Why Larry wasn't in the Movie.

[aliciamonger]

I finally found out why Larry wasn't in the movie.

There is one vital piece of the puzzle missing, though. Richard Kline, who played next-door neighbor Larry, isn't in the film. Why not? DeWitt said the producers felt like there were too many people to deal with and that they wanted to focus on Chrissy, Janet and Jack.


The following is an interview with Joyce Dewitt.

Three's Company" was a hoot to watch, but things weren't always so great behind the scenes. Plenty of backstabbing, betrayals and contract disputes are depicted in "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company,'" a TV movie airing on NBC Monday, May 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

The show, which ran from 1977 to 1984, centered on two young women, Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) and Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt), who shared their beachside apartment with -- gasp! -- a man. (Hey, 25 years ago, that was controversial.) Jack Tripper (John Ritter) was just a roommate, but he had to pretend to be gay so that the building's landlords, Helen and Stanley Roper (Audra Lindley and Norman Fell), wouldn't kick him out.

The show -- labeled racy by critics -- was groundbreaking for its time, and while Jack wasn't actually gay, "Three's Company" certainly helped elevate gay acceptance on television. DeWitt acknowledged that fact during a conference call with reporters, but noted the show didn't have a political agenda. "We were really just trying to be funny," she said.


DeWitt, who serves as narrator and co-producer of "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company,'" is the only "Three's Company" star involved in the TV movie. (DeWitt does not play herself in the film; Melanie Deanne Moore does. Bret Anthony is cast as Ritter, Jud Tylor as Somers.)

DeWitt candidly acknowledged that she thinks the movie dwells too much on the negative aspects of the series. "[The producers] chose to focus on the challenging times. This film jumps from the second season, when the Newsweek cover was shot, to the fifth season, when Suzanne's representatives were battling with the network and the producers, to the eighth season, when our producers made a choice to retire the show and do a different John spin-off. If you add all that up, you have about a season and a half of material, and out of eight seasons you're missing six or six and a half years, and those were extraordinarily joyful," the actress said. "My experience at 'Three's Company' most of the time was a ride from Disneyland. We had a ball. We worked so hard and played so hard. I think that's why the show was so successful."

Although she was disconcerted by the film's negative slant, DeWitt chose to get involved so that someone from the original cast would have some input. DeWitt said there is an enormous difference between the script she originally read and the one that was shot. "Most important, the love that [the cast and crew] had for each other and for doing the show is in the film," she said. "That mattered to me as much as it being as accurate as possible."

It's hard to imagine that Somers would be happy with her portrayal. Along with her husband Alan Hamel (played by Christopher Shyer), she comes across as a self-centered, childlike woman intent on attaining superstardom no matter what the cost to her co-stars. Her disruptive backstage antics -- including her refusal to show up for tapings -- have been widely chronicled in the press, and are played out in the film.

DeWitt feels that Somers' side of the story is also made clear in the TV movie. "Suzanne's voice in terms of her public position is very clearly presented," DeWitt maintained, pointing out that the film includes a recreation of an interview Somers and her husband did on "Donahue."

DeWitt says she didn't speak to Somers during the taping of the movie, but they did exchange notes. DeWitt talked to Ritter throughout the process; he has seen the final cut of the movie, and DeWitt says he is very happy with it.

There is one vital piece of the puzzle missing, though. Richard Kline, who played next-door neighbor Larry, isn't in the film. Why not? DeWitt said the producers felt like there were too many people to deal with and that they wanted to focus on Chrissy, Janet and Jack.

The exclusion of Kline from the film troubled DeWitt so much, she said she even offered to cover the salary of any actor cast to play Larry. But she was unable to convince the producers to write Kline's character into the script. "Aside from John and me, no one was with the show longer than Richard Kline," DeWitt said, "and what he did as Larry was so wonderful."

Despite her reservations about the project, DeWitt is ultimately proud of it. "The fact that it focuses on the challenging times as opposed to the celebratory times might not have been my choice in terms of what movie to make," she said. "But in the end, it is a very good television film. Hopefully, it'll be thought-provoking."