What Was The Purpose of 'Three's A Crowd?'

[Brian Damage]

I am just curious, were Three's Company's ratings falling? Did ABC feel the show was getting stale and needed a facelift? Or perhaps they were just following in the footsteps of its British predecessor which did the exact same thing?

[Mr. Television]

TC's ratings were falling. They went from bring ranked #6 in 1983 to falling out of the top 30. I remember hearing John and some of the producers say that they were running out of stories to tell and they wanted to rejump the series. I don't think TC would have been cancelled but they probably only had one more year in them. I think they goofed when they cast Mary Cadorette who was very pretty but she was the weak link on that show. They originally wanted Richard Kline to come over as well. I think that would have helped the show but he declined because he was shooting a pilot for CBS with Shelley Fabares. Right before TAC was cancelled I read an article about what season 2 was going to look like. Jack and Vicky were going to get married in an opening 3 part episode and Stuart Pankin who had guest starred on the series finale was going to become a regular. Alas that never happened. I was just stunned when TAC was cancelled because it had about the same ratings as WTB and I think it was getting better and had some potential.

[TVFactFan]

To continue the three's company reality without janet and terri.

The father wasn't needed, maybe another couple in the building in the same age bracket as jack and vicky.

[peteemory]

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

TC's ratings were falling. They went from bring ranked #6 in 1983 to falling out of the top 30. I remember hearing John and some of the producers say that they were running out of stories to tell and they wanted to rejump the series. I don't think TC would have been cancelled but they probably only had one more year in them. I think they goofed when they cast Mary Cadorette who was very pretty but she was the weak link on that show. They originally wanted Richard Kline to come over as well. I think that would have helped the show but he declined because he was shooting a pilot for CBS with Shelley Fabares. Right before TAC was cancelled I read an article about what season 2 was going to look like. Jack and Vicky were going to get married in an opening 3 part episode and Stuart Pankin who had guest starred on the series finale was going to become a regular. Alas that never happened. I was just stunned when TAC was cancelled because it had about the same ratings as WTB and I think it was getting better and had some potential.

Great post and thanks! The episode with Stuart Pankin was easily the best of the series (IMHO). In fact, when I saw it on Antenna TV last year I thought that if they brought him on as a regular and diminished the role of the annoying father, TAC would be immeasurably better. As an adversary to Jack Tripper, Pankin's "director" character would have been a fantastic addition. A real good news/bad news situation: good to know that the producers of TAC realized the Ritter-Pankin potential; so sad to know that it was slated to be, but never brought to fruition. If only!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by peteemory

Great post and thanks! The episode with Stuart Pankin was easily the best of the series (IMHO). In fact, when I saw it on Antenna TV last year I thought that if they brought him on as a regular and diminished the role of the annoying father, TAC would be immeasurably better. As an adversary to Jack Tripper, Pankin's "director" character would have been a fantastic addition. A real good news/bad news situation: good to know that the producers of TAC realized the Ritter-Pankin potential; so sad to know that it was slated to be, but never brought to fruition. If only!

Who was Stuart pankin's character?

[Mace Dolex]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Who was Stuart pankin's character?

On the last episode of TAC he played a director who was shooting an airline commercial with Vicky in it and butts heads with Jack, the ending bit is comedy gold when Jack purposely fumbles the takes.

I don't know how they would've worked in Pankin as a recurring character in season 2, unless his character somehow decided to take revenge on Jack for ruining his career as a commercial director.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Mace Dolex

On the last episode of TAC he played a director who was shooting an airline commercial with Vicky in it and butts heads with Jack, the ending bit is comedy gold when Jack purposely fumbles the takes.

I don't know how they would've worked in Pankin as a recurring character in season 2, unless his character somehow decided to take revenge on Jack for ruining his career as a commercial director.

Why would he have been a recurring character when he was only a guest star playing a commercial director

[Mace Dolex]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Why would he have been a recurring character when he was only a guest star playing a commercial director

I guess maybe to re-vamp the show up a bit write new storylines since at the time the only regulars were Jack, Vicky, Mr. Bradford, EZ Taylor and occasionally Mrs. Bradford.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Mace Dolex

I guess maybe to re-vamp the show up a bit write new storylines since at the time the only regulars were Jack, Vicky, Mr. Bradford, EZ Taylor and occasionally Mrs. Bradford.

To me it would have worked better without the father, Felipe as the chef and ocassional appearances by larry

Vicky could have had girlfriends come over or Jack could have had met a new friend.

The father should have kept his A$$ AWAY and made 1 appearance or maybe 2

[TMC]

Three's a Crowd in a way, seemed to be doomed from the start. It just felt ridiculous and contrived for Jack to just jump into marriage with some chick that we hardly know. People expected it to be more like Three's Company and it wasn't.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Mr. Television

TC's ratings were falling. They went from bring ranked #6 in 1983 to falling out of the top 30. I remember hearing John and some of the producers say that they were running out of stories to tell and they wanted to rejump the series. I don't think TC would have been cancelled but they probably only had one more year in them. I think they goofed when they cast Mary Cadorette who was very pretty but she was the weak link on that show. They originally wanted Richard Kline to come over as well. I think that would have helped the show but he declined because he was shooting a pilot for CBS with Shelley Fabares. Right before TAC was cancelled I read an article about what season 2 was going to look like. Jack and Vicky were going to get married in an opening 3 part episode and Stuart Pankin who had guest starred on the series finale was going to become a regular. Alas that never happened. I was just stunned when TAC was cancelled because it had about the same ratings as WTB and I think it was getting better and had some potential.

The story that I've always heard is that ABC was willing to give Three's a Crowd a second season, but only for 13 episodes. John Ritter was upset that ABC didn't promise him another 22 episode season for Three's a Crowd. So ABC decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and canceled Three's a Crowd outright. With a slot now opened up in the schedule, ABC brought over Diff'rent Strokes, which had just been canceled by NBC for one final season in 1985-86.

[CJMD03]

One: The cast had no chemistry.

Two: No one cares if you lived together without marriage anymore.

[rusty spike]

I think TAC was all about keeping John Ritter happy as the star of the show. I don't know how much he was compensated but I am willing to believe it was the same or a little more than the last season of TC. Perhaps, he was given part ownership of TAC.

I think it explains why TAC had a small cast and limited sets/scenes. There was a smaller budget and most of it probably went to John.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

I think TAC was all about keeping John Ritter happy as the star of the show. I don't know how much he was compensated but I am willing to believe it was the same or a little more than the last season of TC. Perhaps, he was given part ownership of TAC.

I think it explains why TAC had a small cast and limited sets/scenes. There was a smaller budget and most of it probably went to John.

The producers of Three's Company were always notoriously frugal to begin with. So it shouldn't be so surprising that Three's a Crowd would presumably, have a limited budget as well.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

I am just curious, were Three's Company's ratings falling? Did ABC feel the show was getting stale and needed a facelift? Or perhaps they were just following in the footsteps of its British predecessor which did the exact same thing?

Somebody recently wrote on YouTube the opinion that Three's a Crowd really wasn't necessary because John Ritter had already spent the past eight years playing the central character on Three's Company. Typically, spin-offs focus on a secondary character from the original series, which is then expanded upon in their own show. But Jack Tripper was already a well-developed and familiar figure to television audiences. There was really, little left to explore with his character that hadn't been covered.