I am just curious, were Three's Company's ratings falling? Did ABC feel the show was getting stale and needed a facelift? Or perhaps they were just following in the footsteps of its British predecessor which did the exact same thing?

TC's ratings were falling. They went from bring ranked #6 in 1983 to falling out of the top 30. I remember hearing John and some of the producers say that they were running out of stories to tell and they wanted to rejump the series. I don't think TC would have been cancelled but they probably only had one more year in them. I think they goofed when they cast Mary Cadorette who was very pretty but she was the weak link on that show. They originally wanted Richard Kline to come over as well. I think that would have helped the show but he declined because he was shooting a pilot for CBS with Shelley Fabares. Right before TAC was cancelled I read an article about what season 2 was going to look like. Jack and Vicky were going to get married in an opening 3 part episode and Stuart Pankin who had guest starred on the series finale was going to become a regular. Alas that never happened. I was just stunned when TAC was cancelled because it had about the same ratings as WTB and I think it was getting better and had some potential.

To continue the three's company reality without janet and terri.

The father wasn't needed, maybe another couple in the building in the same age bracket as jack and vicky.

TC's ratings were falling. They went from bring ranked #6 in 1983 to falling out of the top 30. I remember hearing John and some of the producers say that they were running out of stories to tell and they wanted to rejump the series. I don't think TC would have been cancelled but they probably only had one more year in them. I think they goofed when they cast Mary Cadorette who was very pretty but she was the weak link on that show. They originally wanted Richard Kline to come over as well. I think that would have helped the show but he declined because he was shooting a pilot for CBS with Shelley Fabares. Right before TAC was cancelled I read an article about what season 2 was going to look like. Jack and Vicky were going to get married in an opening 3 part episode and Stuart Pankin who had guest starred on the series finale was going to become a regular. Alas that never happened. I was just stunned when TAC was cancelled because it had about the same ratings as WTB and I think it was getting better and had some potential.

Great post and thanks! The episode with Stuart Pankin was easily the best of the series (IMHO). In fact, when I saw it on Antenna TV last year I thought that if they brought him on as a regular and diminished the role of the annoying father, TAC would be immeasurably better. As an adversary to Jack Tripper, Pankin's "director" character would have been a fantastic addition. A real good news/bad news situation: good to know that the producers of TAC realized the Ritter-Pankin potential; so sad to know that it was slated to be, but never brought to fruition. If only!

Great post and thanks! The episode with Stuart Pankin was easily the best of the series (IMHO). In fact, when I saw it on Antenna TV last year I thought that if they brought him on as a regular and diminished the role of the annoying father, TAC would be immeasurably better. As an adversary to Jack Tripper, Pankin's "director" character would have been a fantastic addition. A real good news/bad news situation: good to know that the producers of TAC realized the Ritter-Pankin potential; so sad to know that it was slated to be, but never brought to fruition. If only!



Who was Stuart pankin's character?

Who was Stuart pankin's character?
On the last episode of TAC he played a director who was shooting an airline commercial with Vicky in it and butts heads with Jack, the ending bit is comedy gold when Jack purposely fumbles the takes.

I don't know how they would've worked in Pankin as a recurring character in season 2, unless his character somehow decided to take revenge on Jack for ruining his career as a commercial director.

On the last episode of TAC he played a director who was shooting an airline commercial with Vicky in it and butts heads with Jack, the ending bit is comedy gold when Jack purposely fumbles the takes.

I don't know how they would've worked in Pankin as a recurring character in season 2, unless his character somehow decided to take revenge on Jack for ruining his career as a commercial director.


Why would he have been a recurring character when he was only a guest star playing a commercial director

Why would he have been a recurring character when he was only a guest star playing a commercial director
I guess maybe to re-vamp the show up a bit write new storylines since at the time the only regulars were Jack, Vicky, Mr. Bradford, EZ Taylor and occasionally Mrs. Bradford.

I guess maybe to re-vamp the show up a bit write new storylines since at the time the only regulars were Jack, Vicky, Mr. Bradford, EZ Taylor and occasionally Mrs. Bradford.


To me it would have worked better without the father, Felipe as the chef and ocassional appearances by larry

Vicky could have had girlfriends come over or Jack could have had met a new friend.

The father should have kept his A$$ AWAY and made 1 appearance or maybe 2

Three's a Crowd in a way, seemed to be doomed from the start. It just felt ridiculous and contrived for Jack to just jump into marriage with some chick that we hardly know. People expected it to be more like Three's Company and it wasn't.

TC's ratings were falling. They went from bring ranked #6 in 1983 to falling out of the top 30. I remember hearing John and some of the producers say that they were running out of stories to tell and they wanted to rejump the series. I don't think TC would have been cancelled but they probably only had one more year in them. I think they goofed when they cast Mary Cadorette who was very pretty but she was the weak link on that show. They originally wanted Richard Kline to come over as well. I think that would have helped the show but he declined because he was shooting a pilot for CBS with Shelley Fabares. Right before TAC was cancelled I read an article about what season 2 was going to look like. Jack and Vicky were going to get married in an opening 3 part episode and Stuart Pankin who had guest starred on the series finale was going to become a regular. Alas that never happened. I was just stunned when TAC was cancelled because it had about the same ratings as WTB and I think it was getting better and had some potential.

The story that I've always heard is that ABC was willing to give Three's a Crowd a second season, but only for 13 episodes. John Ritter was upset that ABC didn't promise him another 22 episode season for Three's a Crowd. So ABC decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and canceled Three's a Crowd outright. With a slot now opened up in the schedule, ABC brought over (https://www.google.com/search?q=diff%27rent+strokes+abc+1985+three%27s+a+crowd&sxsrf=AB5stBiQMVRAg6Js5Nqr7ApWn7er0vyjhQ%3A1690165180938&ei=vN-9ZI_0OOK0qtsPnqG8YA&ved=0ahUKEwiPwuL5o6aAAxVimmoFHZ4QDwwQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=diff%27rent+strokes+abc+1985+three%27s+a+crowd&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKmRpZmYncmVudCBzdHJva2VzIGFiYyAxOTg1IHRocmVlJ3MgYSBjcm93ZEjMGFDpAVixFXAAeAKQAQKYAcMEoAG9JKoBCzAuNS41LjIuMy4xuAEDyAEA-AEBwgIEEAAYR8ICBRAhGKABwgIFECEYqwLiAwQYACBBiAYBkAYI&sclient=gws-wiz-serp) Diff'rent Strokes, which had just been canceled by NBC for one final season in 1985-86.

One: The cast had no chemistry.

Two: No one cares if you lived together without marriage anymore.

I think TAC was all about keeping John Ritter happy as the star of the show. I don't know how much he was compensated but I am willing to believe it was the same or a little more than the last season of TC. Perhaps, he was given part ownership of TAC.

I think it explains why TAC had a small cast and limited sets/scenes. There was a smaller budget and most of it probably went to John.

I think TAC was all about keeping John Ritter happy as the star of the show. I don't know how much he was compensated but I am willing to believe it was the same or a little more than the last season of TC. Perhaps, he was given part ownership of TAC.

I think it explains why TAC had a small cast and limited sets/scenes. There was a smaller budget and most of it probably went to John.

The producers (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=446171) of Three's Company were always notoriously frugal to begin with. So it shouldn't be so surprising that Three's a Crowd would presumably, have a limited budget as well.

I am just curious, were Three's Company's ratings falling? Did ABC feel the show was getting stale and needed a facelift? Or perhaps they were just following in the footsteps of its British predecessor which did the exact same thing?

Somebody recently wrote on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XToI5rgoRo&lc=Ugy4LWbAcoCID-mOE854AaABAg) the opinion that Three's a Crowd really wasn't necessary because John Ritter had already spent the past eight years playing the central character on Three's Company. Typically, spin-offs focus on a secondary character from the original series, which is then expanded upon in their own show. But Jack Tripper was already a well-developed and familiar figure to television audiences. There was really, little left to explore with his character that hadn't been covered.

Somebody recently wrote on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XToI5rgoRo&lc=Ugy4LWbAcoCID-mOE854AaABAg) the opinion that Three's a Crowd really wasn't necessary because John Ritter had already spent the past eight years playing the central character on Three's Company. Typically, spin-offs focus on a secondary character from the original series, which is then expanded upon in their own show. But Jack Tripper was already a well-developed and familiar figure to television audiences. There was really, little left to explore with his character that hadn't been covered.

The closer one looks at it the clearer it becomes that the series was neither a spinoff or a companion series, it was in fact the 9th season of Three's Company. There was so little new here, that coupled with the bizarre casting of the critically important female lead, we're left with no other reasonable conclusion to reach.

Three's Company's rating had declined, but it was still doing well enough to be considered for renewal. It came down to the production budget. The show now had just one star who we can assume wanted more money to continue, so to pay the star, for the production company to make a profit and the network to get a price they could live with costs had to come down. Therefore DeWitt, Barnes and Knotts were let go replaced by much cheaper alternatives, the show's name changed to avoid any negative publicity as a result of the departures, and thus was born the 9th season of Three's Company.

One theory that I just read (https://www.reddit.com/r/sitcoms/comments/1hzvtis/comment/m6td2ha/) argued that the Three's a Crowd likely came about from a need to burn off scripts that were acquired in a package deal to adapt Robin's Nest for American television.

Antenna TV is now showing Threes A Crowd nightly. I have seen most of the episodes but its fun to watch them again. The show is such a poor knock off from Threes Company. But Mr. Bradford has no redeeming qualities. At least there were times we laughed with or laughed at Roper or Furley. Mr Bradford is Jack's foil. However he is times cruel to his own daughter purposely sending Vicki's old flame to their apartment to hit on Vicki. Mr. Bradford sets his ex-wife up with a rich businessman so he does not have to pay alimony anymore. And of course he is always a jerk to Jack. But the stuff Mr Bradford does and Vicki says "oh Dad" and always defends her father. Jack is so emasculated on the show too which is totally opposite of his Threes Company character.
The show was a poor imitation of Threes Company, had many recycled scripts, and the characters were so phony and plastic. I am shocked it did as well as it did and was considered for renewal.

I would have to say Episode 13 is my favorite: "A Friend in Deed" (Jan. 15, '85). Jack misreads Gail Edwards' character (Vicky's visiting friend), thinking she's after him when he overhears her talking about falling hard for a man, actually some other "new" guy. Great to see Gail in that role.

One theory that I just read (https://www.reddit.com/r/sitcoms/comments/1hzvtis/comment/m6td2ha/) argued that the Three's a Crowd likely came about from a need to burn off scripts that were acquired in a package deal to adapt Robin's Nest for American television.

That wouldn't be enough to motivate the network to greenlight a series. It appears only four of the 22 scripts used for the one and only season were adaptations of Robin's Nest scripts.

As I noted in my earlier post Three's Company was no longer the powerhouse it once was falling out of the top 30 after 6 consecutive top 10 finishes but it was still doing well enough to be considered for renewal. The problem was the budget. The salad days were over and weren't coming back so it was a matter of paying a star who had other things sitting on the table, the production team making enough and the network paying a fee that reflected the current value of the series. Eliminating Joyce, Don and Priscilla replacing them with much cheaper alternatives saved a bundle and changing the show's name was an attempt to sell the whole thing to the audience.

Robin's Nest was a different series than Three's a Crowd, the bistro doesn't exist prior to the start of the series, and as we know it existed as part of Three's Company. The actress that played Vicky was a seasoned pro with credits dating back 17 years (to a time when she was 12!), Cadorette had one acting credit hardly what one would expect to see for such an important part. The entire "living together" arrangement was played out quickly on Robin's Nest, by episode 7 they were engaged, by episode 13 they were married. In short, Robin's Nest felt like a new series, exploring new ground cast properly. Three's a Crowd was Three's Company minus two female roommates replaced by one live-in love interest, minus one landlord replaced by a could-be father-in-law.

Antenna TV is now showing Threes A Crowd nightly. I have seen most of the episodes but its fun to watch them again. The show is such a poor knock off from Threes Company. But Mr. Bradford has no redeeming qualities. At least there were times we laughed with or laughed at Roper or Furley. Mr Bradford is Jack's foil. However he is times cruel to his own daughter purposely sending Vicki's old flame to their apartment to hit on Vicki. Mr. Bradford sets his ex-wife up with a rich businessman so he does not have to pay alimony anymore. And of course he is always a jerk to Jack. But the stuff Mr Bradford does and Vicki says "oh Dad" and always defends her father. Jack is so emasculated on the show too which is totally opposite of his Threes Company character.
The show was a poor imitation of Threes Company, had many recycled scripts, and the characters were so phony and plastic. I am shocked it did as well as it did and was considered for renewal.

The show held it's own for the first half season, but the rating fell off in the second half with the final four episodes finishing out of the top 40. The story goes that the network was looking to renew but only for half a season (probably using it as a midseason replacement). In addition they were looking to make changes one of which was to have couple get married. Who knows if any of that is true. ABC may have made an offer that had to be refused. ABC wanted to do business with John in the future, so the network doesn't actually cancel his show, he decides to end it.

The show held it's own for the first half season, but the rating fell off in the second half with the final four episodes finishing out of the top 40. The story goes that the network was looking to renew but only for half a season (probably using it as a midseason replacement). In addition they were looking to make changes one of which was to have couple get married. Who knows if any of that is true. ABC may have made an offer that had to be refused. ABC wanted to do business with John in the future, so the network doesn't actually cancel his show, he decides to end it.
Yes that is documented. ABC was sketchy on a second season and wanted to only commit to a half a season. John refused which really hurt all the other actors on the show. Maybe John was bitter coming off a hugely successful sitcom and expecting more. Its a shock to the system to be cancelled so fast.

I would have to say Episode 13 is my favorite: "A Friend in Deed" (Jan. 15, '85). Jack misreads Gail Edwards' character (Vicky's visiting friend), thinking she's after him when he overhears her talking about falling hard for a man, actually some other "new" guy. Great to see Gail in that role.
That episode does stand out because its the most "Threes Company" like.

How much influence did John Ritter have on “Three’s A Crowd”? He wasn’t credited as its creator or executive producer.