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"THREE'S COMPANY" MARATHON TO AIR ON WB17 in PHILADELPHIA


WPHL-WB17 will broadcast twelve back to back episodes of the television hit, "Three's Company," starring John Ritter, Suzanne Somers and Joyce Dewitt in its first ever "Three's Company" marathon on Saturday, April 24, 2004 from 12 noon to 6pm.

The show, seen locally on WB17 on Saturdays in its regularly scheduled time period (12:00pm and 12:30pm) premiered March 15, 1977 and was the first sitcom to test the boundaries of co-ed living, which at the time, was still considered taboo. Though not a favorite of critics, the show quickly reached pop culture status becoming one of television's top rated series in its third and fourth seasons and catapulted stars John Ritter and Suzanne Somers to superstardom on the small screen. Ritter, who died suddenly last September, received his first Emmy for his role as Jack Tripper on the series.

WB17's six-hour "Three's Company" marathon includes twelve of the episodes fans widely consider the series' best and is laced with trivia about the show and its stars. Episode information and a brief synopsis are included below.


12 noon Episode #1 (Pilot)-"A Man About the House"-Janet (DeWitt) and Chrissy (Somers) find Jack (Ritter) sleeping in their bathtub following a goodbye party for their ex-roommate. They decide to invite him to share their apartment, but first must determine how to overcome the objections of their landlords, Stanley and Helen Roper. They decide to tell the Ropers that Jack is gay, to ease their concerns about their co-ed living arrangement.


12:30pm Episode #10-"Strange Bedfellows"-Jack throws a party while Janet and Chrissy go away for the weekend. When the girls return home, they find Jack and Mr. Roper passed out together in Jack's bed.


1:00pm Episode #12-"Alone Together"-Janet returns to the apartment one morning to find the leftovers of a romantic dinner and her two roommates. However, what she expects has happened is hardly the case.


1:30pm Episode #31-"Coffee, Tea, or Jack?"-Chrissy must pull Jack from the arms of his old flame, a gorgeous airline stewardess (Loni Anderson) and lure him back to the Roper apartment for his surprise birthday party.


2:00pm Episode #35-"The Fast"- Can Jack go longer without women than Chrissy can go without food? It's a battle of the sexes "Three's Company" style.

2:30pm Episode #50-"The Bake-Off"-Jack is chosen to represent his cooking school in a bake-off. He makes a chocolate mousse pie, which Chrissy mistakenly eats. Her attempts to remedy the problem result in a world-class pie fight in this landmark episode!

3:00pm Episode #63-"A Camping We Will Go"-A romantic trip to the mountains winds up being anything but romantic when Jack ends up sharing a tent with Chrissy and Janet.

3:30pm Episode #73-"Handcuffed"-Chrissy and Jack accidentally get handcuffed to one another which creates a big problem for Jack when he attempts to pick up women at the Regal Beagle.

4:00pm Episode #81-"Upstairs, Downstairs"-Jack's social calendar is filled with too many dinner engagements as he takes on preparing a meal for his blind date, his own date and dinner for his roommates.

4:30pm Episode #107-"Some of that Jazz"- Janet resigns from her job at the flower shop when her sleazy dance instructor suggests she should pursue a career on stage. Fearing he's really just putting the moves on his roommate, Jack takes up dance to show Janet what's really going on behind the scenes.

5:00pm Episode #127-"Up in the Air"-In this classic episode, Janet invites Jack to an exclusive party in the islands. To ease his fear of flying, Jack takes a muscle relaxer. When they arrive, Jack indulges in a beverage and becomes the life of the party! This episode showcases Ritter's physical comedy and is widely considered to be one of his and best performances in the series. (Guest star: "The Brady Bunch's" Barry Williams)

5:30pm Episode #159-"Grandma Jack"-After Jack wins a baking contest that is open only to women, he dresses up as "Grandma Tripper" to claim his $10,000 prize.



WPHL-TV is Philadelphia's WB network affiliate and a Tribune Broadcasting station, programming a strong schedule of news, sports and entertainment. Investment interests include The WB Television Network (22%) and the TV Food Network (31%). In publishing, Tribune operates 12 market-leading daily newspapers including The Morning Call in Allentown. WPHL's digital signal is available on WPHL-DT, channel 54, with more than 11 hours of high definition WB programming every week. WPHL-TV is a Tribune Broadcasting station. For additional information, visit WPHL-TV's web site at www.wb17.com # # #