Why isn't Too Close for Comfort as iconic as Three's Company

[TMC]

I don't know if this may sound like a straw argument but I just thought about it considering that they were more or less, "sister shows". Three's Company really seems like one of those few sitcoms that you could generally argue, has cross-generational appeal, even though it went off the air nearly 40 years ago.

With Too Close for Comfort, it feels like the first thing that people bring up about that show, is the infamous "very special episode", where Monroe is abducted and sexually assaulted by two large women.

And it isn't like TCFC wasn't at all, a ratings hit like Three's Company. It was the #6 rated show in its second season (1981-82).

[BestTVever]

Threes Company was the better show by far. Too Close For Comfort had huge success its first year. But I would not call them sister shows. TC started with 3 young adults living together to help pay for the rent. The kids on TTFC lived in their parents apartment almost spoiled. But the dad barging in did make for him being similar to Roper. I think if TTFC had started in the mid 70s like TC maybe it would have been more successful. When I watch TTFC today, many of the episodes are boring. The writing was nowhere as good as TC. TC was very edgy. TTFC was a much more safe approach.

[dee2364]

I loved Too Close for Comfort, but there was nothing about the show or its characters that was particularly unique or interesting enough to make it stand out. On top of everything else, it played things very safe, middle of the road, kind of like Mr. Belvedere and Small Wonder.

[Duster76]

Placing Too Close For Comfort in the same category as Three's Company is ridiculous. Too Close was successful the first two seasons only because it was placed immediately behind Three's Company on the schedule. Once it was moved to a different night it dropped like an anchor falling from number 6 to 38. ABC cancelled the series after the third season with the series moving to syndication where it held it's own in less competitive timeslots.

It really wasn't that good a show and the overreliance on Monroe character became tiresome.

[icecream]

I definitely prefer Too Close for Comfort to Three's Company. But John Ritter was probably considered a more appealing lead actor than Ted Knight.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

Threes Company was the better show by far. Too Close For Comfort had huge success its first year. But I would not call them sister shows. TC started with 3 young adults living together to help pay for the rent. The kids on TTFC lived in their parents apartment almost spoiled. But the dad barging in did make for him being similar to Roper. I think if TTFC had started in the mid 70s like TC maybe it would have been more successful. When I watch TTFC today, many of the episodes are boring. The writing was nowhere as good as TC. TC was very edgy. TTFC was a much more safe approach.

Well, to clarify what I said, I more or less, think of the two shows being related because besides airing concurrently on ABC, they were both produced by D.L. Taffner Productions, and were both based on British shows (Man About the House and Keep it in the Family respectively).

[michelala]

I personally prefer TCFC. I was a young teen at the time and could relate to the girls and Ted was just so funny and seemed like such a great Dad. At some point during the syndicated seasons they did start to rely more on Monroe for the jokes and the girls were slowly phased out. I never watched the final reboot season 6 until recently on Tubi or Pluto. That season just seemed kinda sad to me especially knowing Ted would pass before all the episodes even aired.

"Three's Company" would usually have the same plot line on many episodes with some kind of misunderstanding. John Ritter was great and I also liked the early episodes with the Ropers and Chrissy. Didn't really watch much after Furley was brought in though.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

Threes Company was the better show by far. Too Close For Comfort had huge success its first year. But I would not call them sister shows. TC started with 3 young adults living together to help pay for the rent. The kids on TTFC lived in their parents apartment almost spoiled. But the dad barging in did make for him being similar to Roper. I think if TTFC had started in the mid 70s like TC maybe it would have been more successful. When I watch TTFC today, many of the episodes are boring. The writing was nowhere as good as TC. TC was very edgy. TTFC was a much more safe approach.

Somebody on Reddit argued that Too Close for Comfort wasn't an out and out bad show per se, it's just that it never really had a consistent vibe. Like was it supposed to be a family show a or sex and/or screwball comedy like Three's Company?

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by TMC

Somebody on Reddit argued that Too Close for Comfort wasn't an out and out bad show per se, it's just that it never really had a consistent vibe. Like was it supposed to be a family show a or sex and/or screwball comedy like Three's Company?

What killed TTFC IMHO was having a baby in the second season. Apparently the actress that played the wife thought she was not given enough lines and her role was not what she wanted so they decided to bring her more into the scripts with having a baby. When a baby is added to a show is usually when a show is dying. There was no need to do that so early and it messed up the show. Season 1 was huge but it quickly started to decline in ratings and got boring. Big mistake. They could have added a baby in the 3rd or 4th season.