Most of you already know that Three's Company was based on British sitcom Man About the House. Both TC spinoffs, The Ropers and Three's A Crowd were duplicates of the British George and Mildred and Robin's Nest.

Interestingly, in the British MATH, there was a rushed marriage plot in the final episode, much like in Three's Company. Plus, there was no crossover between the British spinoffs and the original Man About the House (unlike the American TC and its spinoffs). For example, in George and Mildred, neither Robin Tripp (who Jack Tripper was based on) or the two girls stopped by. In Robin's Nest, neither of the two female roommates or landlords ever guest starred.

Yet both of these British spinoffs were smash hits compared to the American Three's Company spinoffs.

Do you think the difference was due to
1. the British audience vs American audience
2. the British seasons were much shorter and people were less invested in characters
3. the British spinoffs might have been better written/in better timeslots

Well I think The Ropers would have been okay if ABC hadn't dumped it in the Saturday graveyard in year 2. ABC never had any success in the 8:00 hour at least until TJ Hooker aired there. TAC actually didn't have bad ratings. It was ranked in the mid 30's against an NBC powerhouse The A-Team. It took it's lead-in Who's the Boss until the summer reruns to catch on. And the show that replaced TAC was Growing Pains. I think it would have caught on if it had been renewed.

Yet both of these British spinoffs were smash hits compared to the American Three's Company spinoffs.

Do you think the difference was due to
1. the British audience vs American audience
2. the British seasons were much shorter and people were less invested in characters
3. the British spinoffs might have been better written/in better timeslots

I'll speak specifically to George and Mildred vs The Ropers. It all boils down to Yootha Joyce.

In MATH, Mildred Roper was a strong character. She could be the girls' charming gal pal one moment and George Roper's barb-witted nemesis the next. She ended up becoming the break-out star of the show MATH. Yootha Joyce (the actress playing Mrs. Roper) said that she couldn't go to the beach without being mobbed by fans. After MATH ended because the actress playing Chrissie decided to leave the show, it only made sense to give Yootha her own show. It worked. People tuned in to see Yootha reprise her role as the beloved Mildred Roper. The show was in the top five shows on British television for its entire run. They only ended it because she died.

Contrast this with Audra Lindley as Helen Roper. She was a perfectly adequate supporting character in TC, but the character was not a breakout, and Audra was not a star. The producers were kidding themselves when they thought they could replicate George and Mildred's success with Audra and Norman.

That is really interesting! I didn't know that Yootha Joyce was such a huge star because of her role as Mildred Roper. I've seen a few episodes of MATH, and it seemed like the character George Roper was much more low-key than Stanley Roper, too, which maybe allowed Joyce to shine more in her role. I feel like in the American version Stanley had a lot more personality and was more of an authority figure than George was. I need to watch more of MATH, though, so I could be wrong.