I finally got a chance to view the first Three's Company pilot, written by M*A*S*H's Larry Gelbart.

Overall, it was pretty good. The Larry Gelbart writing style was definitely in evidence: I loved Jenny's line about the tub - "We grew it from a sink." And the actress, Valerie Curtin wasn't bad, either. She's one of those character actresses seen in many shows back then who never became a star.

John Ritter's character "David" was essentially the same as Jack Tripper, except he aspired to be a filmmaker and not a cook -though the seeds for that career path were sown in the kitchen scene.

About the only thing I didn't like was the blonde, Suzanne Zenor. She was kind of annoying and didn't do much for me. The opening credits with the scat singing were funny - I guess they didn't have time to commission lyrics.

Of course, I was glad to see "George" Roper and his lovely wife. Again, essentially the same characters - just different names.

I love seeing early versions of shows like this, because you get to see how the creative process evolved. It's probably just as well they re-cast the girls and went for more of a farcical element, because Larry Gelbart probably would not have involved himself full-time from a production standpoint, having just come off four years as M*A*S*H's head writer and co-producer.

does anyone have a clip or a link to where i can see the first piot opening credits.or where i can see the firt Piot i would really like to see it a lot please help me thanks

Originally posted by MichaelLutton
does anyone have a clip or a link to where i can see the first piot opening credits.or where i can see the firt Piot i would really like to see it a lot please help me thanks

Check the photo gallery. I uploaded pics of the pilot's opening credits.

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=925&password=

Originally posted by Dr. Thong
I finally got a chance to view the first Three's Company pilot, written by M*A*S*H's Larry Gelbart.

Overall, it was pretty good.

I agree. I do think the final pilot was better of course, but I have to wonder how much of that is bias. I mean, if we as viewers were watching both pilots for the very first time, without having seen anything else of Three's Company, I wonder what we'd prefer? For one, Chrissy in the pilot was no way near as sharp as we all know she'd turn out to be. She needed time to develop and I wonder what could have happened with Jenny & Samantha had they been allowed a bit more time. Jenny was certainly entertaining...

Originally posted by Dr. Thong
About the only thing I didn't like was the blonde, Suzanne Zenor. She was kind of annoying and didn't do much for me.

I agree with you, but I also think Chrissy was a bit plain in the final pilot as well and we all saw her develop into the blonde we all love. Perhaps Suzanne Zenor would've grown into the role like Suzanne did if she had more than one episode to work with.

Originally posted by Dr. Thong
Of course, I was glad to see "George" Roper and his lovely wife. Again, essentially the same characters - just different names.

Well, George/Stanley is essentially the same, but Mildred/Helen is drastically different. She's a bit more white trash and brash, with her innuendo bordering on the crude. I also think she was almost a tad bitchier in the first pilot to the roommates and not nearly as sympathetic. She wasn't nearly as likeable in the first pilot as she was in the final series. Helen is one I always rooted for, especially when Stanley held out on her, whether it was sex, money, or respect, but Mildred I don't think would've gotten my support. George was still likeable, but Mildred just came off as trashy, all the while trying to preserve her tenement as something ethical.

Originally posted by Dr. Thong
I love seeing early versions of shows like this, because you get to see how the creative process evolved. It's probably just as well they re-cast the girls and went for more of a farcical element, because Larry Gelbart probably would not have involved himself full-time from a production standpoint, having just come off four years as M*A*S*H's head writer and co-producer.

I agree. I love seeing this sort of thing as well. I hope they include the second pilot on the Season 3 set as well.

Just a thought. The shows that were shot while the turmoil was occurring with Suzanne during Season 5: were multiple versions shot of these episodes? If so, do you think they'd be included eventually? I'd like to see the alternate versions, if only out of curiousity.

Ed

Originally posted by Edster2973
Just a thought. The shows that were shot while the turmoil was occurring with Suzanne during Season 5: were multiple versions shot of these episodes? If so, do you think they'd be included eventually? I'd like to see the alternate versions, if only out of curiousity.

Ed [/B]

For the sake of brevity, I only quoted your last paragraph, but I pretty much agreed with most of what you said, though I liked the Chrissy from the second season better than the one from later on. She was still ditsy, but not nearly as bad as she would become with the snorting laugh. But that's just me.

As for inclusions of "alternate" versions of the season five episodes, I wouldn't count on it if they include Suzanne Somers because that might involve having to pay her additional royalties or fees. I don't know the particulars of her contract with NRW in regards to residual provisions, but if they put out something with her, it's possible she could sue the owner of the reruns. But you never know...

I think if we had seen Three's Company with different people, our bias would be different - we'd look at episodes with Joyce and Suzanne and go "who are they?? I think an interesting hybrid cast would have been to keep Jenny but add Suzanne's Chrissy.

I saw screen tests for Christopher Reeve's first Superman movie on the DVD and I thought that Stockard Channing (Grease) did a pretty good job as Lois Lane. In fact, had they not cast Margot Kidder (who does look the part more and did a fine job), I would have gone for Channing.

I guess things work out the way they're supposed to - hopefully we'll get to see the second pilot someday.

Originally posted by Edster2973
I agree. I love seeing this sort of thing as well. I hope they include the second pilot on the Season 3 set as well.

Just a thought. The shows that were shot while the turmoil was occurring with Suzanne during Season 5: were multiple versions shot of these episodes? If so, do you think they'd be included eventually? I'd like to see the alternate versions, if only out of curiousity.

Ed

From what I've read, the season 3 DVD should have the second pilot.

Each season five episode had only one taped version. However, some of the episodes (before Jenilee came on) did have two different scripts -- one for when Suzanne showed up, one for when she didn't.

I think that everyone who has seen the show is going to have a slight bias to the pilot. However, I, too, thought the pilot wasn't all that bad. IMO, it just needed to be polished a bit. NRW at least got a chance to see what worked in Gelbart's pilot, and they got two pilots to accomplish their task.