User Reviews

If this had been an episode of Friends, it would have been called "The One with the Hand Chairs." Felix has an opportunity to get a great deal on new furniture and decides to redecorate the apartment. He comes up with a roomful of Seventies hyper-modern furniture, starring a clock that shows the time by means of a constellation of lighted dots and--yes!--two vinyl-upholstered chairs shaped like a pair of hands. They may be among the best-remembered props in television history. Naturally Oscar can't live with the stuff and replaces it with furnishings from "Sam-Sam the Discount Man." Not the most complex plot ever, but the episode is a nice blend of sight gags and a typical complement of laugh lines. The NFL's Bubba Smith is on hand for the celebrity cameo that ABC had apparently made near-mandatory by this point in the series' life to try to hype the ratings. If you're a fan of Felix and Oscar, you probably know this episode; for everyone else it's a pretty good example of the show's charm.

This episode is one of my three favorites of the series. Maybe my very favorite. It's just a hilarious episode. The sundry furniture is already funny all by itself, but provides a basis from which the writers wring out a lot of laughs. I really don't want to say too much and give too much away for those who haven't seen it; if you are in that category, see it at once!

Unfortunately, the invisible powers-that-be will not let me end there; they seem to hate succinctness. I must add more lines. So be it. This episode deserves more than one review, so dammit, I'm gonna see this through.

So I'll end with this observation. Near the end of the episode, when Felix disdainfully reads the poem off of the pillow: Is the poetry really especially worse than *this* masterpiece?

"There are times when you may feel lonely.

There are times when you may feel glum.

But those times will not last if you only

Have a buddy, a comrade, a chum."

This has to be the iconic ODD COUPLE episode, and what made Friday nights back in the day so much fun. Well-meaning, but pain in the butt Felix decides its high time to redecorate the apartment 70s STYLE. You have to remember that all the furnishings were in vogue at the time, particularly the famous (or infamous) black hand chairs! I can remember seeing lots of beat up hand chairs in used furniture shops and folks laughing out loud at them! Today they are worth a fortune! A hilarious episode, but when you look back, it's kind of sentimental too. This was a must see for all us teens and college kids, whose pads looked like this, and maybe (to a degree) do today as retro stuff is now cool again. Felix typewriting on the moving red mini desk has got to be a classic, along with all the other yellow, pink and orange trimmings. This may have been inspired by the classic episode on MARY TYLER MOORE where Rhoda redecorates conservative Lou's house with lots of surprises, and gets the same shock reaction. Lots of guest stars such as 6 foot 7 football great Bubba Smith, who at the time was with the Oakland Raiders. He was also getting into acting and this was his very first tv appearance. He later was in the POLICE ACADEMY series. Also look for crusty ole Charles Lane and funny Bella Bruck, as a desperate lady who wants to buy their old furniture at midnight. A winner chicken dinner must see, if not for old time sake. SEASON 3 EPISODE 22 dvd box set.