Was anyone responsible for TAC’s failure?

[Cbalducc]

If any person or people was responsible for “Three’s A Crowd”’s failure, who was it?

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by Cbalducc

If any person or people was responsible for “Three’s A Crowd”’s failure, who was it?

Everyone


Seriously, it was a cheap rip off of Threes Company. Instead of the Ropers or Mr Furley budding in, it was Jack's girlfriend's father. The last several seasons of Threes Company struggled with poor scripts and cheezy antics. Jack and the girls became parodies of their former selves. When Threes a Crowd started we got those parody characters with poor scripts again. IMHO in the entire series there is one or two shows where the script is ok. With the magic formula gone and Threes Company tanking in the ratings in 1984, how could everyone believe a cheap knock off of the show would work?

I hated Jack's girlfriend's character. IMHO she was so predictable and fake. There was no depth to her character. When Threes Company started it was 3 roommates who came together only to pay the rent. They all struggled and their daily life hiding from the landlord and struggling for money was funny. Now both Jack and his girlfriend had good jobs and a nice apartment. The entire show was based around Jack annoying her dad and vice versa.

[TVFactFan]

Probably the father. Seeing the Dad all the time on TAC was like watching TC and always seeing Mr. Roper inside the apt

[Mace Dolex]

It's hard to say because as legend goes sitcoms were getting hit hard by the more popular hour long shows like Hill Street Blues; Magnum P.I.; The A-Team and Dallas that networks were hankering for a hit.

But then The Cosby Show which premiered the same year as TAC was an immediate success and all of a sudden sitcoms are popular again, that same year Who's The Boss? premiered and at times would be paired up with TAC but while TAC tanked Who's The Boss lasted eight seasons.

But for whatever reasons ABC didn't think TAC was worth another season and would only renew it but for half a season episodes but John Ritter didn't take the deal and ABC decided to pick up Diff'rent Strokes.

[Mace Dolex]

Double post

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Probably the father. Seeing the Dad all the time on TAC was like watching TC and always seeing Mr. Roper inside the apt

It probably goes without saying that Three's a Crowd is a great example of a show that has interesting ingredients but never comes together to amount to anything. What exactly was the formula for Three's a Crowd when compared to the the formula for Three's Company, which was slapstick, innuendo, and bedroom farce? It seems like the only premise for comedic tension is that Jack Tripper doesn't get along with his pseudo father-in-law, Robert Mandan.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by TMC

It probably goes without saying that Three's a Crowd is a great example of a show that has interesting ingredients but never comes together to amount to anything. What exactly was the formula for Three's a Crowd when compared to the the formula for Three's Company, which was slapstick, innuendo, and bedroom farce? It seems like the only premise for comedic tension is that Jack Tripper doesn't get along with his pseudo father-in-law, Robert Mandan.

It did better in the ratings than I thought it would have. Maybe because they still had Jack Tripper

[Cbalducc]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

It did better in the ratings than I thought it would have. Maybe because they still had Jack Tripper

I think if “Three’s Company” had ended after four seasons, “Three’s A Crowd” may have had a greater opportunity for success. But with TC remaining on the air for eight seasons and finishing at number 33 (according to Wikipedia), audiences were growing tired of the Jack Tripper character. John Ritter should have put the character to rest and moved on.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Cbalducc

I think if “Three’s Company” had ended after four seasons, “Three’s A Crowd” may have had a greater opportunity for success. But with TC remaining on the air for eight seasons and finishing at number 33 (according to Wikipedia), audiences were growing tired of the Jack Tripper character. John Ritter should have put the character to rest and moved on.

No sitcom has never ended after 4 seasons unless it was cancelled lol

[rusty spike]

I think the writing and scripts were lousy.

[TMC]

If I were to guess, it was the Vicky character as portrayed by Mary Cadorette. For starters, what the hell did Jack see in this girl to want to marry her on the drop of the hat and want to right away live with her despite barely knowing her?

As others have said, Vicky was a dry and unfunny, spoiled woman. And presumably, the crux of Three's a Crowd upon its conception, was going to be Jack's romance with Vicky. And yet, they don't have any real chemistry.

[rusty spike]

I guess Jack and Vicky were soul mates. In one episode, they end up going to spend the night on a Mexican beach wearing pajamas. I can't imagine anyone else doing that on a romantic rendezvous.

[TMC]

I wonder how much John Ritter should shoulder the blame? He if I have my facts straight, ultimately wanted or handpicked Mary Cadorette to be his leading lady despite her lack of experience and lack of charisma. Three's a Crowd also could've gotten a second season, but ABC was only willing to commit to 13 episodes (presumably, as a midseason replacement). They ultimately canceled the show outright (and picked up Diff'rent Strokes to fill its spot) when John wanted a full 22+ episode fall order.

[rusty spike]

I am beginning to agree that John had a lot more to blame for the TAC than I originally conceded. As others have indicated, John really decided who he would and would not work with. And he obviously chose a very unremarkable Mary to be the girlfriend, as well as some surfer dude who wouldn't steal Jack Tripper's laughs. John wanted an almost nobody ensemble so there would be no breakout stars or other people upstaging him. Well, he got that kind of show where even his most ardent fans struggle to enjoy TAC.

[TVFactFan]

Three's a Crowd is more watchable than certain eps of Three's Company and all the Ropers