With less than one week to go until the premiere of the revamped version of The Odd Couple, there is one big question that is on everyone’s mind: Are they keeping the original theme song? Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is a two part answer. While the new CBS revamp (premiering Thursday, February 19th at 8:30 on CBS/WTVH), will retain the classic and oh-so-catchy Neal Hefti theme music, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that it will have a (new) New Orleans blues-jazz arrangement. In his February 12, 2015 article, Dave Walker writes in The Times Picayune that trombonist Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews’ updated version of the Hefti theme is “a slinky trombone driven take on the Hefti tune.”
The new sixty second version is available online and after listening to it, while it does maintain the Hefti theme, it loses the big band sound that the original version had. However, it does have a more modern sound, which may appeal to younger viewers, but I am still partial to the original version of the iconic theme. Therefore, I guess we will just have to wait until next Thursday to see if the new version of The Odd Couple and its new theme are accepted by the 2015 TV audience and critics.
Have a listen to the new arrangement of the theme:
https://soundcloud.com/nola-sound/trombone-shorty-theme-from-the-odd-couple