Terri (Priscilla Barnes) from Three's Company

She was less popular because her tits and ass didn't jiggle. Three's Company was first and foremost Jiggle TV. But you are right about Cindy.

I thought Jenilee was the funniest of the three blondes. Only with Jenilee did John do his physical comedy.

She wasn't funny. And real nurses don't wear shorts to work.

Terri might have been the most likeable of the three blondes, but she was too much like Janet to be all that memorable. Chrissy was a much more original character.

Jenilee had pretty rotten luck. In addition to having to step in for an iconic character, the writers had no clue what to do with her.

In the 1998 TV program E! True Hollywood Story, Barnes called Three's Company the "three worst years" of her life. Barnes revealed that after shooting a couple of episodes of the show, she felt "uncomfortable" on the set and asked, unsuccessfully, to be released from her contract.

The show desperately needed a sexpot for all the sex jokes. It was basically a lewd Vaudeville act.

They tried to add Ann Wedgeworth but although funny, she was a little too old.

Priscilla was prettier than Suzanne.

I remember seeing her in Mallrats (I only knew her from the Bond movie, Licence To Kill) playing a topless medium. It was kind of sad. She'd done stuff to her face.

The show remained a hit with Barnes, but I think she was typecast as a sitcom actor which hurt her career.

Aside from Ritter, none of them did all that well after TC.

Priscilla was ok. I actually enjoyed jenilee more on dallas. Priscilla and don knotts were poor substitutes for suzanne and the ropers though. The show was truly hilarious and raunchy during the suzanne years. There was a e true hollywood story on 3s company about 10 years ago. Priscilla said she was uncomfortable the whole time she did the show. I always thought the show might have ran longer if suzanne would have stayed on.

[quote]And real nurses don't wear shorts to work.

Was she a real nurse?

Nurses are discouraged from wearing their uniforms to work (as opposed to putting them on when they arrive), so why wouldn't she wear shorts to work?

Let's face it..all the women on this show, combined, still had next to zero talent.

I thought she was a "nurse". You know, like Anna Nicole and that 98-year-old fossil she was fucking.

I thought the white shorts were part of a sexy nurse uniform because she paired it with a white top. I think it was even one piece, now that I think of it. Maybe she wasn't an RN, maybe a nursing assistant or medical assistant.

I see nurses and doctors (and techs) leave the hospital where I work wearing their scrubs or uniforms. All the time.

I remember years ago Angela Lansbury, in a TV Guide article, pretty much slammed her. PB was a guest on Murder, She Wrote and AL said she was such a bad actress she was telegraphing in all her scenes that she was the killer. Angela put it nicely, sort of, but that was the gist.

R16 your last paragraph: No medical professional should EVER leave the facility in one's workday's scrubs/uniforms/shoes! Otherwise, they're dragging that infected/toxic sh*t everywhere, including into the homes of their own family!

[quote] I remember years ago Angela Lansbury, in a TV Guide article, pretty much slammed her. PB was a guest on Murder, She Wrote and AL said she was such a bad actress she was telegraphing in all her scenes that she was the killer. Angela put it nicely, sort of, but that was the gist

I need to see that quote! I'm sure someone on DL has every issue of TV Guide catalogued somewhere.

I loved that the key to Jennilee's character Cindy was that she was a klutz. That's a word and character type you never hear anymore, but it was all the rage in the 70s.

Rachel in Friends was kind of a klutz.

Cindy was very tall and klutzy. It worked well on the show.

[quote]Chrissy was a much more original character.

Say what you will about Suzanne Somers personally, the show was at its best the years she was on. When she left, it was still good with Jenilee (whose episodes I also really enjoyed), but after Priscilla came on, it went completely down the tubes.

[quote]Jenilee had pretty rotten luck. In addition to having to step in for an iconic character, the writers had no clue what to do with her.

Don't know if it was true, but I remember hearing at the time that the reason the producers did not keep her wasn't because of her performance, but they were so pissed at Suzanne that they wanted to completely and totally remove all remnants of the Chrissy character from the show, which meant writing off Cindy after Priscilla was hired because she was related to Chrissy (and therefore putting Harrison out of a job).

Hi Terri!

Nah, that wasn't it. They kept Jenilee around in a supporting role during Priscilla's first season. The fact is, and Joyce has said this, that she was very green and that they needed a more skilled actress to fill out the cast.

Was I the only person that found the Chrissy Snow character insufferably obnoxious? Like she was supposed to be lovable and cute but her stupidity was so over-the-top annoying. Whatever. I guess straight guys must have been the ones to love her.

I always thought they purposely destroyed Suzanne's character due to the backstage drama. The first few years were great, particularly the first season where it really was raunchy. Chrissy was more naive than stupid and looked great. By the third season they started making Chrissy over the top stupid and she looked like a clown. Coupled with the loss of the Ropers, the show was never as funny as the first couple of seasons. Terri never fit in and always felt like an outsider.

The show was tired and played out by the time Priscilla joined. Even if Suzanne had never left the show would have been long past its prime. John Ritter said himself it was funny when the characters were in their 20s sharing an apartment and having these antics but by the time they were into their 30s it started to look sad.

Priscilla may have bad memories of the show but she and Joyce DeWitt have remained close friends since doing the show together.

r19, this site has an obsessively thorough archive of scanned magazine and newspaper articles about "Murder, She Wrote" from the years it was on the air, if you feel like going on a research expedition. (And if you find the quote about Barnes, please post the link on here, because I too would love to read the extremely rare occurrence of Angela being cunty!)

It's funny... usually TC fans are pretty evenly split on which era they prefer - I've always preferred the Terri seasons (except for the very very last episodes...the finale was all-time terrible). I also preferred Furley and Larry got a lot more to do, and, well....I loved Larry and Jack's shenanigans. You didn't start getting that until the last full season of Chrissy.

Not that it took much, but I did think Priscilla Barnes had at least some talent compared to the other two, but after her first season (I guess bc she pissed the producers off) she was basically given nothing to do. But the first season she was on (season 6) I think is hands down the best of the whole series. And to back myself up just a little bit, Dave Powers (from the Carol Burnett show) directed every episode of that season, and says it was his best television experience.

But I think the most crucial reason that era was the best was that you no longer had some no-talent egomaniac always trying to steal John Ritter's thunder. Once Suzanne left, it basically did become The John Ritter show, and that was a good thing - because without him the show would never have lasted past six weeks. I'm so glad he eventually won an Emmy - he deserved it.

Oh and of course Terri was the prettiest. Easily.

Angela Lansbury is kind of a cunt, isn't she?

I agree R18. I think it's disgusting. I've seen doctors walking out of the OR to go to the coffee shop with their booties on their feet and caps on their head. Revolting and HAS to be a health risk for everyone.

r9

And "The Lucy Show" finished it's final year at #2, "The Andy Griffith Show" finished it's run at #1 and "M*A*S*H" was #3 when it bowed out.

And it's easy to see those shows were much, much, MUCH better in their earlier days with worse ratings.

Am I the only one who couldn't make it past "it's" in r33's post?

I think Joyce might be prettier than Priscilla.

There was no key to Terri's character the way there were for the others:

Jack: Horny, desperate, klutzy.

Janet: Sweet, sensible, intelligent.

Chrissy: Dimwitted, naive, sexy.

Cindy: Even klutzier than Jack, as naive as Chrissy.

Terri: NOTHING.

I agree with another poster, Priscilla was better prettier than Suzanne.

I had liked her too.

Now, I will tell you that I have a friend who was a make-up artist and he did tell me that working with PRISCILLA BARNES was one of his few unpleasant experiences in the industry.

MARLA GiBBS was another who he told me was 'very difficult' and he couldn't wait to be done. "And don't go putting the blue eye shadow on me like I saw you put on ______ ! I ain't white !"

Teri: Pretty, normal, reasonably intelligent

Marla Gibbs always comes off as angry. The bitch wound up being a second banana on the show she starred in, so I guess she deserves to be bitter.

[quote] "And don't go putting the blue eye shadow on me like I saw you put on ______ ! I ain't white !"

Priscilla Barnes identifies as mixed?

Marla Gibbs, who was never funny, torpedoed her career when she bad mouthed Jews in Hollywood. Never heard from again.

"By the third season they started making Chrissy over the top stupid and she looked like a clown"

Because... it's a sitcom?

The show was so low-budget that three plain-looking actors in their 30's were hired to play sexy young roommates. I don't think anyone expected it to be a hit. If they did they would have cast younger, sexier actors.

However, they were talented enough to overcome the cheap production values and Vaudevillian jokes.

Suzanne was right. When the show became a monster hit the producers should have shared the wealth with the talent.

[quote] The show was so low-budget that three plain-looking actors in their 30's were hired to play sexy young roommates

Ha ha. You think to save money they cast plain (in your estimation) people?!

Dick Sargent and Loni Anderson were guest stars.

Terri was beautiful and fun. Definitely underrated.

She was the Shelley Hack of Three's Company.

Teri was fine the first season as she was the outsider trying to fit in and those misunderstanding plots the show loved to do were more plausible with someone new in the apartment who didn't know the others. But for the last two years, Teri alternated between being a blonde Janet with moments of ditsiness that just didn't work as she was already established her first year as being competent at her work and generally pretty sensible.

I think Cindy should have remained the blonde roommate. Jenilee Harrison wasn't much of an actress with her line deliveries, but really,it's really 3's Company, you don't need a Meryl Streep in the cast to get the farce across. And Harrison was a great foil for Ritter in his physical comedy/slapstick routines as she was athletic and could do the physical/clumsy schtick quite well. Also her tall height was a good contrast to the stumpy Joyce De Witt.

[quote]The show was so low-budget that three plain-looking actors in their 30's were hired to play sexy young roommates. I don't think anyone expected it to be a hit. If they did they would have cast younger, sexier actors.

There's about a dozen things wrong with this post.

First of all: younger actors are and were NOT more expensive than thirtysomething actors. If anything, twentysomething actors are often cheaper because they're less established and more naive.

Second: None of the three lead actors was plain--they were all very good-looking (especially by the standards of the day). Suzanne Somers had just a few years before made a huge impact as a sex symbol when she played the gorgeous blonde in the Tbird in "American Graffiti."

Third, the network EXPECTED the show to be a hit.

How the fuck does this thread have 50 posts?

Yeah, while that thread about a national TV channel paying damages to a bunch of homophobes for being called homophobes has like 15 replies...

There are plenty of gay politics forums on the Internet.

This is a gay gossip forum.

Deal with it, accept it, live it.

"One of the guest stars on 'Murder, She Wrote' that week was Priscilla Barnes, who not so long ago was a star of the vastly successful 'Three's Company.' One of the keys to the popularity of 'Murder, She Wrote' is that the audience tries to guess who among the stars is the murderer. Barnes, the murderer-of-the-week, couldn't conceal the guilt in her face in the very first scene she played with Lansbury, and thus gave away the entire plot.

"'My God,' said Lansbury to director Peter Crane, 'We've got to do something. Let's work with her.' She worked with Barnes, in her usual kindly fashion. Director Crane worked with Barnes, a little less kindly. The guilt was still there. It finally had to be covered up with clever splicing diversions in the editing room."

- TV Guide February 15, 1986

Priscilla and Maureen McCormnick in A Vacation from Hell

[quote]I did think Priscilla Barnes had at least some talent compared to the other two, but after her first season (I guess bc she pissed the producers off) she was basically given nothing to do.

Maybe this would explain why, as you say, she was basically pushed aside after her initial year on the show. When Suzanne was there, it lived up to the "Three" in the title as to how they divided up the storylines, but once Chrissy was gone, it more or less became the Jack & Janet show with Terri basically just there to fill out the third slot. She literally became no more important than Larry or Furley; it really was only about Jack and Janet.

[quote]I think Cindy should have remained the blonde roommate.

I totally agree for all the reasons you stated, R48. I think the show would've fared so much better with her than it ever did with Terri. Not to blame Priscilla (who did what she could with what she was given) but her character just never seemed to click and the whole show suffered.

I think as mentioned earlier, part of the problem is they wanted something different from the dumb blonde that Suzanne played, but they could not make her too much like Janet, so her character ended up drifting a bit. She kind of became just a sounding board for Jack and Janet. Another problem was simply the show had run its course. It was not exactly a deep show to begin with, plus the actors who were probably now closer to 40 than 30 were getting too old for the plots.

I saw the Three's the Crowd back door pilot episodes recently (on ME TV?), and they were bad. The chemistry between Jack and the girlfriend was forced, esp. compared to how he was in his good bye scenes with Janet (with whom he actually had a decent chemistry).

Barnes must have stepped on some toes for that article to be planted in TV Guide. Plenty of jobbing actors don't deliver. In such cases, they stop getting work. They don't tend to be called out for incompetence in print by those with whom they work.

Wasn't there an overlap at one point with both Cindy and Terri on at the same time?

[quote]I think as mentioned earlier, part of the problem is they wanted something different from the dumb blonde that Suzanne played, but they could not make her too much like Janet, so her character ended up drifting a bit. She kind of became just a sounding board for Jack and Janet. Another problem was simply the show had run its course. It was not exactly a deep show to begin with, plus the actors who were probably now closer to 40 than 30 were getting too old for the plots.

Agree with everything written in this paragraph. Very well said.

Btw, who the hell knows if it's true, but I heard once that had Suzanne stayed on the show, the plan was to have Jack and Chrissy end up together (which might make a teeny tiny bit of sense when you hark back to their chemistry early in the show's run; there were a couple of episodes in which you thought Jack and Chrissy actually were attracted to one another). In any case, that would've been better than the POS spinoff show they came up with, one of TV's all-time worst.

[quote]Wasn't there an overlap at one point with both Cindy and Terri on at the same time?

Yes. When Cindy, who's going to school, decides to move into the dorm on the college campus nearby, Jack and Janet go looking for a new roommate, which is how Terri was introduced. And for that entire season, Cindy popped in and out (usually just for the purpose of having some kind of clumsy physical altercation with Jack) before she was eventually cut from the series.

In fact, if you watch the opening credits for Priscilla's first season, they're all at the zoo -- Jack, Janet, Terri, Cindy, Larry and Furley -- the last shot of which is all of them riding on a trolley car that Jack nearly falls out of. But the next season after Jennilee was let go, they reshot the trolley car bit without her.

[quote] And for that entire season, Cindy popped in and out (usually just for the purpose of having some kind of clumsy physical altercation with Jack)

This perfectly describes what Cindy did in every episode of her second season. She would show up for one scene, somehow maim Jack and disappear. I don't think she ever had anything to do with the plot and was probably on-screen for about 2 minutes for each episode.

I watched too many syndicated repeats growing up...

Regarding the rumor of plans for Chrissy ending up with Jack, I think I heard Suzanne Sommers say that, so I would take it with a grain of aalt. The original cast did have good chemistry though.

In that opening bit at the zoo you see Joyce DeWitt kneeling with a very young boy at a petting cage. That's Jason Ritter, John's son.

Suzanne said that when she heard they were doing the "Three's A Crowd" spinoff, either she or that husband/agent of hers, Allen Hammill, met with the producers about having Suzanne return as Chrissy for the spinoff as Jack's love interest. They would never have had her back.

I believe Cindy's last episode was the one where Janet bought a blonde wig and got lots of male attention and she turns into a total bitch. She was especially mean to Cindy when Cindy ran into her and her date at the Regal Beagle. I guess Cindy decided she had enough of Jack, Janet, Terri, Larry and Furley and decided to stick with her new friends at school. Can't blame her...she was a lot younger than they were. I think the only episode in the overlap season where Cindy played much of a role was when she invited the roommates to visit her aunt's farm, but again, though her invite motivated the situation for the episode she didn't have a lot to do.

I'm surprised no one is showing TC right now (at least not here in the NYC area); you'd think it would at least be playing MeTV or something.

Three's Company was the American version of the British sitcom Man About The House. The US then tried to continue on with John Ritter because MATH morphed into Robin's Nest.

I believe it was on Me TV [or Antenna TV] not too long ago. I had to see the really bad Three's the Crowd episodes somewhere. I am guessing it will enter one of those rotations again before too long. Those stations tend to do a pretty good job switching up their programs from time to time.

That's umpossible. Next you'll be saying Samford & Son or All In The Family were Britcoms as well.

Have they ever tried remaking Keeping Up Appearances for US TV?

For those of you who have never seen the fascinating Three's Company Behind the Camera biopic, check it out if you have about two hours to kill.

I know I'm in the minority but I thought Don Knotts was terrific as Mr. Furley. Yes, I loved the Ropers and I missed them from the show after they left for their (ill-fated) spinoff, but Furley with his old hippie, wannabe-womanizer self was a great replacement in my opinion, due in no small part of course to the fact Knotts was such a funny guy in his own right.

And can we talk about Larry and his tight pants? OMG, I used to want to peel those off of him so badly! Hot, baby, hot.

Btw, wasn't it rumored that Norman Fell and Audra Lindley couldn't stand each other?

I want to see this thread hit 600.

[quote]I believe Cindy's last episode was the one where Janet bought a blonde wig and got lots of male attention and she turns into a total bitch. She was especially mean to Cindy when Cindy ran into her and her date at the Regal Beagle. I guess Cindy decided she had enough of Jack, Janet, Terri, Larry and Furley and decided to stick with her new friends at school.

She wasn't a real person, you know.

Can't believe it lasted as long as it did w/o Somers. It ran on hopeful fumes for a few more years, but they couldn't shake the stank of scandal.

The should have given SS anything she wanted. She evolved into an adorable character, but I got the feeling Ritter was angry she was eclipsing him. Though Dewitt seemed to appreciate someone to play off of.

I truly would not have been able to place the woman in this current photo as Priscilla Barnes. She looks more like Patti LuPone.

[quote]And can we talk about Larry and his tight pants? OMG, I used to want to peel those off of him so badly! Hot, baby, hot.

Yes, let's. Richard Kline was sexy as fuck. His bulge wasn't as big as Ritter's, but, for my money, he was infinitely hotter.

Richard Kline today (age 69):

I was thumbing through a magazine once that described Priscilla Barnes as "The Lucille Ball of the 80's" No lie.

TC was never as entertaining after Suzanne, Audra, and Norman left. Norman and Audra were led to believe they'd be allowed back on the show if the Ropers failed, but the Ropers lasted a couple of weeks beyond the window period promised by the producers to have them back, so they were screwed. I love Don Knotts, but he just was never as funny.

Sorry, try this link for Kline's picture:

I thought the Ropers were funnier than Don Knotts.

They auditioned a ton of blondes for Suzanne's permanent replacement, and you can see the rejects show up in episodes Priscilla's first season as some gf of Jack's or Larry's. One of the contenders was the late Shell Kepler, who appeared in a couple of eps as Larry's gf.

"Did Robin's Nest the sequel/spin-off of Man About the House also end up with some new girl being the love interest?"

Yes, new actress playing a new character.

Remember that brief moment in time when Joyce and Ray Buktenika were Hollywood's IT couple?

R80 everyone on DL talks about this magazine cover - I really want to SEE this.

R72 - yes, damn it. I want this thread to max out. That's why I come to DL.

R84 $100 says Greedy Gretchen was one of them. She would have been so wrong, though.

I remember reading somewhere that Heather Locklear auditioned for the replacement part. I'm sure hey cast a pretty wide net.

I still can't get over that there's literally no love here for the Furley/Larry/Terri years - I love TC but I never found the first couple of seasons to be all that funny - merely what was supposed to pass on late 70s network TV as "raunchy." All the really funny slapstick type stuff came later.

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

Just that she died of kidney failure.

R89 was she the one who was supposed to be "singing" lessons from Larry?

I love coming to a site where Three's Company is understood and analyzed like it was the Godfather trilogy. It heals me.

The producers of the show must've been so frugal. When they reshot the trolley scene at the zoo for the intro after Jenilee left, they could've at least reshot Joyce's intro scenes to reflect the fact that she had let her hair grow longer the next season? So she has long hair on the new trolley scene, and her old short hair-do in her other scenes. They went back anyway to retape the trolley scene...why not retape Joyce's other scenes while they were there. That always bothered me. Certainly I wasn't the only one who noticed this or thought about how strange that was.

R93 - That was odd.

I was the Lucille Ball of the 2000's.

I remember an awful episode of Three's Company where Jack mocked a fat lady for liking him and then sang "You are so Beautiful" to her at the end.

Not being snarky, R93, but I never noticed that before with Joyce's hair in the opening. Good catch.

If Jack got his own room, shouldn't he have paid more rent?

What happened to Eleanor's baby?

At the time I thought it was very brave of the show (and ABC) to allow Mr. Roper (and later Furley) to actually believe that Jack and Larry were lovers, particularly the scene (which I also found kinda hot) when Jack and Larry were "rough-housing" and ended up in a tight clutch (I swear they were even bumping their junk) when, of course, Roper walks in and catches them.

I also liked the scene when Larry, naked after having streaked across the room in an effort to scare off Terri, steps out of Jack's bedroom wearing nothing but a blanket and Furley (of course) is standing right there and gets the wrong idea.

Anyone know the story behind Joyce not appearing in the episode where Roper, eavesdropping through the sink pipe, thinks that Chrissy is pregnant? They had one of Jack's gf's, played by Anne Scheeden (later of "Alf"), living with them for the week while Janet was away. Was Joyce ill or have some contract issues? I need to know.

she was either filming a Leggs commercial or getting it on with Ray Butenicka or Henry "Bombastic" Bushman.

R96 - I never thought I'd see the day where TC would be difficult to interpret, but no, he was not making fun of the fat lady - he quickly realized what a beyotch his Southern belle girlfriend was and said..."frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Anyway, it's a great episode. The scene where he and Larry serenade her is hilarious - classic Jack Tripper.

Btw, do we think Joyce DeWitt is a lesbian? Didn't she "date" LeVar Burton?

R100, I believe Joyce was trying to play hardball with the producers over her contract. I can't remember the specifics right now...

Saw Priscilla Barnes play Hillary Clinton in a fringe show a few years ago.

She was good.

r100, I tried finding the information in the "Three's Company" behind the scenes book (yes, I'm a dork who owns it) but there's no index. I know it's discussed but apparently not chronologically.

I did find one quote from Ritter where he theorizes Joyce's bitterness might stem from her being replaced one week when she tried to do a walkout but the entire production shut down when Suzanne walked out. I'd feel pretty unappreciated too.

There's a discussion here. There was some kind of contract dispute going on but it's still not clear exactly what - something to do with wanting to give the Ropers more money.

Don't worry r105, you're still not as big a dork as the guy ho wrote it.

I think R105 rocks.

Was there anything in the book about Norman Fell and Audra Lindley's offscreen relationship? I always heard they did not get along at all.

Title sequence and scene from season 8. They have a new title sequence here with Janet having longer hair.

There's nothing in the book to indicate any animosity between Fell and Lindley. The two appeared together at an autograph show shortly before her death in 1997 and she spoke fondly of him and "the kids" in a quote from the time "The Ropers" was canceled. In the quote she seems ready to move on from Helen Roper ("I never want to get stuck in a hit. You end up playing one role for years and years and years") while Fell was obviously more willing to keep playing the part and wanted to go back to "Three's Company."

Are you sure you're not mixing them up with Vivian Vance and William Frawley from "I Love Lucy"?

R105 I am also a dork who owns the book, and I have the scoop on the Janet-less episode:

Joyce claims it was nothing to do with her trying to use manipulative tactics in a negotiation. She says that ABC was negotiating with Norman and Audra for the Ropers, and the network found itself in an awkward position due to the high salaries the three Three's Company stars were making. So ABC tried to take back a raise they had given Joyce (I guess to free up more $$ for the Ropers). She says she phoned in sick that week because she was "sick - sick at heart, sick in the soul - (thinking) 'how does one's artistic contribution find respect in a business that too often can only see dollar signs?'..." So the next day she asked ABC Entertainment President Tony Thomopoulos for a meeting. "Basically, I told him that should there be a 'judgment day,' there were only two things I believed I would be held accountable for. One was how I had treated mother earth and my fellowman, and the other was what I had done with the gifts I was given and that I could no longer give these gifts to him unless the network could honor my artistic contribution to the show fairly and equally. I assured him I would do whatever was necessary to make a smooth transition for the show but made it clear that under the current circumstances, I was finished." So basically, ABC agreed to give her the raise back and guaranteed her equal pay from then on. Her agent told her not to go in until they got it in writing, which happened a few days later, by which time the episode had been shot with Anne Schedeen replacing her.

Joyce DeWitt comes across as one VERY odd duck in this book!

Had dinner with Priscilla once, we had mutual friends. She was lovely. She and I were the first to arrive and had a few minutes alone before Brian Stokes Mitchell showed up and monopolized the conversation.

He was actually pretty cool, too.

[quote]There's nothing in the book to indicate any animosity between Fell and Lindley.

Maybe what I'd heard years ago was mistaken, but I specifically recall a story about how they didn't like each other and bickered about who should get top billing when they got spun off into "The Ropers," with the producers finally settling the issue by having them trade off the top spot episode to episode. (If you look at the credits, one week she's first, the next week he's first.)

If none of this was true and they actually did get along, I'm more than happy to have gotten the story wrong. They were both so wonderful on the show.

Any pics or video links of the shirtless Larry?

Joyce DeWitt and Kate Jackson was another one who both had their heads so far up their asses to unironically refer to their "artisic contributions" to their shows. Ritter, who actually WAS talented, always had a healthy sense of humor about the show.

Somers was obviously the worst in terms of ego, but DeWitt personifies humorless shrew.

Kate Jackson did have legitimate acting talent, but that's a whole 'nother discussion for another thread.

Example, r115? No, the crap movie Making Love doesn't count.

Thank God she didn't stink up Kramer vs Kramer with her version of "craft."

Both Joyve and Suzanne gained weight in the first few seasons.

I'm the only cast member who also co-hosted Battle of The Network Stars, bitches!

R118 No you're not bitch, I did it two years before you!

I can't wrap my mind around straight guys finding Suzanne hot. The Farrah phenomenon I can see, but Suzanne? I'm gay, but I think I have a pretty good pulse on what gay men find attractive, and Suzanne just doesn't cut it.

[quote]At the time I thought it was very brave of the show (and ABC) to allow Mr. Roper (and later Furley) to actually believe that Jack and Larry were lovers, particularly the scene (which I also found kinda hot) when Jack and Larry were "rough-housing" and ended up in a tight clutch (I swear they were even bumping their junk) when, of course, Roper walks in and catches them.

We laugh about many things about the show now, but for me, a 9 year old in 1977 who knew he was different, the premise of the show that the Ropers were OK with Jack living there precisely because he was gay and not in spite of it was a very powerful and comforting message.

^or rather because they thought he was gay.

[quote]I can't wrap my mind around straight guys finding Suzanne hot. The Farrah phenomenon I can see, but Suzanne? I'm gay, but I think I have a pretty good pulse on what gay men find attractive, and Suzanne just doesn't cut it.

What's to understand? She had tits.

Crissy Snow was an "iconic character?" I thought Suzanne Somers was the only person who believed that.

I remember Lucille Ball hosted a clip show retropective of "Three's Company." PR flacks impled that she was a big fan of the show and that she considered Chrissy Snow a sitcom character as iconic as her own Lucy Ricardo. Ball tried to downplay her fan status by saying she liked the show because of the comedic talents of John Ritter. I doubt seriously that she was a fan of Suzanne Somers.

I kind of remember the Lucy retrospective thing, but didn't it take place after Suzanne left the show? At which point, even Lucy herself wouldn't had the power to make even one mention of Suzanne or Chrissy, even if she wanted to. I know she loved Ritter. She had him guest on her Life With Lucy debacle.

The clip show hosted by Lucy did indeed take place after Priscilla joined the show, though much to my surprise (or maybe they had no choice), they included clips of Chrissy from the first few seasons AND even gave Suzanne her proper billing at the beginning after John and Joyce (I can't remember if Priscilla was billed fourth or further down the line, maybe after the Ropers). Jenilee was included, too.

Regarding whether or not Chrissy Snow is an "iconic" character or not, I think sometimes people act like giving a silly show like Three's Company any credit whatsoever is like saying it belongs on a list of all-time great TV shows with Arrested Development and Frasier. All it means is that that name, Chrissy Snow, at the very least would likely have instant recognizability if you were to toss it out to someone walking down the street; I'm sure if you said Chrissy Snow to most people, they would instantly think Three's Company. Ironically, that might not be the case if you were to stop someone and say Walter White; they might go "who?" and need to be prodded to remember "Oh, yeah, Breaking Bad."

Don Knotts was brilliant as Mr. Furley.

r120 - She had two things going for her.

R126, I agree about Don Knotts as Mr. Furley. He had a tough act to follow in the Ropers, but he more than held his own.

Well, what were they, Dorothy at r127?

Why was Ann Wedgeworth dumped so quickly? I thought that her repulsion at a horny and delusional Furley was a funny dynamic that could nicely have filled the void left by the Ropers' departure. In an interview, Ritter said he felt bad for the way that Wedgeworth was treated, and added that it made absolutely no sense that Jack wouldn't be interested in someone as attractive as Lana.

They could of at least brought The Ropers back as guest stars maybe 3 times a season until the show ended. There one shot guest appearance after the show was cancelled on TC during the Cindy year ,with Helen ending up in bed with Furley and stanley walks in was a riot!

I was surprised when I realized as an adult that the popularity of the show with straight men was the fantasy of Jack fucking both Janet and Chrissy simultaneously. It just didn't occur to me as a kid,

[quote]Ritter said he felt bad for the way that Wedgeworth was treated, and added that it made absolutely no sense that Jack wouldn't be interested in someone as attractive as Lana.

Well, it made sense to me. Wedgeworth has a great body, but she would writhe whenever she saw jack and gasp out "Hi Jack" like a cheesy Marilyn Monroe. She was grotesque.

I felt the role demeaned Wedgeworth, who is an excellent actress in dramatic parts.

Wedgeworth claims she asked to be let out of her contract when she realized her role was being diminished. After a particular episode where she had large part, the cast and producers had a meeting and some people were complaining about the size of her role in the episode. Since she has nothing but kind words for John Ritter and Don Knotts but refuses to discuss DeWitt or Somers you can assume they were the ones complaining about her part. Although Ritter says he was confused by his character always resisting Lana's advances so maybe he expressed concern about the logic of their character interaction.

After that episode, she noticed her part getting smaller and smaller in the scripts so she told the producers she wanted her part to go back to what had been promised or else let her out of her contract so she could do other things. Initially they promised that they wanted her to stay and that they weren't intentionally writing less for her. But a few days later they called her manager and said they didn't know what to do with her character and were letting her go. She says no one acknowledged her last day and that Knotts and Richard Kline were shocked to find out she was leaving.

Wedgeworth's character was kind of creepy and one note. Her scenes were a bit cringe-worthy, and I can see why they got rid of her. Nothing against the actress, just a poor written, poorly planned character.

I liked the opening from those years at the Santa Monica Pier with the bumper cars.

What's YOUR favorite Three's Company opening????

I loved Lana - my favorite was when she called Furley a "Worm!"

The best of Jsnet

The *best* of Janet? The clip is about 6 1/2 minutes too long.

Oh gosh golly, Annie, I don't think there's even 6-1/2 minutes of you to put on tape.

Well Joyce, my dear , my best of could also include things such as my work on Evening Shade, Filthy Rich and Another World - Somerset. Yours might also include - what, a TV movie with Dennis "Mr. Belding" Haskins and that guest spot on SuperTrain? Hmm.

Oh golly Ann, if you followed my career you'd know that I carved out a very successful stage career for myself. And gosh, as for you, let's see, you have two failed sitcoms from the Linda Bloodworth Thomason factory. I'm unfamiliar with Another World-Somerset. What is that? Something about a spaceship landing in New Jersey? Yes, you are quite the success.

Stage career, Joyce? You mean the sort of work for which one might with a Tony? Well, I won one anyway. You? Hmm

Oh Ann, I've had lots of offers to do Broadway, but I turned them all down. I prefer to act in small community theaters that pride artistic success over commercial success. I don't need to be in the spotlight. If you knew me at all, you'd realize that about me. Then again, how much can one person get to know another in one month of working together before being fired?

It's good, Joyce, that you don't need to be in the spotlight, since the only time I can recall it shining on you in the last decade was after your unfortunate DUI arrest. Hmmm

I don't think Joyce has gotten much "stage" work since the closing of Mr. Burt Reynolds's Dinner Theatre.

Well, gosh darn, Annie, at least the paparazzi knew that my name could still sell papers, as I am famous the world over. We both know that your DUI arrest would never make headlines in your hometown pennysaver.

Joyce, sorry, but I suppose we'll never know what sort of press my DUI arrest might get. It's unfortunate that you still haven't gotten over the fact that you were not included in the Three's A Crowd spinoff. But look at it logically - when faced with a choice of you or Mary Cadorette, the producers had to go with looks and talent.

I still can't believe Ann Wedgeworth wasn't nominated for Best Supporting Oscar for Sweet Dreams. I love her performance in that.

MAJOR SPOILER at r17!!!!

Weird fact: Do you know there's a huge Jack-Janet cult out there in cyberspace - loads of fan-created J&J videos are on YT that are tributes to their "love story".

R148 - but they lied..."to my face!"

Please rewatch the E! THS from 1998. It is one of THE highest rated.

r105 - I'll outdork you by asking if there are any pics of John Ritter's barefeet in that book?

r133 - we are talking THREE's COMPANY here, not Eugene O'Neill.

r136, if you watch Don Knott's first episode, you'll see that they filmed those pier sequences on the same day as that episode. They are all wearing the same clothes in Furley's first episode as they are in the opening titles.

r153, yes there are several pics in the book featuring John's bare feet. But the pictures are all in black and white and not the best quality. He did seem to go barefoot on the show a lot.

If anyone starts scanning in photos from the book (John's bare feet or whatever), PLEASE scan in the one of Joyce as she embarks on her "spiritual journey!" It's SO freaky and funny.

I liked Jenilee, and thought she made a great foil for Ritter. I thought she was effective on Dallas and had nice chemistry with the cast. There was a memorable scene where she had some sort of catfight with Fern Fitzgerald's Marilee Stone.

R158 - I agree. She was better than Suzanne, much better.

I never got Suzanne's appeal beyond her huge titties. I think I understand straight guys pretty well, but for the life of me I'll never understand why they're so obsessed with a couple of soft jiggly pieces of flesh.

Suzanne looked great in the first season or two, before her hair was died white and had those goofy ponytails. Chrissy wasn't QUITE so dumb early on.

I think it was mentioned briefly in this thread, but there were two pilots for Three's Company with different actreses playing the roommates. (Joyce was in the second one.) These other young ladies were ghastly, and if you ever get a chance to watch these pilots, you will really learn to appreciate Suzanne, Joyce, Jenilee and Priscilla!

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

R160, I'm a straight woman and I've never really understood it either. Supposedly, it has something to do with feelings of being nurtured and protected like how our mothers did when we were babies.

R163, That is a hilarious bit of trivia that I never knew so I just googled it to see if it was true. Lo and behold, Kathy was definitely relieved not to get the job. She was a serious theatre actress at the time and thought the show was silly and stupid, lol.

Don't feel bad, R105: I just ordered "The Bionic Book" online writing about all the BTS details from The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.

I saw a "Love Boat" rerun with a very young, much thinner Kathy Bates, so I hardly think "Three's Company" was beneath her. She played John Rubinstein's virginal bride on a honeymoon cruise.

Kathy Bates was in China Beach as one of McMurphy's stateside friends. She was much thinner then too.

For r157

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

[quote]I think it was mentioned briefly in this thread, but there were two pilots for Three's Company with different actreses playing the roommates. (Joyce was in the second one.) These other young ladies were ghastly, and if you ever get a chance to watch these pilots, you will really learn to appreciate Suzanne, Joyce, Jenilee and Priscilla!

Valerie Curtin played the Janet role. She was Vera in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and Judy Bernly in the TV version of "9 to 5."

Suzanne Zenor played the Chrissy role. She was all over the place in the early 70s. Hilarious in the TV movie "The Girl Most Likely To..." with Stockard Channing. She also played one of the psycho sisters in bizarro cult flick "The Baby."

Susan Lanier played the Chrissy role in the second pilot. She's probably most famous for "The Hills Have Eyes" but also did a lot of TV guest star roles.

Here's the full first pilot with Curtin and Zenor.

Zenor was a whole lot prettier than Somers and she had the big boobs too.

SS said she based her interpretation of Chrissy on Dick Clark's wife.

Chrissy started off as the naive minister's daughter. Yeah, a total cliche, but it worked. By the third season, the character was borderline retarded, complete with facial contortions, and Suzanne looked ridiculous with that bleach blonde hair and those bizarre ponytails.

I can't believe there are 175 posts on this subject.

Why did they change all their names from the pilot? And all their occupations? Chrissy was an actress, Janet worked at the DMV and Jack wants to be a director.

r105 - what is the official title of the book you have? I'd like to get it.

Suzanne Zenor played Margo Horton on Days of our Lives in the 70s. She married another actor off the show in real life - Edward Mallory, who played Bill Horton - until his death a couple of years ago.

r177, making them part of the movie scene Americanized them, but perhaps they felt it created the kind of setting they didn't want for the show (more domesticated). The final edit brought the characters back to their British counterparts - the original UK series "Man About The House" (which the show was adapted from) had a struggling student chef Robin Tripp) living with two secretaries (Chrissy Plummer and Jo), both of whom worked at the same place. Jack Tripper became a cooking student and Chrissy Snow stayed a secretary while Janet became a florist.

Incidentally, if Suzanne Somers had stayed with the show, Chrissy would probably have inevitably married Jack's brother; her UK counterpart married Robin's brother in the last season. The US version stayed very close to the UK version.

Hardcore TC nuts might be interested to know that Joyce DeWitt's UK counterpart Sally Thomsett (who played Jo, the British Janet) also did not appear in one episode of the 6 season run.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Jenilee was great at the physical comedy; in that regard, she was the best of the three blondes.

I also loved her on Dallas and was pissed when they killed her character off.

Thank you R169! I feel spiritual just looking at that!

r178, it's called "Come and Knock On Our Door: A Hers and Hers and His Guide to "Three's Company." It's out of print but you can find used copies around. I found one at thrift store awhile back for under $5 - and it was autographed by Joyce DeWitt!

It's actually very well researched and written. The author interviewed just about every actor associated with the show and its spinoffs - the major exception being Priscilla Barnes, who had such a miserable time on the show she doesn't like to discuss it.

Suzanne Zenor looks like Valerie Perrine.

That show put Priscilla on the map. She's only barely remembered today because of 3's Company. She probably made a ton of money off it too. Why is she so ungrateful? Like she would've had a thriving career had she not done that. She's no Kathy Bates.

R178/184 there's a funny radio interview with John Ritter from that time on YouTube (still should be up) where he talks about the book and author. Worth checking out.

R178 - It isn't THIS one.

R178 Here it is. It's called Come and Knock on Our Door: A Hers and Hers and His Guide to "Three's Company." I guess it's out of print.

[quote]Suzanne Zenor looks like Valerie Perrine.

ZENOR was so funny as 'Heidi' in the 1973 tv-movie THE GIRL MOST LIKELY TO ... "Stand back you old witch"

Like Suzanne in the first couple of seasons, Joyce Dewitt looks more attractive in the 2nd pilot than she did on the show!

R185 - Yes, she did.

Sorry, I got screwed up and have to correct myself at r179 - the UK's version of Chrissy (named Chrissy Plummer) was actually the smart brunette who wold become the American Janet Wood; the UK version's blonde was Jo, who would become the American Chrissy Snow. The US version just "switched" names.

And the US version did follow the UK version in wrapping things up in that Janet married in the series finale - her UK counterpart Chrissy married Robin (Jack)'s brother; the difference is that janet married an insignificant nobody.

The UK's Chrissy, Jo, was not really given a proper end in that series' finale - like Terri, she just went her own way while her roommates went off with new romantic futures (Robin met Vicky and was spun off on his new program Robin's Nest).

Btw, in the MATH spin-off Robin's Nest, Vicky's bitchy mother was played by the great Honor Blackman (whose American counterpart in Three's A Crowd was played by the equally wonderful Jessica Walter).

I want to watch this episode - is it safe to download from this site?

The length of this thread over someone like PRISCILLA BARNES is mind boggling !!

It's become a general Three's Company thread R195

I didn't know Honor Blackman was in another sitcom besides the UK version of WHO'S THE BOSS (renamed THE UPPER HAND), of which she was the only bright spot.

"In the 1998 TV program E! True Hollywood Story, Barnes called Three's Company the "three worst years" of her life. Barnes revealed that after shooting a couple of episodes of the show, she felt "uncomfortable" on the set and asked, unsuccessfully, to be released from her contract. She remained friends with her co-stars, particularly Joyce DeWitt"

She had a career before "Three's Company", lot's of TV work, a Penthouse spread, a couple short-lived sitcoms. I think she would have made an excellent replacement for the coked-out Lauren Tewes, instead of that dreary Pat Klouse.

I just had to google Pat Klouse. I had totally forgotten someone by that name took Lauren Tewes' place on The Love Boat.

Lauren needs her own thread.

Dewitt had a very bad habit of smiling and trying not to laugh in her scenes. She did this a lot.

Best line from a review of that "Three's Company" book:

"Joyce DeWitt loves pain, and loves to relive pain, and loves to share her pain with you as she's reliving it."

Ann Wedgeworth's Lana was to Three's Company what Jennifer Coolidge is for "Two Broke Girls".

Just saw the commercial: Three's Company coming back to Antenna TV in April.

Cindy and Jack played well off each other (in terms of physical comedy), but two clutzes on one show was a bit overkill.

Good point R205

Three's C marathon has been on TV Land these past two nights. It's really one of maybe 5 or 6 shows (sitcoms, anyway) that I will never tire of watching.

Who would have thought - 30 or 35 years ago - that this would be the show (compared to its contemporaries) that would end up the enduring classic that stood the test of time? But it has.

They're showing some of the best episodes, too.

BUMPING this thread because of TC's 40th anniversary this weekend, AND because of Priscilla's Barnes postcast (she has a fucking podcast???!!!!???) which also came out this weekend - and for any TC fans is very amusing and gossipy - and how is there not a thread on this already??

Priscilla actually sounds pretty cool - kind of dryly funny. Joyce seems like she has her shit together but is also a massive tool. Jenilee makes some good points but often stutters when it comes to articulating them - she seems genuinely nice, however. As does Richard Kline.

It's worth listening to and I can't start a thread so I'm putting in an official request.

Priscilla was drop dead gorgeous but not my favorite bubbly blonde. I liked Cindy best. She was daffy and delightful. She put some wiggle in jiggle TV.

Cindy was too young and that was causing the viewer to dislike Jack's comments toward her. Jennilee said when she first met John Ritter for the first time he joked "Who am I supposed to be? Her father?"

A Priscilla Barnes podcast?! Bless you, r206!

R209 it's called Barnestorming. Really.

The TC producers were beyond lecherous. Jenilee Harrison went on dates with Robert Blake and knew something was off then. Lots of other interesting dirt. Plus the way they all interact is very natural and funny - like the way you would gossip with your friends at dinner.

Let's fucking max out this thread, DLers!!!

Why was Cindy considered young and be Jack's daughter? They all looked the same age.

You can bet your sweet ass that if those stupid producers hadn't caved to Dewitt's contract demands and just gone forward with Anne Schedeen, they would've paired Jack up with Anne Schedeen in the spin-off!

I've always been a Terri fan, but I did watch the recent 40-year anniversary special and saw some SS episodes that I hadn't seen in decades. She was funny as hell.

Yeah, even though Suzanne ultimately became nothing more than a high end grifter, she was pretty funny on TC.

Somers was actually really good in the first season or so. There was a wonderful sexy quality to her line readings. When they tried to make her Lucy, i.e. brain dead, she really became annoying.

See that's when I liked the character R215 but watching the episodes back to back, it was pretty obvious they dumbed up the character.

R215, in the first season, Chrissy had a great line abut Jack's underwear. He was wearing his swim trunks but Janet thought it was underwear. Chrissy said she knew it wasn't his underwear because his underwear has giraffes on them. It was said with a sexy, knowing wink. That kind of line and delivery were unthinkable in later years. The episode where she is depressed about work and does that exaggerated little girl pout and cry, you have no sympathy for her at all. You want to slap the shit out of her and tell her to grow up.

I caught part of the marathon over the weekend. Dumb show over-all, but there were some genuinely funny episodes or moments. It was definitely more adult and suggestive in the early episodes where they actually seemed like they were young adults in the late 70's. The later episodes were much more chaste. There might still have been double entendres but the characters were pretty sexless.

[quote] the characters were pretty sexless.

Not me!

No one has listened to the podcast yet?!?!!

DLers, you're slipping.

They were very catty to Chrissy.

So her podcast only has Joyce, Jenalee and Richard? How could you do a podcast with only half the cast and call it a reunion?

Only one grateful and classy from that group were Ritter, Kline, Knotts,, Fell and Lindley.

Yes sir.

Jesus Christ, how are there TWO hundreds long posts about Priscilla fucking Barnes?!

I thought all the seasons were funny and entertaining EXCEPT the last season. They were phasing out Janet and Terri to make the Jack tripper character more of the focus so he could more comfortably slide into the spinoff. Tripper spent a lot more time at the dull bistro. Joyce looked bored and on auto pilot the final year, and Priscilla wasnt really the focus of any of the shows, basically having turned into a very supporting actress. I thought they should had Jack and Janet get married. The audience would have loved it, the actors had proven chemistry, and it would have given the writers story to write. It also would have allowed the characters to grow up..............

Priscilla gives me an Aunt Pittypat vibe these days.

I know that there's the infamous scene where Ritter's balls can be seen, but I seem to recall there was also a time or two where DeWitt's ample bush could be seen peaking out from either side of the crotch area of her terry shorts.

I always looked for Terri doing stupid fake hand gestures, going la la la la, and then waving at somebody in the distance, while on the trolley car. As a 10 year old gayling I could smell fake, and hate watched her from there.

Ritter Balls

The Goodbye Guy was their worst episode.

John Ritter always seemed gay to me. He certainly had a GAY accent.