The Oddball Couple

The oddball couple is a TV cartoon series that was aired in the USA from 1975 to 1977 on ABC and which featured a cat called “Spiffy”.

Spiffy was very prissy! He was very neat and particular about his appearance. He worked with a dog called “Fleabag” who had a character that was almost diametrically opposite: hopelessly messy and pot bellied.

They had one thing in common: they were reporters…

They nagged each other and worked on a number of stories such as Klondike Oil Kaper, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Werewolf?, The Royal Mixup, Hotel Boo-MOre and Jungle Bungle.

They were involved in the following adventures (and more): Spiffy’s Nephew, A Day on the Beach and Fleababag’s Mother.

They had a secretary named Goldie.

The series was created by De Patie-Freleng. There were 32 episodes. Paul Winchell voiced Fleabag and Frank Nelson voiced Spiffy.

Here is a video {Please not that sometimes videos get pulled off YouTube for any number of reasons, which leaves the video black. I don’t have notice of these events – sorry.}

These cartoon cat and dog characters are, I believe, based on the 1968 film “The Odd Couple” starring starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau as Oscar. There was also a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon of the same name which must be the original inspiration for both the film and cartoon series or was there a production or book that predates both these?

Hope you enjoy..

Comment by: Gail (Boston, MA USA)

Michael, You have sent me back to a time when life was so much simpler and the cartoons were so much better! Thank you!

For those who don’t know, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises pumped out tons of great cartoons, such as Pink Panther, Ant & the Aardvark, The Inspector, Fantastic Four, Cats and Bruises – the list is endless!

Many of these cartoons can still be viewed on Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Nick Jr. in the wee hours of the morning via satellite TV.

Sometimes I even search the program guide for some of these old cartoons and record them for later viewing.