The Ropers vs Mr. Furley- whose seasons of Threes Company did you enjoy more?

The Ropers were the landlords for seasons 1-3 of Threes Company, before leaving for their own show (and getting screwed over) with Mr. Furley taking over as landlord for seasons 4-8. Who did you prefer or the two landlords? I find people tend to separate the seasons based on The Roper years/The Furley years or

The Ropers were the landlords for seasons 1-3 of Three’s Company, before leaving for their own show (and getting screwed over) with Mr. Furley taking over as landlord for seasons 4-8.

Who did you prefer or the two landlords? I find people tend to separate the seasons based on The Roper years/The Furley years or The Chrissy years/ The Terri years (with Cindy never getting acknowledged for the season she was the third roommate).

I always loved The Ropers and those earlier seasons more. Also Suzanne was a lot better on the earlier seasons. She played Chrissy as stupider and stupider with each season.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 141November 23, 2023 8:41 PM

Honestly, both. I know that’s a cop out but I did.

by Anonymousreply 1October 17, 2023 3:48 AM

R1 I love the show as a whole also and have been rewatching it and I agree that I like both but prefer the Ropers dynamic to Furley.

by Anonymousreply 2October 17, 2023 3:50 AM

John Ritter hated Normal Fell.

by Anonymousreply 3October 17, 2023 3:53 AM

It’s a draw for me. Stanley Roper was so unlikeable, but Helen’s likability sort of cancelled out some of his faults. Furley was such a dork, and could be annoying at times, but Don Knotts was hilarious in the role.

by Anonymousreply 4October 17, 2023 4:04 AM

I prefer the Terri years with Furley. The Grandma Tripper drag show & when Jack did the local cooking show with "blank face Terri" & Janet getting his notes stuck to her butt was the best for me. I love 90% of the 70s decade overall culture but the Ropers years were much slower except for a few shows like the pie fight among the cast. I really don't know what more they could've done with empty headed Chrissy as a secretary (her job wasn't making many plots for the show by the time she had left).

Terry & Cindy added new elements to the show that took it to new levels. I loved Cindy's physcial comedy & cluminess. For her young age, she was right up there with Jack & Janet most of the time. Terri's nursing job made "the pot bust going down at Jack's Bistro" episode so much more funnier with her patient & Furley's female cop date. I can't imagine how they'd do plots like that with Chrissy & The Ropers hanging around. Larry's lines & character was improved since those 3 left the show as well. He added some much needed spice to he rest of the sugary cast.

The best rated IMDB show with Greg from the Brady Bunch (where Jack takes a tranquilizer for the plane ride) was also during the Terri years. I can watch them again & it seems like very little time has gone by unlike the Roper years which was still fighting for it's cultural footing. By the time Terri showed up it had it nailed down tight.

by Anonymousreply 5October 17, 2023 4:04 AM

R3 Where did you hear that?

by Anonymousreply 6October 17, 2023 4:06 AM

The episode where Jack wants a tattoo on his butt removed is hilarious too, and it’s a Teri episode. Another is the one where Janet thinks that a therapist Jack is dating is a rapist (she reads the woman’s THERAPIST card as THE RAPIST 🤣.)

by Anonymousreply 7October 17, 2023 4:08 AM

Norman Fell is a sentence.

by Anonymousreply 8October 17, 2023 4:09 AM

Team Roper.

But even as a kid I hated TC and especially John Ritter.

I can take about 30 seconds of his manic schtick.

by Anonymousreply 9October 17, 2023 4:15 AM

Don Knotts always makes me sick.

by Anonymousreply 10October 17, 2023 4:16 AM

R9 my mom never found him funny either and never liked his slapschtick type comedy but used to watch TC sometimes.

Terri was a terrible addition and had no humor.

by Anonymousreply 11October 17, 2023 4:19 AM

I only watched Three's Company in reruns as a teenager in the 90s. I hated it. It was so stupid. Every single episode revolved around a totally avoidable misunderstanding that could have been fixed with a two second phone call or two second conversation.

But my older sisters loved it, so I was forced to watch. Over and over.

Wow, that was an unasked for rant. Sorry. To answer your question: The Ropers by a mile. Furley was extra, extra annoying in a show full of annoying characters.

Plus, like any normal gayling, I loved Mrs. Roper.

by Anonymousreply 12October 17, 2023 4:20 AM

R10 he didn’t make me sick but I never found him entertaining. Actually his screen presence is kind of annoying.

by Anonymousreply 13October 17, 2023 4:20 AM

There are few shows from that period that have held up as badly as Three's Company. God, what dreck! Ugh! That said, the Ropers were much more interesting characters, and Fell and Lindley were the best actors on the show.

by Anonymousreply 14October 17, 2023 4:26 AM

Poor Audra Lindley. She feared that leaving the show for a spin off was a mistake. So they wrote ot in their contracts if the show wasn't picked up for a second year, they could come back to TC.

Well, it got renewed for a second year, only to be canned mid season. She asked to come back, but they were happy with Don Knotts. This mean a major lifestyle downgrade for the rest of her life.

by Anonymousreply 15October 17, 2023 4:27 AM

I never understood people who say Stanley was unlikable. I actually think he was very likable and I liked Norman Fell as him. Stanley was an older man who was shocked and struggling to adapt to the changing times and the youth of that period. That’s actually how a lot of older people were/are. Mrs. Roper was a lot more “of the times” and understood while he didn’t. He was a lot more reserved and conservative but that only added balance to their relationship.

But at the same time he did try to be open minded. He did allow a man he perceived to be gay live in the apartment with the girls back during a time when it was completely fine to discriminate against gays, and many did just that.

by Anonymousreply 16October 17, 2023 4:31 AM

R15 yes, Fell and Lindley got screwed over in their contract. They renewed it and canned it midway so that they wouldn’t have to take them back because their salaries were higher than Don Knots, and there were two of them! Money was saved by not having them back.

Not long after Somers would get herself fired so that was even more money saved.

by Anonymousreply 17October 17, 2023 4:34 AM

Norman Fell was simply too ugly to look at.

by Anonymousreply 18October 17, 2023 4:34 AM

I actually think Normal Fell had a cute face. Don was ugly.

by Anonymousreply 19October 17, 2023 4:35 AM

This question will always be relevant and asked. I’ve seen this question asked many times over the years on Reddit, and many will have their preference but at the end of the day people usually like both.

Here is a Reddit post from earlier this year.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 20October 17, 2023 5:00 AM

And another from last year. This seems to be a topic that will never go away because TC is a show that has lived a long life and hasn’t gone away.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 21October 17, 2023 5:02 AM

The original cast with The Ropers was brilliant. I hated the changes. The new girls were not funny people...Jennilee tried hard but Terri was just blank. I hate how the rovers got screwed over. I loved Mrs roper as Phoebe's gran in Friends...im sure she'd have been in more episodes but she died.

by Anonymousreply 22October 17, 2023 5:34 AM

I think it's totally vicious how they screwed over Audra and Norman but it seems like she worked pretty steadily for the rest of her career so I don't see how her lifestyle could be downgraded that much.

by Anonymousreply 23October 17, 2023 5:48 AM

It's funny to me too the amount of hate this show gets. People really seem to love to rag on it and yet it still shown pretty regularly and syndication and in fact there's a marathon I'm watching right now in antenna TV.

by Anonymousreply 24October 17, 2023 5:49 AM

The plots really were stupid this one's about how they thinks Chrissy is going to die and she just got news she's in perfect health

by Anonymousreply 25October 17, 2023 5:53 AM

It is sort of haunting though to hear her go on about how it's almost over and there soon be no more hospital beds or anything while she's lying in a hospital gown and bed.

by Anonymousreply 26October 17, 2023 5:54 AM

I prefer Don Knotts and I'm surprised more DLers don't prefer Knotts.

Norman Fell gave off a mean vibe and I didn't like how he broke the 4th wall all the time, staring into the camera after one of his stale jokes.

I did like Mrs. Roper. The fact that she was likeable made Fell more unlikeable (because the object of his scorn was always Mrs. Roper). As a kid, I felt bad for her, married to that piece of beef jerky.

by Anonymousreply 27October 17, 2023 5:57 AM

I do think I prefer The ropers mainly cuz it's fun to watch Mrs roper constantly emasculating Stanley. Elsa she reminds me of one of my aunts who like for 25 years rarely ever left her bedroom. Usually the only time she ever did was to go to the bar or occasionally a family outing when it was all of us cousins and my mom going to like an amusement or water park or something. But aside from those occasions she just sit in her bed in her nightgown with the bottle of the cheapest vodka which I think was like that weird blue or red bottle but I can't remember the name of the moment which is weird cuz I buy it for bums at the liquor store all the time. My mom used to tell me how she used to be a devoted housewife and homemaker but before I was born she lost one of her babies to SIDS and after that she never really recovered or showed much interest in parenting even. Most of her kids ended up with pretty severe drug problems and of the ten of them only six are still alive.

by Anonymousreply 28October 17, 2023 5:59 AM

As I think about it my uncle was a lot like Mr ropper and he was always making weird faces or maybe I just thought they were weird since one of his eyes were glass.

Sadly like The ropers my aunt and uncle also gone as well as my parents and most of their siblings. It's weird to think that I'm not even 45 and my generation are the elders of the family.

by Anonymousreply 29October 17, 2023 6:03 AM

Norman Fell perfected the blank stare to the camera reaction shot long before John Krasinski was even born - he even does it during his very brief scene in The Graduate.

by Anonymousreply 30October 17, 2023 6:20 AM

Norman Fell was only 53 in 1977. He must have had a hard life.

by Anonymousreply 31October 17, 2023 6:38 AM

They wanted Lucy to play Janet but Gary talked her out of it.

by Anonymousreply 32October 17, 2023 7:11 AM

I’ve known a couple of people who feel that John Ritter came across as gay. Something about his affectations. Why did Joyce refuse to show her legs without pantyhose on?

by Anonymousreply 33October 17, 2023 9:04 AM

I’ve always thought that Richard Klein was hotter than John Ritter. The dark hair and super tight pants set me off.

by Anonymousreply 34October 17, 2023 9:08 AM

Audra was great as the crazy, satanic old witch in the little known 80s horror flick Spellbinder, which starred a pre-Wings Tim Daly and a pre-Travolta Kelly Preston.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 35October 17, 2023 9:10 AM

Lucille Ball LOVED Three’s Co., so much so that she hosted a retrospective of it - on the set.

by Anonymousreply 36October 17, 2023 9:12 AM

R31 times were different. Have you not watched The Golden Girls or any show from years ago?

by Anonymousreply 37October 17, 2023 2:43 PM

R33 its slap-schtick humor. They all have gay affectations. Robin Williams did too. Will Smith also. It’s part of the humor.

Were you born last night?

by Anonymousreply 38October 17, 2023 2:44 PM

R36 many loved it. It was a massive hit. It was in the top 10 for all of its seasons, a feat only a couple of other shows succeeded with.

by Anonymousreply 39October 17, 2023 2:46 PM

My mother wouldn’t let me watch the show.

by Anonymousreply 40October 17, 2023 2:47 PM

[quote]Were you born last night?

Were you born a bitch?

by Anonymousreply 41October 17, 2023 2:49 PM

John Ritter always seemed like a GAY male to me. I could picture him back in 1977 as a gay male denizen of a gay bar in the Castro.

by Anonymousreply 42October 17, 2023 2:49 PM

But he wasn’t a GAY male. You thinking every white man seems gay doesn’t mean theyre gay.

by Anonymousreply 43October 17, 2023 2:52 PM

They're has an apostrophe in it.

by Anonymousreply 44October 17, 2023 2:53 PM

John Ritter was so straight it broke up his first marriage. Total pussyhound who fucked more than one of "Jack's" girlfriends.

By the way, "slap-schtick" isn't a word. Schtick is a word and slapstick is a word, but putting them together ≠ word.

by Anonymousreply 45October 17, 2023 2:55 PM

The Ropers were disgusting. I hated Norman Fell and all the gay innuendo jokes. It was VERY anti-gay.

by Anonymousreply 46October 17, 2023 4:02 PM

[quote] I’ve known a couple of people who feel that John Ritter came across as gay. Something about his affectations.

His voice came across as gay, as well.

by Anonymousreply 47October 17, 2023 4:15 PM

I Loved john ritter in bad santa, great acting job.

by Anonymousreply 48October 17, 2023 4:18 PM

I hated TC but was able to appreciate Ritter as an actor decades later.

by Anonymousreply 49October 17, 2023 4:20 PM

R33 Even Mr. Roper joked about Jack being gay.

Who thought Mr. Roper was hot? Poor Ms. Roper married to that ungrateful grumpy lump.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 50October 17, 2023 4:34 PM

R46 Yeah this scene is ridiculous these days.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 51October 17, 2023 4:39 PM

Was Jack being gay was why they were allowed to live there.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 52October 17, 2023 4:43 PM

R46 spoken like a true Millenial or Gen Z

by Anonymousreply 53October 17, 2023 4:45 PM

It was always weird to me that Mr. Roper and Mr. Furley were more okay with Jack being gay than with Jack being straight and living platonically with two females roommates.

by Anonymousreply 54October 17, 2023 4:51 PM

R54 because in their generation women and men didn’t live with one another unless married.

by Anonymousreply 55October 17, 2023 4:56 PM

I thought the seasons with the episodes about a misunderstanding were the best

by Anonymousreply 56October 17, 2023 4:58 PM

John Ritter in a speedo was a memorable moment to this 12 year old.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 57October 17, 2023 5:14 PM

Furley. The Ropers ruined the show. I don't watch the episodes they are heavily involved in.

by Anonymousreply 58October 17, 2023 5:16 PM

It's ridiculous that a landlord wouldn't rent a three bedroom apt. to three adults just because one was male and two were female unless the guy was gay. The show wasn't exactly set in Puritan times.

by Anonymousreply 59October 17, 2023 5:49 PM

R45- Yes, John Ritter was a notorious PUSSYHOUND like Richard Simmons and Paul Lynde.

by Anonymousreply 60October 17, 2023 6:33 PM

R59 actually that was common in many parts of the country back then. Even NyC used to have women only buildings and men couldn’t enter. You seem unaware of our history here.

by Anonymousreply 62October 17, 2023 7:09 PM

R60 Okay, then. Who are the men Ritter had sex with? There were plenty of rumors about women, as Joyce DeWitt acknowledged here. Who are the men?

Why do you need John Ritter to have been gay? About 90% of men aren't. Get over it!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 63October 17, 2023 7:39 PM

R63 that’s a fact but they don’t wanna hear that.

by Anonymousreply 64October 17, 2023 8:03 PM

R62 is a constipated cunt who can’t spell.

by Anonymousreply 65October 17, 2023 8:44 PM

He wasn't gay he was swishy.

by Anonymousreply 67October 17, 2023 10:03 PM

I read a book written by anonymous Heidi Florida workers. Ritter was a chapter! Loved the painkillers and had a sweet cock that was able to go for a long time!!!!! He sounded like a very good time!

by Anonymousreply 68October 17, 2023 10:06 PM

R66 sorry. 6 out of 8 seasons.

by Anonymousreply 70October 17, 2023 10:07 PM

Remember when that nosy Amy Vining thought she was going to replace Chrissy.

by Anonymousreply 71October 17, 2023 10:10 PM

Oh yes, little Miss Regal Beagle.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 73October 17, 2023 10:23 PM

There was an episode where John flashed his ball sack.

by Anonymousreply 74October 17, 2023 10:30 PM

He was wearing tiny shorts and his sack fell out. Some eagle eyed viewer spotted it 30 years later. Probably a DLer.

by Anonymousreply 76October 17, 2023 10:34 PM

Yes. The ball slip is pretty known now. Same as the Grease 2 slip

by Anonymousreply 77October 17, 2023 10:57 PM

It didn’t fall out. He sat down and when he opened his legs you could see his balls. And it was caught 30 years later (2001) while someone was watching the dvd of it. People forget that while this originally aired you couldn’t pause it etc. when it came to dvd you could stop and pause and see if you saw what you thought you saw. And yes, that person saw what they thought, Ritter’s ballsack.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 78October 17, 2023 11:02 PM

Honestly, considering the size of the "shorts" he wore throughout each episode, I'm surprised this wasn't a more common occurrence.

by Anonymousreply 79October 17, 2023 11:07 PM

Stanley insulting Helen and then smiling at the audience are some ofbthe funniest moments in TV history.

by Anonymousreply 81October 25, 2023 9:34 PM

He really was funny when he would insult her then look at the camera and laugh. Helen was hysterical though. Poor Mrs. Roper just wanted to get fucked. Her libido clearly was still very active. His wasn’t.

by Anonymousreply 82October 25, 2023 9:39 PM

Mrs. Roper has a lot of fans.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 83October 25, 2023 9:49 PM

The last time I needed that many fans, it’s because cheapskate refused to turn on the AC.

by Anonymousreply 84October 25, 2023 9:58 PM

Why did John Ritter hate Norman Fell?

by Anonymousreply 85October 25, 2023 10:01 PM

[quote]I prefer Don Knotts and I'm surprised more DLers don't prefer Knotts.

You're surprised that more of us don't agree with you? Okay.

For some of us, Don Knotts' shtick grew very tiresome and wasn't that funny to begun with. We had already seen it in "Andy Griffith Show" reruns. You liked it. That's fine, too. There's no right or wrong here.

by Anonymousreply 87October 25, 2023 10:11 PM

As one of the highest-paid television actors of his time, John Ritter's salary during “Three's Company” was reportedly $150,000 per episode during the show's later seasons.

by Anonymousreply 88October 25, 2023 10:14 PM

Well yeah, he was the star (despite it being an ensemble show) and could demand that much in later seasons because he was now a household name and the show was a huge hit. He got that after Suzanne had been gone for a while though, unlike what she claimed.

by Anonymousreply 89October 25, 2023 10:16 PM

Nothing is ever large enough for Chrissy! When you get to be my age, you learn to appreciate the small things, right Stanley?

by Anonymousreply 90October 25, 2023 10:29 PM

The show was filled with obvious, dumb plots, but I give the edge to the Ropers. Knotts was a one-note and John already was doing the male, broad humor. I became a big fan of character actors as a kid and Norman Fell was a better actor than anyone on the show. He could bring a little subtlety to all this stupidity and having a foil kept his character from being as tiresome as Knotts.

by Anonymousreply 91October 25, 2023 10:50 PM

R78- Wrong. If this episode with John Ritter's/Jack Tripper's BALLS or BALL out- VCRs were very expensive still in 1981 but there were some people who had a VCR by then who could have recorded this episode and paused it at the right moment.

by Anonymousreply 92October 25, 2023 11:41 PM

R92 lmao. Ok. Because everyone was recording it.

by Anonymousreply 93October 25, 2023 11:42 PM

It's one of the few shows back then that even touched on the gay word. They really didn't do any thing for gays or to support LGBT rights in anyway but it was part of the basic premise so in that respect it was ok for straight to talk about it and acknowledge that gay people existed.

What young people now dont understand was that at the time, it was very progressive to think 2 woman and a "gay man" sharing an apartment was a viable situation. Never mind that it was a cover for the charter was secretly straight. Two woman and a straight man living together as platonic room mates was pearl clutching territory at the time. Woman just didn't do that. Even now I would say its still not all that common.

by Anonymousreply 94October 25, 2023 11:55 PM

Sounds like a premise for some OnlyFans channel.

by Anonymousreply 95October 25, 2023 11:59 PM

R94 how do you expect them to “do anything” for gays? It was the fucking 70s.

by Anonymousreply 96October 26, 2023 12:02 AM

My parents were careful about what we watched as kids but I think because Three's Company came on after Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley they figured it was more family friendly like those. When All In The Family had the Edith rape show I was sent to bed early.

by Anonymousreply 97October 26, 2023 12:29 AM

Lucy was asked to do a guest starring role on Three’s Company after the producers found out that she was a fan. She didn’t think she could fit in with the show but agreed to do the retrospective. A few years later, she almost did a golden girls guest appearance as Roses cousin from st. Olaf but declined in the end.

by Anonymousreply 98October 26, 2023 12:55 AM

Lucy would have been out of place on Golden Girls.

by Anonymousreply 99October 26, 2023 1:02 AM

r88

SS said that the reason she couldn't get the money she wanted was that contractually John had to be the highest paid so if they paid Suzanne X amount, John would have to make more and they couldn't afford it

by Anonymousreply 100October 26, 2023 2:03 AM

Suzanne was asking for MORE than him, and he wasn’t making 6 figures yet. And yes, he was the star. It was his vehicle. They recast the blonde 3 times, which is how Suzanne even got the part. The only tv actor making 6 figures at that time was Larry Hagman, the first tv actor to do so. Dallas was a phenomenon and the Who Shot JR was massive. He was paid $100k per episode, a first at the time. When Suzanne learned of this she demanded to be paid $125k-$150k per episode.

She’s lied a lot about what happened over the years. It was EVERYONE ELSE involved vs her. Both Ritter and Dewitt cut ties with her and wanted nothing to do with her. She tried spinning it into a feminist angle later but that’s bullshit.

by Anonymousreply 101October 26, 2023 2:10 AM

They’re playing the episode where Chrissy bangs her head in the tub and ends up in the hospital. Jack and Janet mistakenly think she’s going to die. Pretty heavy for threes company. It was one of the last episodes Suzanne did so it’s like her character did die. I love how in old shows whenever there’s a dramatic twist there’s a long pause in dialog and you can hear what I assume is the sound of the studio lights buzzing.

by Anonymousreply 102October 26, 2023 3:47 AM

R101 Plus TC was only a half hour (where Dallas was 1 hour long with more commercials)

so that make's SS demands even dumber than what's already been said on here.

by Anonymousreply 103October 26, 2023 4:59 AM

R92 yes, VCRs were a thing, connected to rabbit ears or a directional antenna pulling in shitty SD video from a videotape that had probably been stretched too thin three years earlier.

by Anonymousreply 104October 26, 2023 5:10 AM

VCRs were a rarity in 1977. Very expensive and the video was often poor quality. They didn't really take off until later in teh show's run.

by Anonymousreply 105October 26, 2023 12:48 PM

R105 exactly. Only people with a lot of money had one.

by Anonymousreply 106October 26, 2023 1:43 PM

R106 I didn't have a lot of money at the time.

by Anonymousreply 107October 26, 2023 6:44 PM

It’s funny I loved both sets. After a few years I became very tired of the same ol’ shit with Mr. Roper holding out sex. I always thought why doesn’t she just leave him? He really was nothing special of a man.

I loved Chrissy and Jack together.

Farley was a riot. I loved Terri’s character. The one piece I hated was Janet’s voice during the last few seasons. It became irritating and annoying. It interfered with the whole show for me. I am not sure why she felt it necessary to talk child like except maybe she was trying to resurrect Chrissy’s character in a way.

My husband and I love TC and appreciate the comedy. I wish there were more shows that funny today. Although, humor is individual and what one person finds funny someone else may not.

TC is the humor I grew up on.

by Anonymousreply 108October 26, 2023 8:40 PM

R108 Furley, not Farley damn autocorrect.

by Anonymousreply 109October 26, 2023 8:41 PM

The Ropers weren’t even around long enough to get sick of them.

by Anonymousreply 110October 26, 2023 9:15 PM

I always thought that Jack and Crissy would be a good couple and if you believe Suzanne, she offered to return for Three's a crowd but I think producers said that was never even brought up

by Anonymousreply 111October 26, 2023 9:36 PM

“Offered”. Sis was out of work.

by Anonymousreply 112October 26, 2023 9:43 PM

The show made the Norman Fell and later Don Knotts characters, homophobic. But Ritter’s character wasn’t gay.

That won’t fly today.

by Anonymousreply 113October 26, 2023 9:58 PM

R113 it was the fucking 70s. And it was funny. I’m sick of the over sanitized everything now. It’s so boring.

by Anonymousreply 114October 26, 2023 10:00 PM

R108 YES!! No one ever talks about how Janet tried to morph into Crissy in the last couple seasons. The writers didn't, but thats how she started to play it.

I think maybe Joyce DeWitt, subconsciously or not, thought she could be as popular as Suzanne Sommers was that way. Obviously it didn't work.

Joyce was ANNOYED when they had Jack marry another girl for the spin-off. She thought Jack should've married Janet. Sorry, but as bad as that spin off was, it wouldve been worse with her as the female lead.

by Anonymousreply 116October 27, 2023 5:09 AM

I always hated that show.

by Anonymousreply 118October 27, 2023 6:46 AM

R15 that’s actually false. Audra Lindley was very excited to do the spinoff, it was Norman Fell who was hesitant. It took him over 6 months to agree to do the spinoff. She signed off on it right away.

by Anonymousreply 119November 11, 2023 1:54 AM

While Fell was nervous to leave, Don Knotts was terrified to join the cast. He had never done a 3 camera comedy and only ever did single camera shows. He also was much older than everyone and viewed the much younger cast as “very good”. When he showed up to film on his first day the studio audience welcomed him with a 10 minute standing ovation, killing any doubts and fears he had.

by Anonymousreply 120November 11, 2023 2:00 AM

I was a huge fan of this series when it aired. It was actually progressive at the time. I do not have a preference between Furley or Roeper. I loved them both. They each added something to the show and had their own moments to shine.

However, I would just like to point out there are inaccuracies posted here. Norman Fell was the one who was hesitant to do the spinoff, not Audra Lindley. She signed on to do it almost immediately and was excited and kept begging Fell to do it. He didn’t want to. He finally agreed months later, and went on to regret ever agreeing to it. It was a sad situation after the spinoff was canceled. Fell visited the production team to rejoin the series and was sent away because their contracts said they would be brought back if the spinoff didn’t make it past season 1. It lasted 1 1/2 seasons, so they were not obliged to take them back. This affected Norman Fell.

Suzanne later claimed she asked for a raise in the light of feminism, but that is her rewriting history. At the time she was asking for more money than any actor on television was making and she demanded part ownership of the series. That isn’t an act of feminism, that was her ego blinding her and giving her a false sense of importance.

After Suzanne was denied a raise and part ownership of the show, she would show up late to work or not show up at all. Producers put up with it until Joyce and John had enough and refused to film with her. They wouldn’t even be in the same room as her, that is when the character was given those added tag-ons to the end of each episode that were filmed early in the day, before John and Joyce were on set. By the end of the season she was fired and Chrissy was never heard from again.

All of this happened to Don Knotts dismay.

by Anonymousreply 121November 11, 2023 2:21 AM

From IMDb

“ Five seasons into the show's very successful run, Suzanne Somers demanded a salary increase from $30,000 per episode to $150,000 per episode, along with 10% ownership of the series, which would continue to pay major income thanks to syndication. The producers and ABC balked at Somers' demands, as she and Joyce DeWitt had pairing clauses in their contracts, meaning that the actresses would receive the same pay for each episode. John Ritter, the obvious star of the show, had a clause in his contract that he would receive the most money out of any of the performers. Faced with incredible cost increases for each episode, the producers denied Somers' demands. She then refused to return to work, claiming a broken rib prevented her from performing, though several members of the wardrobe staff dispute her claim. Somers ended up missing three episodes, which resulted in expensive and hasty rewrites, and infuriated her costars. Rather than fire Somers over her behavior, the producers opted to reduce her part to the notorious minute long epilogue scenes which were filmed away from the rest of the cast. Somers was also banned from visiting the set or interacting with the other actors. When the actress took her grievances public, describing the backstage treatment on various talk shows, the producers fired her. Her tattered reputation also led rival network CBS to drop her from a three series deal Somers had signed during the tense period of negotiations. In essence, she ended up blackballed from television for years.”

She was a problem.

by Anonymousreply 122November 11, 2023 2:37 AM

“ During Suzanne Somers contract dispute in 1980, Somers was asking for $150,000 and episode plus 10% ownership in the series. Somers has claimed this is what John Ritter was making. However, in reality Ritter was only making $50,000 an episode in 1980 and had no ownership in the show. This was $20,000 more than Somers and DeWitt. Ritter received more money due to his star billing on the show. Ritter would receive a substantial raise plus ownership when he did the spinoff series Three's A Crowd which featured neither Somers nor DeWitt.”

by Anonymousreply 123November 11, 2023 2:50 AM

I can't believe this show dragged on for 8 years. I worked and went to school during most of its run,--I'm glad a I had better things to do.

by Anonymousreply 124November 11, 2023 2:58 AM

R124 dragged on? It was a huge hit for 7 of its 8 seasons. The final season is when they lost a lot of their audience

by Anonymousreply 125November 11, 2023 2:22 PM

R124: It was a one note show, as bad in its own way as the sub-All in The Family Lear stuff like "One Day at a Time"

by Anonymousreply 126November 11, 2023 4:07 PM

It was nothing like ODAAT. Many claim it’s the series that paved the way for shows like Friends to exist.

by Anonymousreply 127November 11, 2023 4:36 PM

Seinfeld and Cheers paved the way for Friends. ODAAT was just annoying.

by Anonymousreply 128November 11, 2023 4:53 PM

Threes Company was before either r128 and a massive hit.

by Anonymousreply 129November 11, 2023 5:07 PM

[quote]The final season is when they lost a lot of their audience.

And yet, the worst was yet to come.

by Anonymousreply 130November 11, 2023 7:40 PM

R130 how the hell did they cast that block of wood to be Jack's wife? And as her father, that sub Gordon Jump/Ted Knight rip off Robert Mandan. That show was bad bad bad. It wasckiklr

by Anonymousreply 131November 23, 2023 3:24 PM

Haha looks like I had a stroke at the end of writing that one. Sorry.

by Anonymousreply 132November 23, 2023 3:32 PM

The show died for me when Chrissy left. That being said, Suzanne has been loose with the truth over the years. There was no way any producer, of any show at the time, would have given any star what she had wanted. They gladly offered to give her what John was making. That was not all she was asking for.

by Anonymousreply 134November 23, 2023 5:56 PM

Joyce was jealous and bitter from day 1

by Anonymousreply 135November 23, 2023 7:04 PM

R134 they couldn’t pay her the same as John. If they paid her, the same as John, they had to pay Joyce the same, because in the two women’s contract, it is stated that they always make the same amount. In John’s contract states that he always makes the most because it is his show. The show was created for him as a vehicle.

by Anonymousreply 136November 23, 2023 7:30 PM

R136- It was never Suzanne Somers on her own it was her DICK of a husband- he was behind the salary grab and she went along with it.

by Anonymousreply 137November 23, 2023 8:24 PM

R137 either way, her story was never consistent and wasn’t an act of feminism when it happened. And John wasn’t making the amount she claimed during that time. He started making six figures during its final season. He made $50k an episode during season 5 and the women made $30k an episode. She wanted to be paid over $100k an episode.

by Anonymousreply 138November 23, 2023 8:27 PM

r138 This producer's interview sounds accurate

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 139November 23, 2023 8:37 PM

Lots of incorrect salary figures being thrown around

by Anonymousreply 140November 23, 2023 8:38 PM

R139 “she’s supposed to make $35k an episode next season”. I said she was making $30k. That sounds accurate.

by Anonymousreply 141November 23, 2023 8:41 PM

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3TmqOorZ6csm%2BvzqZmraCimq6le5JsbG9rZmx%2BbsDHnmSrp6Cav7R51axkpqpeYrO2vsuesGavmKTApnnSnpisp56oerCyjF58a11oZXJ6hNOhqZ6dVXp%2FZoSPXnByq12YvK68wKewXn1iWoVxcZhyZJ2hlGLGsMGMnqWjp6liurC%2BxGY%3D

 Share!