TVSquad

When I first read the headline about Arianna Huffington getting into the TV comedy business, I had visions of her as Maude or something equally as bizarre.

Fortunately, it was just my skewed sense of humor at work, because Arianna Huffington, the political talking head and co-creator of The Huffington Post, is not starring in a sitcom. ABC has bought Huffington's idea for a multicamera sitcom. And just to make sure it's funny, they've hired executive producer Greg Malins (Friends, How I Met Your Mother) to develop the project.

20th Century Fox TV is producing the show for ABC and, yes, it is about politics. See, there are these three freshman members of the House of Representatives, two men and a woman (but no pizza place). They share an apartment in the D.C. area. "One is swept up in the movement of change... one has been in politics for a long time, and one is a master of the media and sound bites," said Malins.

Do you think when Neil Simon created the character of Felix Unger in The Odd Couple he knew that he was spawning a generation or two (maybe more) of Felix Unger wannabes? Today, over 40 years since Felix became part of our movie/TV collective conscience, there are lots of people and characters that bring to mind Tony Randall's alter ego.

It's Tony's Felix that I think is etched in our minds. He made Felix all he could be, and week in and week out -- opposite Jack Klugman's Oscar Madison -- he typified the ultimate neat freak, persnickety, hypochondriacally, impossible-to-live-with, supercilious know-it-all that made us cackle with laughter.

So, as I was watching TV -- an occupational requirement -- recently, it occurred to me that there are quite a few Felix Ungers on screen right now. Most are fictional, like Two and a Half Men's Alan Harper and, most obviously, Adrian Monk. But there are a couple of Felixes in real life on TV, too, like MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and ESPN's Mike Greenberg.

By my count, there are seven "Felix Ungers" currently on TV.

Don't get him wrong; Jon Cryer is thrilled to be nominated for an Emmy again. This is his third nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series as Alan Harper, the sad sack, divorced brother of Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men. In 2006 and 2007, he lost to Jeremy Piven, Ari Gold on Entourage, and Jon Cryer is ticked off: "Laugh all you want, [he] is my nemesis. He's a force of nature."

If it's not Piven -- again! -- Jon has another nemesis lined up: "I think this time Neil Patrick Harris (Barney on How I Met Your Mother) will win."

Cryer is good natured about his chances and not seriously miffed. He's planning to bring his new wife, entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner. "When we heard the news, she was thrilled for a moment, then filled with dread as she started to worry about what she'll wear. But she'll be there with me -- or I'll be very lonely."

This is a very odd story, and not because it involves one-half of TV's most enjoyable sitcoms ever, The Odd Couple, but it's not about that show. It's about his other successful series. Jack Klugman has filed suit against NBC Universal over profits from Quincy, M.E. The oddity is that the show hasn't been in production for 25 years and this hasn't come up till now!

In the life of a television show there are always changes. It could be the departure or addition of a cast member, a new set or shooting location, or just the aging of characters. But, those are subtle changes that many viewers just shrug off as the natural progression of a program.

Then there are those changes that are so drastic that they take viewers by surprise, making them wonder if this is the same show they watched the previous season. When these changes take place between the freshman and sophomore seasons of a show this really takes a toll on the fan base. Throughout the history of television there have been a number of shows that have seen such changes between the end of season one and the beginning of season two. After the jump you'll read about nine such examples.

"Mess O' Potomac": Good news... John Bolton is out. Bad news... he's making money with moustache rides. Even more bad news... Donald Rumsfeld has wormed his way back in the news. An old memo has surfaced and it's not fun and it's full of quotation marks. Senior Foreign Policy Analyst John Oliver elaborated on the use of quotes and air-quotes. The sun analogy was beautiful, haha.