This show didn't have a lot of big-name guest stars - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JSP · 06-21-2014, 09:30 PM

For a show as popular as "Three's Company" was at the time, you would have thought there would be bigger-named guest stars on the series. Then again, the writing wasn't exactly the best in Hollywood at the time, so maybe a big name just didn't need to appear on the series. If your career was booming already, being on "Three's Company" wasn't going to boost it higher than it already was I suppose. Of course, it could have just been the producers didn't want to take attention away from the cast, or the producers just weren't willing to spend the money to get big names. My guess it was more the latter. I get the feeling with Don Taffner and Ted Bergmann that it wasn't easy working for them. They definitely were in it for the money and didn't care about much else it seemed, so trying to bring in big names to the show would have hurt their bottom line. They were cheap and it was their way or the highway.

TVFactFan · 06-21-2014, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSP

For a show as popular as "Three's Company" was at the time, you would have thought there would be bigger-named guest stars on the series. Then again, the writing wasn't exactly the best in Hollywood at the time, so maybe a big name just didn't need to appear on the series. If your career was booming already, being on "Three's Company" wasn't going to boost it higher than it already was I suppose. Of course, it could have just been the producers didn't want to take attention away from the cast, or the producers just weren't willing to spend the money to get big names. My guess it was more the latter. I get the feeling with Don Taffner and Ted Bergmann that it wasn't easy working for them. They definitely were in it for the money and didn't care about much else it seemed, so trying to bring in big names to the show would have hurt their bottom line. They were cheap and it was their way or the highway.

Never realized that but you are right

Mr. Television · 06-21-2014, 11:22 PM

They did get Lucille Ball for the Best of show but that's the only one I can think of . They had a few actors that would become big like John Larroquette and Jeffrey Tambor.

JSP · 06-21-2014, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

They did get Lucille Ball for the Best of show but that's the only one I can think of . They had a few actors that would become big like John Larroquette and Jeffrey Tambor.

Since the Lucille Ball episode is a best of I don't count it, and I don't really count the actors that became famous afterward. When you exclude those two categories there really weren't very many. I'm sure someone can dig up one or two big names. I think the biggest guest star who had a previous notable career was Dick Sargent, ha ha.

Laftrak · 06-22-2014, 06:17 AM

You would think Don Knotts could have arranged for Andy Griffith, Jim Nabors or Ron Howard to make a guest appearance. That could've been a lot of fun.

JSP · 06-22-2014, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laftrak

You would think Don Knotts could have arranged for Andy Griffith, Jim Nabors or Ron Howard to make a guest appearance. That could've been a lot of fun.

I'm just surprised the producers were willing to spend the money to get Don Knotts on the series. Then again I'm not surprised, because it would have cost less to retain Don Knotts than it would Norman Fell and Audra Lindley. It made financial sense for them to bring in THAT big name, ha ha.

(Yes I'm aware of Ann Wedgeworth but I'm sure she wasn't making as much as Norman or Audra and besides they dropped her quickly.)

But you're right, one would have thought having Don Knotts on the show would have resulted in more celebrity guest stars coming in. I'm sure Don had some famous friends in the business he could have asked. Then again, maybe he was just grateful to be on another hit show after leaving Andy Griffith and didn't want to rock the boat again this time.

Zoneboy · 06-22-2014, 09:37 AM

It's always possible that Andy, Ron and/or Jim were asked to appear on the show but declined. Other big names may have been approached but declined for any number of reasons including salary demands, schedule conflicts, etc...

biffbronson · 06-24-2014, 06:36 AM

For diehard TV fans, there were occasional guests that were fairly wellknown, although granted not really "big-name." A good example is Don Porter, former star of Gidget:

Skywalker · 06-24-2014, 04:07 PM

Not surprised because the producers were notoriously cheap. I wonder how much they had to shell out to get Lucille Ball to do the Best Of show.

Mace Dolex · 07-09-2014, 11:03 PM

She wasnt famous then but Loni Anderson was in the 2nd season as was character actor James Cromwell from Babe Pig In The City, Eraser, Star Trek First Contact.

With the show having such a tremendous talent like John Ritter there was need for big guest stars to pull ratings.

LittleRickyII · 07-10-2014, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skywalker

Not surprised because the producers were notoriously cheap. I wonder how much they had to shell out to get Lucille Ball to do the Best Of show.

I have no idea, but I'm guessing she wasn't requiring a lot of money to appear simply for the fact that she was a big fan of John Ritter's work on the show (and also Robin Williams at the time). And she would sometimes make these types of appearances for the sake of someone whose talent she appreciated, or if it was something she enjoyed doing (like games). Before Carol Burnett had her own show and was still trying to establish her career, CBS gave Carol the opportunity to do a special but wanted her to find a couple big-name stars. Carol called Lucy because Lucy had once told her (after seeing Carol perform in a stage production and being very impressed), if you ever need my help feel free to call. According to Burnett, before she finished getting the question out of her mouth, Lucy said, "Yes. When do you need me?" I have a feeling John Ritter probably called Lucy about this special episode because she had made it fairly well known that she liked him. Lucy's retrospective of Three's Company was sort of reminiscent of one Henry Fonda did for All in the Family.

Skywalker · 07-10-2014, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleRickyII

I have no idea, but I'm guessing she wasn't requiring a lot of money to appear simply for the fact that she was a big fan of John Ritter's work on the show (and also Robin Williams at the time). And she would sometimes make these types of appearances for the sake of someone whose talent she appreciated, or if it was something she enjoyed doing (like games). Before Carol Burnett had her own show and was still trying to establish her career, CBS gave Carol the opportunity to do a special but wanted her to find a couple big-name stars. Carol called Lucy because Lucy had once told her (after seeing Carol perform in a stage production and being very impressed), if you ever need my help feel free to call. According to Burnett, before she finished getting the question out of her mouth, Lucy said, "Yes. When do you need me?" I have a feeling John Ritter probably called Lucy about this special episode because she had made it fairly well known that she liked him. Lucy's retrospective of Three's Company was sort of reminiscent of one Henry Fonda did for All in the Family.

You're probably right. I just can't see the TC producers spending a lot of money on any special guest star no matter how famous they were.

Mace Dolex · 07-10-2014, 07:14 PM

Well except for season 8 where it took a dip in the ratings, the show was consistently in the top 20 shows that it didn't need a ratings stunt like other shows around the time Diff'rent Strokes for example had Nancy Reagan, Mr. T, Kareem-Abdul Jabar, Milton Berle, Muhammad Ali.

JSP · 08-02-2014, 09:53 PM

I noticed looking at the full episode list of Three's Company that although there really weren't big famous guest stars, they had in seasons 1-4 who were sitcom veteran character actors/actresses making appearances. But then it seems like Seasons 5-8 these actors/actresses quit appearing and I can't really identify any memorable names guesting in the later seasons, except for Barry Williams (Greg Brady). I had no idea he was ever a guest star on Three's Company. I never saw the episode. It's as if over time the quality of guest stars actually DECREASED.

TVFactFan · 08-02-2014, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSP

I noticed looking at the full episode list of Three's Company that although there really weren't big famous guest stars, they had in seasons 1-4 who were sitcom veteran character actors/actresses making appearances. But then it seems like Seasons 5-8 these actors/actresses quit appearing and I can't really identify any memorable names guesting in the later seasons, except for Barry Williams (Greg Brady). I had no idea he was ever a guest star on Three's Company. I never saw the episode. It's as if over time the quality of guest stars actually DECREASED.

Barry Williams had kind of a small role in that episode that's why his appearance is not memorable

06-21-2014, 09:30 PM	#1
JSP Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 19, 2003 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,735	This show didn't have a lot of big-name guest stars For a show as popular as "Three's Company" was at the time, you would have thought there would be bigger-named guest stars on the series. Then again, the writing wasn't exactly the best in Hollywood at the time, so maybe a big name just didn't need to appear on the series. If your career was booming already, being on "Three's Company" wasn't going to boost it higher than it already was I suppose. Of course, it could have just been the producers didn't want to take attention away from the cast, or the producers just weren't willing to spend the money to get big names. My guess it was more the latter. I get the feeling with Don Taffner and Ted Bergmann that it wasn't easy working for them. They definitely were in it for the money and didn't care about much else it seemed, so trying to bring in big names to the show would have hurt their bottom line. They were cheap and it was their way or the highway.

06-21-2014, 11:22 PM	#3
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,128	They did get Lucille Ball for the Best of show but that's the only one I can think of . They had a few actors that would become big like John Larroquette and Jeffrey Tambor.
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06-22-2014, 09:37 AM	#7
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,349	It's always possible that Andy, Ron and/or Jim were asked to appear on the show but declined. Other big names may have been approached but declined for any number of reasons including salary demands, schedule conflicts, etc...
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06-24-2014, 06:36 AM	#8
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,414	For diehard TV fans, there were occasional guests that were fairly wellknown, although granted not really "big-name." A good example is Don Porter, former star of Gidget:
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06-22-2014, 06:17 AM	#5
Laftrak Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jun 11, 2014 Posts: 13	You would think Don Knotts could have arranged for Andy Griffith, Jim Nabors or Ron Howard to make a guest appearance. That could've been a lot of fun.

06-24-2014, 04:07 PM	#9
Skywalker Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Apr 04, 2003 Posts: 14,204	Not surprised because the producers were notoriously cheap. I wonder how much they had to shell out to get Lucille Ball to do the Best Of show.

07-09-2014, 11:03 PM	#10
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,668	She wasnt famous then but Loni Anderson was in the 2nd season as was character actor James Cromwell from Babe Pig In The City, Eraser, Star Trek First Contact. With the show having such a tremendous talent like John Ritter there was need for big guest stars to pull ratings.

07-10-2014, 07:14 PM	#13
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,668	Well except for season 8 where it took a dip in the ratings, the show was consistently in the top 20 shows that it didn't need a ratings stunt like other shows around the time Diff'rent Strokes for example had Nancy Reagan, Mr. T, Kareem-Abdul Jabar, Milton Berle, Muhammad Ali.

08-02-2014, 09:53 PM	#14
JSP Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 19, 2003 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,735	I noticed looking at the full episode list of Three's Company that although there really weren't big famous guest stars, they had in seasons 1-4 who were sitcom veteran character actors/actresses making appearances. But then it seems like Seasons 5-8 these actors/actresses quit appearing and I can't really identify any memorable names guesting in the later seasons, except for Barry Williams (Greg Brady). I had no idea he was ever a guest star on Three's Company. I never saw the episode. It's as if over time the quality of guest stars actually DECREASED.