I watched the show in it's original airing. It was OK entertainment. I have watched a couple episodes in the past few days. The Ropers are as shallow and negative as any I have seen on TV. They annoyed me then but now I find them just plain repulsive.

I watched the show in it's original airing. It was OK entertainment. I have watched a couple episodes in the past few days. The Ropers are as shallow and negative as any I have seen on TV. They annoyed me then but now I find them just plain repulsive.
Huh?
The Ropers were instrumental to the show's premise. Stanley was not only the annoying landlord but many times their nemesis. Helen was their heroine many times. It was a great dynamic.
I saw an interview with Fell and he changed the Stanely character. Stanley Roper was supposed to be a clumsy, dorky, prude. Fell did not think that would work so the character of Stanely Roper is all of Fell's design.
You see them as negative. Its all part of creating drama and reactions in the scripts. It was the mid 70s and the liberal age was getting push back from traditional society. That was the premise of the show. How boring it would be for roommates to live in a building with no nosey landlord who objects to their lifestyle.

Huh?
The Ropers were instrumental to the show's premise. Stanley was not only the annoying landlord but many times their nemesis. Helen was their heroine many times. It was a great dynamic.
I saw an interview with Fell and he changed the Stanely character. Stanley Roper was supposed to be a clumsy, dorky, prude. Fell did not think that would work so the character of Stanely Roper is all of Fell's design.
You see them as negative. Its all part of creating drama and reactions in the scripts. It was the mid 70s and the liberal age was getting push back from traditional society. That was the premise of the show. How boring it would be for roommates to live in a building with no nosey landlord who objects to their lifestyle.

If you think constant insults of the person you promised to love and honor is positive in any way you are wrong. You are also incorrect in thinking that the liberal age was in any way getting any kind of pushback from traditional society in that show. It's the opposite. I give credit to Fell, not for creating such a miserably unhappy character but for getting work and keeping it.

If you think constant insults of the person you promised to love and honor is positive in any way you are wrong. You are also incorrect in thinking that the liberal age was in any way getting any kind of pushback from traditional society in that show. It's the opposite. I give credit to Fell, not for creating such a miserably unhappy character but for getting work and keeping it.
LOL
You don't understand the premise of the show. YES in 1977 for an older couple owning an apartment building was cutting age for guys and girls unmarried to live together. It was required in in the 50s and 60s for them to be married. Landlords would not allow it That was the shtick of the show. They had to lie and say Jack was gay for him to be allowed to live there.

Maybe you are too young to remember the show.

I give credit to Fell, not for creating such a miserably unhappy character but for getting work and keeping it.

Do we know that Norman Fell was responsible for "creating" the character? I don't think so. He simply played a part created by producers & writers.

I actually loved the Ropers better on the sitcom than Mr. Furley. The Ropers made it more fun to watch. I don't understand why they even left the sitcom.

Do we know that Norman Fell was responsible for "creating" the character? I don't think so. He simply played a part created by producers & writers.
If you search on youtube there is a Norman Fell interview from long ago and post Threes Company. He explains the original Stanley Roper was supposed to be a stiff, dorky, clumsy, prude. Fell thought that would not work and had a better idea. So yes, Fell did not create Stanely Roper completely. But the character was changed by Fell and he was allowed to take the character where he wanted to. "Creating the character" meaning the traits and personality of the character, not creating the cast member completely.

Thank you, I was unaware Fell had such leeway. I think the way he played the role as he went along was quite a bit more funny than if he had just been a dull prude of sorts.

Thank you, I was unaware Fell had such leeway. I think the way he played the role as he went along was quite a bit more funny than if he had just been a dull prude of sorts.
He made Stanley a little pervy. Remember Stanley wanted to watch Larry's X rated movie and take binoculars to the nude beach. I wonder if he also came up with the mocking of gay stuff.

The Ropers were awesome!!!!

They had much more livelyness than Mr Furley did!!

I mean Mr Furely tried but it just wasnt as good....... He wasnt BAD but he just didnt do as good as Stanley did........... (And his wife)

Yep, I prefer the Ropers, especially Helen.

The Ropers were awesome!!!!

They had much more livelyness than Mr Furley did!!

I mean Mr Furely tried but it just wasnt as good....... He wasnt BAD but he just didnt do as good as Stanley did........... (And his wife)
We laughed with Mr Roper and his jokes about Helen, her mother, and other stuff. We laughed at Furley for his outrageous stupidity and clothes.

I enjoyed laughing with Stanley more.

But I love Helen. Her character was so pivotal to the show. She was the kid's biggest advocate with Stanley. Her sex jokes at Stanley were hysterical. Even if Roper and Furley are tied, Helen is the tie breaker for me.

The Ropers were awesome!!!!

They had much more livelyness than Mr Furley did!!

I mean Mr Furely tried but it just wasnt as good....... He wasnt BAD but he just didnt do as good as Stanley did........... (And his wife)
We laughed with Mr Roper and his jokes about Helen, her mother, and other stuff. We laughed at Furley for his outrageous stupidity and clothes.

I enjoyed laughing with Stanley more.

But I love Helen. Her character was so pivotal to the show. She was the kid's biggest advocate with Stanley. Her sex jokes at Stanley were hysterical. Even if Roper and Furley are tied, Helen is the tie breaker for me.

Ya I hear ya buddy :)

We laughed with Mr Roper and his jokes about Helen, her mother, and other stuff. We laughed at Furley for his outrageous stupidity and clothes.

I enjoyed laughing with Stanley more.

But I love Helen. Her character was so pivotal to the show. She was the kid's biggest advocate with Stanley. Her sex jokes at Stanley were hysterical. Even if Roper and Furley are tied, Helen is the tie breaker for me.

Mrs. Roper was kind of the mother figure on the show. She was basically an anti-foil of sorts to Mr. Roper since she knew right from the jump that Jack wasn't really gay and yet, she didn't care about his living arrangements unlike her husband. And Mrs. Roper was always there as a counterbalance for Mr. Roper, whose character on the surface, could be really unlikable.

I actually loved the Ropers better on the sitcom than Mr. Furley. The Ropers made it more fun to watch. I don't understand why they even left the sitcom.

This isn't necessarily a knock against the Mr. Furley character or Don Knotts, but Mr. Roper seemed to be more intelligent that Mr. Furley. Somebody else said that the whole "Jack has to pretend to be gay to appease his landlord" angle worked better during the earlier seasons with the Ropers because Mr. Roper seemed to always suspect that Jack wasn't really gay. Plus, Mrs. Roper knew the entire truth and accepted Jack completely unlike her husband.

When Mr. Furley became the landlord, all that he did was make occasionally crude homophobic jabs at Jack. They weren't clever, they were just plain tired (even if the whole point to begin with was that we were supposed to be "laughing at" Mr. Furley instead of "laughing with" him) and unnecessary since Mr. Furley otherwise, seemed to genuinely like Jack.

It didn't make much sense to begin with because Mr. Furley was a charming, flamboyantly dressed, "swinging bachelor" unlike a crusty, old-school, no-nonsense man like Mr. Roper. Basically, you would immediately think that presumably free-spirited man like Ralph Furley would be more open minded unlike his predecessor.

This isn't necessarily a knock against the Mr. Furley character or Don Knotts, but Mr. Roper seemed to be more intelligent that Mr. Furley. Somebody else said that the whole "Jack has to pretend to be gay to appease his landlord" angle worked better during the earlier seasons with the Ropers because Mr. Roper seemed to always suspect that Jack wasn't really gay. Plus, Mrs. Roper knew the entire truth and accepted Jack completely unlike her husband.

When Mr. Furley became the landlord, all that he did was make occasionally crude homophobic jabs at Jack. They weren't clever, they were just plain tired (even if the whole point to begin with was that we were supposed to be "laughing at" Mr. Furley instead of "laughing with" him) and unnecessary since Mr. Furley otherwise, seemed to genuinely like Jack.

It didn't make much sense to begin with because Mr. Furley was a charming, flamboyantly dressed, "swinging bachelor" unlike a crusty, old-school, no-nonsense man like Mr. Roper. Basically, you would immediately think that presumably free-spirited man like Ralph Furley would be more open minded unlike his predecessor.
So true. When Jack was caught with a girl, Furley was never convinced Jack was not gay. Even when Jack and Furley were locked in a freezer together and thought they were going to die, Jack tells Furley he is not gay. Furley still wont believe it.
It was a different scenario that worked better in the Roper years.