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

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by TMC

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.

The closer one looks at it the clearer it becomes that the series was neither a spinoff or a companion series, it was in fact the 9th season of Three's Company. There was so little new here, that coupled with the bizarre casting of the critically important female lead, we're left with no other reasonable conclusion to reach.

Three's Company's rating had declined, but it was still doing well enough to be considered for renewal. It came down to the production budget. The show now had just one star who we can assume wanted more money to continue, so to pay the star, for the production company to make a profit and the network to get a price they could live with costs had to come down. Therefore DeWitt, Barnes and Knotts were let go replaced by much cheaper alternatives, the show's name changed to avoid any negative publicity as a result of the departures, and thus was born the 9th season of Three's Company.

[TMC]

One theory that I just read argued that the Three's a Crowd likely came about from a need to burn off scripts that were acquired in a package deal to adapt Robin's Nest for American television.

[BestTVever]

Antenna TV is now showing Threes A Crowd nightly. I have seen most of the episodes but its fun to watch them again. The show is such a poor knock off from Threes Company. But Mr. Bradford has no redeeming qualities. At least there were times we laughed with or laughed at Roper or Furley. Mr Bradford is Jack's foil. However he is times cruel to his own daughter purposely sending Vicki's old flame to their apartment to hit on Vicki. Mr. Bradford sets his ex-wife up with a rich businessman so he does not have to pay alimony anymore. And of course he is always a jerk to Jack. But the stuff Mr Bradford does and Vicki says "oh Dad" and always defends her father. Jack is so emasculated on the show too which is totally opposite of his Threes Company character.
The show was a poor imitation of Threes Company, had many recycled scripts, and the characters were so phony and plastic. I am shocked it did as well as it did and was considered for renewal.

[biffbronson]

I would have to say Episode 13 is my favorite: "A Friend in Deed" (Jan. 15, '85). Jack misreads Gail Edwards' character (Vicky's visiting friend), thinking she's after him when he overhears her talking about falling hard for a man, actually some other "new" guy. Great to see Gail in that role.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by TMC

One theory that I just read argued that the Three's a Crowd likely came about from a need to burn off scripts that were acquired in a package deal to adapt Robin's Nest for American television.

That wouldn't be enough to motivate the network to greenlight a series. It appears only four of the 22 scripts used for the one and only season were adaptations of Robin's Nest scripts.

As I noted in my earlier post Three's Company was no longer the powerhouse it once was falling out of the top 30 after 6 consecutive top 10 finishes but it was still doing well enough to be considered for renewal. The problem was the budget. The salad days were over and weren't coming back so it was a matter of paying a star who had other things sitting on the table, the production team making enough and the network paying a fee that reflected the current value of the series. Eliminating Joyce, Don and Priscilla replacing them with much cheaper alternatives saved a bundle and changing the show's name was an attempt to sell the whole thing to the audience.

Robin's Nest was a different series than Three's a Crowd, the bistro doesn't exist prior to the start of the series, and as we know it existed as part of Three's Company. The actress that played Vicky was a seasoned pro with credits dating back 17 years (to a time when she was 12!), Cadorette had one acting credit hardly what one would expect to see for such an important part. The entire "living together" arrangement was played out quickly on Robin's Nest, by episode 7 they were engaged, by episode 13 they were married. In short, Robin's Nest felt like a new series, exploring new ground cast properly. Three's a Crowd was Three's Company minus two female roommates replaced by one live-in love interest, minus one landlord replaced by a could-be father-in-law.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

Antenna TV is now showing Threes A Crowd nightly. I have seen most of the episodes but its fun to watch them again. The show is such a poor knock off from Threes Company. But Mr. Bradford has no redeeming qualities. At least there were times we laughed with or laughed at Roper or Furley. Mr Bradford is Jack's foil. However he is times cruel to his own daughter purposely sending Vicki's old flame to their apartment to hit on Vicki. Mr. Bradford sets his ex-wife up with a rich businessman so he does not have to pay alimony anymore. And of course he is always a jerk to Jack. But the stuff Mr Bradford does and Vicki says "oh Dad" and always defends her father. Jack is so emasculated on the show too which is totally opposite of his Threes Company character.
The show was a poor imitation of Threes Company, had many recycled scripts, and the characters were so phony and plastic. I am shocked it did as well as it did and was considered for renewal.

The show held it's own for the first half season, but the rating fell off in the second half with the final four episodes finishing out of the top 40. The story goes that the network was looking to renew but only for half a season (probably using it as a midseason replacement). In addition they were looking to make changes one of which was to have couple get married. Who knows if any of that is true. ABC may have made an offer that had to be refused. ABC wanted to do business with John in the future, so the network doesn't actually cancel his show, he decides to end it.

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by Duster76

The show held it's own for the first half season, but the rating fell off in the second half with the final four episodes finishing out of the top 40. The story goes that the network was looking to renew but only for half a season (probably using it as a midseason replacement). In addition they were looking to make changes one of which was to have couple get married. Who knows if any of that is true. ABC may have made an offer that had to be refused. ABC wanted to do business with John in the future, so the network doesn't actually cancel his show, he decides to end it.

Yes that is documented. ABC was sketchy on a second season and wanted to only commit to a half a season. John refused which really hurt all the other actors on the show. Maybe John was bitter coming off a hugely successful sitcom and expecting more. Its a shock to the system to be cancelled so fast.

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

I would have to say Episode 13 is my favorite: "A Friend in Deed" (Jan. 15, '85). Jack misreads Gail Edwards' character (Vicky's visiting friend), thinking she's after him when he overhears her talking about falling hard for a man, actually some other "new" guy. Great to see Gail in that role.

That episode does stand out because its the most "Threes Company" like.

[Schmo]

How much influence did John Ritter have on “Three’s A Crowd”? He wasn’t credited as its creator or executive producer.