How close were we to getting a third spin-off

[TMC]

Apparently, a third Three's Company spin-off was actually briefly in the works, post-Three's a Crowd. Not much is known about it nor how far along it got in the development process, but the concept is interesting: Three Apartments, where the main characters were the Ropers, and because they were from the same production company, it was going to be an odd shared universe sitcom with Monroe from Too Close for Comfort (this would be also after that show's revamp, The Ted Knight Show, ended after Knight passed away) and Jack, Janet, Furley, Larry, and possibly a recast Chrissy dropping in as well.

[SledgeBarone]

Not disputing the report, but it's hard to fathom how the Ropers could be popular enough in syndication to have stations wanting more.

This half-baked concept of a bunch of out-of-work former Taffner show actors living in an apartment complex (the same location used in Three's Company?) sounds like a disaster. I can't believe anyone would be looking forward to Mr. Bradford meeting Monroe and Muriel meeting Jack, Janet, Larry, RF, and the Ropers.

Does the absence of Mary Cadorette mean she got blamed for the failure of Three's a Crowd? And recasting Chrissy just sounds petty and stupid.

I guess Taffner should get credit for at least trying something original in this spinoff, as opposed to exactly copying the two British spinoffs with The Ropers and Three's a Crowd.

As I mentioned in another thread, if John Ritter was going to be this desperate for work, he should've swallowed his pride and tried to make the 13-episode renewal of Three's a Crowd successful. I didn't like TAC, but 3A sounds a lot worse.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

I think they should've done this instead of 3's a Crowd!

This definitely sounds better than 3's a Crowd although maybe have Furley instead of the Ropers.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by TMC

Apparently, a third Three's Company spin-off was actually briefly in the works, post-Three's a Crowd. Not much is known about it nor how far along it got in the development process, but the concept is interesting: Three Apartments, where the main characters were the Ropers, and because they were from the same production company, it was going to be an odd shared universe sitcom with Monroe from Too Close for Comfort (this would be also after that show's revamp, The Ted Knight Show, ended after Knight passed away) and Jack, Janet, Furley, Larry, and possibly a recast Chrissy dropping in as well.

WOW! It actually says it will debut in April 1987 with 44 episodes so what the hell happened??

None of those actors were doing anything major at the time so they could've done this!

[TVFactFan]

yes this sounded better than TAC

[TMC]

Originally Posted by SledgeBarone

Not disputing the report, but it's hard to fathom how the Ropers could be popular enough in syndication to have stations wanting more.

This half-baked concept of a bunch of out-of-work former Taffner show actors living in an apartment complex (the same location used in Three's Company?) sounds like a disaster. I can't believe anyone would be looking forward to Mr. Bradford meeting Monroe and Muriel meeting Jack, Janet, Larry, RF, and the Ropers.

Does the absence of Mary Cadorette mean she got blamed for the failure of Three's a Crowd? And recasting Chrissy just sounds petty and stupid.

I guess Taffner should get credit for at least trying something original in this spinoff, as opposed to exactly copying the two British spinoffs with The Ropers and Three's a Crowd.

As I mentioned in another thread, if John Ritter was going to be this desperate for work, he should've swallowed his pride and tried to make the 13-episode renewal of Three's a Crowd successful. I didn't like TAC, but 3A sounds a lot worse.

Wouldn't it made more sense to just use the Cindy Snow character? I'm assuming that Jenilee Harrison would've been unavailable since she was booked on Dallas around this same time. But Jenilee departed Dallas in 1986, so she would've in theory, been available for Three Apartments.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by TMC

Wouldn't it made more sense to just use the Cindy Snow character? I'm assuming that Jenilee Harrison would've been unavailable sense she was booked on Dallas around this same time. But Jenilee departed Dallas in 1986, so she would've in theory, been available for Three Apartments.

No because the character was a failure so she would be ineligible

[Duster76]

This story has an actual idea wrapped in about 50 pounds of balderdash. The idea of the Ropers owning and operating an apartment building was a good one, but it was about 7 years too late. The biggest problem with "The Ropers" was the fact that they had nothing to do. Now they had something to do, but no show to do it in. Taffner's statements about who would occupy the apartments was ludicrous, for the series like this they might cast one additional familiar face (not a star or a regular in any of the series mentioned), but the rest of the cast would be newcomers. Economically it wouldn't work any other way. Fell was in his early 60's and Lindley was almost 70, you can be sure much younger actors would fill out the rest of the cast. This guy was trying to sell a product with some real over the top statements. He should have mentioned Mary Richards and Laverne and Shirley as potential residents.

[SledgeBarone]

^^^Okay, that makes more sense. The way the idea sounded to me was that all the old Three's Company castmates would get back together, with Jack and Janet (without husband Phillip) living again in their old apartment, Larry (back from Bakersfield) above them, and the Ropers buying out Bart Furley to return to their basement. And then somehow they keep Mr. Bradford (without Vicki?) and Ralph Furley in the picture, while Monroe and Muriel (are they supposed to be lovers now?) come down from the Bay Area? It all sounded like bad fan fiction, or like a baseball old-timers game where all the beloved players from the past come back and return to their old positions performing at half-speed.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Plus it would've cost a hell of a lot to pay such a large cast. Remember part of the motivation of replacing the Ropers with Furley was to SAVE money by paying 1 actor instead of 2.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by SledgeBarone

^^^Okay, that makes more sense. The way the idea sounded to me was that all the old Three's Company castmates would get back together, with Jack and Janet (without husband Phillip) living again in their old apartment, Larry (back from Bakersfield) above them, and the Ropers buying out Bart Furley to return to their basement. And then somehow they keep Mr. Bradford (without Vicki?) and Ralph Furley in the picture, while Monroe and Muriel (are they supposed to be lovers now?) come down from the Bay Area? It all sounded like bad fan fiction, or like a baseball old-timers game where all the beloved players from the past come back and return to their old positions performing at half-speed.

After hearing about this, I wonder why there was never an attempt at doing crossovers with Three's Company and Too Close for Comfort? I mean, both were on ABC at the same time besides being produced by the same company. The only roadblock I suppose was that, TC took place in Santa Monica while TCFC took place in San Francisco.

[TV Guy]

Originally Posted by Duster76

This story has an actual idea wrapped in about 50 pounds of balderdash. The idea of the Ropers owning and operating an apartment building was a good one, but it was about 7 years too late. The biggest problem with "The Ropers" was the fact that they had nothing to do. Now they had something to do, but no show to do it in. Taffner's statements about who would occupy the apartments was ludicrous, for the series like this they might cast one additional familiar face (not a star or a regular in any of the series mentioned), but the rest of the cast would be newcomers. Economically it wouldn't work any other way. Fell was in his early 60's and Lindley was almost 70, you can be sure much younger actors would fill out the rest of the cast. This guy was trying to sell a product with some real over the top statements. He should have mentioned Mary Richards and Laverne and Shirley as potential residents.

LOL. So true. I had read in the past a different story where it mentioned some of the other “Taffner” actors as guest stars, not regulars, but it still seemed like a lot of wishful thinking. Joyce DeWitt wanted nothing to do with Taffner and his partners after TC. Ritter had better things to do. Why recast Chrissy? That seems silly.

Even his logic behind doing the show was odd. If local stations wanted more episodes of “The Ropers” (um, did they really?), then why not revive that show? How are you going to combine the episodes of “Three Apartments” with “The Ropers” to strip them? They are very different formats.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by TMC

After hearing about this, I wonder why there was never an attempt at doing crossovers with Three's Company and Too Close for Comfort? I mean, both were on ABC at the same time besides being produced by the same company. The only roadblock I suppose was that, TC took place in Santa Monica while TCFC took place in San Francisco.

They were different types of sitcoms. Too Close was a hilarious family sitcom while Three's Company was an even more hilarious sitcom about co-ed singles living in an apartment. I don't see much crossover here to combine the sitcoms in some way.

The only exception would be the Monroe character. You could bring him to TC or you could bring Jack Tripper to Too Close. Jack could've dated gorgeous Sarah Rush!

[SledgeBarone]

From the Feb. 4, 1987 Ithaca Journal, page 9B (https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/255802055/):

With the recent dumping of a show called "Three Apartments," the overheated race for syndicated sitcoms seems to be slowing. Producers had been churning out new comedies to sell directly to stations, while some experts warned of overkill. Ratings have been so-so; one company said shows like "Mama's Family" and "One Big Family" are each losing $3 million per year, with hopes of making it up in reruns. "Certainly,' there are too many comedies right now," said Henry Siegel, whose LBS Communications helped launch the trend. "There's always too much of something for a while. But it works itself out." Now the working-out is beginning. "Three Apartments" had seemed like one of the year's easier sells, because of its links to "Three's Company." The new show would have had the same producer (Don Taffner), the same landlords (Norman Fell and Audra Lindley) and the same building, with a new set of nubile young tenants. There were even reports that John Ritter would make some guest spots. Still, the show has been withdrawn.

And from Taffner After 'Company' Clone And O&O Deal With 'Apartments' (Variety, Oct. 15, 1986, page 149):

Taffner hasn't decided whether one of the three apartments of the title will duplicate the "Three's Company" situation of a young man, pretending to be gay, living with two nubile young women.

But Taffner says the character of Chrissy Snow, to which he owns the rights (Suzanne Somers played it from 1977-1981), may be resuscitated with a newcomer, who's main qualifications will be that she's blonde and well-endowned.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Thanks for that SledgeBarone!

Now we got an explanation as to why TA never happened. Looks to be due to a glut of comedies.