I THINK 'Three's A Crowd' Failed Because Of The Vicky Character

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by dave insinga

most spin offs a veteran show like threes company,happy days ,friends, mash don't work too well.i mean from time to time like FRASIER ,ARCHIE BUNKERS PLACE,people accept the change but its a rare thing. As i said in an earlier post
in the case of threes a crowd if JANET or TERRY or if some how CHRISSY could
have cameoed or guest shotted like LARRY did it may have went another year.After watching a majority of the THREES a Crowd eps.john ritter appeared
to be getting tired of jack tripper you could see it,i mean he was still really funny in some of them but the energy he used in Threes Company was gone.

I think guest appearances by Janet or Furley or Terri or Larry would have got the show off to a good start but not maintain high ratings throughout the season.

[LadySparta]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I think guest appearances by Janet or Furley or Terri or Larry would have got the show off to a good start but not maintain high ratings throughout the season.

Cameo appearances/crossovers are never intended to MAINTAIN ratings, just to bring about initial attention...give viewers a chance to see what they've been missing. Beyond that, it's up to the show to maintain the attention.

I don't entirely agree with the statement about John Ritter's fatigue with the role of Jack Tripper as a reason for his sedate performance. I feel the lack of a good story gave him no room to work his magic.

I wouldn't use the fact that the last 2 seasons of Three's Company dropping in ratings as a reason to count out Three's a Crowd. It might have never realized the same heights TC did, but it could have breathed new interest & life into the story by starting over completely in a new chapter. Problem is, it was mishandled in several ways:

So, my reasons as to why that show didn't live up to it's potential:
1) the writing was very "phoned-in",
2) they removed everything familiar from Jack Tripper's world, places, people, and replaced it by downsizing his whole world to 2 floors of one little building and 3 other characters. The scenery/people almost never changed.
3) As a result of narrowing Jack's world so greatly, this limited the story possibilities drastically. Part of what made TC so interesting (besides the funny double-entendre "misunderstandings") was that the show was filled with a wide variety of supporting characters who served as interesting antagonists to the main characters, though more Jack than anyone else.
4) as pretty as Mary Cadorette is, I believe she was miscast as Jack's love interest, from her lack of chemistry with him to the manner of her character; she's much too boring and uptight. I think that perhaps the writer's idea was to make her the straight-man role to offset Jack's wackiness, but that's definitely not how it worked out because all she seemed to care about working her job and settling down. She had nothing in her to bring that out.
5) If anything, her character made him more "subdued". Jack became a "steer" after settling down with Vicky if you know what I mean lol. Even Larry, in his only cameo appearance, made fun of how "domesticated" he's become. I think it would've been very interesting to have an ex-girlfriend of Jack's to show up and try to win him back, or maybe even a friend of Vicky lol. Maybe it would've been just the thing to take the starch out of Vicky's skirt lol
6) Vicky's father never let up on poor Jack, and after so long, that got a little hard to watch.


Do I think that Jack's character should've paired off with Janet? I think it would've been a better idea. Look at how well the two interacted as friends!
She helped bring out the Jack Tripper we loved most.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by LadySparta

Cameo appearances/crossovers are never intended to MAINTAIN ratings, just to bring about initial attention...give viewers a chance to see what they've been missing. Beyond that, it's up to the show to maintain the attention.

I don't entirely agree with the statement about John Ritter's fatigue with the role of Jack Tripper as a reason for his sedate performance. I feel the lack of a good story gave him no room to work his magic.

I wouldn't use the fact that the last 2 seasons of Three's Company dropping in ratings as a reason to count out Three's a Crowd. It might have never realized the same heights TC did, but it could have breathed new interest & life into the story by starting over completely in a new chapter. Problem is, it was mishandled in several ways:

So, my reasons as to why that show didn't live up to it's potential:
1) the writing was very "phoned-in",
2) they removed everything familiar from Jack Tripper's world, places, people, and replaced it by downsizing his whole world to 2 floors of one little building and 3 other characters. The scenery/people almost never changed.
3) As a result of narrowing Jack's world so greatly, this limited the story possibilities drastically. Part of what made TC so interesting (besides the funny double-entendre "misunderstandings") was that the show was filled with a wide variety of supporting characters who served as interesting antagonists to the main characters, though more Jack than anyone else.
4) as pretty as Mary Cadorette is, I believe she was miscast as Jack's love interest, from her lack of chemistry with him to the manner of her character; she's much too boring and uptight. I think that perhaps the writer's idea was to make her the straight-man role to offset Jack's wackiness, but that's definitely not how it worked out because all she seemed to care about working her job and settling down. She had nothing in her to bring that out.
5) If anything, her character made him more "subdued". Jack became a "steer" after settling down with Vicky if you know what I mean lol. Even Larry, in his only cameo appearance, made fun of how "domesticated" he's become. I think it would've been very interesting to have an ex-girlfriend of Jack's to show up and try to win him back, or maybe even a friend of Vicky lol. Maybe it would've been just the thing to take the starch out of Vicky's skirt lol
6) Vicky's father never let up on poor Jack, and after so long, that got a little hard to watch.


Do I think that Jack's character should've paired off with Janet? I think it would've been a better idea. Look at how well the two interacted as friends!
She helped bring out the Jack Tripper we loved most.

If Janet paired off with jack then it would have still been called Three's Company

[LadySparta]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

If Janet paired off with jack then it would have still been called Three's Company

So?

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by LadySparta

So?

One has nothing to do with the other. he was with Vicky on a new show, if he paird with janet then it wouldn't have been no TAC

[Mr. Television]

In the end, the real reason that TAC failed was because it couldn't compete with The A-Team. I don't think anything they could have done would have changed that. TC was a tired show and pairing Jack and Janet together wouldn't have helped. Maybe they should have just done a final 9th season of TC and ended it in style.

[TVFactFan]

I'm surprised ABC decided to do the show since the last two seasons of Three's Company were not that good in the ratings. Usually when a spinoff is created it's because the PARENT show is kicking a$$ in the ratings.

[dlemond]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I'm surprised ABC decided to do the show since the last two seasons of Three's Company were not that good in the ratings. Usually when a spinoff is created it's because the PARENT show is kicking a$$ in the ratings.

I would think ABC did it because they believed in John Ritter.
Not only his ability but his overall well received persona.

And as such they should have given him more to work with.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by dlemond

I would think ABC did it because they believed in John Ritter.
Not only his ability but his overall well received persona.

And as such they should have given him more to work with.

Well if that was true they would have gave him one more season to see if it was a improvement

[dlemond]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Well if that was true they would have gave him one more season to see if it was a improvement

Maybe the overhaul that was needed was too much.

And basically they had no patience.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by dlemond

Maybe the overhaul that was needed was too much.

And basically they had no patience.

I still think it was the father that made people not watch. In real life no man would have tolerated being around his girl's father all the time

[dlemond]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I still think it was the father that made people not watch. In real life no man would have tolerated being around his girl's father all the time

And that was the sitcom death of the show.
They made the father the foil - too close and too ever-present.
(completely different scenario on Too Close For Comfort, thanks)

It's pretty short sighted to think that when Jack finally settled that the audience would be ok with her dad thwarting his efforts.
Beyond creepy, it's like, give this guy a break.

An antagonist like Felipe or some other force would make sense.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by dlemond

And that was the sitcom death of the show.
They made the father the foil - too close and too ever-present.
(completely different scenario on Too Close For Comfort, thanks)

It's pretty short sighted to think that when Jack finally settled that the audience would be ok with her dad thwarting his efforts.
Beyond creepy, it's like, give this guy a break.

An antagonist like Felipe or some other force would make sense.

I would have told her either tell your father to stay away or this relationship is oVer LOL

[Big3sCompanyFan]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I think it failed because of the FATHER. Who really wanted to see Vicky's father all the time? Even on Three's Company you saw characters ike Mr. Angelino, Mr. Roper and Mr. Furley on ocassion. Not as a permanent part of the show.

What R U talking about dude?? Roper and Furley were permanent recurring characters and appeared in most every episode!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Big3sCompanyFan

What R U talking about dude?? Roper and Furley were permanent recurring characters and appeared in most every episode!

Mr. Furley and Stanley were LANDLORDS and had a reason to be around. Why did we need to see jack's girlfriend Dad all the time if it wasn't a special ocassion?