Cokeheads on TC? And other trivia via Suzanne Somers

[JackJanetChrissy]

Long post with trivia….

So I finally got around to reading Suzanne Somers' book AFTER THE FALL, in which she writes about her time on Three's Company. Here are a few things I learned that may be of interest to others here:

1) Talking about her and Alan Hamel's wedding in November of 1977, Suzanne says she “invited only people who were closest” to her from the Three's Company set. She specifically mentions that Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter, Norman Fell, Bernie West, and Mickey Ross attended. Don Nicholl and Audra Lindley were not mentioned as being there, but no reason was given. Suzanne also says that not inviting the whole TC cast and crew due to limited space created “a little negativity on the set, but nothing insurmountable.” Her wedding took place during the first half of Season 2.

2) Some juicy drug gossip: Suzanne says, “Even the Three's Company group had its 'cokeheads.' I'd joke about it. 'Choppin' and snortin' again, huh?' I was ignorant. I didn't know about its evil consequences.” I wonder who it was? Hmmm….

3) Some juicy Joyce DeWitt gossip: In Three's Company rehearsals, Joyce would do a funny-voiced character nicknamed “The Little Princess” that everyone loved, and one day Suzanne tried to imitate her. Joyce got up and walked out of the room. Here's Suzanne's version:

I ran out after her. “What's wrong?” I asked.
Joyce stopped on her heels and did an about-face. Then she said, “You are the cruelest, most manipulative person I have ever known in my whole life!”
“Why?” I asked. “Because I copied the Little Princess?”
“Because you copy everything!” she yelled.

4) There was one phone in the TC rehearsal hall, and Suzanne would often take phone interviews or business calls in front of everyone. She says, “One day, Norman Fell, who played Mr. Roper, our landlord, flipped out. 'I'm sick of having to listen to her talk about how damn successful she is!'”

5) When she started her Vegas act (during what would've been Season 4 of TC), she rented the same hall the Three's Company rehearsed in, and when TC rehearsals were over and cast/crew were leaving, Suzanne's people were coming in. I can't imagine this helped improve the cast/crew's opinion of her.

Reading this book, it is clearer to me how much Suzanne's judgment was warped by celebrity. The book is weird, because even as she acknowledges that celebrity overtook her life, she still blames the cast and crew for not capitulating to her schedule. She actually says in the book that the Three's Company people should've been happy and grateful that she was getting so much publicity, and for that reason they should have allowed her to delay multiple seasons of the show to film movies. Her thinking was that any publicity SHE got would have been great for the show, so why were they so upset?

For example, Steven Spielberg asked her to be in a movie, but the filming of the movie would have delayed the beginning of Season 3 of Three's Company. Her TC producers kept her to her contract and refused to let her go. There were at least two other instances like this, where she wanted to do big movie projects that would have delayed/held up TC and the producers refused.

And then, at the beginning of Season 4, when she delayed Three's Company due to another movie shoot, she just could not understand why the producers were mad or why the cast and crew would be upset. She believes that everyone either resented her success or were poisoned by Mickey Ross (who is the main villain in the book). It doesn't seem to occur to her that the cast and crew depended on the show for work, and that ANY delay would've bothered them. The mental gymnastics she does to relieve herself of any blame or accountability is kind of mind-boggling.

I don't blame Suzanne for wanting more for herself or for trying to guarantee a secure future. She is definitely a workhorse and I admire that quality. I also believe that the Three's Company producers were controlling jerks, and I sort of agree with her opinion that attention on her was attention for the show. But it's amazing to see how Suzanne assumed that everyone would rearrange their lives for her, and when they did not, she played victim.

There are a few discrepancies in the book. One glaring one was when Suzanne, talking about the producers, says that “the most intelligent member of the producing trio, Don Nicholl, had died of lung cancer during the first year” and then continues talking like Ross and West were the only two left. Don Nicholl got cancer in Season 3 and died in July 1980, which was the summer after Season 4 wrapped. He was very much alive during the first year of Three's Company.

Good book to read for Three's Company fans. Even if you hate Suzanne, it's interesting to see her side. I can't help but like Suzanne. I just think she is a tad deluded in a few areas. Her contract dispute on Three's Company is a study in the Rashomon Effect--everyone's accounts of the same situation differ wildly.

Sorry for the long post! Just thought some of you would like to hear a few bits of trivia.

[Anna Karenina]

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

Long post with trivia….

So I finally got around to reading Suzanne Somers' book AFTER THE FALL, in which she writes about her time on Three's Company. Here are a few things I learned that may be of interest to others here:

1) Talking about her and Alan Hamel's wedding in November of 1977, Suzanne says she “invited only people who were closest” to her from the Three's Company set. She specifically mentions that Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter, Norman Fell, Bernie West, and Mickey Ross attended. Don Nicholl and Audra Lindley were not mentioned as being there, but no reason was given. Suzanne also says that not inviting the whole TC cast and crew due to limited space created “a little negativity on the set, but nothing insurmountable.” Her wedding took place during the first half of Season 2.

2) Some juicy drug gossip: Suzanne says, “Even the Three's Company group had its 'cokeheads.' I'd joke about it. 'Choppin' and snortin' again, huh?' I was ignorant. I didn't know about its evil consequences.” I wonder who it was? Hmmm….

3) Some juicy Joyce DeWitt gossip: In Three's Company rehearsals, Joyce would do a funny-voiced character nicknamed “The Little Princess” that everyone loved, and one day Suzanne tried to imitate her. Joyce got up and walked out of the room. Here's Suzanne's version:

I ran out after her. “What's wrong?” I asked.
Joyce stopped on her heels and did an about-face. Then she said, “You are the cruelest, most manipulative person I have ever known in my whole life!”
“Why?” I asked. “Because I copied the Little Princess?”
“Because you copy everything!” she yelled.

4) There was one phone in the TC rehearsal hall, and Suzanne would often take phone interviews or business calls in front of everyone. She says, “One day, Norman Fell, who played Mr. Roper, our landlord, flipped out. 'I'm sick of having to listen to her talk about how damn successful she is!'”

5) When she started her Vegas act (during what would've been Season 4 of TC), she rented the same hall the Three's Company rehearsed in, and when TC rehearsals were over and cast/crew were leaving, Suzanne's people were coming in. I can't imagine this helped improve the cast/crew's opinion of her.

Reading this book, it is clearer to me how much Suzanne's judgment was warped by celebrity. The book is weird, because even as she acknowledges that celebrity overtook her life, she still blames the cast and crew for not kowtowing to her schedule. She actually says in the book that the Three's Company people should've been happy and grateful that she was getting so much publicity, and for that reason they should have allowed her to delay multiple seasons of the show to film movies. Her thinking was that any publicity SHE got would have been great for the show, so why were they so upset?

For example, Steven Spielberg asked her to be in a movie, but the filming of the movie would have delayed the beginning of Season 3 of Three's Company. Her TC producers kept her to her contract and refused to let her go. There were at least two other instances like this, where she wanted to do big movie projects that would have delayed/held up TC and the producers refused.

And then, at the beginning of Season 4, when she delayed Three's Company due to another movie shoot, she just could not understand why the producers were mad or why the cast and crew would be upset. She believes that everyone either resented her success or were poisoned by Mickey Ross (who is the main villain in the book). It doesn't seem to occur to her that the cast and crew depended on the show for work, and that ANY delay would've bothered them. The mental gymnastics she does to relieve herself of any blame or accountability is kind of mind-boggling.

I don't blame Suzanne for wanting more for herself or for trying to guarantee a secure future. She is definitely a workhorse and I admire that quality. I also believe that the Three's Company producers were controlling jerks, and I sort of agree with her opinion that attention on her was attention for the show. But it's amazing to see how Suzanne assumed that everyone would rearrange their lives for her, and when they did not, she played victim.

There are a few discrepancies in the book. One glaring one was when Suzanne, talking about the producers, says that “the most intelligent member of the producing trio, Don Nicholl, had died of lung cancer during the first year” and then continues talking like Ross and West were the only two left. Don Nicholl got cancer in Season 3 and died in July 1980, which was the summer after Season 4 wrapped. He was very much alive during the first year of Three's Company.

Good book to read for Three's Company fans. Even if you hate Suzanne, it's interesting to see her side. I can't help but like Suzanne. I just think she is a tad deluded in a few areas. Her contract dispute on Three's Company is a study in the Rashomon Effect--everyone's accounts of the same situation differ wildly.

Sorry for the long post! Just thought some of you would like to hear a few bits of trivia.

I enjoyed reading every word. I love Suzanne despite her narcissistic personality disorder and her penchant for telling tall tales and making herself into a martyr when she was actually the cause of all of the problems on the set in the first place! There is a word for people like her.

Chutzpah!

Actually there is another one. Hubris!

Mr and Mrs Hubris er uh, Hamel!

[JackJanetChrissy]

Hi there, Anna Karenina! Thank you for reading! I like your pic of Mr. and Mrs. "Hubris," lol.

I agree, Suzanne is textbook narcissist. You're right---chutzpah!! She was so good on the show, it's hard to not like her. And if not for her, we wouldn't have any inside info on the show...Joyce DeWitt doesn't talk much, John Ritter has passed on (R.I.P.), and Priscilla Barnes hated it. So Suzanne has kept the Three's Company's legacy going.

[Mr. Television]

Thanks for posting. There is no doubt that Suzanne's popularity was one of the big reasons for TC's success but she was so much into herself . I wish she would just acknowledge her responsibility in all the fallout that followed.

[Babalu]

Interesting stuff. On one hand, Somers is full of herself, but on the other hand, the people that resented it most made her full of herself. I also have little doubt that Alan Hamel was the puppeteer behind whatever she did, reminding me of a Tom Arnold who didn't want is face on camera. I'd also be curious to know which movie Steven Spielberg wanted her in. Spielberg is too astute to want someone of her modest acting talent in a movie and he certainly didn't need her for publicity. Norman Fell was no fool and I can see him getting pissed off listening to Somers making deals on the phone in front of everyone, which I'm sure was no accident.

[Torgo]

Originally Posted by Babalu

Interesting stuff. On one hand, Somers is full of herself, but on the other hand, the people that resented it most made her full of herself. I also have little doubt that Alan Hamel was the puppeteer behind whatever she did, reminding me of a Tom Arnold who didn't want is face on camera. I'd also be curious to know which movie Steven Spielberg wanted her in. Spielberg is too astute to want someone of her modest acting talent in a movie and he certainly didn't need her for publicity. Norman Fell was no fool and I can see him getting pissed off listening to Somers making deals on the phone in front of everyone, which I'm sure was no accident.

My guess for Spielberg would be his comedy 1941.

[JackJanetChrissy]

Originally Posted by Babalu

Interesting stuff. On one hand, Somers is full of herself, but on the other hand, the people that resented it most made her full of herself. I also have little doubt that Alan Hamel was the puppeteer behind whatever she did, reminding me of a Tom Arnold who didn't want is face on camera. I'd also be curious to know which movie Steven Spielberg wanted her in.

Hey there! Torgo is right, the Spielberg movie was "1941" which came out in '79. According to Suzanne, Spielberg came over to her house where she fixed him lunch and they talked for four hours, after which he told her he wanted her in his movie.

As for Hamel being the puppeteer---that is what I used to think, too. I figured he steered her wrong and she was naively swept along. But reading this book, I'm not so sure. To hear it from her, she started to feel "resentment" from the cast and crew starting in 1978 (the second half of Season 2). Once she got a whiff of that, she just went full steam ahead on her own career, the show be damned. Alan's influence only reinforced that attitude.

[Babalu]

Originally Posted by Torgo

My guess for Spielberg would be his comedy 1941.

I guess that makes sense since it was a forgettable disaster anyway and completely out of character for Spielberg. Cancel my nightmares of Somers being in Close Encounters or ET.

[Mace Dolex]

It's very interesting to read this, I was born in '76 so I missed all the behind the scenes drama with Suzanne and the show I'm only taking into account how accurate E!'s THS episode was.

But in way yeah I guess the producers should have worked around her schedule but she herself does play it off as the victim so of course there's two sides that one doesn't know who to go with.

[Anna Karenina]

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

Hi there, Anna Karenina! Thank you for reading! I like your pic of Mr. and Mrs. "Hubris," lol.

I agree, Suzanne is textbook narcissist. You're right---chutzpah!! She was so good on the show, it's hard to not like her. And if not for her, we wouldn't have any inside info on the show...Joyce DeWitt doesn't talk much, John Ritter has passed on (R.I.P.), and Priscilla Barnes hated it. So Suzanne has kept the Three's Company's legacy going.

Hey, JackJanetChrissy!

I have to confess something.

After your post last week I went on her website and with a coupon code and a clearance sale bought the book you talked about and these items...

1x Black Mallorca Pearl Ring - Size 9 for $29.99 each

1x Mobile Deal - Black Agate Necklace for $14.99 each

1x After the Fall: How I Picked Myself Up, Dusted Myself Off, and Started All Over Again for $9.99 each

Discount (code: SPARKLES): $-22.49 USD


Subtotal: $32.48 USD

Why did do I it? I just wanted to see what the crap she was peddling actually looked like. Also your review of the book was very entertaining and piqued my interest. Keeping Secrets was a good read too, have you read it?

I will give you my review when it arrives...

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

DELAY multiple seasons of the show??!? All because of ME ME ME!! Was she INSANE?? Suzanne DEFINED narcissism!

She should've left the show earlier so Cindy and Terri could've come sooner. But thanks for posting this from Suzanne's book. Very insightful into what a royal A-HOLE she was!!

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

Hi there, Anna Karenina! Thank you for reading! I like your pic of Mr. and Mrs. "Hubris," lol.

I agree, Suzanne is textbook narcissist. You're right---chutzpah!! She was so good on the show, it's hard to not like her. And if not for her, we wouldn't have any inside info on the show...Joyce DeWitt doesn't talk much, John Ritter has passed on (R.I.P.), and Priscilla Barnes hated it. So Suzanne has kept the Three's Company's legacy going.

Really?? Suzanne 's dumb blonde act make her the WORST of the 3 blonde roommates by far. Suzanne even admitted it got old!

You know EVERYONE involved with TC says JOHN was the star. Even if they went with the blonde in the original pilot TC would've still been a hit. TC was about 2 girls living with a guy, Jack Tripper's physical comedy most importantly, Larry living upstairs, etc. It's not like ONLY one lady on earth could've played a dumb blonde!

What do you mean Suzanne is the only one that talks?? She's the only one that DOESN'T talk! There are so many interviews where Joyce talks about the show but Suzanne has said she doesn't like to talk about the show much. She also refused to show up at any of the reunions or TV conventions.

Joyce and Richard Kline have talked about the show. Chris Mann got a lot of inside info too.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by Anna Karenina

Hey, JackJanetChrissy!

I have to confess something.

After your post last week I went on her website and with a coupon code and a clearance sale bought the book you talked about and these items...

1x Black Mallorca Pearl Ring - Size 9 for $29.99 each

1x Mobile Deal - Black Agate Necklace for $14.99 each

1x After the Fall: How I Picked Myself Up, Dusted Myself Off, and Started All Over Again for $9.99 each

Discount (code: SPARKLES): $-22.49 USD


Subtotal: $32.48 USD

Why did do I it? I just wanted to see what the crap she was peddling actually looked like. Also your review of the book was very entertaining and piqued my interest. Keeping Secrets was a good read too, have you read it?

I will give you my review when it arrives...

You never gave us your review!

[JackJanetChrissy]

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

What do you mean Suzanne is the only one that talks?? She's the only one that DOESN'T talk! There are so many interviews where Joyce talks about the show but Suzanne has said she doesn't like to talk about the show much. She also refused to show up at any of the reunions or TV conventions.

Joyce and Richard Kline have talked about the show. Chris Mann got a lot of inside info too.

Are you off your meds? Why are you reviving threads from years ago and compulsively posting? This thread was originally posted in 2016, before the 40 year reunion where Suzanne didn't show up. Suzanne doesn't show up at conventions, true, but she did the Chrissy act for Dancing With the Stars, talks about being Chrissy Snow when asked in interviews, and wrote TWO BOOKS where she tells her in-depth side of the story. Joyce and Richard did the Chris Mann book but beyond that they have said very little about specific details on what went down because they are too polite. Suzanne doesn't interact with the other cast members but she has definitely given the most detailed behind-the-scenes info of all of them.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

Are you off your meds? Why are you reviving threads from years ago and compulsively posting? This thread was originally posted in 2016, before the 40 year reunion where Suzanne didn't show up. Suzanne doesn't show up at conventions, true, but she did the Chrissy act for Dancing With the Stars, talks about being Chrissy Snow when asked in interviews, and wrote TWO BOOKS where she tells her in-depth side of the story. Joyce and Richard did the Chris Mann book but beyond that they have said very little about specific details on what went down because they are too polite. Suzanne doesn't interact with the other cast members but she has definitely given the most detailed behind-the-scenes info of all of them.

Dude, you're off your meds!

There is NO rule that prohibits you from reviving a thread that's even over a DECADE old. There's also no limit on posts so it's not "compulsively" posting.

I don't know what you're talking about because Joyce has done dozens of interviews about TC since it went off the air while Suzanne has actually said she doesn't like to talk much about the show. Plus we have interviews from John and Richard. The book may be an exception but we have Chris Mann's book which actually covers all 8 years and not just the first 4.