The British original

[vtunie]

Has anyone else seen Man About the House? Any opinions as to how it compares to Three's Company?

I'd like to hold off for now, except that I was struck by how closely the second, Lanier, pilot resembles the original in its tone, content, and interplay of the characters.

[Mikado]

I loved Man about the House, and consider it superior to 3s company in every way ( Sees Irene standing behind him with a sledgehammer and her eyes glowing an eerie red.........) Which isnt to say that i hated 3s company, I watched it fairly regularly until Terri joined the cast, which put me off the show from then on. Btw, the 3sC pilot and about the first 3-4 shows were pretty much word for word remakes of the Brit show, the only difference being that Robin Tripp wasnt pretending to be gay and some of the names were changed.*

*Robin Tripp became Jack Tripper/ Joanne became Chrissy / Chrissy became Janet (thats right, they switched the name Chrissy to the Blonde on 3sC , she was the brunette in the original) and the Ropers were originally George and Martha

[vtunie]

Originally Posted by Mikado

I loved Man about the House, and consider it superior to 3s company in every way

May I ask -- in what ways, exactly?

Originally Posted by Mikado

the only difference being that Robin Tripp wasnt pretending to be gay

But he was!! Except that they said "blue" usually, rather than "gay".

[Mikado]

May I ask -- in what ways, exactly?

It was much classier and the acting was much better, also the emphasis was much less on sex than 3sC

But he was!! Except that they said "blue" usually, rather than "gay".

They never said anything about Robin being gay in the orig, Roper let him live with the girls because "that sort of thing was ok in the 70s"<Not word for wordbut, something to that effect.....anyway, given the choice id take MATH over 3sC anyday

[JT]

Originally Posted by Mikado

It was much classier and the acting was much better, also the emphasis was much less on sex than 3sC

They never said anything about Robin being gay in the orig, Roper let him live with the girls because "that sort of thing was ok in the 70s"<Not word for wordbut, something to that effect.....anyway, given the choice id take MATH over 3sC anyday

I just watched the first episode yesterday, and Chrissy definitely tells Robin that she told Roper that he was "a poof."

[Mikado]

interesting, I dont recall that...either way, it wasnt a major part of the plotline the way it was in 3sC

[JT]

From what I've read, Robin ended up admitting the truth somewhere in the series. To be honest with you, TC didn't play up that part of the show much either. Sometimes, Jack would make comments about women with the landlord present and no one said anything.

[vtunie]

I should say I saw all 173 (or so) episodes of TC by 1984, but I only got to view the first 13 episodes of MABH very recently, on DVD. So my opinion is skewed by a lot of things! Nevertheless, of the two, I definitely like Three's Company. Here's why:

1. MATH has very little physical comedy, it's all talk. What makes TC screamingly funny for me is exactly the combination of physical and verbal humor.

2. TC is paced much more quickly. Again, comedy and speed go together well.

3. Despite the pace and the dialog cuts, I wouldn't say that the TC characters are any less fleshed out than the MATH ones; rather the opposite. It's just that the TC characterization is left more in the reaction to the situation than necessarily in the spoken lines.

4. I don't think MATH is any more classy. If anything, it is considerably more smutty. Actually, I think the role of purely sexual comedy in TC is grossly over-rated.

5. The Ropers are better defined in the American version. Stanley as the boor and Helen as the suffering but very amiable wife are more sympathetic than George the buffoon and Mildred as the cougar. (R.F. was the perfect buffoon in TC later, but of course that has nothing to do with MATH.)

6. The TC separation of the two female characters into smart brunette and dumb blonde worked better, at least for the first couple of seasons, than the slightly amorphous characterization of Chrissy (the brunette!!) and Jo in MATH. Robin seemed considerably more interested in Chrissy than in Jo, but it just kinda happened; there wasn't enough character difference to explain the choice. (Of course, the dumb-blonde bit in TC became very tiresome by season 5, but that can't really be compared to the MATH world).

7. Although the eight seasons of TC have a few so-so episodes, the length of the run and the introduction of new characters allowed for an evolution that does not seem possible in MATH, which lasted for 39 episodes over six years, and, AFAIK, didn't go much beyond the initial cast.

8. I admit to British culture shock watching MATH. The Brit slang sometimes plainly got in the way.

[Mikado]

Well, to each his own, but, I prefer the original (And I dont feel any need to justify it) let's agree to disagree

[vtunie]

Sure, why not!!

[Mikado]

Cools Hey Tunie, whats the weather like up there in Ottawa? (Thats where you said you were from, right?) its -10 here in Niagara (brrrr), we got a little light snow this morn

[johntealman]

Originally Posted by vtunie

Has anyone else seen Man About the House? Any opinions as to how it compares to Three's Company?

I'd like to hold off for now, except that I was struck by how closely the second, Lanier, pilot resembles the original in its tone, content, and interplay of the characters.

I was surprised to find out that Three's Company was based off of the British Tv show. I have the first and second season of "Man About the House". Each episode is exactly the same from Three's Company. The dialog and script is pretty much the same except more British slang.