It was no way for the Ropers to return back to the show - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TVFactFan · 07-21-2019, 02:51 PM

How could they return back? The apartment building already had a landlord so where would they live? With Jack and the girls? lol And how would they explain the Ropers leaving their nice big house to come back to live inside in a apartment? The Close out of those characters was obvious since they replaced them with a new landlord. So the Ropers had to success like the Jeffersons had to because there was not going to be a storyline that made since having them come back lol

SitcomsHeydayfan · 07-21-2019, 06:03 PM

They never mentioned where the Ropers were staying when they returned for that 1 episode did they?

Maybe it was assumed they still lived at their condo. Just because their show ended doesn't mean they couldn't still live there for the purposes of this episode!

TVFactFan · 07-21-2019, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

They never mentioned where the Ropers were staying when they returned for that 1 episode did they?

Maybe it was assumed they still lived at their condo. Just because their show ended doesn't mean they couldn't still live there for the purposes of this episode!

How would they be regular characters? Yeah an occassional appearance but it could never be like how it was before they left. Plus they were only seen that episode because Mr. Furley went away for the weekend

Mr. Television · 07-21-2019, 09:33 PM

Once Don Knotts signed on and was accepted by the public it was all over for The Ropers.

TVFactFan · 07-21-2019, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Television

Once Don Knotts signed on and was accepted by the public it was all over for The Ropers.

Basically so they should have known it was no coming back after season 3 of Three's Company because at that time it was no landlord. Remember Mr. Furley didnt come on until season 4 so if the ropers had stunk up in the ratings during that first season then it would have been a clear path to come back.

That's like leaving a job and asking the boss can you come back if the new job dont work out?

SitcomsHeydayfan · 07-22-2019, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

How would they be regular characters? Yeah an occassional appearance but it could never be like how it was before they left. Plus they were only seen that episode because Mr. Furley went away for the weekend

I never said they'd be regular characters. Once Don Knotts signed on they were done at TC.

I just meant for the sake of the storyline it could be assumed they still lived at their condo they bought when they left TC. I forgot they stayed at Furley's apartment when he was away.

They didn't mention if the Ropers moved anywhere or still lived at their condo right?

TVFactFan · 07-22-2019, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

I never said they'd be regular characters. Once Don Knotts signed on they were done at TC.

I just meant for the sake of the storyline it could be assumed they still lived at their condo they bought when they left TC. I forgot they stayed at Furley's apartment when he was away.

They didn't mention if the Ropers moved anywhere or still lived at their condo right?

Nope they didnt mention it at all. So I guess we assumed they lived where they were during season 4 of TC

Chocolate Moose · 07-22-2019, 09:20 AM

Not that there was no way but it would have taken some pretty creative fiction to write them back in.

JackJanetChrissy · 07-22-2019, 10:46 AM

Maybe Furley could have hired Roper to do some maintenance work around the building. Jack said Furley made Roper look like Thomas Edison, lol.

I agree, though, it would have been too crowded a cast. If the Ropers had come back they would have been intermittent recurring characters at best (like Larry was in the first few seasons), not regulars.

TVFactFan · 07-22-2019, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

Maybe Furley could have hired Roper to do some maintenance work around the building. Jack said Furley made Roper look like Thomas Edison, lol.

I agree, though, it would have been too crowded a cast. If the Ropers had come back they would have been intermittent recurring characters at best (like Larry was in the first few seasons), not regulars.

yup extremely crowded. But why did it rank so high in season 1 and not season 2? The cast was the same. i think it aired after threes company in season 1 i have to confirm later

JackJanetChrissy · 07-22-2019, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

yup extremely crowded. But why did it rank so high in season 1 and not season 2? The cast was the same. i think it aired after threes company in season 1 i have to confirm later

Yup, The Ropers followed TC in Season 1. At the start of Season 2 the day and time was changed to the TV graveyard shift, 8 p.m. on Saturday night.

TVFactFan · 07-22-2019, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

Yup, The Ropers followed TC in Season 1. At the start of Season 2 the day and time was changed to the TV graveyard shift, 8 p.m. on Saturday night.

Just checked and it actually aired after Taxi on Tuesday nights at 10pm during season 1. Since the last episode of Season 3 for Three's Company has never been verified, I am going to assume the only Ropers episode that aired after TC was the first episode on March 13, 1979. Also since the producers wanted to give more attention to the Ropers, there were no new episodes of TC until after the Ropers completed their 1st season.

After the 3/13 episode of TC, there wasnt another new episode until 5/8/79

JackJanetChrissy · 07-22-2019, 08:40 PM

You're right. I looked it up in Chris Mann's book and he said the TC lead-in to the Ropers' first episode was a huge hit and I read it too fast and thought he meant the Ropers regularly aired after TC. My bad.

TVFactFan · 07-22-2019, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

You're right. I looked it up in Chris Mann's book and he said the TC lead-in to the Ropers' first episode was a huge hit and I read it too fast and thought he meant the Ropers regularly aired after TC. My bad.

So now we know the reason wasn't saturday night, it was the fact that the Ropers was the only TC link on TV at the time.

JackJanetChrissy · 07-22-2019, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

So now we know the reason wasn't saturday night, it was the fact that the Ropers was the only TC link on TV at the time.

I think it was a bit of both. The Ropers' first season ran again in the summer of '79 and did well, and it was only after the time change in the fall that the ratings fell big time. Though the producers could have moved the show from Saturday night they refused. Norman Fell has said that the new time slot was the show's death knell.

In everything I've read about The Ropers there is always the suggestion that the producers ran out the clock on the spinoff to contractually prevent Fell and Lindley returning to TC. I think it was clear from the start that the spinoff didn't have the same magic as TC and the producers created an excuse (the time slot) to officially kill it, which did the trick.

07-21-2019, 02:51 PM	#1
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,015	It was no way for the Ropers to return back to the show How could they return back? The apartment building already had a landlord so where would they live? With Jack and the girls? lol And how would they explain the Ropers leaving their nice big house to come back to live inside in a apartment? The Close out of those characters was obvious since they replaced them with a new landlord. So the Ropers had to success like the Jeffersons had to because there was not going to be a storyline that made since having them come back lol

07-21-2019, 09:33 PM	#4
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,128	Once Don Knotts signed on and was accepted by the public it was all over for The Ropers.
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07-22-2019, 09:20 AM	#8
Chocolate Moose Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 21, 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 4,886	Not that there was no way but it would have taken some pretty creative fiction to write them back in.
	__________________ How long a minute is, depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.

07-21-2019, 06:03 PM	#2
SitcomsHeydayfan Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 19, 2018 Location: The Show Me state Posts: 2,966	They never mentioned where the Ropers were staying when they returned for that 1 episode did they? Maybe it was assumed they still lived at their condo. Just because their show ended doesn't mean they couldn't still live there for the purposes of this episode!

07-22-2019, 10:46 AM	#9
JackJanetChrissy Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 18, 2014 Posts: 1,005	Maybe Furley could have hired Roper to do some maintenance work around the building. Jack said Furley made Roper look like Thomas Edison, lol. I agree, though, it would have been too crowded a cast. If the Ropers had come back they would have been intermittent recurring characters at best (like Larry was in the first few seasons), not regulars.

07-22-2019, 08:40 PM	#13
JackJanetChrissy Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 18, 2014 Posts: 1,005	You're right. I looked it up in Chris Mann's book and he said the TC lead-in to the Ropers' first episode was a huge hit and I read it too fast and thought he meant the Ropers regularly aired after TC. My bad.