasons of ABC music. Poker-night ensemble, Pigeon-sister orbit, roommate mismatch as eternal…
- Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison
Jack Klugman’s Oscar Madison made The Odd Couple a slob with a sportswriter’s mouth — 1970s catalog Neil Simon as multi-cam, then Quincy, M.E. stretching the yell into a morgue crusade. TV Flash files him as the roommate who became a…
- Al Molinaro as Officer Murray Greshler
Al Molinaro’s Officer Murray Greshler walked The Odd Couple’s poker-night New York — Tony Randall’s Felix, Jack Klugman’s Oscar, Neil Simon’s neat-freak-versus-slob math as five seasons of ABC music. Roommate mismatch as eternal sitcom…
- Penny Marshall as Myrna Turner
Penny Marshall’s Laverne DeFazio turned Milwaukee bottle-capping into a slapstick instrument on Laverne & Shirley — schlemiel-schlimazel liturgy, Lenny and Squiggy, Nielsen scale in work boots — after The Odd Couple’s roommate-mismatch…