Intended to be Part One of a three part episode with The Ogg And I/How To Hatch A Dinosaur. Producers eventually decided to air this as an individual episode, also resulting in the filming of a new teaser ending.
The title is based on the play 'The Odd Couple' by Neil Simon that opened on Broadway (New York City) at the Plymouth Theater on March 10, 1965, ran for 966 performances was nominated for the 1965 Tony Award for the Best Play. It would later be made into a hit film starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau as Oscar and a classic sitcom starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
Samarkand, a city on the old Silk Road, lies in present day Uzbekistan, in Central Asia. Bessarabia, which is likely the basis of Olga's mythical kingdom name, is in present day Moldova, near the Ukraine. At the time of this episode, both were part of the U.S.S.R. as well as being on opposite sides of what is presently the Russian Federation. But Bessarabia, not Samarkand, is located on the Black Sea, where sturgeon are often found. That's Hollywood!
The 1962 film "Taras Bulba" re-introduced audiences to the world of the Cossack. The 1965 movie "Dr. Zhivago" continued the trend, just a few months before this episode aired. So old Russian culture was very popular at the time.