Threes Company

March 1977 - September 1984

John Ritter as Jack Tripper

Joyce DeWitt as Janet Wood

Suzanne Somers as Chrissy Snow

Jennilee Harrison as Cindy Snow

Priscilla Barnes as Teri Alden

Don Knotts as Ralph Furley

Norman Fell as Stanley Roper

Audra Lindley as Helen Roper

Ann Wedgeworth as Lana Sheilds

Richard Kline as Larry Dallas

Three's Company introduced me to two of the funniest people that ever walked the Earth. First, you had John Ritter (1948-2003) who, until his Jack character came along had bit or recurring characters in prominant TV shows like The Waltons and Mary Tyler Moore. Until 1977, no one had a clue of his physical comedy attributes or the range for drama that he would later exhibit. The first three roomies were Jack, Janet and Chrissy. Though Chrissy would later be replaced by Cindy and later Teri, it was Jack that held the show and the laughs together as Suzanne Somers would ultimately find out. During the first three seasons, the tenants were joined by the Ropers, Stanley, the stick in the mud, cheap, unappreciative landlord and his oversexed wife Helen who were fodder for a bevy of innuendo and misunderstanding. I say this in preparation for my next point...Don Knotts, who for years played the loveable, nervous, anxiety ridden, bumbling, over the top Barney Fife on the 60s hit, The Andy Griffith Show. In my opinion, the pairing of John Ritter and Don Knotts served up my favorite episodes of the sitcom. I may be a little different than many TC fans in that, Chrissy, Cindy or Teri didn't make a whole pile of difference, it was Ralph Furley and Jack Tripper that made the show.

Three's Company had a successful run on ABC from 1977-1984 and while it seems dated these days in our approach to living out of wedlock and the stereotypes that accompany the gay lifestyle, it was still hilarious. Two girls and a guy live together in a small apartment in Santa Monica, California while deceiving their landlord that the relationship can only be platonic because Jack is gay! I have my favorite episodes that leave me in stitches. In particular, I loved the episodes that included characters like Lana, Mr. Angelino and Phillipe. I appreciate how Larry’s character developed over time and the trouble these two best buds always seemed to get in to.

The girls were an interesting lot with Joyce DeWitt being the only one who served the whole sentence. Chrissy was wonderful and true fans appreciated her dumb blonde schtick even though the press, at the time, tried to promote her as a raging sex symbol that overshadowed Jack himself…turns out, it didn’t work. To us die hard fans, while she was an attractive woman, that’s NOT the reason we loved her so much, but because of the comedic chemistry between her and John Ritter. All you have to do is watch the handcuff episode and you’ll need no further proof. I won’t go into the whole story of how she fought for more money, was “punished” by making cutaway appearances at the end of the shows and then let go…you can find that bit of history on other web pages who no doubt know more than me. The second blonde was Cindy who was basically brought in to curb that segment of the population that may have been very “pro Chrissy”. While her clutzy character was at times, cute, there was obviously nothing happening and we could feel it. She was a terrible actress, at least at that point in her career and though she had a models shape, something was missing. I guess it’s kinda sad with the circumstances that brought Jennilee Harrison to the show and ultimately to her demise. The third girl, Teri was a mixture, a good mix of physical comedy, facial contortions and sexiness. I actually liked her and would have welcomed her more if her heart had been in the show. We never did hear much from Pricilla Barnes except a couple of “B” movie appearances after the show.

Season #2

Episode 25 Jack in the flower shop

Jack is a goof off in this episode as Janet offers him a job in the flower shop. Janet gets angry, they stop talking, blah, blah, blah...funny though.

Season #3

Episode 35 The Fast

It's a test of willpower as the contest is on between Chrissy and Jack. He has to give up girls, she has to give up food.

Season #4

Episode 58 Jack the Ripper

One of two episodes with Dr. Prescott. Jack seeks his advice on being more aggressive, especially in light of his passiveness when it comes to dealing with Dean Travers.

Episode 61 A camping we will go

Funny how, when an episode takes place away from the normal surroundings, all cast members end up being a part of it. Larry's girlfriend wants to be an actress so Larry tells her that his buddy Jack is a commercial director. In the meantime, Jack is dead dog tired and needs to get away from it all. To make a long story short, they all end up at a cabin retreat where Jack is constantly badgered by Larry's girl and it's probably my second favourite episode. Look for the classic hammock scene...John Ritter was a freakin' hoot.

Episode 63 The Loan Shark

After losing Jacks cash, Chrissy inadvertently borrows money from a loan shark to help pay the rent. It's Jacks job to return this money...and fast. Mr. Bustamente will have none of that...there's interest charges to be paid. Jack's visit to Bustamente's office is classic and his stuttering reaction to his visit to the apartment is wonderful.

Episode 69 Mighty Mouth

Jack goes out with a beautiful athletic girl (Shirley) who has a very protective brother (Harvey). After his visit to Harvey's gym, Jack is sore from head to toe. His comical genius is played out when Shirley arrives to the apartment in his whithered, broken down state. Tori Lysdahl plays Shirley, Jack's love interest and in my opinion is one of the best looking women I have ever seen.

Episode 71 Handcuffed

Chrissy and Jack are handcuffed together after they play around with a set of handcuffs. Chrissy's cousin, Officer Jay Garfield will be the laughing stock if anyone finds out he left his cuffs at the apartment. Great episode and the best part is clearly the Regal Beagle scene when Jack tries to sit down and have a drink with his girlfriend Brenda "the human blender". I howl everytime I see Chrissy wiping Brenda's breasts and Jack mocking her when he says "Well, what did I do?!!"

Episode 73 Jack's Bad Boy

The roommates help out a runaway boy who plays the girls off against Jack who sees the kid for what he really is...mischievious. Turns out, the kid is rich and this is his way of relieving boredom. The boxing scene is great.

Season #5

Episode 79 Upstairs, downstairs, downstairs

Jack attempts to prepare dinner for 4 dates at one time. This episode was filmed in one take and shows what a remarkable performer Ritter really was.

Episode 82 Downhill Chaser

Jack tries to impress his girlfriend, an accomplished downhill skier who yearns for any man that keep up with her on the slopes. The ski chalet forms the better part of the show with Furley, Larry and Janet pitching in with great performances.

Episode 97 Double Trouble

This is a funny episode where Don Knotts and John Ritter prove they ARE the team. Jack must pretend to be his brother Austin (who, in fact, doesn't exist) in order to date Furley's niece.

Episode 98 Dying to meet you

Jack fakes his own death in order avoid dealing with a girl's jealous boyfriend. Terry Kiser makes one of a couple guest appearances on the show as Max, the possessive boyfriend of April, a girl that has taken a bit of an interest in Jack and likewise I'm sure.

Season #6

Episode 101/102 Jack Bares All

In Season 6 we are introduced to the new roommate Teri Alden, a registered nurse. Jack and her get off to a rocky start as Jack visits the local hospital and causes quite a stir after over reacting to a small cut on his finger. Much to Jack's chagrin, Janet meets this nurse and invites her to be their new roomy after Cindy decides to go to UCLA. At Cindy's going away party Jack does his best to dissuade Teri from staying and the jokes he and Larry play on her become downright mean.

Episode 107 Two flew over the cuckoos nest

Jeffrey Tambor who had several guest appearances on Three's Company would also be a supporting actor on the short lived Ropers spin off. In this episode, he plays Dr. Tom Miller, a stressed out shrink who Teri brings home to get him away from the mental ward of the hospital. Janet and Jack mistake him for a patient, Miller mistakes Jack as insane...funny episode.

Episode 117 Urban Plowboy

Another episode that didn't take place at the apartment or the Regal Beagle. This one took place at Cindy's grandparents farm. A protective brother comes searching for his sister's boyfriend, Jack Tripper...the funny thing is, it was Larry using Jack's name. Jack hightails it to the farm to escape certain injury.

Episode 118 A friend in need

Terry Kiser is hilarious as a mobster this time and the chemistry between him and Ritter is unmistakable. Jack poses a head chef for a restaurant and ends up becoming the "pet" cook for a mobster who likes his food hot and loves his mama.

Episode 120 Doctor in the House

Veteran actor Edward Andrews stars as Jack's grandfather who has longed for the day he could come visit his grandson "Dr. Tripper". Jack must pretend to be a doctor so his poor old granfather's heart doesn't break.

Episode 123 And now here's Jack

Jack is a happy camper when he gets his own TV cooking show and hires the girls as assistants. Teri gets stage fright and Jack and Janet trip over one another with Lauel and Hardy'esque hilarity.

Episode 125 Up in the air

A classic where Jack is trippin' on tranquilizers and booze. Janet enlists Jack's help in making her boyfriend jealous and asks him to join her at an exclusive party off on an island. In order to get there he had to board a plane. Jack gets some tranquilizers from Larry to help him relax, much to Terri's chagrin. It's the funniest episode ever made, period!

Season #7

Episode 138 The Impossible dream

Larrys tries to live his dream of becoming a singer and picks Jack's Bistro to launch his career. Trouble is, he couldn't sing if his life depended on it and Jack knows it. Don Knotts doesn't miss a beat as Furley helps Jack out in the kitchen and screws up everything.

Episode 144 Jack goes the distance

Jack gets into a scrap with a boxer by the name of Biff Bower. They decide to settle it in the ring. Great episode where Richard Kline proves he's no slouch in the comedy department, he really developed as a sidekick as the show rolled along.

Season #8

Episode 152 She loves me, she loves me not

Jack thinks one of the girls is interested in him in more than a platonic fashion after reading a love quiz that was filled out in a women's magazine at the apartment. He decides, with Larry's help to take the girls to a cabin retreat to figure out who it is. Kline and Ritter do a funny scene when Jack approached who he thinks is Janet but it's really Larry...and he plays along.

Episode 154 Out on a Limb

Jacks thinks a food critic, who barely touched his food at the Bistro, will write a bad review about him in his column. He decides to write a "tell off" letter and send it to him. Terri and Jack attempt to get the letter back before he can read it when Jack finds out that he actually liked his restaurant.

Episode 157 Grandma Jack

Larry enters one of Jack's recipes in a cooking contest and he wins a chance at a cook off with two other contestants. The one problem is, it's open to women only so Jack must work in drag as Grandma Tripper.

Episode 170 Cupid works overtime

In retrospect, episodes 170, 171 and 172 are all part of the same story. Jack's fear of flying takes centre stage again when he meets Vicki, his future love, for the first time. I just like this because I absolutely loved Mary Cadorette.

Episode 171/172 Friends and Lovers

This episode was an hour long and served as a goodbye to Three's Company and hello to Three's a crowd. Jack and Vicki got together, Terri was off to Hawaii and Janet married Phillip. I love it because once again, I loved Mary Cadorette and it was the final episode, why wouldn't I?

Favorite Guest Stars

Hamilton Camp was an unbelievable funny man and starred in my top four shows. Most know him as Bart Furley, Ralph’s brother in Three’s Company, Episode 92 Furley versus Furley . In WKRP he played in Episode 15 Hold Up as Del Murdoch and Episode 67, Til Debt Do Us Part as Buddy Gravers, Johnny’s ex wife’s new husband. In M*A*S*H, he played Major Fankenheimer in Episode 243, The Moon Is Not Blue and played Corporal Boots Miller in Episode 144 Major Topper one of my favorite episodes. As one of Mary's suitors in the Mary Tyler Moore show, Camp played Eric Matthews who, in the storyline, wrote a book about being short. Camp had guest appearances in many shows like Mary Tyler Moore, Bonanza, Mork and Mindy, Alice, BeWitched, The Andy Griffith Show and the list goes on. Camp died this past October and I had no knowledge until December. His comedic talents were incredible and the atmosphere he created was stellar. Hamilton Camp seized any scene he was in and made it all about him. He was one of those guys that REALLY should have had more name recognition in the mainstream because he was so complete.

Terry Kiser played Max, the jealous boyfriend of a girl that Jack has become mixed up with, not by choice in Episode 98, Dying to Meet You. In Episode 118, A Friend in Need , he plays a mobster with a spicy appetite. In WKRP, Kiser starred as Jason Realli in Episode 45, Venus Rising. He would later go on to play Bernie Lomax in the Weekend at Bernie’s movies. Terry Kiser has a long resume and has starred in other notable shows on my list including The Six Million Dollar Man, All in The Family, Bosum Buddies, Diff’Rent Strokes, Magnum P.I., CHIPs and Golden Girls to mention a few.

This page is part of a fan web site in its mentioning and illustration of any actor, director, producer, network or those involved with the TV show Three's Company. It is in no way affiliated with any artist or their works listed above. JP Kane 2005