Info:
DVD Release Date: November 2, 2004 (Anchor Bay Home Entertainment)
color, approx. 563 minutes
MSRP: $39.98
Number of discs: 4
Number of episodes: 22
Languages and subtitles: English, Closed Captioned
Special features:
• Never-Before-Seen Pilot Episode #2 - Made Before
Suzanne Somers was cast.
• Remembering John Ritter - An all new tribute
featuring interviews with friends and cast members.
Don Knotts, Richard Kline, and much more!
• Audio Commentary for "THE BAKE-OFF" with Chris Mann,
author of Come And Knock On Our Door
• Original Promo Pieces with John Ritter
• Richard Kline (Larry) Interview - Introduced and
hosted by Joyce DeWitt
• Dave Powers (Director Seasons 3-8) Interview -
Introduced and hosted by Joyce DeWitt
• Best of Jack: Season 3
• Best of Chrissy: Season 3
• Best of Janet: Season 3
• Best of The Ropers: Season 3
• Bloopers Part 2
• Talent Bios
Review (out of 5 stars):
Video quality: 4.7/5
Audio quality: 4.7/5
Special Features: 5/5
Menu Navigation: 4.9/5
Overall: 4.8/5
Thoughts:
It was the TV season of 1978-79 and Three’s Company
was in its third season and a top of the Nielsen
Ratings for the entire season. ABC Tuesdays was the
highest rated night on all of television with other
hits like Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, joining
Three’s Company. Now, for the first time, bring home
that season of Three’s Company on DVD on November 2!
Starring John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers,
Norman Fell, Audra Lindley and Richard Kline.
Get funky with that new disco type theme song because
this set is a must for any fan. There are twenty-two
episodes on this set. They did not include the two
The Ropers episodes that air as Three’s Company
episodes. That could spell good news, as that series
could have its own DVD set! Let’s hope that happens!
This set, like season two, has a potpourri of extras
that will leave you in complete satisfaction. I will
go over them in detail later on. As for the episodes,
there are some memorable season three episodes such
as, “Double Date,” “Good Old Reliable Janet,” “Love
Diary,” “Chrissy & the Guru,” “The Older Woman,”
“Stanley’s Hotline,” “An Anniversary Surprise,” and
“The Bake-Off.” In fact, if I had to pick which
season was my favorite, it would be this one. I’m an
avid fan of the series and endure every episode, but
this season stands out for me. All the episodes could
be considered “memorable.”
Some famous guests to visit the series this season
are: Anne Schedeen in a recurring role as Jack’s
steady girlfriend Linda, Michael Bell (“Chrissy & the
Guru”) as Rama Mageesh, Emmaline Henry as Chrissy’s
boss, Irene Tedrow (“The Older Woman”) as the ‘older’
woman who Larry mistakenly tries to seduce, John
Larroquette (“Jack Moves Out”) as a cop and Ruta Lee
(“An Anniversary Surprise”) who helps Mr. Roper sell
the apartment (as we all know, The Ropers moved on to
their own series after this season and will be
replaced by Don Knotts as Mr. Furley in season four).
Returning characters include Peter Mark Richman
(“Triangle Troubles”) as Chrissy’s minister father and
William Pierson (“The Bake-Off”) returns as Dean
Travers.
The packaging is nicely packaged in Digibook format,
just like season two. So when you open the case, you
flip to the next CD like you would with a book. The
color scheme for this season is red. Season two was
purple, if you all remember. Like season two, you have
to remove the case from the box. The box cover
features a nice cast photo of the trio, The Ropers and
Larry. The back of the box has information on the
series, set & special features and a photo of Janet on
the left and Chrissy & Jack on the right. The case
cover has a nice photo of Chrissy, Jack and Janet all
dressed up in fancy clothing. When you open the case,
you will be greeted with a photo of the trio in a
beach background and a nice message from Chris Mann,
author of Come and Knock on Our Door, and a good buddy
of mine. He has surely pleased all fans of this
series with his dedication and hard work. I’d like to
accommodate him once more on making these DVD sets
perfect. His message continues on the back of the
case, as well. His writing was on the case for season
two as well. So expect something like that. A photo
from the trio from “The Bake-Off” episode is on the
back of the case. Mann’s message is a must read as he
explains the show very well. The discs are in the
case, of course, with disc one containing episodes 1-6
and has a photo of Jack (looks like it’s from season
seven to me!), disc two features episodes 7-12 and a
photo of Janet (looks like it’s from season two?).
Disc three has episodes 13-18 and a photo of Chrissy
(looks like it is from season four?). Finally, disc
four has episodes 19-22 and the extras, with a photo
of Larry on the disc. When you remove disc four from
the case, you can see a photo of The Ropers.
Now to the menu navigation – it is very similar in
style to season two’s set. Basically everything is,
and we all know season two was a perfect set. The
season three theme song is playing in the background,
while you make your choice. And rotating images of
Jack, Chrissy and the rest are in the background.
Discs one through three have the options of “Play All”
and “Episodes.” When you select episodes, you will go
to an episode index screen where you can choose what
episode you want. When you choose an episode, you get
a pretty decent episode synopsis, about a paragraph or
so in length, and an image from the episode. Then you
hit play and the episode plays in its full unedited
form just like how it aired on ABC. Each episode is
about 25-26 minutes long, counting the opening and
closing credits. Disc four has the same two options
and the “Extras” option. When you select extras, you
go to the extras index where you can choose what
extras you want to view. The instrumental theme from
season three’s opening theme is playing in the
background. Again, I will get to the extras shortly.
So get your eyes ready to be stunned! My one
complaint about this set is that this set has no scene
selections or chapters. So, it is very hard to find a
scene you want to watch in particular. Hopefully they
add that feature in season four and beyond.
The video and audio quality is very crisp and clear
for 1978-79. All the episodes are unedited and in the
25-26 minute ranges, as I previously stated. Like
season two, there are some tag scenes from a few
episodes that have probably never been seen since its
original run, unless you are from an outside country.
Every single episode has the full season three theme
song, which feature the clips from season two. The
video is very watchable and the audio is very clear,
even though it is in mono. It is the best mono on a
DVD set probably out there.
Now for the extras! The extras make DVD sets for
classic TV series, somewhat “new.” All of the extras
are located on the fourth disc. The first extra is
the “Second Pilot Episode.” It runs under 26 minutes.
It has the same audio theme as the first unaired
pilot which was on the season two DVD set. The video
from the opening theme has the trio on the couch.
This second pilot is similar to episode #2 from the
series, “Chrissy’s Mother.” In this second pilot,
Susan Lanier is playing Chrissy. Suzanne Somers was
not cast until the third pilot, which was a rework of
the first pilot. And that third pilot is the real
first episode we all have seen and loved. Joyce
DeWitt is now cast in this second pilot as Janet.
Only John Ritter, Norman Fell and Audra Lindley return
from the first pilot. Strangely, this second pilot
has no closing credits. So, they used the generic
closing credits from season two. Chrissy’s mother in
this pilot was played by a different actress it seems,
but we will never know who it was, since there are no
closing credits.
The next extra is a four minute tribute to John Ritter
titled, “Remembering John Ritter.” It is introduced
by Joyce DeWitt and features interviews with Ann
Wedgeworth, Jenilee Harrison, Don Knotts, Producer
George Sunga, Writer Kim Weiskoph, Producer George
Burditt and Richard Kline. I think all of the future
sets will have a “Remembering John Ritter” piece.
Hopefully we get more co-stars, crew and John’s family
members in future sets.
Next, is “Audio Commentary” from Chris Mann on the
episode, “The Bake-Off.” He did audio commentary on
the season two set and once again does a great job
talking about the episode, show and other useful
information. He gives a lot of behind the scenes info
for this 25 minute and 15 seconds episode. I won’t
spoil and tell you everything he said, but he talks
about William Pierson, who plays Dean Travers, and
this was Pierson’s favorite episode. He also talks
about Dave Powers, the lead director for seasons 3-8.
The next bonus material is “Original Promos.” These
are fun to see! I wish there were more, because there
are only three on this set. The first one is about 30
seconds and John Ritter hosts from the set of Three’s
Company. The second one is also about 30 seconds
hosted by John. These two promos were created when
Three’s Company was entering syndication in season 5,
around 1982. So, really this should be called
syndication promos, rather than original promos. The
last promo is different takes that John did for
Three’s Company on TBS in 1992. TBS was Three’s
Company’s first cable run, from 1992-99. After that
the show has been seen on the Viacom networks TV Land
and Nick at Nite. This promo lasts a little over one
minute. I like that they included these, but I would
like to also see some original promos from the
original ABC run.
Next up is the “Richard Kline Interview.” It is over
19 minutes and 30 seconds long and is hosted by Joyce
DeWitt. ‘Richy’ talks about how he got the role. He
talks about Bea Arthur and his stint on Maude.
Larry’s hairstyle, gold chains, singing and more are
also talked about. Richard also talks about John,
Norman and Dave Powers and he gives advice on how to
act drunk, as he did in a season six episode. He then
talks about various episodes that were famous for
“Larry.” Some episodes he mentioned are “Larry’s
Bride,” “Jack Bares All,” “Eleanor’s Return” and “The
Older Woman.” Finally, a clip of the John Ritter TBS
promo with the premiere date and time is shown and
Richard talks about the show’s success in syndication
in the early years and today on Nick at Nite and TV
Land.
The next interview is the “Dave Powers Interview.” It
is just over 20 minutes long and once again your host
is Joyce DeWitt. Dave joined the series in season
three and brought a lot of physical comedy on to the
show. He talks about coming in from The Carol Burnett
Show into Three’s Company. He talks about John and how
wonderful he was. He mentioned that he called the
trio children and they called him teacher. The show
was like a play he mentioned. Then he talks about
some of the actors like Audra and how good she was,
Norman’s camera mug, bringing in Don Knotts after The
Ropers moved on to their own series, Suzanne and
Joyce.
The next four pieces are “Best of…” clips. “Best of
Jack – Season Three” has clips of Jack from this
season and runs under 5 minutes. “Best of Chrissy –
Season Three” has clips of Chrissy from this season
and runs over 6 minutes. “Best of Janet – Season
Three” has clips of Janet from this season and runs
over 5 minutes. “Best of The Ropers – Season Three”
has clips of them from this season and runs over 6
minutes. And the final extra is “Bloopers Part Two.”
It runs over 12 minutes and 30 second long. It has
the same actor introductions that we saw in “Bloopers
Part One” from the season two set. The bloopers are
primarily more from season two. Hopefully we get
bloopers on every upcoming set.
I really enjoyed this set. It is nice watching the
episodes in their entirety instead of the chopped up
versions we see on TV today. The extras are a bonus
and a joy to watch. Season four is tentatively slated
for May, 2005. Hopefully we get The Ropers Complete
Series set around that time or maybe even before that.
I have a feeling we will get BOTH spin-offs on DVD
eventually. I hope Anchor Bay continues this great
pattern of making wonderful DVD sets and fix the minor
errors, like adding scene selections and/or chapters.
Other than that, I am very happy with these sets and I
am sure all fans are as well, and will buy this set so
we can get all eight seasons and the spin-offs on our
home entertainment shelves!
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 10/31/04
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