Three’s Company - Why Was The Series A Success?

OP, there have been epic threads about this show.

People like stupid shit.

The '70s had been dominated by two styles of sitcom: Norman Lear's socially conscious shows where everyone was always shouting at each other and addressing Big Issues, and the MTM company's classy filmed work-and-home comedies.

But people were tired of all that by 1976, and simple, mindless crap was in: Happy Days went to #1 and pulled Laverne & Shirley and Three's Company up with it. Charlie's Angels hit big that year, and The Love Boat after that. And that's all anybody wanted to watch or make for the next several years.

It was the caftans, which took the fashion world by storm.

R3 ultimately TC had a lot more staying power than those other shows you mentioned.

Season 6 was on Logo tonight which is IMO the best — and I’ll put those episodes up against any other so called classic sitcom.

It gets a lot of crap because it never tried to be more than it was (which is what I love about it) but ultimately it stands the test of time — esp the Furley years.

It was called jiggle TV. It was all about the tits. Suzanne's first then others. There is no end to the power of epic tits. Men would lie for it. Cry for it. Die for it.

For what it's worth, Priscilla Barnes in Penthouse magazine, early on.

If Chrissy had stayed another year, I think the ratings would've crashed. What was left to do with her?

They met her parents & their conservative religious ways,, they put her in the hospital "dying" , dealt with sexual harassment, deal with a new landlord, had her with countless boyfriends (big dumb jock Elmo, big gym jock with a horny sister, date the nerd with glasses, etc.) & even brought back boring original roommate Elanor to explore her character (as well as Janet's).

They did all they could with Chrissy except marry her off or become pregnant with a child (the wart with the Ropers fit that bill).

2 seasons of Cindy & a couple with Terri helped keep the show fresh with physical comedy (Cindy) & turn the dumb blond Chrissy jokes on their head with a smart blond nurse (Terry).

I think Chrissy was overrated to the shows success.

R9 I agree.

Suzanne got what she deserved. She deserved a raise but she acted arrogant and overplayed her hand.

She alienated everybody on the set and in the cast.

Having said that, if this had happened today, she would get a lot more support especially via Twitter.

I prefer the Terri years as the shows best era. Mr. Furley could be believably dumb so I didn't miss Chrissy in that regard.

I think Cindy was the best of the 3 "revolving door roommates".

She had it all at the time = looks, physical comedy & a funny voice when needed ("Who are you calling a giraffe?" "It the legs fit... wear them!" LOL).

Sure she was a bit green due to her being younger than S. Somers but they should've given her more of a chance then a single season. Jack, Janet or the Ropers were at their best in their first season so why hold the Cindy character to a higher standard?

From the sounds of it TPTB only needed the falling ratings (the show only dropped from #2 to #8 with Cindy which still made it a solid Top 10 hit) to get rid of her & bring in Terri who at least 1 producer drooled over to the point of giving her reshoot after reshoot of her lines. It sounds like the creep wanted to harass P. Barnes non a daily basis regardless of what the ratings were.

It's a shame the Cindy character is last seen during Janet's blond wig episode with just a simple wave goodbye & then sadly leaves the Regal Beagle.

She deserved a better farewell.

I enjoyed Jenilee Harrison. She was able to match Ritter in the slapstick/falling/clumsiness department. She had a goofy charm.

That should read "Jack, Janet or the Ropers were NOT at their best in their first season so why hold the Cindy character to a higher standard?"

Sorry about that.

I was 11 when the show started, just at the age when I began to understand the innuendos. I rewatched the episodes as an adult and understand why we Gen-X'ers are jaded.

I'm a Barnes-era fan. I think her seasons are the funniest despite the focus on Ritter. Also, I don't think DeWitt gets enough credit as she was consistent throughout the entire run. I prefer Furly over the Ropers because Roper was just an asshole.

Jeffrey Tambor ruined the spin-off.

What do you mean R15?

The show looks like a classic compared to some of the sitcoms ABC aired in the 1980s.

There were few choices back then.

At that time there had not been a young, sexy, risque' TV show, with naughty set-ups, double entendres and physical comedy. Television had just come off the drab realism of cop shows and gritty, live audience sitcoms with Important Themes.

Next up was the glam of the 80s: shoulder pads and big hair.

Agree with much that has been said.

Jenilee was fantastic with the physical comedy as Cindy, she totally matched Ritter in that department.

I also prefer the Barnes era, her character plus Furley gave the shoe some much needed boost.

And I always though the writers her actually highlighting how insulting homophobia can be by having Mr. Roper and (to a lesser extent) Mr. Furley make anti-gay remarks; Ritter played it like the comments actually hurt.

the series was a success because of John Ritter.

he was a brilliant burst of likeable energy and viewers wanted to spend 30 minutes a week with him

Sure, the pretend to be gay thing is dated and terrible; in a way, Roper accepted Jack as a tenant because he was gay; if he'd been straight, he'd have been discriminated against.

It wouldn't play today, but it did then. I met him once in LA; Ritter was as nice as everyone said. We took a 'selfie' before there were selfies.

[quote] There were few choices back then.

I hear that used so often to dismiss the success of any pre-cable TV shows, yet the America that made hits out of [italic]Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life[/italic], and [italic]Silver Spoons[/italic] still drew the line at [italic]Hello, Larry[/italic].

R9 It is a given gay men never cared for Suzanne's epic tits. She was my least fave character. Her tits did nothing for me. I always snubbed and looked down on those blonde titties.

TC was a dumb, fun show. It was TV after all. The writers came from the Norman Lear stable. Ritter was just wonderful and could do any kind of comedy but be completely likable at the same time. DeWitt was very underrated in having to keep the show together with the straight lines.

It has aged well because that sort of juvenile slapstick doesn't really go out of style. Snickering jokes about sex always sells

Physical humor is also easier to sell to non-English-speaking countries. There is no language barrier to falling flat on your face.

After commenting on this thread, I watched a random episode on YT (where I didn't know the plot from the title).

The episode that I found turned out to be the one where a computer sets Jack & Janet up on a date.

I didn't remember it word for word even though I've probably seen it a dozen times in my life.

It still made me laugh almost 40 years later. I don't think the show ever got credit for it's smart social commentary. Many like R26 consider it just a"dumb, fun show".

TC was right about many subjects that we take for granted today.

R16 I think that’s exactly why those seasons were better, actually (aside from those last 3-4 episodes, of course), though I do like Barnes. The show would have lasted maybe a season without Ritter, so once you didn’t have a blonde trying to be the star of the show, the balance was better and it was just funnier. Also there was more Larry, who would probably be considered a date rapist today, but next to Jack he was probably my favorite on the show and provided the most laughs.

The producers were creepy sexist pigs, no doubt. I do recall reading something about how one producer would call Barnes in and instruct her on the type of “blonde” he wanted her hair; I have no doubt some kind of creepy “me too” weirdness went down and why she considers it the worst experience of her career. And while I do believe Suzanne wayyyy overplayed her hand and deserved to get fired, they should have...just fired her. The whole escorting her into the separate studio with security was incredibly sadistic, and kind of sexist and sick. They’re usually cut out of reruns but the few times they’re on, it’s painful to watch.

The same producers cast an actual gay man in a supporting role on [italic]Too Close For Comfort[/italic], yet that barely registers today. It bombed on DVD when they didn't even bother to get uncut episodes for season 1!

[quote]the series was a success because of John Ritter.

This.

Ritter was an extremely likable personality and so was the Jack character, gay stereotypes notwithstanding.

Frankly, I actually think that that depiction was more helpful than harmful because in a very real way, it mocked all the stereotypes of mannerisms that labeled a person as being gay. It also showed that, even though people thought he was gay, they didn't treat him badly (for the time).

I think people forget how bad it was for gay people in the 1970s and how much discrimination there really was.

I honestly think this show and [italic]Soap[/italic] did the gay community more good than [italic]Will & Grace[/italic] or [italic]Modern Family[/italic]. They were also funnier.

R30 the gay dude on Too Close for Comfort caught the aids in the 80s. I think he is still alive.

What did it say about Mr. Roper that heterosexual cohabitation bothered him more than homosexuality?

R34, exactly what the producers intended. Roper was obviously a closet gay so that's why having a real gay or one he thought was, was his ability to be all homophobic.

Roper was not gay. He was an ugly troll. Not a gay.

Man, the unaired original Pilot is somewhere on Youtube and it's fascinating to watch. I watched it about 5 years ago and the show is SOOOOO different than what aired, ultimately. The humor was different, the tone, also. It had a brunette who was sassy and smart and they fired her and rewrote the script. They reshot it with a the now added dumb blonde then fired the blonde and replaced her with Suzanne and then they reshot the pilot a third time. It turned into really campy comedy as time when by but if you remember Suzanne didn't play Chrissy as a dumb blonde originally. That developed over the first season. I noticed it as kid.

Wish I could find the link to the original pilot with the brunette woman and Joyce deWitt as the girls.

R37, they went back to an almost line for line recreation of Man About the House.

They rarely did political episodes; the closest you could get to one was probably the weed episode.

Ah ha! I did not know Threes Company was based on a British show! That explains why the tone and comedy were both so different in the very first pilot. It seems they decided to americanize even more with the subsequent pilots after the original filming of the first pilot.

Mindless silly fluff. We all know it's shit but we watch it. We need that at the end if a long day.

I fingered Suzanne Somers in the waterfall of the Bellagio. Her husband liked my dress and dared me to go in. It was a pretty orange silk and I had only a thong underneath. I held up my heels and went in and Suzanne came laughing right in after. With no more prompting she started kissing me, her tongue was all over my lips and neck and a bit forcefully in my mouth. I was excited by her hunger and even more by her husband and the security men watching. Alan had his phone out and I held out my hand to say no. By then I was fingering up inside her wrap dress. (we had met earlier that evening after her show - we played baccarat) Suzanne was free with me, she is quite wrinkled but had beautiful breasts for a 75 year old? Not sure - this was 4 years ago. She was wet and warm, her nipples were hard, I was wet from the fountain with warmer juice starting to flow. Anyway it lead back to their room - I got a bit freaked out though they were a lot of fun and we only drank champagne. Alan has a very large cock and a tiny tan line. Soft he must be 8 inches. He only penetrated his wife that night, but I could have had more. So, later Alan flew me to Palm Springs and I guess they had a more prepared plan. We had a beautiful 3 days and nights. Alan did join in but Suzanne and I spent a lot of time alone together. She is a brilliant woman. Very pretty without makeup and so sensual. She sang a song with my name in it to me. Her body is not wonderful for 55 but she was so tanned, smooth and responsive. They did ask me to sign a non disclosure, but they was not forceful. I can't say more. Suzanne is a beautiful woman and loves the gays. A lot of them work for her. There is more to the story, but I must leave you in suspense.

Ew. gross. If you were a guy and had a story about hooking up with Alan, then maybe I would care.

[quote] Ah ha! I did not know Threes Company was based on a British show!

They mentioned it in the end credits of every episode.

Loved it, Ritter was great... but it's laughable that they wee the sexiest actors they could come up with for a titillating sitcom. The producers were notoriously cheap, and the actors probably got the jobs because they agreed to work for nothing. No one could have dreamed it would take off like it did.

It was fun and stupid. It was about single people having fun, going out and dating, no mortgages or children or big problems.

I loved it!

I love that story, r42.

John was the reason it was so successful. He wasn't some mindless hunk (and they had plenty of those on the show) but was so approachable and likable that he made the concept of him as the ladies man totally believable. He was also very attractive in the boy next door way. Really, really handsome guys aren't funny.

The final season was definitely going towards a Jack and Janet union. They got matched up on a computer date for God's sake. There was another repeat episode from an earlier season where Jack thinks one of the two are in love with him and after the process of elimination thinks it's Janet. We see him go all Horny Jack on her before inviting her to a cabin for the weekend. They realize that they aren't right for each other but Ritter gave it a slight melancholy, suggesting he was in love with Janet but it could never happen.

ABC (which showed this drek) , in particular was big into "jiggle tv" and fluff like Fantasy Island, so there was a niche for this. That said, this was an era where tv shows were still trailing a lot of social changes, despite the Lear shows and the more clever MTM shows. The novelty rant its course pretty quickly for me, although I liked the casting against type of Norman Fell who mostly had done guest shots on dramas.

Ritter really was the show. Without him, the rest would have seemed even more threadbare.

[quote]That said, this was an era where tv shows were still trailing a lot of social changes, despite the Lear shows and the more clever MTM shows.

Producers Mike Nicholl, Don Ross, and Bernie West were responsible for the early years of [italic]All in the Family[/italic] and [italic]The Jeffersons[/italic]. Yet Lucille Ball preferred this to either of them and even hosted their hour-long clip show.

I prefer the later seasons. I liked that there was some growth. Jack got his own restaurant. I thought Priscilla Barnes did a great job connecting with the cast. And she was a nice change from Chrissie/Suzanne. I still think it's a shame they got rid of Cindy because I thought Jenilee did a great job in an impossible situation. She played to her strengths (slapstick) but was wise to not try to be loud or too over-the-top since Ritter and DeWitt already had an established rapport. Also I enjoyed having Ritter, Harrison and Knotts on at the same time with their slapstick and knack for physical comedy. I feel that type of physical comedy is no longer appreciated and I still love watching their facial expressions. I thought Somers became quite one-note and obnoxious in her final season so Harrison and Barnes were refreshing.

The last episode when Jack, Janet and Terri are saying goodbye is still emotional to watch. You can see the emotions of all three actors - it's not just acting Considering Barnes had been on the show for just three years, in that scene alone, it felt like she had been on the show for the entire run. Also watching in retrospect, Jack, Janet and Terri are more believable as friends.

At the time I didn't mind the ending, but watching it now, My God, Vicky is so fucking annoying. So whiny. They should have just called it a day and had Jack marry Janet. Jack going all gaga over Vicky was ridiculous especially since Vicky took up so much of the final episodes. I felt bad for DeWitt and Barnes. I can understand why they were upset since they were basically guest stars in their own show and the premiere on the new show, Three's a Crowd.

They followed the same spin-off continuity as the UK version.

They had John Getz on as Jack's brother and the weird thing was that he really did look like a handsome version of Ritter. Yet, he was nowhere near as appealing. He was just boring.

Although so much was made of Somers jiggle, you can see the chemistry between Ritter and DeWitt from the first episode. It was a big reason why Three's a Crowd didn't succeed.

R42 How many times are you going to post this stupid story? I wish you had signed the nondisclosure so you’d shut the fuck up about it.

Why did people love it? It was racy for it's time, edgy. The setting, California, seemed like paradise, lively and fun. The scripts were simple, the slapstick physical humor was good. After Chrissy and the Ropers left, it went to shit. Mr. Furley making those same grimaces and bug-eyed expressions couldn't make up for the Ropers saucy repartee. Cindy and Terri weren't even a 5 on the Chrissy scale.

If Chrissy stayed until the final episode then it would've been boring & repetitious beyond belief.

I was done with "the Chrissy threesome" arguments when she bought that dumb giraffe during the "arguments over money" episode.

I can't imagine 4 more years of the same kind of fights over $$$, annoying habits & who gets to reserve the apartment as Top 10 tv entertainment.

The roommates disagreements changed when both Cindy & Terry came along & they were all refreshing to watch unfold.

While changes on most shows are shark jumping, like someone said above the major changes on the show actually made sense — most notably Jack getting the Bistro. And Terry made much more sense as a roommate as the “kids” were getting older; I also never ever EVER bought Janet and Chrissy as friends whereas Janet and Terri were absolutely believable as friends. I did feel bad for them in those last three or four episodes, however, like someone above said it really was like they were guest stars on their own show. It wasn’t right, especially to introduce that dud of an actress.

Suzanne was terrific the first two years of the show. She was a ditzy in a laid back California beach bimbo type of way. But she had moments where she cracked some smart ass remark that showed that she was just as clever as the other two.

Then they turned her into a complete moron with the pigtails and the over the top mugging for the camera. And was she wearing a wig that last season and a half? It looked so artificial compared to earlier seasons. It didn't even look blonde at times, more like a shiny white.

I wanted Jack and Terry to fall in love and get the spin off. I couldn't understand why they cast that horrible actress as his wife. I always thought Pricilla was like a Female version of John. They wouldve been good together.

Fun Fact! When I went and saw Sunset Blvd the Musical with Glen Close, at the Shubert in Los Angeles, the guy who played the lead opposite her was the guy who played the dopey cook in Jack's Restaurant. He was actually a professionally trained Broadway musical performer!

Since everyone was always single, I always wondered how the girls masturbated. In the shower? Did they have a code word or phrase? Give me twenty minutes alone - me time. If I don't rub one out once or twice a day I start going psychotic and start 50 Meghan Markle threads.

r61, are you male or female?

[quote]the gay dude on Too Close for Comfort caught the aids in the 80s. I think he is still alive.

"the aids"???

R63, stick around for a while. Get a feel for the place before making corrections.

Some things are traditions.

Suzanne Somers really got puffed up with her own importance. She considered her Chrissy Snow character as iconic as Lucy Ricardo. No shit, she really believed that. But she was just a dumb sexpot characters on a dumb sitcom with a lot of dumb sex jokes.

Speaking of Lucy...Lucille Ball hosted a tv special that was a retrospective of "Three's Company." A similar show was done on "All In The Family", hosted by Henry Fonda. But "Three's Company", that silly piece of inane fluff with its lame sex jokes, deserved a retrospective? It was a dumb idea. I think Lucille Ball was later embarrassed at her participation; she claimed she did it only because of her admiration for the 'comedic talents" of John Ritter.

They deserved equal pay. It was an ensemble. Valerie Harper was a seasoned star and emmy winner when she asked to be paid what her male equivalents on other shows were getting (who had lower ratings) and was swiftly fired. It was sexism.

It was smutty. People love smut.

Does it stream on any platform?

It's running at 8pm on Antenna TV.

[quote]After Chrissy left Janet took on a stupid cutesy voice that irritates the shit out of me.

I haven't even heard it but I can imagine.

Americans find those silly voices hysterical for some reason. I can think of half a dozen comedies that had or have them

It was one of the greatest t.v. shows of all time.

The biggest issue I have with the show is that every episode centered around a silly misunderstanding. The formula was very predictable. I always thought it would have been a better show if they deviated away from that and put more effort into the writing.

Believe it or not, but Three's Company was considered quite risque at the time. It was a "naughty" show and pretty controversial. So tame by today's standards, but that's a big reason why it was such a hit. It was adult comedy for network tv in the 70s. Lots of parents wouldn't let their kids watch it.

Yep. r73. They called it "jiggle tv" or something like that. It was all about Suzannes titties bouncing up and down in every episode.She would milk that shit and show off her breasts whenever it fit in with the episode! It was so obvious and i was only 10 years old! I knew what was going on!

[quote]The show looks like a classic compared to some of the sitcoms ABC aired in the 1980s.

True, the big theme for 80s sitcoms (on all three networks) were family-centered shows with a moral lesson in every episode. Absolute putrid garbage, and they're all unwatchable today. That's why a show like Cheers was such a hit, it was one of the few sitcoms in the 80s for adults, with adult themes.

And they always put Suzanne in little tiny short shorts, obviously to titillate the straight guys watching.

"Up In The Air"

The Terri years are painful to watch. It is absolutely clear Priscilla Barnes did not want to be there and was not even phoning it in.

The writing was awful, Terri was a nurse, she would not have needed a roommate and even if you accept that, she would have gotten an apartment where she had her own bedroom.

John Ritter was fat, he was not attractive enough to have every woman walking in and throwing themselves at him. If he looked like Brad Pitt then maybe, but Ritter was not good looking enough and all he did was stumble around.

[quote]That's why a show like Cheers was such a hit, it was one of the few sitcoms in the 80s for adults, with adult themes.

But Cheers wasn't a hit until Cosby became a run away smash and the moved it to the same night. Same with Family Ties. Both series nearly got cancelled. Same as night court.

NBC had such poor ratings before Cosby, they had a choice cancel either Love Sydney or Family Ties and cancel Duck Factory (way funny and should not have been cancelled) or Night Court.

Family Ties and Night Court were on better nights and got slightly higher ratings so they got moved to after Cosby with Cheers.

It was based on the British Sitcom "Man About The House". All very '70s British humour...hilarious sexual innuendo at every turn.

But as you can see, it was the guy who always ended up stripped down to his Y-Fronts.

And who could forget his hilarious apron.

Or Mr. Roper's old car.😂🤣

And Mr. Ropers homophobia is hilarious.

But, see, again, I think the audience was being led to view Mr. Roper's homophobia as a negative -- he was the antagonist of the show, Jack was the hero, and Roper's flouncy insults were there to create sympathy for Jack. Now, I'm not saying it was an enlightened approach, but it was a bit more shaded than it appears.

I never liked this show. The idea of a single guy living with two single women was still novel in the mid-seventies, but the characters were completely annoying. The homophobia was a common feature of most sit-coms at the time. The only shows that came remotely close to dealing with homosexuality in a serious way were "Family" (Willy's childhood friend who is arrested in a sting at a gay bar), and an early 1980s television movie with Kate Jackson, who discovers her husband (Michael Ontkean) is gay.

R86, that was Making Love (1982), a theatrical release, not a TV movie.

Well Lisa Loopner (R87), Thirty lashes with a wet noodle for me for not knowing the difference. C'mere, let me give you a noogie!

Signed, Todd DiLaMuca

It was a shit show and offensive to gays at the time. I found it unwatchable.

There were a number of reasons. People genuinely liked the sexiness, which had been mostly absent from TV sitcoms in the 70s: dramas had them, particularly when "Charlie's Angels" premiered in 1976, but successful sitcoms were either very adult and witty but not really sexy (Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, All in the Family) or family fare (Happy Days, Alice, Good Times). So the sexiness helped--it was really something that came from Europe boudoir comedies in the UK and France.

The other thing that helped it was the physical comedy. Lucille Ball hugely admired John Ritter--she even hosted a retrospective of the show at one point because her admiration was so great--and that's because his physical comedy was very much like hers. He's underrated today as a comedian, but he superb comic timing and could take wonderful pratfalls. Jenilee Harrison (who is even more underrated) was also an excellent physical comedienne, though not at the level of Ritter.

Suzanne Somers jiggled wondrously, but she was actually quite adorable, and Joyce DeWitt (for all the flak she gets today) was also very cute and absolutely decent. The Ropers were so memorably horrible as characters that people became kind of fascinated by them, and of course Don Knotts was an old comic hand. Priscilla Barnes was really the weakest link--when she came on, the show was doomed, because she just wasn't funny.

Am I not remembering correctly, but for a major part of its run, wasn't Three's Company immediately followed by Soap? If so, that must have REALLY made the Moral Majority's heads explode.

....

It was a success because of... JOYCE! She had a great pair of legs!

In retrospect, Jack (John Ritter) was the strength of the show. R90, I was just going to remark on John Ritter's physical comedy. That was his strength.

I preferred Mr. Furley (Don Knotts) to Mr. Roper. Mr. Roper (Norman Fell) had a too-mean edge. I did like Mrs. Roper (Audra Lindley) but felt sorry for her character, being married to a mean guy.

Don Knotts was another one for physical comedy with his eyes bulging, etc.

R90 = Suzanne taking her fingers out of her pussy long enough to post on DL.

According to Wikipedia, Three's Company began its run as a mid-season replacement in the spring of 1977 on Thursday nights at 9:30; for the 1977-78 season, it moved to its more famous Tuesday night slot at 9pm, where it was followed by Soap.

For the 78-79 season, Soap moved to Thursday night and Three's Company was followed by Taxi; that schedule remained for 79-80, then for the 80-81 season, Taxi moved to Wednesday and the new follower was Too Close For Comfort, with that schedule remaining in place for the 81-82 season.

For the 82-83 season, Three's Company was followed by the sitcom version of 9 to 5; for the last season, 83-84, it was followed by Oh Madeline.

R94 it’s sad because I know exactly what episode that GIF is from — Janet Terri and Larry make up a fake radio contest for Jack to win money (because they think he needs it), and he buys that ridiculous jacket instead.

Season 8 I think.

R2 summed it up in a nutshell.

Suzanne was on nightline last night promoting her new book, "A new way to age." More power to her!

I went to a store where they had those Suzanne Somers products, and the woman at the counter must have weighed at least 350 lbs.!

If the whole Suzanne Somers "Three's Company" fiasco happened in today's #metoo era, the outcome would be different. There would definitely be a lot more support for Suzanne now than there was back then.

R101, bullshit, Suzanne. There was one star of TC and it was John, not you and it would have been even clearer. You were also never the object of sexual harassment, although you definitely tell a good lie.

r102 it just means that in today's #metoo climate, Suzanne would be a more sympathetic figure than she was back then. The big bad men were treating the poor little lady all mean and shit. And of course the PR spin would all be on Suzanne's side.

R103 Stick your metoo crap deep in your cunt, cunt. It was the 70s, it was a different time.

As a baby gay, I admired actresses that seemed glamorous, and classically beautiful.

Suzanne Somers always appeared kind of horsey to me. It's like her career took off because there was a drought of blondes or something.

R103, she never would have been sympathetic because she was claiming she was worth as much money as Alan Alda and Carroll O'Connor, something in retrospect that sounds even more ridiculous. She also attempted to break her contract. The PR spin would mean little if the public rejected her claims. If she were asked if she should have been paid the same as Ritter and she said yes, the public would always laugh and know she was just being greedy.

R103 except that she wasn’t asking for equal pay — Ritter was getting 50k and she was asking for 150k plus profits. It was the opposite of a Friends situation where they all banded together; not only did she not do that, but she was saying that she was more valuable to the show than the rest of the cast put together. It was greed that they didn’t even bother to hide and even in today’s climate that aspect wouldn’t have been any different.

But today they would have never done that separate set with the security and all that — which was unnecessarily sadistic and cruel and would never fly today.

[quote]r108 But today they would have never done that separate set with the security and all that — which was unnecessarily sadistic and cruel and would never fly today.

I'm sure they felt vengeful, but at the same time, Somers had skipped out on more than one taping since the contract dispute, and the producers didn't want her doing that again and ruining another episode. So by limiting her to one short segment that was taped the day before the episode, they knew they could at least deliver their product on time.

Watching the TC E Hollywood True Story, Ritter said something I thought was totally true. Somers said she had the complete backing the others, i.e. Ritter and DeWitt. Ritter said she should go for it because he knew that if she got a raise, that meant they all would get one. But he also said that he never thought she would get to the point where she would boycott the show because he and everyone else was scared it would mean the end of TC.

What really killed her was the fact that she went to the media to air her grievances. If she had simply kept it between her, her agents and the management, she might have gotten a very nice raise and stayed on the show. Because she tried to make them look like monsters in public, they had no choice but to fire her. As noted above, the public reaction was very much against her.

ETHS. It's said that John refused to perform with Suzanne in the building.

r104 what part of "if it happened TODAY"don't you understand?

[quote]What really killed her was the fact that she went to the media to air her grievances. If she had simply kept it between her, her agents and the management, she might have gotten a very nice raise and stayed on the show. Because she tried to make them look like monsters in public, they had no choice but to fire her. As noted above, the public reaction was very much against her.

Alan was behind it all.

I think the time around the THS was the best Suzanne ever looked and she was already over 50 there. That Friends haircut that she had throughout Step by Step worked well for her. But by the time of the whole liposuction/cancer scandal a mere couple years later she was starting to look freakish like the way she does now.

R114 THS?

Why do people keep bringing up Roper mocking gays? Almost all people mocked gays in the 70s and 80s and 90s and even today. It just isn’t in your face now.

My favorite episode was the one with a misunderstanding.

Producer George Sunga also talks about Suzanne.

If you cast a net around all the straight men from the WWII generation in the 1970s to find out how many were totally open-minded and non-judgmental about homosexuality, you might've gotten maybe ten. Mr. Roper was definitely a man of his time and generation.

Sunga talks about all the cast. He sounds like a really nice man.

[quote]R114 THS?

Three posts above yours all mentioned the E! True Hollywood Story.

I see deducing is not your strong point.

R121 I obviously didn't scroll up to see their posts Einstein.

I just saw yours.

Now who's deducing powers aren't too sharp?

OK, let’s start here: I’m not the one who wrote the post, so I didn’t leave off anything.

Then, you attempt to justify asking a stupid fucking question by admitting you didn’t read the very thread you’re commenting on. They were a mere few posts before yours.

Your grammar and punctuation are also atrocious. It’s “whose.”

Einstein indeed.

IIRC, John Ritter shows up as a client in "You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again." I got a negative impression of him from that book (prostitute's story of Hollywood clients), not just because he hired a hooker. It's good to hear that he had other facets to his personality.

The book on Three's Company is one of the best written about a TV show, if not the best. It lays the feud all out. Suzanne started off with valid complaints about how she was being treated on the show and the low salary (Joyce even admits this). But then Alan got involved and it all got blown to shit. It got to the point where Joyce and John couldn't say anything because they had heard that Suzanne's lawyer was threatening the producers and cast with libel lawusuits if they came out in the media saying anything negative about Suzanne. But Suzanne went all over the media to air her grievances. It was completely self destructive and it's a miracle that she even wound up working in Hollywood at all after that.

The best story in the book has Suzanne going to the produces pitching a storyline where Chrissy gets raped. Suzanne wanted to show off her dramatic skills and apparently having watched the reaction Jean Stapleton got when Edith almost suffered a similar fate, Suzanne clearly wanted some of the same notoriety. The producers were dumb struck that she would even consider the idea, because it was as far away from the slapstick nature of the show as it could get. Although they did do one semi dramatic episode involving Janet's dance instructor using her that came shortly after Suzanne was given the heave ho.

Ann Wedgeworth didn't think much of Suzanne AND Joyce, BTW.

R123 So I didn't read this entire thread before posting. Big fucking deal.

So many posters admit this on threads that it shouldn't be news to you by now (especially on a Three's Company thread).

If Muriel banned everyone who did the practice then very few would be left to post on here.

I've been on the DL lately when I'm not out looking for my missing cat (the temperature is dropping now where I live).

I've picked a thread that wasn't too serious(depressing) while I grab something to eat, rest up & check my phone for any calls on my missing pet.

Grammar policing. bad abbreviations, long reading (& trolls) aren't my biggest priorities right now so EXCUSE me!

Audra Lindley was so hilarious.

"I"m not in the mood for Egg McMuffin."

R126, let’s call a truce. Apparently we both had bad days and I was being snarky.

As a cat lover myself I sincerely hope you find your missing cat. I truly do.

Try to have a better night.

Isn't Joyce still bitter after all these years?

[quote]Why do people keep bringing up Roper mocking gays? Almost all people mocked gays in the 70s and 80s and 90s and even today. It just isn’t in your face now.

Because we are talking about "Three's Company" and it was featured part of the show. Dipshit.

A feature on the show that was very true to it’s time. It could have been much worse for Jack.

Somers is first and foremost a hustler - she has no shame, and devotes herself to milking every penny she can out of an situation she's in. That's not bad, I guess. It's just undignified.

She met her perfect match in her husband, who lacks any personal substance, as well.

I watched that clip — it doesn’t surprise me At all that Joyce and Priscilla Barnes were good friends. That came across on the show and it never came across with the other roommates. De Witt wasn’t such a great actress that she could convince us that she was friends with people that she wasn’t.

Those TV archives have so much great stuff. Too bad they never got one with Ritter.

A pre-caftan wearing Mrs. Roper:

I love how Somers is praised for being a Hustler but when it’s a person of color like J Lo they’re hated and trashed.

Your grammar and punctuation is also atrocious. Moron.

I think they shoulda ended 3s company with Jack getting the aids and infecting both Vicki and her father. Then they all kill themselves. That woulda been awesome.

Joyce said in one interview that the stress became so bad on the set that she started talking through her finger(!).

[quote] A feature on the show that was very true to it’s time.

Oh, dear!

R133, those photos were from Somers second Playboy shoot. When the first set of photos came out, she was all blubbery and how could they do this to me, I was a mother trying to feed my family, etc. After she got fired from TC, she then did a second set of photos because she said she wanted them to be beautiful and she was a perfectionist and the first set of photos weren't good.

I do agree Alan Hamel was her downfall. I know two people who worked with them and both said he was the worst manager they'd ever come across.

[quote]R136 I love how Somers is praised for being a Hustler but when it’s...

Who praise Somers, for anything?

R128 Thank you for your kind words.

I just found the body of my kitty today behind a neighbor's house/garage.

She was there for several days but they didn't bother to tell me anything & they know I've been looking for her (I've got a dozen signs up everywhere).

She looks like she was hit by a car but the alley has severe bumps & potholes so I don't know how anyone could drive fast enough to kill something.

I've lived here over a decade & never found anything dead in the alley. My relative drove down the entire thing several times looking for her & swears she wasn't where I found her.

I'm so upset that no episode of TC can make me fell better. I've had so many pets in my lifetime but none of them loved me more than she did. Wherever I was she had to be close behind. She even went to sleep when I went to sleep (my other cats did not). My other male cat died last October from liver disease. He went down fast. This is the first time since I was 14 that I didn't have a cat as a pet.