Linda (Jack's GF) stayed at the apartment instead of Janet. They said Janet was out of town or something.

Anyone know why Janet didn't appear in that episode?? It was the only episode she missed! John was the only actor to appear in all 174 episodes while Joyce(Janet) appeared in 173.

Joyce DeWitt was in a contract dispute. She had been given a raise and people at the network were trying to take it back. She called in sick for a rehearsal day. I think it was a Tuesday. The day after that she was prepared to come back to continue rehearsing, but the producers told her to stay home and cast Anne Schedeen to play Linda. They taped the show on Friday without Joyce.

Wasn't she getting paid the same as Suzanne?

Yeah Suzanne and Joyce had parity, meaning they were paid the same as each other, but that had nothing to do with why Joyce missed "Stanley's Hotline." From Chris Mann's book, Come and Knock on Our Door:

Boy they just really treated the women badly on the show. Who gives a raise and then takes it back? I think I would have quit the show as soon as I was legally able to if they did that to me.

Yeah Suzanne and Joyce had parity, meaning they were paid the same as each other, but that had nothing to do with why Joyce missed "Stanley's Hotline." From Chris Mann's book, Come and Knock on Our Door:

It says the William Morris Agency was not able to reverse the network's decision so Joyce did have her pay reduced after all??

Boy they just really treated the women badly on the show. Who gives a raise and then takes it back? I think I would have quit the show as soon as I was legally able to if they did that to me.

I agree with your sentiment but you have to remember how hard it is to get a job on a top show like this in Hollywood! 99.9% of actors NEVER get to star in a hit show like Joyce did. I remember Richard Kline saying how there's so many actors out there but relatively few good acting jobs in Hollywood.

Even John Ritter never had a major success after There's Company! You can say 8 Simple Rules but that's debatable because that's nowhere near as funny as Three's Company. So I'm sure Joyce knew she'd NEVER find such a rewarding role ever again in her career and she never did!

I agree with your sentiment but you have to remember how hard it is to get a job on a top show like this in Hollywood! 99.9% of actors NEVER get to star in a hit show like Joyce did. I remember Richard Kline saying how there's so many actors out there but relatively few good acting jobs in Hollywood.

Even John Ritter never had a major success after There's Company! You can say 8 Simple Rules but that's debatable because that's nowhere near as funny as Three's Company. So I'm sure Joyce knew she'd NEVER find such a rewarding role ever again in her career and she never did!

lol are you on something? Joyce knew she'd NEVER find such a role again? Come on. While I agree that it's always tough to break into the business, once you're hot you're hot. Joyce could have gone on to other things if she wanted to. Look at Suzanne--she was basically blacklisted from Hollywood for a decade but came back and did Step-by-Step. Not sure why you're obsessed with the idea that actors should just settle for whatever crumbs of success they have and assume the worst. That's just not realistic.

Anyway. To answer your earlier question, no, after she went to the head of the network personally and talked it over they reinstated the raise she was owed. So all was well and she went back to work.

Joyce just gave up on Hollywood after TC. John did have success in movies and TV for the rest of his life. He was never out of work.

Joyce just gave up on Hollywood after TC. John did have success in movies and TV for the rest of his life. He was never out of work.

Exactly. It is weird when I see people say that John Ritter was not successful after Three's Company.

I think most of TC's cast went on to their own version of success. Richard Kline returned to the theater, his first love. Priscilla Barnes went on to do lots of quirky, indie films. Jenilee Harrison became a TV commercial director and producer. Joyce DeWitt took her money and traveled and did her own private thing. Suzanne became a multimillionaire business person. I mean nobody turned into Humphrey Bogart but come on, they all survived Hollywood and have had really successful lives and careers.

Exactly. It is weird when I see people say that John Ritter was not successful after Three's Company.

I think most of TC's cast went on to their own version of success. Richard Kline returned to the theater, his first love. Priscilla Barnes went on to do lots of quirky, indie films. Jenilee Harrison became a TV commercial director and producer. Joyce DeWitt took her money and traveled and did her own private thing. Suzanne became a multimillionaire business person. I mean nobody turned into Humphrey Bogart but come on, they all survived Hollywood and have had really successful lives and careers.

How could you forget Jenilee and DALLAS?? That was actually a bigger show than TC. Although she wasn't a big star on the show she did have a pretty big role on the show for 2 or 3 years. It's ironic that it's Jenilee who landed on the biggest show or movie after the end of TC and not the other more well known cast members.

I've read multiple articles over the years saying John failed in movies. They meant from a commercial aspect compared to other ex-TV stars. Michael J. Fox did Family Ties and then the hugely popular Back to Future trilogy. George Clooney and Will Smith went from TV shows to huge box office stars.

So in that sense he never became a movie star. I'll post a link someday if I come across it.

Don't forget Priscilla did some pretty awful horror movies but was in at least one fairly good one. I think it was Stepfather or something.

I was wondering the same thing myself. It's a shame, really. It happens to be one of my favorite episodes of the Ropers era.

How could you forget Jenilee and DALLAS?? That was actually a bigger show than TC. Although she wasn't a big star on the show she did have a pretty big role on the show for 2 or 3 years. It's ironic that it's Jenilee who landed on the biggest show or movie after the end of TC and not the other more well known cast members.

I've read multiple articles over the years saying John failed in movies. They meant from a commercial aspect compared to other ex-TV stars. Michael J. Fox did Family Ties and then the hugely popular Back to Future trilogy. George Clooney and Will Smith went from TV shows to huge box office stars.

So in that sense he never became a movie star. I'll post a link someday if I come across it.

Don't forget Priscilla did some pretty awful horror movies but was in at least one fairly good one. I think it was Stepfather or something.

Here you go with your argumentative trolling again. I didn't forget about Dallas, I simply did not mention it. Not every single movie/TV credit can be referenced in one post.

And you keep moving the goalpost. First you say that members of the show never had a "major success" after TC, then you narrow it down to movies. I mean...not everyone can be George Clooney or Will Smith? I get what you are saying in that nobody was a huge huge star after TC, but success is defined a lot of different ways and I think your definition is a little extreme, especially when you say people "fail" at stuff. They did not fail—they just did not live up to your stringent definition of super-stardom success. Also, John Ritter died right when his career was making a comeback, so who knows what he may have done after 8 Simple Rules.

As for Jenilee, she was less defined by TC since she was on it so briefly (and was very young), so she had more of a chance to do other stuff.

Here you go with your argumentative trolling again. I didn't forget about Dallas, I simply did not mention it. Not every single movie/TV credit can be referenced in one post.

And you keep moving the goalpost. First you say that members of the show never had a "major success" after TC, then you narrow it down to movies. I mean...not everyone can be George Clooney or Will Smith? I get what you are saying in that nobody was a huge huge star after TC, but success is defined a lot of different ways and I think your definition is a little extreme, especially when you say people "fail" at stuff. They did not fail—they just did not live up to your stringent definition of super-stardom success. Also, John Ritter died right when his career was making a comeback, so who knows what he may have done after 8 Simple Rules.

As for Jenilee, she was less defined by TC since she was on it so briefly (and was very young), so she had more of a chance to do other stuff.
And if John hadn't died I think 8SR could have lasted 7 or 8 years. It was a good show. It just collapsed without John.