The Oddball Couple

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The Oddball Couple was an animated half hour Saturday morning show that ran on the ABC TV network from September 6, 1975 to September 3, 1977. The show was a production of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and was an animated homage to the Neil Simon play-turned movie-turned hit TV series The Odd Couple, which was ironic because this series premiered the very same year that the show it paid homage to was cancelled. The show initially aired at 11:30am the first season and was switched to 12:00pm the following season.

[edit] Overview of Series

The Oddball Couple featured the misadventures of a dog and cat who lived together under the same roof. The cat's name was Spiffy and the dog's name was Fleabag. Spiffy was a very orderly and polite cat who believed in cleanliness and organization while his roommate Fleabag the dog was the exact opposite who was always rude, obnoxious, lazy and was always very disorganized and unorthodox. They had a secretary named Goldie who worked in the office they shared. The show always had two segments lasting ten minutes.

[edit] Trivia

Friz Freleng, who co-produced the series, is best remembered for being the producer and director of many of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts that featured Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the cat, Yosemite Sam and Speedy Gonzalez.

David DePatie,who alongside Friz Freleng, is best remembered for his work producing the animated series The Pink Panther that ran on the NBC TV network and various other syndicated networks for many years. Both he and Freleng also produced the opening animation credits for the film series of the same name and were also responsible for creating many other animated TV specials based on the Dr.Seuss books The Cat In The Hat and The Lorax.

Frank Nelson and Paul Winchell were the voices of Spiffy and Fleabag respectively. Nelson also made several guest appearances on the long running TV series I Love Lucy. Winchell also voiced the charcter REVS the motorcycle on Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch and also provided the voice of the Scrubbing Bubbles for the Dow Bathroom Cleaner commercials as well as the voice of Tigger on the Winnie The Pooh cartoons and many others. Joan Gerber was the voice of Goldie.