Matthew Perry's 'Odd Couple' Reboot Gets CBS Pilot Order

It's official: CBS' reboot of The Odd Couple -- starring Matthew Perry -- is moving forward.

CBS on Tuesday picked up the multicamera comedy, which received a script plus penalty commitment in December, to pilot.

Friends alum Matthew Perry and Joe Keenan (Glee, Frasier) will pen the script for the pilot based on Neil Simon's Broadway play. Mad About You's Danny Jacobson was previously attached as a co-writer on the project and is no longer involved.

Perry will also executive produce the CBS Television Studios comedy alongside Timberman-Beverly's Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman as well as and The Tannenbaum Co.'s Eric and Kim Tannenbaum.

The CBS/Perry take marks the latest incarnation of Simon's classic about the uptight Felix Ungar and his easygoing roommate Oscar Madison (Perry). Walter Matthau and Art Carney starred in the Broadway show -- which earned the former a best actor Tony and production a best play, among others. Jack Lemmon and Matthau starred in a 1968 feature film based on the play and a sequel. The play also was the basis for an ABC comedy starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall that ran for five seasons from 1970-75 as well as multiple other incarnations.

The CBS take marks a reunion for Perry with the network, where the Go On and Mr. Sunshine alum has had a recurring role on drama The Good Wife. Odd Couple also serves as a return to multicamera comedy for Perry, whose past two short-lived comedies (Go On, Mr. Sunshine) had been single-camera vehicles.

Odd couple comedies have emerged as a trend this pilot season. NBC is prepping Lifesaver, which is described as an odd couple comedy about polar opposites who become inextricably linked, starring Christian Borle and Jonathan Ryland, and CBS' Cuz-Bros centers on a suave ladies' man whose life is turned upside down when his mess of a cousin needs a place to stay.

Odd Couple joins a pilot haul that includes David Caspe's Cuz-Bros, Matt Miller's Good Session, family comedies The McCarthys and The Mistake, Jim Gaffigan's untitled entry and More Time With Family as well as Taxi-22, Save the Date and its How I Met Your Mother spinoff.

For CBS, this brings the network's total pilot haul to 19, down four from last year. On the comedy side, it's the network's 10th half-hour pickup, off two year-over-year. Overall, it's the 94th pickup of the season, off six year-over-year.

This marks Timberman and Beverly's fourth pilot order of the season, joining ABC's David O. Russell drama series, CBS' Wall Street drama and CBS' David Marshall Grant medical soap.

That should be -- or used to be -- Felix "Unger".

Wouldn't Perry be better suited to play Felix?

They wouldn't dare.

If they do, will they use the same scripts from the 70s show?

F.U.

Make him Felix, and cast Matt LeBlanc as Oscar.

Ungar, the Screamer

They wouldn't dare.

If they do, will they use the same scripts from the 70s show?

Agreed! He's never played a slob.

Playing the slob is a better choice for him I think. Who really wants to see him play the uptight roommate again? Been there, done that.

Similar to Betty White passing on the Blanche role in Golden Girls, since she was famous for a similar character on Mary Tyler Moore.