48 Fun Facts About Three's Company

Which British sitcom was Three's Company based on?

Man About the House, a Thames Television hit, had a premise so risqué that the American network which finally made the remake had first passed on it.

Which actor played Jack Tripper?

John Ritter, son of the singing cowboy Tex Ritter, made Jack a master of the pratfall, and in 1984 the role won him both an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

In which California city do Jack, Janet and Chrissy share their apartment?

Santa Monica gave the show its beachside opening: in the first credits Jack turns to watch a passing woman and falls off his bicycle.

In Three's Company, what lie do the roommates tell the landlord so that Jack can move in?

That he is gay: Janet says so to Mr. Roper, who will not have unmarried men and women sharing, and the landlord lets Jack stay and jokes about it for years.

What is Janet Wood's job?

Florist, and later manager of the Arcade Flower Shop; in the first, unsold pilot the sensible roommate was not Janet at all but a character called Jenny.

What is Chrissy Snow's real first name?

Christmas Snow is a minister's daughter: when her father, Reverend Snow, visits and learns that she shares the flat with a man, he orders her home, then relents on seeing how the others care for her.

What does Jack Tripper's best friend from upstairs do for a living?

Sells used cars, and causes Jack no end of trouble: he often gives women Jack's name instead of his own, which sends their angry boyfriends after the wrong man.

In which branch of the military had Jack Tripper served?

Navy: his service pays his college fees through the G.I. Bill, and although he boxed while in uniform he usually backs away from a fight.

In Three's Company, what does the trio's resident chef call the restaurant he finally opens?

Jack's Bistro began as a con: he is tricked into renting a run-down restaurant, and his friends talk him into fixing the place up instead of walking away.

Who played landlord Stanley Roper?

Norman Fell had played this kind of landlord before: in The Graduate he is the suspicious rooming-house owner forever looking for an excuse to evict Dustin Hoffman's character.

Which actress played Helen Roper?

Audra Lindley's Helen sees through the roommates' cover story almost at once, but she is fond of 'the kids' and never lets her husband in on it.

Who took over as the building manager, Ralph Furley, in 1979?

He had already won five Emmys as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.

Who fires Mr. Furley in the Three's Company episode 'Furley vs. Furley'?

His brother Bart, his boss, sacks him after Jack complains about repairs; Jack then lands the manager's job by accident, and the roommates scheme to get Mr. Furley rehired.

Which actor played Larry, Jack's womanising friend from upstairs?

Richard Kline served as an Army lieutenant in Vietnam before turning to acting; by the show's own account he was struck by lightning there and came through five rocket attacks.

Besides Jack and Janet, which character appears in all eight seasons of Three's Company?

Larry Dallas, the neighbour from upstairs, began as an occasional guest and was promoted to the regular cast in season four, outlasting the Ropers, Chrissy and Cindy.

Network chief Fred Silverman cast Suzanne Somers as Chrissy after remembering her from which talk show?

The Tonight Show had booked her to promote a book of her poetry; Silverman remembered the appearance, and she won the role just before the third and final pilot was taped.

After Suzanne Somers demanded a fivefold raise in 1980, how did Three's Company go on showing Chrissy?

In one-minute phone calls: her scenes were taped on separate days, away from the rest of the cast, and tacked on to the end of a handful of episodes.

In Three's Company's storyline, why does Chrissy go home to Fresno in season five?

To care for her sick mother was only the on-screen excuse: the real reason was a contract fight with the actress, and Chrissy never set foot in the apartment again.

How is Cindy Snow, who takes over Chrissy's room in season five, related to her?

Her cousin, a farm girl whose trademark was clumsiness: she was forever bumping into things or spilling them, and Jack usually took the knock.

What was the profession of Terri Alden, the roommate played by Priscilla Barnes from season six?

Nurse: she and Jack meet in the emergency room, where she treats his cut and gives him an injection in the backside, and he takes a while to forgive her.

Before Three's Company, its leading man was best known as a young minister on which family drama?

The Waltons cast him as the Reverend Matthew Fordwick, about as far from pratfalling Jack as a part could be; programmer Fred Silverman saw something more and urged him to audition.

In the 1979 episode 'An Anniversary Surprise', what does Stanley Roper do that changes Three's Company for good?

Sells the apartment building, though Helen and the trio first suspect him of having an affair; the Ropers' own spin-off went on the air straight after the episode.

Larry Gelbart, co-writer of the first, unsold Three's Company pilot, was best known for developing which hit series?

M*A*S*H's Gelbart wrote a first pilot in which the male roommate was a would-be filmmaker called David Bell; the network judged it too weak to air, and two more pilots followed.

Which comedy legend hosted the 1982 retrospective special The Best of Three's Company?

Lucille Ball, the First Lady of Comedy, summed up the show's appeal in 1982: 'It didn't set out to change the world, it just made us laugh and that is why we love it.'

Three's Company's theme composer was best known for which children's show?

Sesame Street owes Joe Raposo its theme tune, 'Bein' Green' and 'C Is for Cookie'; for the sitcom he supplied only the melody, the words coming from one of its producers.

Whose baby son toddles up to Janet at the zoo in Three's Company's later opening credits?

The lead actor's toddler, Jason, was an impromptu extra, grabbed by the director when families came along to the zoo shoot; he grew up to act too, with an Emmy nomination for Parenthood.

What is the name of the neighbourhood pub where the Three's Company roommates meet their dates?

The Regal Beagle was one of the show's three standing sets, with Jim behind the bar, but it faded from view in later seasons as the action moved elsewhere.

In which 1990s family sitcom did Suzanne Somers return to prime time opposite Patrick Duffy?

Step by Step put her back in a long-running sitcom a decade after Three's Company dropped her; in between she had spent years headlining in Las Vegas showrooms.

The Ropers' 1979 spin-off was loosely based on which British sitcom?

George and Mildred sent its bickering landlords to a smarter neighbourhood, and the American copy did the same, moving Stanley and Helen into a posh townhouse among neighbours who never took to them.

Which future Arrested Development star played the Ropers' snobbish neighbour, a realtor named Brookes?

Jeffrey Tambor's Jeffrey P. Brookes III lived next door and never got used to the Ropers' antics; after the spin-off ended he turned up on Three's Company three times, as three different characters.

What did the actor playing Stanley Roper secure before agreeing to leave Three's Company for The Ropers?

A one-year right of return: had the spin-off been cancelled inside twelve months he could have gone back to the hit, but it was cancelled at fourteen months and the door had closed.

Three's Company's leading man was starring in which family sitcom when he died in 2003?

8 Simple Rules carried on without him: after a break the series returned and its writers had his character die too, collapsing off screen while out buying milk.

Which scheduling change is blamed for sinking the Three's Company spin-off The Ropers?

A move to Saturday nights, up against CHiPs, sent it from the top ten towards the bottom of the ratings; its star went to the network's New York headquarters to plead for a better slot, in vain.

Where did Suzanne Somers and her Janet co-star end three decades of silence?

An online talk show, Somers's own Breaking Through, brought them together after 31 years; she had already made peace with their co-star shortly before his death in 2003.

Three's Company's leading man died on September 11, 2003 of what condition?

Aortic dissection was at first treated as a heart attack, and by the time it was recognised it was too late; his widow later set up a foundation to teach people the warning signs.

Which Three's Company star co-produced and narrated the 2003 TV movie about the show's backstage feuds?

Joyce DeWitt hosted and co-produced Behind the Camera, which dwells on the salary war that split the cast; neither of her co-leads appeared, and it aired on a rival of the sitcom's old network.

Suzanne Somers had a bit part as 'the Blonde in the white Thunderbird' in which 1973 film?

American Graffiti gave her no name and one silently mouthed line, 'I love you', yet her blonde in the white Thunderbird is the vision Richard Dreyfuss's character chases all night.

What was Jenilee Harrison doing before Three's Company cast her as Cindy Snow?

Cheering for an NFL team, the Los Angeles Rams, from 1978 to 1980; the sitcom, suddenly short of a blonde roommate, hired her.

Three's Company's leading man voiced the title character of which PBS children's series from 2000 to 2003?

Clifford the Big Red Dog had him speaking for the giant puppy in every episode, work that brought four Daytime Emmy nominations, and in a feature film released the year after he died.

On which US network did Three's Company air for all eight seasons?

ABC first passed on the risqué idea, then its programming chief, Fred Silverman, revived it and ordered a pilot.

What does Chrissy Snow do for a living?

Secretary: the part changed from pilot to pilot, and in the first, unsold version the blonde roommate was an aspiring actress called Samantha.

Suzanne Somers later became famous for advertising which exercise gadget?

The ThighMaster was sold in 1990s infomercials as exercise you could do while watching television, and by her own account she was more than its face: she and her husband had bought the product and renamed it.

Where do Janet and Chrissy find Jack the morning after he crashes their roommate's party?

Passed out in the bathtub, he explains that he came with a friend of one of the gatecrashers; by the end of the episode the stranger is the new roommate.

Why does Janet move out in the Three's Company finale?

Marriage: she weds Phillip, the nephew of a customer who had named her in his will, while Terri heads for Hawaii and Jack moves on to his own spin-off.

Jack accepts the spare bedroom so he no longer has to live where?

The local YMCA had been his home; Janet and Chrissy, one roommate short and unable to cover the rent, offer him the spare room the morning after the party.

Farm-raised Cindy Snow leaves for UCLA to train for what career?

Veterinarian: the animal-loving farm girl moves into student housing at UCLA, but keeps dropping in on her old roommates for the rest of the season.

The Three's Company theme was sung by Julia Rinker and which Los Angeles session singer?

Ray Charles, though not the soul legend: this one led the Ray Charles Singers, who backed Perry Como on records and television for 35 years.

Which garment is Helen Roper's trademark in Three's Company?

A colourful caftan, worn under a head of red curls: the look is so well remembered that fans now dress up in it for gatherings known as Mrs. Roper Romps.