August is Summer Under the Stars month on TCM, and in a month full of great films that highlight the talents of a different personality every day, it’s difficult to find just one film during the course of a week to choose as a top pick. However, when you include the insanely funny and versatile Walter Matthau within any given week the choice becomes a whole lot easier.

This Wednesday the best of Matthau’s films includes one of my all time favorites, “The Odd Couple”. This 1968 Neil Simon comedy classic stars Matthau as a divorced slob playing opposite his most constant companion, Jack Lemmon. Lemmon is a neat freak that drives Matthau crazy after he moves in when his wife has thrown him out.

Lemmon was an extremely skilled comedian in his own right, whose style and timing meshed perfectly with Matthau. And “The Odd Couple” is the absolute pinnacle of excellence among their extremely successful collaborations together. Whether you’ve seen it a million times or never before you’ve got to catch “The Odd Couple” this week on TCM. You’ll either discover, or celebrate some really great comedy that’s just to good to miss.

Odd Couple, The (1968) – Wednesday, August 11 at 10:00pm EST
A divorced neat freak moves in with his sloppy best friend.
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler, Herbert Edelman Dir: Gene Saks C-105 mins, TV-PG