Three's Company

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Three's Company

Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, and Bernie West
Starring	John Ritter Joyce DeWitt Suzanne Somers Norman Fell Audra Lindley Richard Kline Don Knotts Ann Wedgeworth Jenilee Harrison Priscilla Barnes
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	172 (plus 2 episodes of The Ropers aired in syndication as Three's Company)
Production
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	March 15, 1977 – September 18, 1984
Links
IMDb profile

For the Entourage episode, see Three's Company (Entourage).

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

1 Basic description
2 Summary
3 Pilots
4 Spinoffs
5 Ratings
6 Broadcast history
7 Trouble on the set
8 End of the series
9 Notable and rare episodes
10 Trivia
11 Set design
12 DVD releases
13 Syndication
14 Cast
15 Recurring cast
16 Referenced in other media
17 See also
18 References
19 External links

[edit] 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." In the final episode, Jack is moving out so that he can move in with his girlfriend. Keeping up the ruse even to the very end, Jack breaks the news to Ralph that he's "trying something new," insinuating that with all those years living next to Ralph, "something was bound to rub off" which Ralph takes as a sign that he "cured" Jack.

The show was set minutes from the beach in Santa Monica, California, and usually focused on four sets: the trio's apartment, the landlord's apartment, Larry, the womanizing upstairs neighbor's apartment and the neighborhood 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.

[edit] Summary

The series revolved around sexual double entendres, misunderstandings and 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 lacy nightgowns 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.

[edit] 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", and the pilot looked more like the first episode of the actual show. The second pilot featured Ritter and DeWitt in as Jack and Janet, but Susan Lanier played Chrissy and the pilot looked more like the second episode of the actual show.

In the first pilot, Mr. Roper's first name was George, as in the original British version. By the second pilot, ALL of the characters' names had been changed to the ones eventually used in the series.

[edit] Spinoffs

Three's Company spawned two short-lived spinoffs: The Ropers, revolving around Jack, Janet, and Chrissy's former landlords; and Three's a Crowd, the further adventures of Jack as he settles down. These too were based on the Man About the House spin-offs George and Mildred and Robin's Nest, which unlike their U.S. counterparts, were very successful.

[edit] 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 attracted 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 (Tied with Laverne & Shirley)
1979-1980: #2
1980-1981: #8
1981-1982: #4
1982-1983: #6
1983-1984: #31

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 Alden (played by Priscilla Barnes), a clever, sometimes sassy nurse who was introduced in the sixth season. She was the last of the series' three blondes. Unlike Somers, Barnes was considered a cooperative professional who remained close friends with many members of the cast and crew long after the series ended. Purportedly, had there ever been a reunion TV movie, some of the other cast members would have refused to participate if Barnes was overlooked in favor of having Suzanne Somers return.

[edit] 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 Dawson; Terri moved to Hawaii for a job; and Jack moved out to live with his new girlfriend, Vicky Bradford. This led to the one-season spinoff series Three's a Crowd.

[edit] Notable and rare episodes

In 1982, TV's Greg Brady (Barry Williams), won a small part on the series, returning from absence to the Paramount lot. On an extraordinary set, Williams appeared as Janet's date while an "intoxicated" Ritter performed at his zaniest.

Lana Clarkson made a rare appearance as a girlfriend for Jack Tripper.

Though syndicated, the first and last season episodes are quite rare in scheduling terms and are the ones most casual watchers still have not seen.

The first season is noted for containing a more intelligent Chrissy Snow. Suzanne Somers can be seen transforming from a "dumb blonde" in the debut season to a "dumber blonde" character in subsequent seasons; a trait the network capitalized on, and ultimately Somers became famous for.

Fifteen years later, after being notified by a viewer, American Nickelodeon network quickly edited an episode where John Ritter's scrotum skin was briefly visible through the bottom of a pair of blue boxer shorts.^[1]

[edit] Trivia

Jack, Janet and Chrissy lived in apartment 201, directly above the landlord unit.

Rarely mentioned, the apartment was rented pre-furnished. (This is implied in an episode where the apartment gets a new couch, and in the final episode where the apartment is left furnished.)

The theme song to Three's Company was sung by Ray Charles (unrelated to the more famous R & B musician Ray Charles) and Julia Rinker. It was composed by Joe Raposo (perhaps most well-known for his composing for Sesame Street).

Chrissy's real name is Christmas given because she was born on Christmas Day, thus making her name Christmas Snow.

Janet's hometown is Speedway, Indiana. This tidbit is mentioned in the Season 6 episode "And Now Here's Jack".

Terri's hometown is Longmeadow, Massachusetts. This tidbit is also mentioned in the Season 6 episode "And Now Here's Jack".

She's the Sheriff was set to star Priscilla Barnes as the sheriff. Shortly before production began, however, Suzanne Somers was brought in as her replacement. The move was ironic as Barnes replaced Somers in "Three's Company".

Three's Company's pilot #2 does not have closing credits.

Many of the episodes from the shows first two seasons were based on the scripts from Man About The House.

[edit] Set design

A colored yarn and stick creation known as a "God's Eye" hangs on the left living room wall. The popular 70's art-craft remained affixed to the apartment wall until the final episode in 1984.

A picture of a large yellow butterfly-lady with "Life" boldly printed on top, hangs on a wall, above a painted wicker chest, facing the entry door. The picture is the cover from Life magazine from February 2, 1922 featuring actress Joan Crawford in an illustrated form, with butterfly wings. It is titled, "The Flapper" by Frank X. Leyendecker.

In an early episode, Mr. Roper is fixing the kids' doorbell. It is located close to the kitchen door. In a later episode, Mr Furley is reparing the doorbell which is above the front door.

The occasionally used round dining room table is tucked away to the right of the living room set, in the form of a fold-away table.

In the 201 apartment, TV and record players only make brief appearances throughout the life of the show, then are seemingly stored away near the fourth wall when not called for in the script.

[edit] DVD releases

All eight seasons of Three's Company have been released on DVD in Region 1 by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

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 3, 2006	22	John Ritter: Working with the Master, Usted Habla Three's Company?, Bloopers from final 3 seasons, Best of Jack, Janet, Terri, Larry, and Furley.

[edit] Syndication

The show has been in local syndication since 1982 (ABC first aired repeats during daytime starting in the late 1970s) 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. On March 17, 2007 on TV Land, there will be a Three's Company marathon to honor the 30th anniversary of the show.

[edit] Cast

Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter, and Suzanne Somers

Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter, and Priscilla Barnes

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 without the landlord's disapproval. 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 this role) The episode "Stanley's Hotline" is the only episode where Joyce DeWitt does not appear.
Suzanne Somers as Chrissy Snow (1977-1981), the ditzy blonde who was a typist. (Loni Anderson auditioned for this 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. (Heather Locklear auditioned for this role)
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 as Stanley Roper (1977-1979), the hard-nosed landlord who seemed obsessed with Jack's supposed homosexuality (better that than have him know Jack was straight). He became known for breaking the fourth wall (mugging for the camera) after making a wisecrack.
Audra Lindley as Helen Roper (1977-1979), 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.
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.

[edit] 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 Reverend 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.

[edit] Referenced in other media

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

Michael Bell who guest starred on Three's Company, went later on to do voice acting and has done roles for RugRats and Voltron.

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

Jeffrey Tambor guest starred 3 different times, as 3 different characters, and also was a part of The Ropers cast.

John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers, and Richard Kline all made a single appearance in an episode of The Ropers. Kline made an appearance in the season 1 finale. And Ritter, DeWitt, and Somers made an appearance on the season 2 premier.

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 Hennessy (Ritter) dreams that his teenage daughters are living with Kyle (who dated both Bridget and Carey), just as Jack Tripper did. In the final sequence of the episode, Paul Hennessy wakes up realizing it was all a dream, then looks next to him and Mr. Furley (played by Don Knotts) is laying there too, looking just as surprised. The set was actually a replica of the original apartment, and the scene was shot in the same style as the original series. Also, this was the last time John and Don worked together shortly before their deaths.

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.

Friends characters have watched and referred to Three's Company on various instances. Audra Lindley appears as Phoebe Buffay's grandmother on the show. Chandler also alludes to Monica and Rachel having a misunderstanding like the girls on Three's Company. Rachel sings the theme song from Three's Company, in reference to her short-lived belief that Chandler will move in with her and Monica.

Step by Step mentioned the show a few times, including Bronson Pinchot's character saying that Suzanne Somers' character (Carol Lambert) looked like Chrissy. In another episode, Carol also tells Frank she was just watching Three's Company, and talks about how funny Chrissy is.

In a King of Queens episode when Doug and Carrie are trying to remember the names of a couple they have met, Doug offers the suggestion "Stanley and Helen?" to which Carrie replies incredulously "those are the Ropers!"

Futurama mentioned Three's Company, when Fry claimed he knew how to handle "delicate social situations" from the show. He briefly hummed the theme to himself.

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

In an episode of Family Guy, when Lois is have morning sickness very loudly in the bathroom, Peter turns up the TV which is playing the Three's Company music.

In the film Blade II, Kris Kristofferson's character Whistler, asked Norman Reedus's character Scud, how he met Blade and he goes on to say that he picked up these two chicks backpacking and he decided to take them back to his tent for some "Three's Company" action and next thing he knew "Janet" and "Chrissy" start tearing chunks out of his stomach and Blade shows up and saves him.

In an episode of That '70s Show, Hyde coaxes Jackie and Laurie into singing the theme song with him in order to aggravate Kelso.

In yet another episode of That '70s Show, Fez and Jackie are living together, Don Knotts plays the landlord in the "sitcom" dream the two are dreaming.

The theme song of Three's Company has been covered by the controversial band A.C.

In an episode of Ellen there's a scene at the end of an episode of the 5th season where Ellen's dad is ficticiously lying dead in a sofa. Ellen's cousin Spencer gives him mouth respiration and instantly, Norman Fell enters through the door and think they're kissing.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/ritter.asp

[edit] External links

Three's Company on TVLand.com

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