Seeing as how the show was a hit right out of the gate and in the top-10 the first few years why didn't any celebrities from that era guest star? Sure there was Lucille Ball hosting the ”Best Of" special but that was outside of the show.

Supposedly a few actors from soap operas appeared on the show but I am not familiar with any of them truth be told.

Diff'rent Strokes at one time boasted appearances by Muhammad Ali; Kareem Abdul Jabar; Nancy Reagan and Mr. T, can you imagine Mr. T scaring the crap out of Mr. Furley? :lol:

Maybe their ratings were too good to require any stuntcasting?

I do wonder why Sammy Davis Jr. didn't show up. He seemed to guest-star on just about any television show during that time period (including game shows like Card Sharks and Family Feud!). It would've been funny to see him doing an eavesdropping spot, or fainting in unison with Mr. Furley!

They had Barry Williams from the Brady Bunch and the Old Man Leo was a big time actor

They did have the biggest name guest star you could possibly hope for -Lucille Ball .

I think it depends on your definition of big name. There were hardly any from movies, but plenty from television.

They had Barry Williams from the Brady Bunch and the Old Man Leo was a big time actor
Well they weren't exactly billed as special guest star, I mean you know what I'm saying, we as viewers need to hear the audience clap as a cue that this D-list actor/actress is a "special guest".

Well they weren't exactly billed as special guest star, I mean you know what I'm saying, we as viewers need to hear the audience clap as a cue that this D-list actor/actress is a "special guest".

Yeah I guess you are right. Maybe I can add that to my list of things that the TC book didnt cover

They had Barry Williams from the Brady Bunch and the Old Man Leo was a big time actor
Barry Williams appeared?

Barry Williams appeared?

Barry appeared in the "Up in the Air" episode.

They had Barry Williams from the Brady Bunch and the Old Man Leo was a big time actor

On a few episodes, they also had John McCook who is one of the main characters on The Bold & the Beautiful. He plays "Eric Forrester."

On a few episodes, they also had John McCook who is one of the main characters on The Bold & the Beautiful. He plays "Eric Forrester."
I LOVE me some John McCook, HATE Eric Forrester.

Barry appeared in the "Up in the Air" episode.
Oh, I remember now.

Barry Williams appeared?

As Janet Date and the audience probably didnt recognize him because I heard no applause:lol:

I LOVE me some John McCook, HATE Eric Forrester.

Yes, on TC, he played Cindy's shallow fashion guy boyfriend when Jack & Janet thought Cindy was pregnant.
He was also on an episode where he played the husband of Janet's friend Randy who was dating Jack.

John McCook was also on a few episodes of Alice.

Yes, on TC, he played Cindy's shallow fashion guy boyfriend when Jack & Janet thought Cindy was pregnant.
He was also on an episode where he played the husband of Janet's friend Randy who was dating Jack.

John McCook was also on a few episodes of Alice.
Wow, I thought Three’s Company was the only sitcom he appeared on.

Also, he appeared on the first couple years of The Young and The Restless.

Wow, I thought Three’s Company was the only sitcom he appeared on.

Also, he appeared on the first couple years of The Young and The Restless.

Yeah, The Young & the Restless and B&B intertwine in the soap universe. When John McCook was on Alice, he was in an episode where he played a game show host and then in another episode, he was engaged to Jolene before she dumped him for being shallow! He always plays the shallow guy!

Yeah, The Young & the Restless and B&B intertwine in the soap universe. When John McCook was on Alice, he was in an episode where he played a game show host and then in another episode, he was engaged to Jolene before she dumped him for being shallow! He always plays the shallow guy!
Maybe because he’s so convincing at it.

Maybe because he’s so convincing at it.

You should have seen him in the episodes of Alice. He was hysterical as the shallow game show host who was in love with himself! Very convincing! :lol:

Yeah, The Young & the Restless and B&B intertwine in the soap universe. When John McCook was on Alice, he was in an episode where he played a game show host and then in another episode, he was engaged to Jolene before she dumped him for being shallow! He always plays the shallow guy!

I think he was on MTM too

As Janet Date and the audience probably didnt recognize him because I heard no applause:lol:
LOL yeah in fact the only "guest stars" to receive an applause were Mr. And Mrs. Roper in season 5.

Even Richard Kline as Larry got no applause when he popped up on Three's A Crowd.

LOL yeah in fact the only "guest stars" to receive an applause were Mr. And Mrs. Roper in season 5.

Even Richard Kline as Larry got no applause when he popped up on Three's A Crowd.

He didnt get an applause on Three;s a crowd

^ yeah that's what I said.

The producers of the show were too cheap.

dont mean to be off topic but when a special guest star was on Gimme a Break they always appeard in the opening credits as a special guest star. i think that is the only show to do that

I saw the episode with Barry Williams in it (the famous extended dance sequence where Jack is loopy from drinking after taking a sleep or anxiety drug), but I didn't make the connection to Greg from the Brady Bunch until I read about it later.

The producers of the show were too cheap.

This is definitely one of the big reasons. If the ratings had been lower throughout its run, the producers might have been compelled to bring in some big names to goose the ratings, though.

Diff'rent Strokes at one time boasted appearances by Muhammad Ali; Kareem Abdul Jabar; Nancy Reagan and Mr. T, can you imagine Mr. T scaring the crap out of Mr. Furley? :lol:

Mr. T being a star of a show on the same night on a competing network might've been a problem. :lol:

dont mean to be off topic but when a special guest star was on Gimme a Break they always appeard in the opening credits as a special guest star. i think that is the only show to do that

On the show Alice, before the show began, they announced a special guest star like George Burns, Telly Sevalis, Art Carney & Eve Arden.
There might have been others like Debbie Reynolds, Adam West, Jerry Reed and Florence Henderson...

In a season 2 episode 'Jack In The Flower Shop' we also caught a quick guest spot by Natalie Schafer who was of course Mrs. Howell from Gilligan's Island but yet no reaction from the audience and I'm assuming reruns of Gilligan's Island were at their peak in the 70's.

Surprisingly no one mentioned Jeffrey Tambor or Buffalo’s own
the late Dick Shawn, who played Jack’s dad. Ironically died in San Diego in 1987
Jack’s hometown.

Surprisingly no one mentioned Jeffrey Tambor or Buffalo’s own
the late Dick Shawn, who played Jack’s dad. Ironically died in San Diego in 1987
Jack’s hometown.
In the case of Jeffrey Tambor while certainly very prolific in movies and TV he is more of a character actor rather than being identified in one single role.

Surprisingly no one mentioned Jeffrey Tambor or Buffalo’s own
the late Dick Shawn, who played Jack’s dad. Ironically died in San Diego in 1987
Jack’s hometown.

Dick Shawn had the craziest death that you could ever imagine a celebrity could have. He literally dropped dead (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/04/18/Dick-Shawn-collapses-during-performance-dies-at-hospital/5083545716800/) from a heart attack while performing on stage (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-18-me-1079-story.html). The audience initially thought (https://www.lajollalight.com/lifestyle/story/2019-09-10/dick-shawns-big-la-jolla-finish) that it was part of the act.

Another Dick, Dick Sargent AKA the second Darrin Stephens on Bewitched, once guest starred (https://www.moviestillsdb.com/tv/threes-company-i75596/3xy30I) if that counts. Joanna Kerns was on Three's Company a couple of times (https://www.worldation.com/stories/beautiful-women-threes-company-now/) as a love interest for Jack. But that doesn't really count because this came years before Growing Pains really made her a household name. So like with with Loni Anderson (https://threescompany.fandom.com/wiki/Loni_Anderson)'s appearance (which came around the same time that WKRP was coming on the air), Joanna Kerns' appearances were more of case of "Retroactive Recognition".

They did have the biggest name guest star you could possibly hope for -Lucille Ball .

You can also argue that they already had a "big name" in the main cast when they nabbed Don Knotts to replace the Ropers.

Wow, I thought Three’s Company was the only sitcom he appeared on.

Also, he appeared on the first couple years of The Young and The Restless.

John McCook (https://soaps.sheknows.com/the-bold-and-the-beautiful/news/569102/bold-beautiful-john-mccook-birthday/) was also on an episode (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0560090/reference) of Diff'rent Strokes. While looking up his career, I just found out that his daughter is Molly McCook (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_McCook), who was the "second" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheOtherDarrin/LiveActionTV) Mandy Baxter on Last Man Standing.

I saw the episode with Barry Williams in it (the famous extended dance sequence where Jack is loopy from drinking after taking a sleep or anxiety drug), but I didn't make the connection to Greg from the Brady Bunch until I read about it later.



This is definitely one of the big reasons. If the ratings had been lower throughout its run, the producers might have been compelled to bring in some big names to goose the ratings, though.

John Ritter actually filmed a guest spot (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0641596/) of Mannix on the old set (https://www.facebook.com/GroovyHistory/photos/a.1707848139525576/3092824661027910/?type=3) of The Brady Bunch:
cQEtFrPyegg

It's super surreal (https://twitter.com/jeffmetcalfe/status/1507935188927492102) within itself to see John Ritter (https://www.looper.com/135230/the-untold-truth-of-john-ritter/) of all people, play a bad guy (https://www.metv.com/stories/john-ritter-was-the-opposite-of-his-waltons-character-on-set) type of character. :eek:

You can also argue that they already had a "big name" in the main cast when they nabbed Don Knotts to replace the Ropers.

Agreed.

The show did not need cameos from big stars. THEY were the big stars. Threes Company always recycled the same B list supporting actors through its entire run. There is another thread I created that shows the same actors appearing for different roles over the years. No other sitcom did that on that level.

I agree with others who stated that the show didn't need big time celebrities to do well in ratings. I think the addition of special guest stars was perceived as a gimmick and they most correctly perceived that the show did well enough without the need of bringing Uncle Milton or cousin Raquel onto the show for some convoluted plot twist.

John Larroquette (https://threescompany.fandom.com/wiki/John_Larroquette) once appeared as a cop, but this was of course, before Night Court officially made him a household name.

James Cromwell, who you may recognize as Farmer Hogget in Babe or as Dr. Zefram Cochrane in the Star Trek franchise, also appeared (https://www.reddit.com/r/SuccessionTV/comments/q7cjlt/a_young_james_cromwell_on_threes_company/) as a police officer.

On a few episodes, they also had John McCook who is one of the main characters on The Bold & the Beautiful. He plays "Eric Forrester."

The Bold & the Beautiful is watched by about 35 million viewers every day in more than 100 countries.

John McCook is the star of the show and he's been playing Eric Forrester since 1987 and he's still on the show.

He's more famous Internationally, because the show airs in primetime in other countries. It airs in the daytime in the U.S. and Canada.

Come to think of it, I wonder why Lucille Ball (https://www.reddit.com/r/threescompany/comments/1s8si3i/jack_and_lucille_ball/) never guest starred. Lucy was a huge fan of Three's Company and even hosted a "Best of..." special in 1982 (at the end of the sixth season). John Ritter himself paid it forward by making a guest appearance on Lucille Ball's ill-fated 1986 sitcom, Life with Lucy.