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Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from 1977 to 1984 on ABC. It is a remake of the British sitcom Man About the House. The story revolves around three roommates, Janet Wood, Chrissy Snow (later Cindy Snow and Terri Alden), and Jack Tripper who share Apartment 201 in a Santa Monica, California[1] apartment building owned by Mr. and Mrs. Roper (later owned by Bart Furley but managed by his brother, Ralph Furley). The show, a comedy of errors, chronicles the escapades and hijinks of the trio's constant misunderstandings, social lives, and struggle to keep up with rent.
[edit] Plot descriptionAfter crashing Eleanor's wedding reception and finding himself passed out in the bathtub, cooking school student Jack Tripper happens across Janet Wood, a florist, and Chrissy Snow, a secretary, in need of a new roommate after Eleanor moves out. Having only been able to afford living at the YMCA, Jack quickly accepts the offer to move in. However, due to landlord Stanley Roper's intolerance for co-ed living situations, even in a multi-bedroom apartment, Jack is only allowed to move in after Janet tells Mr. Roper that Jack is gay. Although Helen Roper figures out Jack's true sexuality in the second episode, she does not tell her husband. Frequently siding with the three roommates instead of her husband, Mrs. Roper's bond with the roommates grows until The Ropers eventual spinoff. Jack continues the charade when new landlord Ralph Furley takes over the apartment complex because Mr. Furley insists that his hard-nosed brother Bart (the building's new owner) would also never tolerate such living situations. The show was set minutes from the beach in Santa Monica, California, and was filmed using three main sets: the trio's apartment, their landlord's apartment and the neighborhood pub, The Regal Beagle. In later seasons more sets were used, frequently depicting Larry's apartment, Angelino's restaurant, Jack's Bistro, and the hospital where Terri worked. Humor in the show was based on farce, often relying on innuendo, misunderstanding, as well as physical comedy to punctuate the hare-brained schemes the characters would invariably conjure up to get themselves out of situations. Running jokes were frequently based on Jack's (supposed) sexuality, Mr. Roper's lack of sexual prowess, and Chrissy's blonde moments. Conflict in the show came from the dysfunctional marriage of the Ropers, Jack's lust for Chrissy versus Janet's intolerance for a roommate romance, and later on, Larry and Jack's friendship and Larry's abuse of it. The theme song was sung by Ray Charles (unrelated, and not to be confused with, the more famous, late rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles) and Julia Rinker. It was composed by Joe Raposo (perhaps most well-known for his composing for the children's television show Sesame Street). [edit] Characters and cast[edit] Primary characters
[edit] Secondary characters
[edit] Recurring characters
[edit] Cast changesThree's Company had many cast changes over its run. The first of these changes took place in the spring of 1979 with the relocation of the Ropers to their own TV series (The Ropers), which revolved around Helen and Stanley, and their neighbors in a townhouse community after Stanley had sold the apartment building. Man About The House had similarly spun the Ropers off for the series George and Mildred. Two changes took place in the fall of 1979, at the beginning of the fourth season. The first was the addition of Lana, an older woman who chased Jack around. She liked to pursue him but he did not appreciate her advances. Lana was dropped from the show without any explanation before the season was half over, at Ann Wedgeworth's request, since she did not appreciate Lana's diminishing role in the series. The other new addition that fall was the new building manager, Ralph Furley, whose brother Bart bought the building from the Ropers. Mr. Furley pursued Lana unsuccessfully, as she unsuccessfully pursued Jack. Unlike Lana, he appeared until the end of the series. Season five (1980–1981) marked the beginning of contract re-negotiations and sparked friction on the set when, after Somers' demands for a heavily increased salary (from $30,000 to $150,000 per episode, plus 10% of the show's profits[2]) were not met, Somers went on a strike of sorts and was absent for several taping days, providing false excuses such as a strained back, or a broken rib. Executives believed that a complete loss of Somers could damage the program's popularity so a compromise was reached. Somers, who was still under contract, continued to appear in the series, but only in the one-minute tag scene of a handful of episodes. 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 cast members. According to the story her character had returned to her hometown of Fresno to care for her ailing mother, and was only seen when she telephoned her former roommates, and they recounted that week's adventures to her. This arrangement continued for one season but, after Somers' contract was terminated, she was fired from the show. Chrissy's place in the apartment was taken by her clumsy cousin, Cindy (Jenilee Harrison). Another replacement, Terri Alden (played by Priscilla Barnes), a clever, sometimes sassy nurse who was introduced in the sixth season (1981–1982) joined the cast. In the script, Cindy was to move to college to fulfill her dream of becoming a veterinarian, and would continue to visit throughout the sixth season. The show ended with the departure of all cast members besides Ritter, becoming the spin-off, Three's a Crowd, itself based upon Man About the House’s spin-off, Robin's Nest. [edit] Notable guest appearances
[edit] Broadcast history
[edit] RatingsThree's Company premiered in the spring, in the middle of the season. 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.[citation needed] Here is how the show ranked overall in popularity throughout its eight-season run among all television programs:
[edit] Development and pilotsThree's Company went through a lengthy development process. Two different sets of writers attempted to Americanize the British A Man About the House. 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 show was first penned by famed television writer Larry Gelbart , best known for his emmy-award winning work on CBS's M*A*S*H. Gelbart initially wanted nothing to do with the show, feeling that its relatively simple premise made it substandard in comparison to M*A*S*H. Nonetheless as a favor to Silverman, Gelbart went ahead and developed the show. The first pilot featured Ritter as "David Bell", an aspiring film maker looking for a place to live who just happened to be a great cook. Ritter's better halves were portrayed by Valerie Curtin who played "Jenny" an employee of the DMV, and Suzanne Zenor an aspiring actress named "Samantha". Another difference in the Gelbart pilot was the setting the Ropers' apartment building, which he called the Hacienda Palms, placed in North Hollywood. This plot of the this first pilot looked much like that of the first episode of the actual show. This format of the show just barely made it on to the fall 1976 ABC lineup but was ousted by what ABC felt were more promising series. Ironically, all the new sitcoms that premiered on ABC for the 1976-77 television season with the exception of Three's Company, and the summer premier of What's Happening!! did not survive past one season. Interestingly enough while ABC was in negotiations to re-shoot the pilot, CBS became interested in the show, and made a firm commitment to TTC productions (producers Don Taffner and Ted Bergman's New York based company) to air the show as a mid season replacement in February 1977 with the Gelbart cast. However, at the last minute ABC decided that they wanted the show and made a firm commitment to air the show at midseason with a new cast. The second pilot was penned by writers Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, and Bernie West, better known as NRW, who had gained fame in adapting another British series, Till Death Us Do Part, into All in the Family. The second pilot returned some of the British roots, with the filmaker character David Bell becoming cooking student Jack Tripper like his English counterpart, chef Robin Tripp, and one of the women being renamed Chrissy. Jack's female roommates were portrayed by Joyce DeWitt as florist Janet Wood, and Susan Lanier as secretary Chrissy Snow (actress Denise Galik had originally been given the role but was dismissed a couple of days before the pilot taped). The setting of the show was also moved from North Hollywood to San Diego. NRW went on to conceive the show as an all out farce, building the shows plot line heavily on the many misunderstandings encountered by each of the characters. This pilot was actually a remake of the British series episode And Mother Makes Four which was the second episode of the show. The new concept was well liked, with the exception Lanier's portrayal of Chrissy. NRW went on to recast the Chrissy character with Suzanne Somers and shot a third pilot, a remake of the first episode of the British series, which was accepted as the first episode, and aired on ABC in 1977. In an interview with The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, Silverman said that Suzanne Somers barely made it as a member of the cast. "I was very involved in the casting of Suzanne Somers. We did three pilots", he recalls, "and the Chrissy character still wasn't right. We got to the day before we're starting the production of the series and we didn't have a Chrissy. I was so desperate, I took all the audition tapes and just kind of fast forward them. All of a sudden, they went by Suzanne Somers who I hadn't seen, but I recognized her from her appearance on The Tonight Show, I said 'back that up' and she was great. She's been passed on! And I said 'I don't understand. This girl could play that part, why was she been passed on?' and I couldn't get a straight answer. Anyway, we got her in that day and she was on the set tomorrow and she was terrific in that part. And that was an accident because she never should have gotten the part."[3] [edit] SyndicationThe show has been in local syndication since 1982 (ABC aired back-to-back repeats during daytime in the summer of 1981 for an hour) on local stations such as WNEW/WNYW in New York and the sales on the project realized more than $150,000,000 of which Thames took 12.5% ($19,000,000)[4]. 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. In 2007, Viacom renewed their contract for reruns of the show for another 6 years. In March 2001, after being notified by a viewer, Nick at Nite quickly edited an episode where John Ritter's scrotum skin was briefly visible through the bottom of a pair of blue boxer shorts. The most famous quip about this issue was uttered by John Ritter, who told the New York Observer when they asked him about the controversy: "I've requested that Nickelodeon air both versions, edited and unedited, because sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don't."[5] The show currently airs on TV Land. [edit] Technical aspectThree's Company was taped at two places: The first, seventh, and eighth seasons were taped at Metromedia Square while the second through sixth season were taped in Studio 31 of CBS Television City. The cast would get the script on Monday, rehearse from Tuesday to Thursday, and shoot on Friday. Each episode was shot twice in a row using two different audiences. Three cameras were used. The taping was done in sequence and there were rarely any retakes because the producers were pretty strict. Priscilla Barnes once said, "Our bosses were very, very controlling. If my hair was too blond, I'd get called up in the office."[6] The opening credits where the trio are frolicking on a boardwalk and riding bumper-cars was shot at the Santa Monica Pier. They have since built a larger amusement park area adjacent to the pier, which wasn't there when the series was filmed.[7] A later opening sequence that was shot when Priscilla Barnes joined the show featured the new threesome and the other cast members riding a zoo tram and looking at various animals around the zoo. Those sequences were filmed at the Los Angeles County Zoo in Griffith Park.[7] [edit] DVD releasesAll eight seasons of Three's Company have been released on DVD in Region 1 by Anchor Bay Entertainment, which has also released two individual DVDs, each one focusing on Jack's or Janet's Favorite Episodes.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Categories: 1977 television series debuts | 1984 television series endings | 1970s American television series | 1980s American television series | American Broadcasting Company network shows | American television series based on British television series | American television sitcoms | Television shows set in California | Television shows set in Los Angeles, California | Nielsen Ratings winners | Three's Company | Television series by Warner Bros. Television | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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