Three's a Crowd
Encyclopedia
Three's a Crowd is an American television
sitcom
spinoff of Three's Company
. It was loosely based on the British TV series Robin's Nest
which was itself a spin-off of Man About the House
on which Three's Company was based.
) is introduced as a love interest of Jack Tripper
(John Ritter
) beginning in "Cupid Works Overtime", episode 20 of season 8. In the following two episodes, "Friends and Lovers" parts 1 and 2, Jack asks Vicky to marry him, but she refuses and explains that although she loves Jack, she does not want to be married. However, Jack and Vicky eventually move to a new apartment together, the landlord of which is James (Robert Mandan
), Vicky's father. James does not approve of Jack and constantly tries to disrupt their relationship.
Other characters included E.Z. Taylor (Alan Campbell), Jack's "surfer dude" assistant chef at his bistro, and Claudia Bradford (Jessica Walter
), Vicky's mother and James' ex-wife. Three's a Crowd was broadcast on ABC
from September 25, 1984 (only one week after the final new episode of Three's Company was broadcast) until April 9, 1985, with reruns airing until September 10, 1985.
which aired in the United Kingdom
from 1973 to 1976. When the series concluded in 1976, series producers Brian Cooke
and Johnnie Mortimer
devised two spin-offs of the series. The first spin-off was fashioned for actors Brian Murphy
and Yootha Joyce
who played the popular George and Mildred Roper on the series. The series, called George and Mildred
, ran from 1977 to 1980, and followed the Ropers selling their apartment building and moving into a high class neighborhood, the comedy arising from the seemingly lower-class Ropers and their relationship with their higher-class neighbors. The second spin-off was written for Richard O'Sullivan who played Robin Tripp (which would serve as the basis for Jack Tripper on Three's Company) and was named Robin's Nest
, also the name of his restaurant on the series. Running from 1977 to 1981, the series followed Robin moving into an apartment above the restaurant he ran with his girlfriend, a situation which was frowned upon by her father.
Three's Company producers were anxious to captilize on these spin-offs. In 1979, they had spun off Norman Fell and Audra Lindley to their own series, The Ropers
, based on George and Mildred
, but it lasted only until 1980 after 1 and a half seasons. Three's Company' s ratings remained high though. Producers Ted Bergmann and Don Taffner devised adapting the Robin's Nest series without John Ritter. A pilot for a series called Byrd's Nest was written, involving a young man leaving with his older girlfriend much to to the chagrin of the her father who owned the building they lived in. The series was planned to be a spin-off from Three's Company and possibly a vehicle for Richard Kline
, who played Larry Dallas on Three's Company, but ABC passed on the idea. However, as Three's Company entered its eighth season in 1983, ratings took a dive due to stiff competition from new NBC series The A-Team
. Realizing they had an aging show ABC okayed the development of a new series which was to be called Three's A Crowd.
Development and casting of the new series occurred in secret as Three's Company' s eighth season progressed. Fellow cast members Joyce DeWitt
, Priscilla Barnes, Don Knotts
, and Richard Kline were kept out of the loop. During a Christmas hiatus in late 1983 producers auditioned several female leads to play Jack's new love interest Vicki Bradford, and eventually decided upon Broadway actress Mary Cadorette
. An embarrassing situation arose when Joyce DeWitt
accidentally walked in on the auditions after coming to the studio to set up her dressing room as the holiday hiatus was coming to a close. DeWitt was then informed by the producers that the series, ending at the close of the season with Ritter, would spin off to Threes a Crowd without her. Dewitt, who had been with the show from the beginning, weathering the highly publicized contractual dispute former cast member Suzanne Somers
had with ABC and series producers, was hurt by the secrecy involved with the series ending and the spin-off. She and fellow castmember Priscilla Barnes would find it very hard to tape the rest of the season. Both Dewitt and Barnes learned that their characters would conclude with the series finale, however, both Richard Kline and Don Knotts were offerd an opportunity to have recurring roles on the spin-off. Both actors declined the offer. Former castmate Suzanne Somers tried to be cast as Jack's love interest in the spin-off, unsuccessfully.
Three's a Crowd employed most of the same writers, producers, and staff from Three's Company, but the new show's style was changed. While Jack was the lead star of Three's Company, it had an ensemble cast of three, with some ancillary characters. However, the new show was centered around Jack, with Vicki, her parents, and E.Z. playing supporting roles.The new show also employed even more slapstick comedy for John Ritter to exhibit. The events and characters of the previous show were not mentioned, except in a late season episode in which Larry Dallas appeared. He had moved to Bakersfield due to business downturns, and during his visit invited along "Greedy" Gretchen, who had often been mentioned on Three's Company. When rebuked by Jack, saying he was now living with a woman, she replied, "You're slowing down Jack – you used to live with two women."
' s ratings and The A-Team, which finished sixth for the season, ABC was tepid in committing to another season of Three's a Crowd. John Ritter was told that ABC would commit to a half-season of thirteen episodes to see how the series would place, although Ritter was reported as saying that he would not return to the show unless a full season was ordered. Series producers expected the show to be cancelled, while both Mary Cadorette and Robert Mandan confirmed that the series was intially renewed for the 1985-86 season. Finally, ABC decided instead to pick up Diff'rent Strokes
for another season, which had just been cancelled by NBC.
. Some syndicated versions aired under the title Three's Company, Too, using an instrumental version of the theme song of Three's Company.
Six episodes of the series were aired on TV Land
in September 2006, and four episodes were aired on WGN America in October 2008. Three's a Crowd also airs in Canada on DejaView
. The series began airing on digital broadcast network Antenna TV
in June 2011 (it airs--as Three's A Crowd with it's "Side by Side" theme song--after each cycle of Three's Company concludes).
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
spinoff of Three's Company
Three's Company
Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....
. It was loosely based on the British TV series Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp, one of the lead characters in the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended in 1976. Robin's Nest aired for six series from 1977 to 1981, and co-starred Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend and later wife and Tony Britton...
which was itself a spin-off of Man About the House
Man About the House
Man About the House is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett that was broadcast for six seasons on ITV from 1973 to 1976. It was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. The series was considered daring at the time due to its subject matter of...
on which Three's Company was based.
Synopsis
In the final episodes of its predecessor, Three's Company, Vicky Bradford (Mary CadoretteMary Cadorette
Mary Therese Cadorette is an American actress best known for playing John Ritter's live-in girlfriend, flight attendant Vicky Bradford on the short-lived 1984 Three's Company spinoff, Three's a Crowd....
) is introduced as a love interest of Jack Tripper
Jack Tripper
Jack Tripper is a fictional character on the sitcoms Three's Company and Three's a Crowd, based upon the character, Robin Tripp, of Man About the House and Robin's Nest. Jack was played by the late John Ritter.-Introduction:...
(John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...
) beginning in "Cupid Works Overtime", episode 20 of season 8. In the following two episodes, "Friends and Lovers" parts 1 and 2, Jack asks Vicky to marry him, but she refuses and explains that although she loves Jack, she does not want to be married. However, Jack and Vicky eventually move to a new apartment together, the landlord of which is James (Robert Mandan
Robert Mandan
Robert Mandan is an American actor, most famous for his portrayals of playwright David Allen on the NBC serial From These Roots from 1958–1961, businessman Sam Reynolds on the serial Search for Tomorrow from 1965 to 1970, and his subsequent satire of the genre playing Chester Tate on the sitcom...
), Vicky's father. James does not approve of Jack and constantly tries to disrupt their relationship.
Other characters included E.Z. Taylor (Alan Campbell), Jack's "surfer dude" assistant chef at his bistro, and Claudia Bradford (Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
), Vicky's mother and James' ex-wife. Three's a Crowd was broadcast on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
from September 25, 1984 (only one week after the final new episode of Three's Company was broadcast) until April 9, 1985, with reruns airing until September 10, 1985.
Production history
Three's Company had been based on the British sitcom Man About the HouseMan About the House
Man About the House is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett that was broadcast for six seasons on ITV from 1973 to 1976. It was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. The series was considered daring at the time due to its subject matter of...
which aired in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from 1973 to 1976. When the series concluded in 1976, series producers Brian Cooke
Brian Cooke
Brian Cooke is a British comedy writer who, along with co-writer Johnnie Mortimer wrote scripts for and devised many of the top TV sitcoms of the 1970s, including Man About the House, George and Mildred and Robin's Nest...
and Johnnie Mortimer
Johnnie Mortimer
Johnnie Mortimer was a British scriptwriter for television.He started out as a cartoonist, which brought him into contact with his writing partner Brian Cooke...
devised two spin-offs of the series. The first spin-off was fashioned for actors Brian Murphy
Brian Murphy (actor)
Brian Murphy is a British actor.Murphy was born in Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Although a prolific actor in many films and theatre productions for almost half a century, Murphy's most famous role was as the henpecked husband George Roper in the sitcom Man About the House and spin-off George and...
and Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce
Yootha Joyce was an English actress, best known for playing Mildred Roper in Man About the House and George and Mildred.-Early life:...
who played the popular George and Mildred Roper on the series. The series, called George and Mildred
George and Mildred
George and Mildred is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television that aired from 1976 to 1979. It was a spin-off from Man About the House and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as an ill-matched married couple, George and Mildred Roper...
, ran from 1977 to 1980, and followed the Ropers selling their apartment building and moving into a high class neighborhood, the comedy arising from the seemingly lower-class Ropers and their relationship with their higher-class neighbors. The second spin-off was written for Richard O'Sullivan who played Robin Tripp (which would serve as the basis for Jack Tripper on Three's Company) and was named Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp, one of the lead characters in the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended in 1976. Robin's Nest aired for six series from 1977 to 1981, and co-starred Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend and later wife and Tony Britton...
, also the name of his restaurant on the series. Running from 1977 to 1981, the series followed Robin moving into an apartment above the restaurant he ran with his girlfriend, a situation which was frowned upon by her father.
Three's Company producers were anxious to captilize on these spin-offs. In 1979, they had spun off Norman Fell and Audra Lindley to their own series, The Ropers
The Ropers
The Ropers is an American sitcom that ran from March 13, 1979 to May 22, 1980 on ABC. The series is a spinoff of Three's Company and based on the British sitcom George and Mildred...
, based on George and Mildred
George and Mildred
George and Mildred is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television that aired from 1976 to 1979. It was a spin-off from Man About the House and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as an ill-matched married couple, George and Mildred Roper...
, but it lasted only until 1980 after 1 and a half seasons. Three's Company
Richard Kline
Richard Kline is an American actor and television director. He is best known for playing the sleazy neighbor and used car salesman, Larry Dallas, on the sitcom, Three's Company.-Early life:...
, who played Larry Dallas on Three's Company, but ABC passed on the idea. However, as Three's Company entered its eighth season in 1983, ratings took a dive due to stiff competition from new NBC series The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
. Realizing they had an aging show ABC okayed the development of a new series which was to be called Three's A Crowd.
Development and casting of the new series occurred in secret as Three's Company
Joyce DeWitt
Joyce Anne DeWitt is an American actress most famous for playing Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three's Company.-Early life:...
, Priscilla Barnes, Don Knotts
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
, and Richard Kline were kept out of the loop. During a Christmas hiatus in late 1983 producers auditioned several female leads to play Jack's new love interest Vicki Bradford, and eventually decided upon Broadway actress Mary Cadorette
Mary Cadorette
Mary Therese Cadorette is an American actress best known for playing John Ritter's live-in girlfriend, flight attendant Vicky Bradford on the short-lived 1984 Three's Company spinoff, Three's a Crowd....
. An embarrassing situation arose when Joyce DeWitt
Joyce DeWitt
Joyce Anne DeWitt is an American actress most famous for playing Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three's Company.-Early life:...
accidentally walked in on the auditions after coming to the studio to set up her dressing room as the holiday hiatus was coming to a close. DeWitt was then informed by the producers that the series, ending at the close of the season with Ritter, would spin off to Threes a Crowd without her. Dewitt, who had been with the show from the beginning, weathering the highly publicized contractual dispute former cast member Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....
had with ABC and series producers, was hurt by the secrecy involved with the series ending and the spin-off. She and fellow castmember Priscilla Barnes would find it very hard to tape the rest of the season. Both Dewitt and Barnes learned that their characters would conclude with the series finale, however, both Richard Kline and Don Knotts were offerd an opportunity to have recurring roles on the spin-off. Both actors declined the offer. Former castmate Suzanne Somers tried to be cast as Jack's love interest in the spin-off, unsuccessfully.
Transitioning from Three's Company to Three's a Crowd
In transitioning from Three's Company to Three's a Crowd, series producers decided to follow the plotline of the British series. Season eight of Three's Company drew to a close in a three episode story arc. In the first of these episodes, Janet meets wealthy art collector Phillip Dawson. In the second episode she falls in love with him, while Jack meets and falls in love with stewardess Vicki Bradford. Her wealthy father, played by Robert Mandan, does not approve of the relationship. When first aired, this episode ended with the words "To be continued... next fall." The last episode of Three's Company aired as an hour long special that kicked off the 1984-85 fall television season and set up the premise for Three's A Crowd. In the episode, Janet married Phillip, and Terri relocated to Hawaii. Jack and Vicki profess their love for one another, but Vicki turns down Jack's proposal of marriage, citing her fear of the institution after seeing her parents feud her whole life. They instead move in together, in an apartment above Jack's Bistro. In the last scene, Jack and Vicki are spending their first romantic eveing together in the new apartment, only to have Mr. Bradford accidentally barge in on them, explaining that he received the key from Jack's old boss Mr. Angelino, having just bought the building from him, becoming the couple's new landlord. The title card for Three's Company then appears over the screen with the word "Company" zooming out, being replaced with "a Crowd".Three's a Crowd employed most of the same writers, producers, and staff from Three's Company, but the new show's style was changed. While Jack was the lead star of Three's Company, it had an ensemble cast of three, with some ancillary characters. However, the new show was centered around Jack, with Vicki, her parents, and E.Z. playing supporting roles.The new show also employed even more slapstick comedy for John Ritter to exhibit. The events and characters of the previous show were not mentioned, except in a late season episode in which Larry Dallas appeared. He had moved to Bakersfield due to business downturns, and during his visit invited along "Greedy" Gretchen, who had often been mentioned on Three's Company. When rebuked by Jack, saying he was now living with a woman, she replied, "You're slowing down Jack – you used to live with two women."
Ratings and cancellation
Three's a Crowd garnered only modest ratings, still competing with The A-Team. When the 1984-85 television season finished the show placed #38 in the Nielsen ratings; this put the show on the fence with ABC, since the show had enough of an audience to warrant renewal. However, when compared to Three's CompanyDiff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
for another season, which had just been cancelled by NBC.
Episodes
According to the creators of Three’s a Crowd, there were two seasons in the entire show. It was only on for the years 1984 to 1985 because of the cancellation which happened to John stating that he would not return to the show unless a full season was ordered.Reruns
Daytime reruns aired on ABC from September 23, 1985 to January 3, 1986, followed by another prime time run on USA NetworkUSA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
. Some syndicated versions aired under the title Three's Company, Too, using an instrumental version of the theme song of Three's Company.
Six episodes of the series were aired on TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
in September 2006, and four episodes were aired on WGN America in October 2008. Three's a Crowd also airs in Canada on DejaView
DejaView
DejaView is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Shaw Media. It airs television shows from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-History:In November 2000, Global Television Network Inc...
. The series began airing on digital broadcast network Antenna TV
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
in June 2011 (it airs--as Three's A Crowd with it's "Side by Side" theme song--after each cycle of Three's Company concludes).