Series Description

Three's Company was a 30 minute situation comedy serieson ABC about two single girls who needed a third roomate when their current roomate Eleanor decided to move. After throwing a going away party for Eleanor, they found a young man (Jack Tripper) sleeping in their bathtub. After carefull consideration, they decided that he would be the perfect roomate ... almost. They would definetly feel safer with a man in the house. They were both lousy cooks and he was a chef by trade! The only downfall was that their apartment manager, Mr. Roper, had a firm rule about singles of the opposite sex not engaging in "hanky-panky" in his building. Mrs. Roper wouldn't have minded. She only wished that there was a little more "hanky-panky" going on in the Roper apartment! Anyway, they convinced Mr. Roper to let Jack stay by leading him to believe that Jack was gay! This was the story-line of many of the scripts. Jack was a "swinging single", perfectly straight young man and often has to explain to Mr. Roper why he's kissing some beautifull girl, getting a phone call from a girl for a date, etc. Jack never "scored" with any of his roomates though, but not for a lack of trying!

Three's Company Cast

John Ritter .... Jack Tripper
Joyce DeWitt .... Janet Wood
Suzanne Somers .... Chrissy Snow
Richard Kline .... Larry Dallas
Audra Lindley .... Helen Roper
Norman Fell .... Stanley Roper
Paul Ainsley .... Jim the Bartender
Don Knotts .... Ralph Furley
Brad Blaisdell .... Mike the Bartender
Ann Wedgeworth .... Lana Shields
Jenilee Harrison .... Cindy Snow
Priscilla Barnes .... Terri Alden
Jordan Charney .... Frank Angelino

Three's Company Trivia

Religious leaders and critics found Three's Company very distastefull but viewers loved it! The subject matter was a little "spicy" for it's day and the publicity for the series was even more so! In February of 1978 a photo of Chrissy in an undergarment that appeared to be falling off, and with Jack leering over her shoulder appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine! That never actually happened on the TV show.

The ratings for the very first episode of Three's Company were higher than those for the premieres of any mid-season replacement series up until that time! When you add to that the fact that the three main stars of the series were pretty much unknown up until that time, it's pretty impressive!

There were two "spin-offs" of Three's Compan. In 1979, Norman Fell and Audra Lindley left the program to star in their own series called, "The Ropers (1979)". Don Knotts became the new landlord. In 1984, Janet got married and Terri moved to Hawaii and the series ended. John Ritter didn't waste any time though! He continued his role as Jack Tripper on the series, "Three's A Crowd (1984)" which began exactly one week after "Three's Company" ended!

Actually, Three's Company was based on a hit British TV show titled, "Man About The House". It is one of the few shows that has been successfully Americanized from a British series! "Man About The House" had two "spin-offs" in the U.K.; "George and Mildred" which became "The Ropers" in the U.S. and "Robin's Nest" which became "Three's A Crowd (1984)" in the U.S.! Note that both of those UK spinoffs were just one season wonders even with popular characters from another hit U.S. series!

John Ritter was the son of western movie star and singing cowboy, "Tex Ritter".

Suzanne Somers became unbelievably popular on Three's Company! In 1980, she demanded a huge increase in salary and a share of the profits. The producers absolutely refused and immediately reduced her role to an occasional phone call from Fresno, California (where she was taking care of her sick mother). Soon thereafter, they completely wrote her out off the show. She was replaced by "Cindy" who was her "clumsy" cousin. Cindy was later replaced by "Terri", a Nurse. Suzanne's career nosedived for many years thereafter, but eventually made a recovery. For those of you too young to remember this sitcom, you might remember Suzanne Somers as Carol Foster, the mother on the series, "Step By Step (1991)". Suzanne did have a little comfort over her dilemna. The TV show dropped dramatically in the ratings after she left. It was #2 in the ratings for the two seasons before she left.

In 1982 Jack got his own restaurant called "Jack's Bistro", specializing in French cuisine.

When he lost his roommate (Janet got married and Terri moved to Hawaii) Jack moved in with his new girlfriend. That's how John Ritter made the transition to his new series, "Three's a Crowd". Three's Company was based on the British series, "Man about the House".

Mr. Roper didn't own the apartment building. It was owned by his brother "Bart". There were many references during the series about what a tightwad Bart was, usually when the building needed a repair. Mr. Roper would shrivel in fear wondering what Bart was going to say about the expense!

Theme Song

Title: "Three's Company"

By: "Don Nicholl and Joe Raposo"

Come and knock on our door ...
We've been waiting for you ...
Where the kisses are hers and hers and his,
Three's company too.

Come and dance on on our floor...
Take a step that is new ...
We've a loveable space that needs your face,
Three's company too.

You'll see that life is a frolic and laughter is calling for you ...
Down at our rendez-vous ...
Three's company, too!