Three's a Crowd

For other uses, see Three's a Crowd (disambiguation).

Three's a Crowd
Also known as	Three's Company, Too
Format	Sitcom
Developed by	Michael Ross Bernie West George Burditt Martin Rips Joseph Staretski
Starring	John Ritter Mary Cadorette Robert Mandan Alan Campbell
Theme music composer	Michael Lloyd (music) Al Kascha, Joel Hirschhorn, Don Nicholl & Michael Lloyd (lyrics)
Opening theme	"Side by Side"
Ending theme	"Side by Side" (instrumental)
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael Ross Bernie West George Burditt
Producer(s)	Martin Rips Joseph Staretski George Sunga
Camera setup	Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time	approx. 23 minutes (per episode)
Production company(s)	NRW Productions Bergman-Taffner Productions
Distributor	DLT Entertainment
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 25, 1984 – April 9, 1985
Chronology
Preceded by	Three's Company
Related shows	Robin's Nest

Three's a Crowd (also known as "Three's Company, Too" in the Three's Company syndication package) is an American television sitcom spinoff of Three's Company. It is loosely based on the British TV series Robin's Nest which was itself a spin-off of Man About the House on which Three's Company was based.

Synopsis

In the final episodes of its predecessor, Three's Company, Vicky Bradford (Mary Cadorette) is introduced as a love interest of Jack Tripper (John Ritter) beginning in "Cupid Works Overtime", episode 20 of season 8. In the following two episodes, "Friends and Lovers" parts 1 and 2, Jack asks Vicky to marry him, but she refuses and explains that although she loves Jack, she does not want to be married. However, Jack and Vicky eventually move to a new apartment together, the landlord of which is James (Robert Mandan), Vicky's father. James does not approve of Jack and constantly tries to disrupt their relationship.

Other characters included E.Z. Taylor (Alan Campbell), Jack's "surfer dude" assistant chef at his bistro, and Claudia Bradford (Jessica Walter), Vicky's mother and James' ex-wife. Three's a Crowd was broadcast on ABC from September 25, 1984 (only one week after the final new episode of Three's Company was broadcast) until April 9, 1985, with reruns airing until September 10, 1985.

Production history

Three's Company had been based on the British sitcom Man About the House which aired in the United Kingdom from 1973 to 1976. When the series concluded in 1976, series producers Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer devised two spin-offs of the series. The first spin-off was fashioned for actors Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce who played the popular George and Mildred Roper on the series. The series, called George and Mildred, ran from 1977 to 1980, and followed the Ropers selling their apartment building and moving into a high class neighborhood, the comedy arising from the seemingly lower-class Ropers and their relationship with their higher-class neighbors. The second spin-off was written for Richard O'Sullivan who played Robin Tripp (which would serve as the basis for Jack Tripper on Three's Company) and was named Robin's Nest, also the name of his restaurant on the series. Running from 1977 to 1981, the series followed Robin moving into an apartment above the restaurant he ran with his girlfriend, a situation which was frowned upon by her father.

Three's Company producers were anxious to captilize on these spin-offs. In 1979, they had spun off Norman Fell and Audra Lindley to their own series, The Ropers, based on George and Mildred, but it lasted only until 1980 after 1 and a half seasons. Three's Company's ratings remained high though. Producers Ted Bergmann and Don Taffner devised adapting the Robin's Nest series without John Ritter. A pilot for a series called Byrd's Nest was written, involving a young man living with his older girlfriend much to to the chagrin of the her father who owned the building they lived in. The series was planned to be a spin-off from Three's Company and possibly a vehicle for Richard Kline, who played Larry Dallas on Three's Company, but ABC passed on the idea. However, as Three's Company entered its eighth season in 1983, ratings took a dive due to stiff competition from new NBC series The A-Team. Realizing they had an aging show ABC okayed the development of a new series which was to be called Three's A Crowd.

Development and casting of the new series occurred in secret as Three's Company's eighth season progressed. Fellow cast members Joyce DeWitt, Priscilla Barnes, Don Knotts, and Richard Kline were kept out of the loop. During a Christmas hiatus in late 1983 producers auditioned several female leads to play Jack's new love interest Vicki Bradford, and eventually decided upon Broadway actress Mary Cadorette. An embarrassing situation arose when Joyce DeWitt accidentally walked in on the auditions after coming to the studio to set up her dressing room as the holiday hiatus was coming to a close. DeWitt was then informed by the producers that the series, ending at the close of the season with Ritter, would spin off to Threes a Crowd without her. Dewitt, who had been with the show from the beginning, weathering the highly publicized contractual dispute former cast member Suzanne Somers had with ABC and series producers, was hurt by the secrecy involved with the series ending and the spin-off. She and fellow castmember Priscilla Barnes would find it very hard to tape the rest of the season. Both Dewitt and Barnes learned that their characters would conclude with the series finale, however, both Richard Kline and Don Knotts were offerd an opportunity to have recurring roles on the spin-off. Both actors declined the offer. Former castmate Suzanne Somers tried to be cast as Jack's love interest in the spin-off, unsuccessfully.

Transitioning from Three's Company to Three's a Crowd

In transitioning from Three's Company to Three's a Crowd, series producers decided to follow the plotline of the British series. Season eight of Three's Company drew to a close in a three episode story arc. In the first of these episodes, Janet meets wealthy art collector Phillip Dawson. In the second episode she falls in love with him, while Jack meets and falls in love with stewardess Vicki Bradford. Her wealthy father, played by Robert Mandan, does not approve of the relationship. When first aired, this episode ended with the words "To be continued... next fall." The last episode of Three's Company aired as an hour long special that kicked off the 1984-85 fall television season and set up the premise for Three's A Crowd. In the episode, Janet married Phillip, and Terri relocated to Hawaii. Jack and Vicki profess their love for one another, but Vicki turns down Jack's proposal of marriage, citing her fear of the institution after seeing her parents feud her whole life. They instead move in together, in an apartment above Jack's Bistro. In the last scene, Jack and Vicki are spending their first romantic eveing together in the new apartment, only to have Mr. Bradford accidentally barge in on them, explaining that he received the key from Jack's old boss Mr. Angelino, having just bought the building from him, becoming the couple's new landlord. The title card for Three's Company then appears over the screen with the word "Company" zooming out, being replaced with "a Crowd".

Three's a Crowd employed most of the same writers, producers, and staff from Three's Company, but the new show's style was changed. While Jack was the lead star of Three's Company, it had an ensemble cast of three, with some ancillary characters. However, the new show was centered around Jack, with Vicki, her parents, and E.Z. playing supporting roles.The new show also employed even more slapstick comedy for John Ritter to exhibit. The events and characters of the previous show were not mentioned, except in a late season episode in which Larry Dallas appeared. He had moved to Bakersfield due to business downturns, and during his visit invited along "Greedy" Gretchen, who had often been mentioned on Three's Company. When rebuked by Jack, saying he was now living with a woman, she replied, "You're slowing down, Jack – you used to live with two women."

Ratings and cancellation

Three's a Crowd garnered only modest ratings, still competing with The A-Team. When the 1984-85 television season finished the show placed #38 in the Nielsen ratings; this put the show on the fence with ABC, since the show had enough of an audience to warrant renewal. However, when compared to Three's Company's ratings and The A-Team, which finished sixth for the season, ABC was tepid in committing to another season of Three's a Crowd. John Ritter was told that ABC would commit to a half-season of thirteen episodes to see how the series would place, although Ritter was reported as saying that he would not return to the show unless a full season was ordered. Series producers expected the show to be cancelled, while both Mary Cadorette and Robert Mandan confirmed that the series was intially renewed for the 1985-86 season. Finally, ABC decided instead to pick up Diff'rent Strokes for another season, which had just been cancelled by NBC.

Episodes

Main article: List of Three's a Crowd episodes

According to the creators of Three’s a Crowd, there were two seasons in the entire show. It was only on for the years 1984 to 1985 because of the cancellation which happened due to John stating that he would not return to the show unless a full season was ordered.^{[citation needed]}

Reruns

Daytime reruns aired on ABC from September 23, 1985 to January 3, 1986, followed by another prime time run on USA Network. Some syndicated versions aired under the title Three's Company, Too, using an instrumental version of the theme song of Three's Company.

Six episodes of the series were aired on TV Land in September 2006, and four episodes were aired on WGN America in October 2008. Three's a Crowd also airs in Canada on DejaView. The series began airing on digital broadcast network Antenna TV in June 2011 (it airs--as Three's A Crowd with its "Side by Side" theme song--after each cycle of Three's Company concludes).

External links

• Three's a Crowd at the Internet Movie Database
• Three's a Crowd at TV.com
• Three's a Crowd at epguides.com
• New York Times article on Three's a Crowd
• Sitcoms Online: Three's a Crowd