sometimes I overthink stuff like this for instance; money problems & Jack

[Tiffy540]

All throughout at least seasons 1-2. 3 & have to pay rent what was it 200.00 per person, that was "alot" of money then? For instance in the episode where Jack is catering to Chrissy's boss' event & he has to pay 100.00 for cocktails... Its not like 100.00 was $2,000 .....You don't have a measly little 100.00, where was their money going?? That was only 1 episode I can think of where money was a few hundred dollars but I do assume or guess that in the 70s things in real life cost a little less, things were easier to pay for & gain access to.

Then in Roper's Car, they have to pay 200.00 to fix the rotten brakes (or whatever part there was) & I think WTF do you guys do with all your money?


Second in the episode 'The Best Laid Plans' it bothers me so much that Jack is trying to sleep in the girls' bed. If he was such a gentleman & their relationship/s was platonic why was Jack Tripper so hell bent on sleeping in a girl's bed??? Was he trying to try something with Chrissy secretly and not tell anything about it the next morning; one episode Chrissy gets upset that Jack did not try anything at all!!

[JackJanetChrissy]

I overthink, too. $100 in the year 1977 was about $400 in today's dollars. I don't know about you but $400 today is a lot of money to me, so in the catering episode (where Jack needed $200 up front, $800 today) I understand how that would have been a lot of cash to get overnight.

I think a lot of the rent trouble became sillier the longer the show was on because by Season 8 all three roommates had good jobs. But in the earlier seasons it was plausible. Janet and Chrissy had low-level jobs, and the wage gap was much worse back then so they were probably getting paid less than they were worth. Jack did not work full-time and only picked up odd jobs and part-time work where he could. A quick Google search tells me that the average salary in 1977 was $9,779, which divides into $800 a month---and that's "average" and not necessarily California numbers. After the rent, utilities, food, busfare, and other regular expenses it seems believable that they would be stressed for money.

As for the "Best Laid Plans" episode I think most of that was just played for laughs, I don't think Jack would have tried anything without Chrissy's consent. Jack was being very Larry-like, though...scheming all the way!

[Tiffy540]

I had a question about episode Jack Looks for a Job and Chrissy is about to shave him. What was the 'bribe with a balloon' ??

Jack says 'Your not going to bribe me with a balloon are ya"?? I don't understand what he meant.

[biffbronson]

Wasn't that like when you want your very young child to go to a barber, or doctor, or dentist, you'll tell them they'll be given a balloon afterward? Like a lollipop reward.

[Smartboy]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Wasn't that like when you want your very young child to go to a barber, or doctor, or dentist, you'll tell them they'll be given a balloon afterward? Like a lollipop reward.

I think that is what the audience was supposed to think of.

[Mace Dolex]

Originally Posted by Tiffy540

I had a question about episode Jack Looks for a Job and Chrissy is about to shave him. What was the 'bribe with a balloon' ??

Jack says 'Your not going to bribe me with a balloon are ya"?? I don't understand what he meant.

Janet mentions that was how they used to train barbers, they started off practicing on balloons, sounds silly but who knows if that's true or not.

[cbikle]

Besides cooking, Jack's other hobby was going out on dates or going to the clubs with Larry, so I could see that eating up a lot of his income.

If I recall correctly, Jack was going to culinary school, so maybe he racked up some debt to pay for that (although as a Navy veteran, he would've been eligible for GI benefits, soooo...).

My guess would be that Jack had racked up debt (maybe helping out his family) and his credit score (don't remember if they had those in the 70's) was so poor, he wouldn't have been able to get his own apartment EVEN if he could afford it.

[Lastkidpicked]

Originally Posted by Tiffy540

All throughout at least seasons 1-2. 3 & have to pay rent what was it 200.00 per person, that was "alot" of money then? For instance in the episode where Jack is catering to Chrissy's boss' event & he has to pay 100.00 for cocktails... Its not like 100.00 was $2,000 .....You don't have a measly little 100.00, where was their money going?? That was only 1 episode I can think of where money was a few hundred dollars but I do assume or guess that in the 70s things in real life cost a little less, things were easier to pay for & gain access to.

Things were different in the 70's and 80's. You couldn't just log in and make a few bucks doing Uber, lift, or Amazon. So your paycheck was your paycheck ant that was it.

Now, the "feel" of the roommate's finances are written very well. This is one thing I really enjoy about the show. I remember back when my friends and I were young and didn't have any money. We didn't care-- we were having a blast! To us, going to McDonalds was "going out to dinner".

They did a great job of capturing that young, broke, and carefree feel that many of us remember.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Yet in reality John was making $50,000 PER episode or about $1.3 MILLION per year!

Plus I'm sure John had some bonus clauses and/or promotional/endorsement deals that paid him even more!

The female roommates were pulling in around $800,000 a year each!

[dee2364]

People not being able to pay cheap rent is not that far-fetched. Right now, I'm in the process of trying to evict my parents' tenants. The reason why is that in spite of being charged hundreds of dollars below market rate and working decent jobs with benefits, they've never paid their rent on time unless threatened. They have also had their utilities threatened to be cut off several times. They have a kid, but still, we're talking $530 per parent who are collectively making at least $2K a month.

I think what makes the money issues so hard to believe on the show is that the roommates don't look like and act like your typical irresponsible deadbeats. In any event, could three people sharing an apartment struggle with the rent? If they were irresponsible and self-entitled as hell, of course. Happens all the time.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by dee2364

People not being able to pay cheap rent is not that far-fetched. Right now, I'm in the process of trying to evict my parents' tenants. The reason why is that in spite of being charged hundreds of dollars below market rate and working decent jobs with benefits, they've never paid their rent on time unless threatened. They have also had their utilities threatened to be cut off several times. They have a kid, but still, we're talking $530 per parent who are collectively making at least $2K a month.

I think what makes the money issues so hard to believe on the show is that the roommates don't look like and act like your typical irresponsible deadbeats. In any event, could three people sharing an apartment struggle with the rent? If they were irresponsible and self-entitled as hell, of course. Happens all the time.

Nurses average $32 an hour or $67,000 a year now! I know TC was decades ago but even back then nursing was a skilled profession and a nurse made approximately the same once you adjust for inflation. So Terri was easily earning more than Janet & Jack!

Since Angelino was such a cheapskate & Jack's Bistro never made that much profit Terri might've been earning more than Jack & Janet COMBINED! But regardless they needed the "we can't pay the rent" line as a part of several plotlines over the years.

[JackJanetChrissy]

Yeah, I always figured nurses were pretty well-paid. And by that time Janet was the manager of the flower shop. There was even that one episode when Jack was unemployed that the girls volunteered to cover his part of the rent. I think it was "Maid to Order" in Season 6.

Back then they didn't have extra stuff like internet, streaming services, cable. They had a phone bill, grocery bill, and possibly electricity or water. No car or gas bills. By Season 6 they should have been making rent easily.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

Yeah, I always figured nurses were pretty well-paid. And by that time Janet was the manager of the flower shop. There was even that one episode when Jack was unemployed that the girls volunteered to cover his part of the rent. I think it was "Maid to Order" in Season 6.

Back then they didn't have extra stuff like internet, streaming services, cable. They had a phone bill, grocery bill, and possibly electricity or water. No car or gas bills. By Season 6 they should have been making rent easily.

Maybe Jack spent a lot of money on porn.

Back then it was the old-fashioned kind. None of the free stuff you get today. I remember John once described Jack Tripper as "humping lamposts". So it's clear Jack was a HIGHLY sexually charged guy! Who knows what he did with the rest of his time OFF camera?

Remember we only saw a portion of their lives on camera. They could've been spending a lot of money off camera. But Janet and Terri made enough money to pay rent by themselves alone. Unless they had some hidden expense like gambling or sending money to family that we didn't know about.

[cbikle]

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

Terri might've been earning more than Jack & Janet COMBINED! But regardless they needed the "we can't pay the rent" line as a part of several plotlines over the years.

Maybe Terri was aggressively paying off debt incurred by medical school and chose to live very frugally to do this ?

That'd explain her choosing this route instead of just having her own place.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by cbikle

Maybe Terri was aggressively paying off debt incurred by medical school and chose to live very frugally to do this ?

That'd explain her choosing this route instead of just having her own place.

It's nursing school not medical school. Nursing school is not as expensive as medical school.

Now that I check I found this. Still not as expensive but more expensive than I thought.

Tuition fees for a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing (BSN) range anywhere from $40,000 to well over $100,000 each year in private institutions and large universities. This degree typically takes four years to complete.

https://www.imagine-america.org/much...g-school-cost/

However back then it was probably cheaper even after you adjust for inflation. Yeah she could have been paying of nursing school or maybe saving money for a house, helping family or a combination of all 3.