Barefoot in the Park (TV series) "The Odd Couple" (Jerry Paris, Harvey Miller, Bruce Bilson and Garry Marshall among others). Barefoot in the Park (TV series) Barefoot in the Park is an American sitcom that aired in 1970 on ABC. Based on the Neil Simon Broadway play of the same name, the series cast members are predominantly black, making it the first American television sitcom since "Amos 'n' Andy" to have a predominantly black cast (Vito Scotti is the sole major white character). "Barefoot in the Park" had also previously been a 1967 film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Scoey Mitchell plays Paul Bratter, a
Jane Fonda was good. At anything. It was a turning point in my life. I went to bed thinking about acting. I woke up thinking about acting. It was like the roof had come off my life!" Fonda's stage work in the late 1950s laid the foundation for her film career in the 1960s. She averaged almost two movies a year throughout the decade, starting in 1960 with "Tall Story", in which she recreated one of her Broadway roles as a college cheerleader pursuing a basketball star, played by Anthony Perkins. Frequent collaborator Robert Redford also made his debut in that film.