The series finale of "Three's Company" first aired 40 years ago this month

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

I just found this on Instagram:

A post shared by on Jan 01, 2022 at 12:00pm PDT

A post shared by on Jan 01, 2022 at 12:00pm PDT

Based on the first image, it appears that the finale ("Friends and Lovers") was first taped on February 5, 1984. It appears that the announcement that Three's Company would be coming to an end following the conclusion of the 1983-84 TV season and John Ritter would then go on to Three's a Crowd was first made back in December 1983.

[DJM77]

About the above article...

I don't understand why Priscilla Barnes was so upset by Three's Company ending when she later stated that her time on the show was the worst three years of her life.

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by DJM77

About the above article...

I don't understand why Priscilla Barnes was so upset by Three's Company ending when she later stated that her time on the show was the worst three years of her life.

At that moment I dont think she was going to rain on the party and be negative while the show was filming its last episode. Its not what she says today. I have heard her say on reunions that she was happy the show was cancelled and did not care John was having a spin off. Joyce had a right to be upset that ABC kept the spin off a secret for as long as they did.

[thejasoomian]

I think it was bittersweet for Priscilla back then. I think she has love for the show nowadays , going by some of her interviews I've seen from her event appearances.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

At that moment I dont think she was going to rain on the party and be negative while the show was filming its last episode. Its not what she says today. I have heard her say on reunions that she was happy the show was cancelled and did not care John was having a spin off. Joyce had a right to be upset that ABC kept the spin off a secret for as long as they did.

I get why Priscilla's mentality about the show ending would or may have been different than Joyce's. Priscilla didn't come into Three's Company until it was already about six years on the air. So it isn't like she had as big of an attachment to the show as Joyce did, who along with John, was there from the very beginning.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by thejasoomian

I think it was bittersweet for Priscilla back then. I think she has love for the show nowadays , going by some of her interviews I've seen from her event appearances.

I never got the impression that Priscilla was like Susan Dey with The Partridge Family or Tina Louise with Gilligan's Island in what, she seemingly saw Three's Company as an embarrassment and totally beneath her as an actress. Maybe Priscilla had to realize, that she may never get as "good" or high profile of a gig as Three's Company again, so she might as well "embrace it".

[TMC]

Originally Posted by DJM77

About the above article...

I don't understand why Priscilla Barnes was so upset by Three's Company ending when she later stated that her time on the show was the worst three years of her life.

By the time that Priscilla was brought on - everyone was extremely guarded. There was still lingering tension in place amongst the cast members over the brouhaha with Suzanne Somers. Plus, Priscilla said she would get severely criticized by producers for even being "too blonde". So the environment was quite toxic.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

I assume that you're talking about this.

A post shared by on Jan 01, 2022 at 12:00pm PDT

I'm trying to think or find other occurrences where a TV show's series finale episode was aired as essentially, a "one off" special of sorts besides Three's Company. I know that CBS aired the series finale for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a two hour movie on September 27, 2015. The penultimate episode first aired on February 15, 2015.

[TMC]

I wonder if the series finale of Three's Company was ever treated by either the network or the press as major event or milestone at the time. I've been searching around YouTube to see if anything mentioning the fact that it was the series finale was brought up but I haven't found anything thus far, beyond this:

ALL NEW! Here is the halftime break of the final episode under the Three's Company title. First, it's plugs for 7-Up, a trailer for All of ME, promos for People Do the Craziest Things, Who's the Boss and Glitter., with the Three's Company Billboard in between.

I get the feeling that we as viewers, were never going to be given enough time to reflect because of the unusual scheduling that ABC gave to the finale, September 18, 1984. That was literally a week before the series premiere of the spin-off, Three's a Crowd. So, Three's a Crowd just felt like a revamped and paired down version of Three's Company with only John Ritter sticking around instead of a decisive "ending". Basically, Three's Company is still going to be around, it's just that you aren't going to be seeing Jack hanging out with Janet, Terri, Larry, and Mr. Furley anymore.

• Record-Journal Sep 18, 1984
  
• Ellensburg Daily Record - Page 28
  
• Finale Repeated Tonight. - Page 24
  
• The Free Lance-Star Sep 8, 1984
  
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sep 18, 1984
  
• Star-News Sep 11, 1984
  
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune Sep 11, 1984
  
• Ottawa Citizen Sep 15, 1984
  
• Toledo Blade Sep 9, 1984

[TMC]

I was finally able to find a commercial on ABC that promoted the series finale of Three's Company from September 1984. This is more specifically, from September 17, 1984, the day before "Friends and Lovers", the final episode of Three's Company, was first broadcast on ABC:

Aired during "Call to Glory" on WRAL-Raleigh.

• 00:00 Chrysler Corporation (with Lee Iacocca)
• 01:00 ABC ID
• 01:06 AT&T Computers
• 01:36 United States Postal Service (Express Mail)
• 02:07 Paper Mate Accu-Point
• 02:37 "Three's Company" promo
• 02:49 Ronald Reagan for President
• 03:19 Owens Corning Fiberglas
• 03:50 "Jessie" promo
• 04:08 "Call to Glory" bumper
• 04:13 "Paper Dolls" promo
• 04:31 Natural Light
• 05:01 Relay ATM Network
• 05:31 WRAL-TV 5 News promo: Edmisten/Martin Gallup Poll
• 05:36 "Call to Glory" bumper
• 05:42 MasterCard
• 06:13 Actifed (with Wally Schirra)
• 06:43 Vivage from Avon
• 07:13 "All of Me"
• 07:43 ABC Thursday promo ("People Do the Craziest Things"/"Who's the Boss?")
• 08:15 United States Postal Service (Dog Stamps)
• 08:45 AT&T Computers
• 09:15 "Jessie" promo
• 09:26 "The Fall Guy" promo
• 09:37 ABC News Brief (with Sam Donaldson)
• 10:16 Budweiser
• 10:26 ABC News Brief (cont'd)
• 10:37 American Dairy Association (Milk's Got More!)
• 11:07 WRAL-TV 5 promo: The Place to Be!

This is the final commercial break for "Cupid Works Overtime", the 20th episode (170th overall) from the eighth-and final-season of ABC's mega hit 1977-84 sitcom "Three's Company". This episode originally aired on Tuesday, March 13, 1984, presumably in order to prep the network for the upcoming coverage of the Summer 1984 Olympic Games. This clip, however, is a rebroadcast that aired in May 1984.

First up:

1. "Three's Company" (S8E20 - "Cupid Works Overtime"): End of episode and halftime bumper

2. "Finders Keepers": 1984 TV Spot

3. Honda Scooters Commercial (Featuring Grace Jones and Adam Ant)

4. "Three's Company" promo (S8E21-22 - "Friends & Lovers: Parts 1 & 2): This is a network promo for what would be the final episode of the series in where Jack moves in with his girlfriend Vicky, Janet gets married, Terri moves to Hawaii, and Vicky's father becoming the owner and landlord of Jack's restaurant. It would also mean a transition as the final episode of "Three's Company" transitions into its' spinoff "Three's A Crowd")

5. "Three's Company" (S8E20 - "Cupid Works Overtime"): Closing Credits.

6. Promo for the May 11, 1984 episode of "ABC's Wide World Of Sports"

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by TMC

I was finally able to find a commercial on ABC that promoted the series finale of Three's Company from September 1984. This is more specifically, from September 17, 1984, the day before "Friends and Lovers", the final episode of Three's Company, was first broadcast on ABC:

Wow that ending and promo and commercials were really something. What a time capsule. Grace Slick selling Honda scooters and the marketing for people that don't drive or never ridden one. Selling for the vanity of having one. Safety was overrated I guess

Peter Jennings saying there would not be a woman president that year. Its another time capsule because all that talk led to a woman being placed on the democrat ticket in a few months as Vice President candidate. It was almost a teaser or premonition of what was to come.

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

Wow that ending and promo and commercials were really something. What a time capsule. Grace Slick selling Honda scooters and the marketing for people that don't drive or never ridden one.

Grace Jones