Had she not gotten into that messy contract squabble with the producers? And no, I don't think that She's the Sheriff and Step by Step (not to mention the Thighmaster and what could be considered "quack medicine") really count that much!

http://www.datalounge.com/cgi-bin/iowa/ajax.html?t=13556983#page:showThread,13556983,18

I don't see why not. Other than John Ritter, Suzanne had the most successful post Three's Company career.

If she had stayed on the show she would have.

Consider the source. :rolleyes:

Consider the source. :rolleyes:

And why exactly should the "source" be an issue? The whole point of the discussion wouldn't have been so different none the less or otherwise!

Had she not gotten into that messy contract squabble with the producers? And no, I don't think that She's the Sheriff and Step by Step (not to mention the Thighmaster and what could be considered "quack medicine") really count that much!

http://www.datalounge.com/cgi-bin/iowa/ajax.html?t=13556983#page:showThread,13556983,18
Yeah if she had only stayed quiet and done what she was told :lol: everthing would've come out peachy, since you mentioned She's The Sheriff wasn't exactly a classic and Step By Step is kiddie stuff.

The thing is most tv stars don't do much once the series ends so I don't think so. I mean now days you have a better chance since their are hundreds of networks you could work for. But back in her day no so much. I personally think she did well. She did star in 2 successful tv shows.

Suzanne would definitely have had a bigger career if she hadn't demanded a huge salary increase, then feigned a cracked rib, then took the battle public on "Donahue" and the press.

She burned her bridges at that point; it took 15-30 years for John Ritter and Joyce Dewitt to forgive her. Many people who worked with Suzanne, including Ted Bergmann, never forgave her. Bergmann went to his grave without ever speaking to her again. Crew members, according to Suzanne herself, would cross the street to avoid her. She was blackballed; exiled from TV.

The only gigs she could get were with no-name studios and live shows in Vegas in no way affiliated with the TV industry. "She's the Sheriff" was syndicated, not a network series. And it was not good. But it was a paycheck.

To her great credit, Suzanne slowly built her name back up from nothing: the Vegas gigs, Playboy, Circus acts, anything that would build her career back up. Step By Step, aside from being a kids' show, was her step back in the limelight after a decade on the D-list. She slowly clawed her way back to the top, and she deserves credit for her perseverance.

John Ritter was the only one who was gonna have a career after the show. Like DeWitt, she couldn't really act.

Suzanne would definitely have had a bigger career if she hadn't demanded a huge salary increase, then feigned a cracked rib, then took the battle public on "Donahue" and the press.

She burned her bridges at that point; it took 15-30 years for John Ritter and Joyce Dewitt to forgive her. Many people who worked with Suzanne, including Ted Bergmann, never forgave her. Bergmann went to his grave without ever speaking to her again. Crew members, according to Suzanne herself, would cross the street to avoid her. She was blackballed; exiled from TV.

The only gigs she could get were with no-name studios and live shows in Vegas in no way affiliated with the TV industry. "She's the Sheriff" was syndicated, not a network series. And it was not good. But it was a paycheck.

To her great credit, Suzanne slowly built her name back up from nothing: the Vegas gigs, Playboy, Circus acts, anything that would build her career back up. Step By Step, aside from being a kids' show, was her step back in the limelight after a decade on the D-list. She slowly clawed her way back to the top, and she deserves credit for her perseverance.

Not to "open up a major can of worms" (or whatever the exact term is), but I kind of wonder what would've happened had Suzanne been a man and doing what she did? I guess, I immediately think of somebody like for instance, Charlie Sheen and his antics that got him fired from 2 & a Half Men. Regardless, Charlie (whose reputation regardless, has been far worse than Suzanne Somers') immediately so to speak w/ Anger Management.

Incidentally, Anger Management also features Brett Butler, who was pretty much blackballed from TV (and Hollywood in general) after her sitcom Grace Under Fire was abruptly canceled do to her erratic behavior.

Another male TV star that immediately comes to mind is Redd Foxx, who was also given chance after chance up until his untimely death in 1991, to do a TV show even though Redd had is own issues w/ drugs and walking out over money (remember the episodes of Sanford & Son in which Grady filled in for Fred:().

I don't agree with how Suzanne Somers demanded big money and not showing up for work, but regardless of the big fiasco that she created in 1980, she did pretty good. Except for John Ritter, she had the most successful career of the cast since leaving "Three's Company".

Since Step-by-Step, she handled herself well.

Had she not gotten into that messy contract squabble with the producers? And no, I don't think that She's the Sheriff and Step by Step (not to mention the Thighmaster and what could be considered "quack medicine") really count that much!

http://www.datalounge.com/cgi-bin/iowa/ajax.html?t=13556983#page:showThread,13556983,18
I think she was actually better off with the way things were handled and how they ended up. If she had stayed on the show to the end chances are she would have been typecast like Joyce Dewitt and Richard Kline were. Joyce and Richard didn't exactly have big careers after Three's Company. She would have been typecast as Chrissy even more than she was. Things happen for a reason and I think they worked out as best as they could for her.

Maybe it comes down to doing things the "right" way vs the "wrong" way. Yes, Suzanne Somers seems more successful because she eventually was on a sort of break-out show (Step by Step), but Richard Kline had steady work in Hollywood and TV after the show ended and also in theater. I think Somers would have preferred steady work in TV and Hollywood, perhaps working her way up into movies, rather than white-knuckling it in Vegas shows. I'm sure she made good money in Vegas, but come on, it's Vegas. Not exactly "serious work," and it took years for her to restore her reputation as an actress and as a team-player.

JSP you have good points about being typecast. I never thought of it that way. And Suzanne especially because she was the most caricatured of the trio---she might have forever stayed the dumb blonde.

Joyce DeWitt didn't have much of a career afterward by choice. She took her money and ran.

Maybe it comes down to doing things the "right" way vs the "wrong" way. Yes, Suzanne Somers seems more successful because she eventually was on a sort of break-out show (Step by Step), but Richard Kline had steady work in Hollywood and TV after the show ended and also in theater. I think Somers would have preferred steady work in TV and Hollywood, perhaps working her way up into movies, rather than white-knuckling it in Vegas shows. I'm sure she made good money in Vegas, but come on, it's Vegas. Not exactly "serious work," and it took years for her to restore her reputation as an actress and as a team-player.

JSP you have good points about being typecast. I never thought of it that way. And Suzanne especially because she was the most caricatured of the trio---she might have forever stayed the dumb blonde.

Joyce DeWitt didn't have much of a career afterward by choice. She took her money and ran.
In the Three's Company movie the Suzanne character said "I wanted to be Farrah, not Liberace!" I think in the end Suzanne came out having a better career than Farrah Fawcett did. I think her getting out was a blessing for her career in disguise. She would have been as typecast as Bob Denver was for Gilligan had she stayed. I don't think she would have become an A-list movie star after Three's Company ended had she stayed on it its entire run. John Ritter had a great career but let's face it, even he was never an A-list movie star. Suzanne ended up doing very well. And who even knows what Jenilee Harrison or Priscilla Barnes are up to these days?

Well, I think Priscilla Barnes has done a lot of C- and D-movies, many of them niche slasher movies. So that speaks for itself. John Ritter wasn't A-list but some of the movies he chose showed good judgment, like Sling Blade, and gave him sort of indie cred.

I think Suzanne would have followed Farrah's path if she'd finished TC. TV movies, a few spots on TV shows, with a slow decline into anonymity. But as it happened, everyone remembers Suzanne and knows she's still around. I think she's done pretty well for herself, although the health stuff does get kind of extreme.

I liked John Ritter in Sling Blade. He can be a good dramatic actor as well as doing comedy. I saw Priscilla Barnes in License to Kill and Mallrats and she was good in both. Joyce went back to the theatre.

Not sure how many remember this, but around 1988 Suzanne wrote a book about growing up with an alcoholic father and how it affected her. There was even a movie about this.

The reason I am mentioning this is that somewhere I read (don't know where) that being let go of TC made her take a hard look at her life and she realized a lot of her bad decisions stemmed from being a child of an alcoholic. Around the time TC came on, she did reconcile with her father.

Also, Suzanne used to be on quite regularly on The Shopping Channel here in Canada. She no longer is, but I do see her advertising some 3 way poncho on the CNN Headline News station.

I think it worked out best in the long run. I'm not saying the Joyce-Suzanne feud which I always thought was stupid but TC ended up being a better show. It stayed fresh longer because Jenilee and then Teri replaced Suzanne and Don Knotts replaced the Ropers. I can watch the entire show and I don't think it really gets stale. Suzanne ended up on Step by Step which ran 7 years and was another favorite of mine. It took a decade but she finally made it back.

I have to take back my assessment of Richard Kline and Priscilla Barnes's careers. They've worked steady through the years. Sure, Three's Company is still what they'll always be famous for, but they're working!

I think it worked out best in the long run. I'm not saying the Joyce-Suzanne feud which I always thought was stupid but TC ended up being a better show. It stayed fresh longer because Jenilee and then Teri replaced Suzanne and Don Knotts replaced the Ropers. I can watch the entire show and I don't think it really gets stale. Suzanne ended up on Step by Step which ran 7 years and was another favorite of mine. It took a decade but she finally made it back.
When you think about it, it would have been ridiculous for the same three people to be roommates in an apartment for 8 or 9 seasons anyway. It reflected reality better that roommates would come and go.

It's true. Nobody stays in the same place forever. People move on when there are better oportunities.