I remember really enjoying this show, but I want to know from other viewers who have watched it your opinions...

Very underrated. Yes, it had it's silly moments but overall it was a great show with a great cast.

Very underrated. Yes, it had it's silly moments but overall it was a great show with a great cast.


Well said...agreed!

Too Close For Comfort a Great show Hmmmm--I think Nots!!!!. The only very good 80s sitcoms were Newhart, Designing Wimmen and Golden Girls. The rest were at best Just Watchable!!!

Too Close For Comfort a Great show Hmmmm--I think Nots!!!!. The only very good 80s sitcoms were Newhart, Designing Wimmen and Golden Girls. The rest were at best Just Watchable!!!

If you say so...

I'd say both - TCFC just seemed to get lost in the shuffle. :(

I'd say both - TCFC just seemed to get lost in the shuffle. :(

You're right Monika, it does get lost in the shuffle. I wish some tv station would pick it up.

You're right Monika, it does get lost in the shuffle. I wish some tv station would pick it up.
So do I - I'd love to see it again. I LOVED that big red house!!!

So do I - I'd love to see it again. I LOVED that big red house!!!

That would be the one!!! :D

it was a very underrated show i watch my dvd;s quite often

TCFC was one of the most underrated sitcoms in tv history. I loved it when it came on after TC on ABC's Tuesday lineup. ABC replaced it with a bunch of unfunny generic sitcoms after that. Ted Knight was as funny as he was on MTM and Lydia Cornell...:faint: what a beautiful woman she was.

Lydia Cornell...:faint: what a beautiful woman she was.


Actually Sonny, she is still quite the knockout! :grineyes:

I also thought the theme song was very pretty. :D

Actually Sonny, she is still quite the knockout! :grineyes:
She's aged very well. :D I think TCFC jumped the shark when the girls left the show. It wasn't the same anymore.

I also thought the theme song was very pretty. :D
That's another great theme song. When I heard that, I knew I was going to have a good time.

Here are the opening titles!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajRhFmsVhrU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8OdXp9T8Os&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKvviAEvgDE&feature=related

Actually Sonny, she is still quite the knockout! :grineyes:thats for sure

TCFC was one of the most underrated sitcoms in tv history. I loved it when it came on after TC on ABC's Tuesday lineup. ABC replaced it with a bunch of unfunny generic sitcoms after that. Ted Knight was as funny as he was on MTM and Lydia Cornell...:faint: what a beautiful woman she was.

I'd say it's THE most underrated sitcom EVER! Monroe and Henry had about the best chemistry between 2 actors you'll ever see!

Every single season should be out on DVD. It's a shame they're not!!

I only saw a few espidoes from season 3 and beyond so it would almost be like new episodes to me!

I'd say both - TCFC just seemed to get lost in the shuffle. :(

I don't know for sure why TCFC has gotten lost in the shuffle. I want to assume that part of the issue is that it was when you get right down to it, a very innocuous family sitcom about adults being forced to live together. It wasn't a particularly groundbreaking or edgy sitcom (even it's unofficial "sister" Three's Company was fairly risque for its time).

It was just a vehicle for Ted Knight to play a harried, overprotective dad. Other than its relaxing theme song, the fact that Henry Rush would always wear college sweaters, and the infamous "Monroe gets kidnapped and raped by heavy-set women" episode, there really isn't anything that stands out.

The fact that the show was canceled by ABC after three years, ran in first-run syndication for another two, and then rebranded as The Ted Knight Show for a single season (it was going to go on but it had to naturally stop due to Ted Knight's death) also makes it feel like kind of an also ran.

The first 3 or 4 seasons of Too Close For Comfort is just as good or better than any sitcom in history & I mean ANY sitcom! That's how hilarious it is with the comedy between Henry & Monroe & the great family dynamic they had between Muriel, Henry, Sarah, & Jackie!

The show faded somewhat in later years but that happens with many sitcoms. It was still a good show in season 6 & there was supposed to be a season 7 but tragically Ted Knight died! :(

The first 3 or 4 seasons of Too Close For Comfort is just as good or better than any sitcom in history & I mean ANY sitcom! That's how hilarious it is with the comedy between Henry & Monroe & the great family dynamic they had between Muriel, Henry, Sarah, & Jackie!

The show faded somewhat in later years but that happens with many sitcoms. It was still a good show in season 6 & there was supposed to be a season 7 but tragically Ted Knight died! :(

Also, Too Close for Comfort when you really think about it, hasn't aged very well. For one thing, it's quite arguable that the show in hindsight was pretty sexist. It's kind of a stretch for Henry to be super protective of his two grown daughters, who lived right down stairs. So it isn't like Sara and Jackie were having all night parties and orgies and what not. And when Muriel became pregnant with the third Rush child, Henry was all opposing of her going back to work, even though she got a great job offer. While he eventually relents, it's the incompetent dad and Monroe trying to take care of baby Andrew.

And speaking of Monroe, he was a very one-note character. I don't know if it's Jm J. Bullock's fault or the writing but he was another one of those weird, nerdy and annoying sidekick characters (like Skippy on Family Ties or Steve Urkel on Family Matters), who just happened to be "near and dear" to the family.

Too Close for Comfort was underrated. I wouldn't say it was one of the best sitcoms in history like some of the posters in this thread, but TCFC is a lot better than its more popular companion Three's Company.

Underrated, that show wasnt so bad.

Too Close for Comfort was underrated. I wouldn't say it was one of the best sitcoms in history like some of the posters in this thread, but TCFC is a lot better than its more popular companion Three's Company.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's better than TC. Even John Ritter admitted a lot of the plots in TC were silly because they almost always involved a mixup or misunderstanding. Too Close generally had better storylines & more developed characters.

But Jack Tripper MADE Three's Company. There's a reason why it was Lucille Ball's favorite show. She said nobody does physical comedy better than Ritter & to this day STILL no one can beat John Ritter for physical comedy.

If you're watching the shows for the first time I'd say TC is somewhat better ONLY because of the antics of Jack Tripper. But if you're watching reruns over & over through the DECADES then Too Close is probably better to watch because TC can wear on you pretty quickly!

That's another great theme song. When I heard that, I knew I was going to have a good time.

Is there a better instrumental TV theme in sitcom history? I don't think so!

Is there a better instrumental TV theme in sitcom history? I don't think so!

Newhart I think ranks up there along with TCFC for the title of "most relaxing '80s sitcom theme music".

g0StDroRiCs

I wouldn't necessarily say it's better than TC. Even John Ritter admitted a lot of the plots in TC were silly because they almost always involved a mixup or misunderstanding. Too Close generally had better storylines & more developed characters.

But Jack Tripper MADE Three's Company. There's a reason why it was Lucille Ball's favorite show. She said nobody does physical comedy better than Ritter & to this day STILL no one can beat John Ritter for physical comedy.

If you're watching the shows for the first time I'd say TC is somewhat better ONLY because of the antics of Jack Tripper. But if you're watching reruns over & over through the DECADES then Too Close is probably better to watch because TC can wear on you pretty quickly!

Somebody on the old Jump the Shark (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031132334/http://www.jumptheshark.com/t/toocloseforcomfort.htm) site made a comment about how Ted Knight really wasn't an ideal person to build a sitcom vehicle around. On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, he shined as Ted Baxter in large part due to his interaction with the entire ensemble cast of that show. On TCFC, Henry Rush could also be looked at as an obnoxious character but Ted Knight wasn't surrounded by enough good actors/characters on TCFC to make him look good and elevate his talents.

I first discovered Too Close for Comfort when Antenna TV launched at the beginning of 2011 and I watched a ton of this show in 2011 and 2012. I loved it. It was a great show. I only wish a new company would pick up the DVD rights and release this show in its entirety.

It was both forgotten and underrated.

It was both forgotten and underrated.

i think it was underrated and completely disrespected by the network after moving it to Thursdays with Joanie Loves Chachi - how could ANY show survive that?

I've been re-watching episodes on Antenna TV lately; I love the early episodes, but it really started to decline in the final season after the girls left.

This is the best show that most people have NEVER heard of!

Eventhough it declined in later years it was still very funny at the end. Wish Ted Knight lived for seasons 7 & 8 because I bet it would have continued as long as he lived!

It's a great show but very underrated.

I remember three things about it:

1) The gorgeous daughter
2) Ted Knight would wear a different sweatshirt every show
3) The gay guy was annoying

I remember three things about it:

1) The gorgeous daughter
2) Ted Knight would wear a different sweatshirt every show
3) The gay guy was annoying

Ted Knight's best acting performance & Nancy Dussault did an excellent job as Muriel.

She didn't get the credit she deserved & neither did the show in general!

I liked this show better than Three's Company when I was a kid. The earlier episodes centered more on the girls were my favorites.

In later years they focused more on zany Monroe than on Sara/Jackie which was a little annoying. Monroe was funny in small doses but the premise of the show was supposed to focus on uptight Henry and the two daughters that lived in the apartment below.

10 Hit '80s Sitcoms Nobody Talks About Anymore (https://www.looper.com/2088151/hit-80s-sitcoms-nobody-talks-about-anymore/)

Too Close for Comfort

https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/hit-80s-sitcoms-nobody-talks-about-anymore/too-close-for-comfort-1770198693.webp

As various '80s movie hits that haven't aged well (https://www.looper.com/138070/80s-movie-hits-that-havent-aged-well/) can attest, some cultural staples of this decade are borderline incoherent to modern audiences. An interesting example of this is the sitcom "Too Close for Comfort." This program starred Ted Knight as Henry Rush, who worked as a cartoonist on "Cosmic Cow," a newspaper comic strip. While these still exist today, they're a lot more rare and don't hold anywhere near as much cultural clout as they did back in the day.

That fact that it focuses on a newspaper cartoonist alone makes "Too Close for Comfort" an odd relic in the 2020s. However, there are more factors that have led to "Too Close to Comfort" dwelling in obscurity in the modern era. Despite being the seventh most-watched show of the 1981-1982 TV season with an estimated audience of 18.4 million, half of the program's six-season run would transpire in the realm of syndication. That alone led to it being erased from many people's minds, despite the show still producing 66 additional episodes after being jettisoned from ABC.

There's also the unfortunate reality that its modern-day reruns have been relegated to obscure daytime TV slots rather than being front-and-center on major streaming platforms. All of these elements have combined to make "Too Close for Comfort," despite its immense amount of episodes, largely forgotten. Some fixtures of the '80s just weren't meant to last forever, and this is one of them.