The Doris Letters

[BestTVever]

This is the third episode of the series and completely understandable how the ratings started declining. It was the canary in the coal mine that the spin off may not be working. The episode begins in the Brooke's townhouse where Mrs Brookes reveals to her husband Jeffrey that she is not pregnant. Jeffrey does not want to have another child and they discuss him having a vasectomy. I think they were trying to still introduce the Brookes like The Ropers on Threes Company. In many TC episodes they would begin in the Roper's apartment. However the Brookes were not that funny compared to the Ropers. Their banter was quite boring. Then Helen finds a bunch of letters written by Stanely to a woman named Doris. Stanley is in love with Doris. Helen confides this this to Mrs Brookes and she suggests a marriage counselor. This script is already stale because how many times on TC or on The Ropers does Helen think Stanley is cheating on her? Its a very stale and over used plot and this is only episode 3. We see the Ropers at marriage counseling and Stanely is trying too hard to be funny. All of the jokes in this scene fall flat. In the end Stanely admits to Helen that he wrote those letters to Doris Day when she was on TV but never mailed them.
This was no way to start a spin off. There were far better episodes even in season 2 compared to this. No wonder the audience started falling off and realized The Ropers are funny but its hard to build an entire series around them.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

This is the third episode of the series and completely understandable how the ratings started declining. It was the canary in the coal mine that the spin off may not be working. The episode begins in the Brooke's townhouse where Mrs Brookes reveals to her husband Jeffrey that she is not pregnant. Jeffrey does not want to have another child and they discuss him having a vasectomy. I think they were trying to still introduce the Brookes like The Ropers on Threes Company. In many TC episodes they would begin in the Roper's apartment. However the Brookes were not that funny compared to the Ropers. Their banter was quite boring. Then Helen finds a bunch of letters written by Stanely to a woman named Doris. Stanley is in love with Doris. Helen confides this this to Mrs Brookes and she suggests a marriage counselor. This script is already stale because how many times on TC or on The Ropers does Helen think Stanley is cheating on her? Its a very stale and over used plot and this is only episode 3. We see the Ropers at marriage counseling and Stanely is trying too hard to be funny. All of the jokes in this scene fall flat. In the end Stanely admits to Helen that he wrote those letters to Doris Day when she was on TV but never mailed them.
This was no way to start a spin off. There were far better episodes even in season 2 compared to this. No wonder the audience started falling off and realized The Ropers are funny but its hard to build an entire series around them.

Did u watch it on Tubi or DVD? It looks edited because audience is already laughing when episode starts. And I agree why would the show start in someone else apt with it being so new at the time

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Did u watch it on Tubi or DVD? It looks edited because audience is already laughing when episode starts. And I agree why would the show start in someone else apt with it being so new at the time

Antenna TV now airs The Ropers at 7:30 right after Threes Company. I've seen all the episodes before but have been watching them more closely now.
It seems like they tried to introduce the Brookes as Ropers characters from Threes Company. They are not landlords but Jeffrey sort of takes on the Roper character and his wife is Helen, the nice one that is always friendly to the Ropers and tries to keep Jeffrey in line. Starting a scene in the Brookes apartment is very Threes Company like. Many times on TC the scenes started in the Ropers apartment. I think it was necessary to build them as characters since they were vital to the show. Without any interaction with people Stanley Roper is boring. The problem with this set up is when the shoe is on the other foot made the Ropers not funny. Both Roper and Jeffrey Brookes annoyed their neighbors.
This episode was particularly lame because in the end its revealed that Doris is Doris Day. What a lame script. The subplot is Jeffrey wanting to get a vasectomy. I also feel David never quite fit. Cute kids are fine but all he does is come into the room, say his clever lines and then leave.
The Ropers were far more interesting when they owned their own building and were the landlords and be the foil and heroine of the kids above them. Stanley Roper is not funny just being clever and slap schtick on his own.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

Antenna TV now airs The Ropers at 7:30 right after Threes Company. I've seen all the episodes before but have been watching them more closely now.
It seems like they tried to introduce the Brookes as Ropers characters from Threes Company. They are not landlords but Jeffrey sort of takes on the Roper character and his wife is Helen, the nice one that is always friendly to the Ropers and tries to keep Jeffrey in line. Starting a scene in the Brookes apartment is very Threes Company like. Many times on TC the scenes started in the Ropers apartment. I think it was necessary to build them as characters since they were vital to the show. Without any interaction with people Stanley Roper is boring. The problem with this set up is when the shoe is on the other foot made the Ropers not funny. Both Roper and Jeffrey Brookes annoyed their neighbors.
This episode was particularly lame because in the end its revealed that Doris is Doris Day. What a lame script. The subplot is Jeffrey wanting to get a vasectomy. I also feel David never quite fit. Cute kids are fine but all he does is come into the room, say his clever lines and then leave.
The Ropers were far more interesting when they owned their own building and were the landlords and be the foil and heroine of the kids above them. Stanley Roper is not funny just being clever and slap schtick on his own.

It did make you think stanley had another love until the end lol