Linda Lavin = John Ritter. The star around whom the show (https://web.archive.org/web/20140402220152/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3111823-threes-company/?view=getnewpost) was developed. Beth Howland = Joyce DeWitt. The one who kept her head down and did her thing for the whole run. Polly Holliday = Suzanne Somers. The breakout star who made an early departure. Diane Ladd = Jenilee Harrison. Well liked by many but gone after a season and a half. Celia Weston = Priscilla Barnes. The one who showed up for the decline (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125202/http://www.jumptheshark.com/t/threescompany.htm). Vic Tayback = Combination of Norman Fell and Don Knotts. The wisecracking foil for the main three.

Sorry, not seeing this. Its insulting to compare Polly to Suzzane. Polly had incredible talent and took that character into orbit. Suzzane while talented was jiggle TV and was popular mostly because of her looks. Suzzane was greedy and thought she was the star of the show. Polly was humble and because of her talent Linda got jealous.
I also dont agree Linda is like John. Alice was built around Linda (Alice character). Threes Company was not built around Jack until the last 2 seasons. The 3 characters were equally the stars.

Sorry, not seeing this. Its insulting to compare Polly to Suzzane. Polly had incredible talent and took that character into orbit. Suzzane while talented was jiggle TV and was popular mostly because of her looks. Suzzane was greedy and thought she was the star of the show. Polly was humble and because of her talent Linda got jealous.
I also dont agree Linda is like John. Alice was built around Linda (Alice character). Threes Company was not built around Jack until the last 2 seasons. The 3 characters were equally the stars.


I think they mean character wise Polly was sorta similar to Suzanne.... Both Flo and Chrissy were fan favorites who MADE the show ~in many people's opinion~ They both left early on and were replaced with someone who sorta tried to imitate them .... Belle was similar to Flo, and Cindy was similar to Chrissy.... and both Belle and Cindy didn't stay long before they were replaced with someone else who was VERY different from the original... Terri was really nothing like Chrissy, and Jolene was very different from Flo.... So I can see the parallels in this regard.


And I'm sorry to Janet fans, I like her as well, but Janet's character was the lest developed IMO.... It seem like the show certainly revolved around Jack... the second was Chrissy. Just like, like it or not, The Golden Girls always seemed to revolve around Dorothy, even though I heard that ticked the co-stars off that ppl saw it that way

I do remember hearing a lot of people say, "Chrissy MADE the show and it was no good after she left", much like people say about Flo leaving Alice. So I totally see similarities

Sorry, not seeing this. Its insulting to compare Polly to Suzzane. Polly had incredible talent and took that character into orbit. Suzzane while talented was jiggle TV and was popular mostly because of her looks. Suzzane was greedy and thought she was the star of the show. Polly was humble and because of her talent Linda got jealous.
I also dont agree Linda is like John. Alice was built around Linda (Alice character). Threes Company was not built around Jack until the last 2 seasons. The 3 characters were equally the stars.

I agree with everything you said and furthermore, I don't agree with the OP that Joyce DeWitt (Janet) was like Beth Howland (Vera.) Vera was a total dingy while Janet was super witty, smart and had common sense. The only thing that was similar was that both shows had a revolving door when it came to the roommates and the waitresses. That's it. Also, to compare Mel to Roper & Furley is also ridiculous IMO.

Yes and no. I get that it was a good formula that worked.

Sorry, not seeing this. Its insulting to compare Polly to Suzzane. Polly had incredible talent and took that character into orbit. Suzzane while talented was jiggle TV and was popular mostly because of her looks. Suzzane was greedy and thought she was the star of the show. Polly was humble and because of her talent Linda got jealous.
I also dont agree Linda is like John. Alice was built around Linda (Alice character). Threes Company was not built around Jack until the last 2 seasons. The 3 characters were equally the stars.

I wonder if you argue that there are also parallels between Three's Company and Charlie's Angels, which was ABC's other big "jiggle show" of the time period.


John Ritter=Kate Jackson

Joyce DeWitt=Jaclyn Smith

Suzanne Somers=Farrah Fawcett

Priscilla Barnes=Cheryl Ladd

Jenilee Harrison=Shelley Hack or Tanya Roberts

Norman Fell or Don Knotts=David Doyle