Three's Company

Three's Company was a popular American sitcom that ran from 1977 to 1984 on ABC.

Basic description

The show was a remake of the British sitcom Man About the House and revolved around two women and a man sharing an apartment together. Jack Tripper moved into the apartment that Chrissy Snow and Janet Wood were sharing together after they found him sleeping in their shower after a party. To be allowed to stay in the apartment, Jack let the landlord, Stanley Roper (and subsequently, Ralph Furley), believe he was gay. Stanley's wife Helen knew that Jack was not gay from the second episode on, but didn't mind. Stanley never found out, frequently calling Jack "one of the girls." Ralph, who tried on several occasions to "persuade" Jack to convert to heterosexuality, didn't find out Jack wasn't gay until the last episode, when he took credit for "curing" him.

The show was set in Santa Monica, California, and usually focused on three sets: the trio's apartment, the landlord's apartment and the local pub/restaurant called "The Regal Beagle." In later seasons, "The Beagle" was seen less frequently, as "Jack's Bistro" became the setting for many scenes.

Summary

The series revolved around sexual double entendres, misunderstandings and Jack's clumsiness. One episode involved Jack going to the hospital to have a tattoo removed, but before he leaves for the operation Janet overhears Jack and Larry discussing a friend's vasectomy. She believes that Jack is the one having the vasectomy and tries to talk him out of it. Mr. Furley, on the other hand, believes Jack is going in for a sex-change operation when Jack's suitcase opens and spills dresses all over the floor (the suitcase was actually Janet's and she simply hadn't unpacked it yet) and because Jack told Mr. Furley he was going in to "get rid of something I never should have had in the first place."

This use of "comedy of errors" attracted many fans, including Lucille Ball, who was such a huge fan of the show that she hosted a retrospective during the series run.

Pilots

Three pilot episodes were shot for Three's Company, a rarity for American television. The show was recast several times at the instruction of ABC's Fred Silverman. The first pilot featured Ritter as "David", Valerie Curtin as "Jenny", and Suzanne Zenor as "Samantha." The second pilot featured Ritter and DeWitt in as Jack and Janet, but Susan Lanier played Chrissy.

Spinoffs

Three's Company spawned two spinoffs, The Ropers, revolving around Jack's former landlords, and Three's a Crowd, the further adventures of Jack as he settles down. Neither was as popular and both were swiftly cancelled. These spin-offs were based on, respectively, the Man About the House spin-offs George and Mildred and Robin's Nest. Unlike their U.S. counterparts, these had been very successful, both ultimately having a longer run than Man About the House.

Ratings

Usually in the 1960s and 1970s, midseason television programs were cancelled after their original six-episode run in the spring. Network observers did not believe that Three's Company would go anywhere after its first six shows. They were proved wrong when it racked in record ratings, breaking barriers at the time as the highest-rated midseason show ever broadcast on network television. ABC gladly renewed the show for a formal television season, giving it a permanent primetime spot during the 1977-1978 year. Ratings continued to climb throughout the years. The very first episode, "A Man About the House", hit #28 overall. The first time a Company episode hit the #1 spot was the airing of "Will the Real Jack Tripper...", which aired February 14, 1978. The most watched Company episode aired on March 13, 1979, immediately preceding the series premiere of its spinoff, The Ropers. The episode, entitled "An Anniversary Surprise", centered around Stanley selling the apartment, and the Ropers moving out. It attraced a superb 38.4 rating (29 million households), making the episode one of the most watched telecasts ever. Here is how the show ranked overall in popularity throughout its seven-year run among all television programs:

Spring 1977: #11
1977-1978: #3
1978-1979: #1
1979-1980: #2
1980-1981: #8
1981-1982: #4
1982-1983: #6
1983-1984: #31

Sources

Info from Super70s.com

Broadcast history

March 1977 - April 1977, Thursday 9:30 p.m.
August 1977 - September 1977, Thursday 9:30 p.m.
September 1977 - May 1984, Tuesday 9:00 p.m.
May 1984 - September 1984, Tuesday 8:30 p.m.

Trouble on the set

Suzanne Somers became a popular star through her role as dumb-blonde Chrissy Snow in the series. She eventually caused friction on the set in 1980 when, after demands for a heavily increased salary ($100,000 a week) were not met, she went on strike and was absent for several taping days. Eventually, co-stars Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter refused to work with her because of this, but, unwilling to fire the actor for fears her absence would cause ratings to decline, the producers of the series retained Somers, who was still under contract, to appear in just the one-minute tag scene of select episodes. According to scripts, she had returned to her hometown of Fresno to care for her sick mother, and in the tag scene she would be seen on the telephone talking to one of the roommates (usually Janet) who would recount that episode's adventures to her. In the story, Chrissy's place in the apartment was taken by her cousin, Cindy (Jenilee Harrison). Somers' scenes were taped on separate days from the show's regular taping; she did not appear on set with any of the show's other actors. This arrangement continued for one season, but after her contract expired it was not renewed and she disappeared from the series.

As Cindy, Jenilee Harrison was unable to fill the shoes of the original roommate on the series. The producers' solution was another replacement, Terri (Priscilla Barnes), a clever, sometimes sassy nurse who was introduced in the sixth season. She was the last of the series' three blondes.

End of the series

Towards the end of the series, promos were released hinting that Jack and Janet would be married. However, in the last episode Janet married another man, Phillip; Terri moved for a job in Hawaii; and Jack moved out to live with his new girlfriend, Vicky. This led to the one-season spinoff series Three's a Crowd.

DVD Releases

Season Releases

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #	Additional Information
Season 1	November 11 2003	6	(No Bonus Features due to John Ritter's Death)
Season 2	May 4 2004	25	Audio commentary, Best of Janet, Chrissy, Ropers, pilot Episode, Tribute to John Ritter Featurette, gag reels, and trivia game.
Season 3	November 2 2004	22	Pilot Episode #2, Remembering John Ritter Interview, Audio Commentary, Original Promo Pieces with John Ritter, Richard Kline and Dave Powers Interview.
Season 4	May 3 2005	25	Nancy Morgan Ritter Interview, Hosted by Joyce DeWitt, Audio commentary, Interviews with Don Knotts, Richard Kline, and Ann Wedgeworth, Best of Jack, Janet, Chrissy, Larry, and Mr. Furley from Season 4.
Season 5	November 15 2005	22	Jenilee Harrison interviews Of Farce and Censors: All-new interviews with producers George Sunga & George Burditt and writer Kim Weiskopf, Best of Jack, Janet, Cindy, Larry, and Furley.
Season 6	March 7 2006	26	Lucille Ball Presents The Best Of Three's Company, Laughs Around the World: Episode in Polish, Audio Commentary with Director Dave Powers on Jack Bares All.
Season 7	July 25 2006	22	Don Knotts: A Tribute, Parlez-Vous Three's Company, Audio Commentary with Richard Kline. Season 7 Best of Jack, Janet, Terri, and Larry.
Season 8	October 10 2006	22

Syndication

The show has been in local syndication since 1982. It debuted on cable in 1992 on TBS and ran through 1999. Then Nick at Nite bought the show in 2000 and have a 7 year term with other Viacom networks such as TV Land and TNN. The show currently airs on TV Land.

Cast

John Ritter as Jack Tripper (entire run), the clumsy culinary student, Navy veteran, and swinging bachelor who has to pretend he's gay so he can live with two female roommates. Later in the series he runs his own restaurant, "Jack's Bistro." (Billy Crystal auditioned for this role.)
Joyce DeWitt as Janet Wood (entire run), the down-to-earth brunette who worked at the "Arcade Florist." (Ann Reinking auditioned for the role)
Suzanne Somers as Chrissy Snow (1977-1981), the ditzy blonde who was a typist. (Loni Anderson auditioned for the role).
Jenilee Harrison as Cindy Snow (1980-1982), Chrissy's somewhat ditzy (and catastrophically clumsy) cousin and her replacement in the apartment. She later became a veterinary student at UCLA.
Priscilla Barnes as Terri Alden (1981-1984), Cindy's replacement, a non-ditzy, intelligent blonde nurse who seemed to be the show's answer to complaints about its portrayal of blondes.
Norman Fell (1977-1979) as Stanley Roper, the hard-nosed landlord who seemed obsessed with Jack's homosexuality (better that than have him know Jack was straight). He became known for breaking the fourth wall after making a wisecrack.
Audra Lindley (1977-1979) as Helen Roper, the landlord's wife, a romantic woman who was always friendly to the "kids" in the apartment and frustrated that her husband never wanted to have sex. Unlike her husband, she knew that Jack was not gay from the start, but didn't mind.
Richard Kline as Larry Dallas (entire run), the womanizing neighbor who was a used car salesman and Jack's best friend. He is of Greek descent, as his full last name is Dalliapolis. The first night of Jack's Bistro when the customer count was low, Larry drums up business by bringing in all his Greek relatives.(Episode:134~Opening Night) ^*
Don Knotts as Ralph Furley (1979-1984), Mr. Roper's replacement, the goofy, flamboyantly dressed landlord who was running the place for his brother Bart. Mr. Furley often fancied himself a lothario but always struck out with the ladies.
Ann Wedgeworth as Lana Shields (1979), the neighbor who pursued Jack, and in turn was pursued by Furley.

Recurring Cast

Paul Ainsley as Jim (1977-1981), a bartender at "The Regal Beagle."
Brad Blaisdell as Mike (1981-1984), a bartender at "The Regal Beagle."
William Pierson as Dean Travers (1977-1981), the dean of Jack's cooking school.
Peter Mark Richman as Rev. Luther Snow (1978-1979), Chrissy's minister father.
Anne Schedeen as Linda (1978-1979), Jack's girlfriend.
Emmaline Henry as J.C. Braddock (1978-1979), Chrissy's boss.
Jordan Charney as Frank Angelino (1981-1983), Jack's short-tempered boss.
Gino Conforti as Felipé Gomez (1981-1982), Jack's jealous co-worker at "Angelino's."
Sheila Rogers as Marge Andrews (1981-1984), a desk nurse at Terri's place of work, "Wilshire Memorial Hospital."
David Ruprecht as Phillip Dawson (1984), Janet's art dealer boyfriend/fiancé.
Mary Cadorette as Vicky Bradford (1984), Jack's stewardess girlfriend/soon-to-be roommate.
Robert Mandan as James Bradford (1984), Vicky's unapproving father.

Three's Company in other media

In 2003, a docudrama was made by NBC of the show called The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company. The drama documented the trouble on the set and the show's journey to the top.

In the TV Show, What's Happening!! the characters imagined themselves as part of an early scene of Three's Company.

John Ritter starred in the 1992 movie Stay Tuned, portraying a man who becomes trapped inside a set of television channels broadcast from Hell. At one point, he finds himself on the Three's Company set, where "Chrissy" and "Janet" appear to enter the room and ask, "Where have you been?"

In an episode of The Jenny McCarthy Show on MTV, Somers guest-starred in a Three's Company parody skit as Chrissy visiting her grown-up daughter (McCarthy), who lives in an apartment similar to her old one, with roommates named Jack and Janet. Norman Fell appears briefly as Mr. Roper.

In an episode of John Ritter's later series 8 Simple Rules, Paul Hennessey (Ritter) dreams that his teenage daughters are living with Kyle (who dated both Bridget and Carey), just as Jack Tripper did. The set was actually a replica of the original apartment, and the scene was shot in the same style as the original series.

In the Adam Sandler film Click, "cool kids" from Sandler's youth rush off to a popular child's home to watch Three's Company.

In the TV movie Fairly Oddparents: Channel Chasers, the first line in the chorus of "If I lived in TV" is 'in the company of three' the three main characters appear as Jack, Chrissy and Janet.

In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Norman Fell appears as a landlord for a studio that Will uses when Ashley breifly becomes famous, and when Will has no rent he utters "I have the worst luck with tenants" a joke to his role as Roper.

In Family Guy, Peter Griffin tries to get death out of his home saying "How are we supposed to explain you to Mr. Roper?"

Friends characters have watched Three's Company on various instances.

Full House had an episode where they sang the theme song.

Step by Step mentioned the show a few times, including Bronson Pinchot's character saying that Suzanne Somers' character (Carol Lambert) looked like Chrissy.

Futurama played the theme.

In Mac Dre's song Feelin Myself, both Jack Tripper and Ralph Furley are referenced.

External links

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