The Ropers

The Ropers
The Ropers opening logo
Based on	George and Mildred created by Johnnie Mortimer Brian Cooke
Developed by	Don Nicholl Michael Ross Bernie West
Starring	Norman Fell Audra Lindley Jeffrey Tambor Patricia McCormack Evan Cohen
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	28
Production
Producer	The NRW Company
Production locations	CBS Television City Hollywood, California
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	March 13, 1979 (1979-03-13) – May 22, 1980 (1980-05-22)
Related
George and Mildred

The Ropers is an American sitcom that ran from March 13, 1979 to May 22, 1980 on ABC. The series is a spin-off of Three's Company and based on the British sitcom George and Mildred.

It was taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood, California, where its parent series, Three's Company, was taping at the time, from February to April 1979 (Season 1) and from July 1979 to February 1980 (Season 2).

Plot

The series focused on middle-aged couple Stanley and Helen Roper (played by Norman Fell and Audra Lindley) who were landlords to Jack, Janet, and Chrissy on Three's Company. Now they reside in Cheviot Hills.

In this spinoff, the Ropers have sold their apartment building in Three's Company to live in the upmarket community of Cheviot Hills, where the social-climbing Helen struggled to fit in with her neighbors. Stanley made little attempt to fit in with the standards of the community, thereby causing Helen much embarrassment. The address of their new home was 46 Peacock Drive. Their phone number was 555-3099.

As was the case during their time on Three's Company, opening credits for The Ropers exist with either Audra Lindley or Norman Fell credited first.

Characters

Main characters

• Stanley Roper (Norman Fell)—A lower-middle-class, frugal, and often embarrassing retiree, who moved to Cheviot Hills after he is duped into buying a condo.
• Helen Roper (Audra Lindley)—A sexually frustrated, social-climbing middle-aged woman who tries to fit in the community despite her husband Stanley's constant boorishness. Despite her attempts to fit in, she often proves herself to be as bumbling as her husband.
• Jeffrey P. Brookes III (Jeffrey Tambor)—The snobbish realtor who is also the Ropers' next-door neighbor.
• Anne Brookes (Patricia McCormack)—Brookes' long-suffering, down-to-earth homemaker wife, who looks after the house and their young son David. She and Helen become friendly, despite their husbands' frequently adversarial relationship with one another.
• David Brookes (Evan Cohen)—Jeffrey and Anne Brookes' 7-year-old son that is always tempted to bother Mr. Roper, which his parents don't approve.

Recurring characters

• Jenny Ballinger (Louise Vallance)—A young woman who had been living in the Ropers' storeroom
• Ethel Ambrewster (Dena Dietrich)—Helen's snobby elder sister; gives her an air kiss every time she sees Helen
• Hubert Ambrewster (Rod Colbin)—Ethel's husband and Helen's brother-in-law
• Debbie Hopper (Lois Areno)—The girl Stanley sees at the hot tub in the neighborhood
• Joey (Richard B. Shull)—Stanley's best friend and one of Helen's enemies
• Hilda (Lucy Lee Flippin/Darcy Pulliam) - Helen's sister who has 5 children and 1 on the way with her husband Freddy
• Mother (Lucille Benson)—Helen, Hilda and Ethel's mother

Creation

After the enormous success of Three's Company in its short first season in 1977, ABC head Fred Silverman was anxious to capitalize on the show's success. In early 1977, Silverman approached Fell and Lindley with the subject of doing a spin-off from the show after its first full season wrapped in the spring of 1978. Both actors as well as the Three's Company producers begged off as the show had yet to prove itself for an entire season. However, with the show's continued success in its second season, the idea was brought up again in 1978, this time by Three's Company's own producers as well as new ABC head Tony Thomopolous (Silverman went to NBC). The idea intrigued Lindley, but Fell was extremely reluctant, as he was satisfied with his role on a show that was already a proven hit. Fell feared that a spin-off would be unsuccessful and thus put him out of a good role and job. To alleviate his fears, Three's Company producers contractually promised Fell that they would give the new series a year to prove itself. If unsuccessful, then he and Lindley would return to Three's Company. A reluctant Fell agreed to the new terms.

Like Three's Company, The Ropers was introduced as late season replacement series in the spring of 1979 premiering the same night as Three's Company on ABC's successful Tuesday night lineup, airing at 10pm. In its first season, the ratings for the show were very high (the show finished at #8 for the 1978-79 season), and had the second-highest series premiere rating at the time. After the season premiere, Three's Company went on hiatus, but The Ropers still did well. ABC reran the episodes over the summer of 1979 (in August on Sundays) where they continued to achieve high ratings leading many to believe that the show would have a long run.

Cancellation

At the beginning of the 1979-80 season, however, ABC moved the show to Saturdays at 8pm, resulting in an audience drop which put it near the bottom of the ratings. Being placed on Saturday nights, rather than on the ABC Tuesday night lineup, caused an immediate fall into the bottom ten (#52 out of 61 shows for the week of September 17–23, its second week of the season) as the show was in direct competition with the NBC show CHiPs. The show later moved to 8:30pm on Saturdays by January 1980. The move upset Fell to the point that he actually went to ABC headquarters in New York to plead with the network to move the show to a better time slot. His effort was in vain, however, and the show continued to pull in low ratings. The drop in ratings and the fact that the show wasn't pulling in the key young demographic audience, led to announcement of the show's cancellation by ABC in May 1980. The last three episodes aired Thursdays at 9:30pm after Barney Miller in May 1980. Audra Lindley stated in Chris Mann's 1997 book about Three's Company, that she was surprised that The Ropers had been canceled after a late season surge in the series ratings that allowed it to finish the 1979-80 season at number 25; however, the Nielsen ratings for that year list the series Soap at number 25.

With the series canceled, Fell approached Three's Company producers about returning to the show. During the time that The Ropers was on the air, the characters had been replaced on Three's Company by Ralph Furley (Don Knotts). The addition had worked well and Three's Company had retained its popularity. The idea of returning Fell and Lindley to their original Three's Company roles was undesirable to producers, mainly because they had one character playing the landlord role now as opposed to two, which would require more money to be paid out per episode, (the cancellation of The Ropers came just as Suzanne Somers began to renegotiate her contract, which would lead to her very public contract dispute during the 1980-81 television season), something that was undesirable to the show's producers and ABC. The cancellation of The Ropers came just one month after the one-year contractual deadline had passed. Fell would later state that he always believed the decision to pull the plug on the show had been made much earlier, but that the network deliberately postponed making the cancellation official until after the one-year mark specifically to be relieved of the obligation to allow Fell and Lindley to return to Three's Company. There was an attempt by producers to sell the show to Silverman over at NBC; however, Silverman passed on it too.

Despite the hard feelings, in March 1981 both Fell and Lindley made one final guest appearance on Three's Company (in season 5, episode #96) nearly a year after the end of their own series before the characters were retired for good. For audiences, it was a chance to see all of the three landlord characters — played by Fell, Lindley, and Knotts — on the same stage. In this episode it was explained that the Ropers had moved up north to the San Francisco Bay area.

Tambor appeared on the show that same season playing a different character, a wealthy but unwelcome suitor of Chrissy's cousin Cindy (#5.13).

The show was ranked number two on Time magazine's "Top 10 Worst TV Spin-Offs".

In July 2002 TV Guide named The Ropers the 49th worst TV series of all time.

Episodes

• Nº = Overall episode number
• Ep = Episode number by season

Season 1: 1979

Nº	Ep	Title	Directed by:	Written by:	Air date
1	1	"Moving On"	Dave Powers	Brian Cooke, Johnnie Mortimer	March 13, 1979 (1979-03-13)
Helen bugs Stanley into finally looking for a new house. Stanley, however, wants to buy a mobile home. Based on the episode of the same name by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. This episode is sometimes included in "Three's Company" syndication.
2	2	"Friends and Neighbors"	Dave Powers	Brian Cooke, Johnnie Mortimer	March 20, 1979 (1979-03-20)
Stanley embarrasses Helen when he locks himself outside of their house in nothing but underwear while she's attending a posh party next door. Based on "The Bad Penny" by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
3	3	"Your Money or Your Life"	Dave Powers	Brian Cooke, Johnnie Mortimer	March 27, 1979 (1979-03-27)
Stanley thinks he's dying when results from his doctor don't come right away. Based on the episode of the same name by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
4	4	"The Doris Letters"	Dave Powers	Brian Cooke, Johnnie Mortimer	April 3, 1979 (1979-04-03)
Helen thinks Stanley needs help and takes him to a marriage counselor after she finds many love letters from him, which turn out were for Doris Day. Based on "The Dorothy Letters" by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
5	5	"The Family Planning"	Dave Powers	Brian Cooke, Johnnie Mortimer	April 10, 1979 (1979-04-10)
Stanley gets upset when Helen's mother and sister Ethel visit and he thinks that her mother has plans to stay with them — permanently! Based on the episode of the same name by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
6	6	"Opportunity Knocks"	Dave Powers	Brian Cooke, Johnnie Mortimer	April 17, 1979 (1979-04-17)
Larry Dallas visits and tries to sell them a mobile home. This idea excites Mr. Roper and the always devious Jeffrey. Stanley almost buys it without telling Helen. Based on the episode of the same name by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke

Season 2: 1979–80

Nº	Ep	Title	Directed by:	Written by:	Air date
7	1	"The Party"	Jack Shea	George Burditt	September 15, 1979 (1979-09-15)
The second season begins with Helen complaining about never getting to take a vacation. To keep her quiet, Stanley prepares a secret disco birthday party with the aid of his former tenants Jack Tripper, Janet Wood, and Chrissy Snow. This episode is sometimes included in "Three's Company" syndication as "Stanley, the Ladies' Man".
8	2	"Days of Beer and Rosie"	Jack Shea	Martin Rips, Joseph Staretski	September 22, 1979 (1979-09-22)
A man shows up at the condo and introduces himself as Stanley's son from an affair years ago. The Brookes want to send their son, David, to a private school. Based on the episode of the same name by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
9	3	"Power Play"	Jack Shea	Martin Rips, Joseph Staretski	September 29, 1979 (1979-09-29)
When the electricity to the Roper's house is cut off when Helen's sister is supposed to come for dinner, Stanley "borrows" electricity from the Brookes. Based on "The Unkindest Cut of All" by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
10	4	"Baby Talk"	Jack Shea	George Burditt	October 6, 1979 (1979-10-06)
Stanley fears that Helen will ignore him if they adopt a child. But when a social worker says they're too old to adopt, he raises her spirits by giving her Muffin, a dog. Based on the episode of the same name by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
11	5	"Two for the Road"	Jack Shea	Wayne Kline, Martin Rips, Joseph Staretski	October 13, 1979 (1979-10-13)
Stanley and Jeffrey get drunk and are arrested after both have arguments with their respective spouses.
12	6	"Puppy Love"	Jack Shea	Martin Rips, Joseph Staretski	October 20, 1979 (1979-10-20)
Stanley loses their dog and buys another one to try to calm Helen down.
13	7	"All Around the Clock"	Jack Shea	George Burditt	October 27, 1979 (1979-10-27)
On their 23rd wedding anniversary, Stanley buys a fake antique clock which happens to resemble the Brookes' stolen clock. Helen then tries to sneak into the house to return the clock. Sam McMurray appears in the episode. Based on the episode of the same name by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
14	8	"Odd Couples"	Jack Shea	Mark Fink	November 3, 1979 (1979-11-03)
When the Ropers' kitchen is accidentally set on fire by Mr. Roper, Brookes thinks it's his fault and lets them stay with his family.
15	9	"Pal Joey"	Jack Shea	Martin Rips, Joseph Staretski	November 17, 1979 (1979-11-17)
When Stanley gets a new (or so he tells Helen) living room suite from his friend Joey, he finds out the "new" furniture once belonged to Helen's sister, Ethel.
16	10	"Helen Makes Music"	Jack Shea	Stephen Neigher	November 24, 1979 (1979-11-24)
The Brookes and Ropers fight over the commission money Helen gets when she sells one of the townhouses to a buyer, so the Brookes decide to buy her something — an organ!
17	11	"The Skeleton"	Jack Shea	Alan Hackney	December 1, 1979 (1979-12-01)
Jeffrey's hobo uncle (Barry Nelson) comes for a visit.
18	12	"The Other Man"	Jack Shea	Neil Rosen, George Tricker	December 15, 1979 (1979-12-15)
Helen creates a phony lover named Roman to make Stanley jealous.
19	13	"And Who's Been Sleeping in My...?"	Jack Shea	George Burditt, Stephen Neigher, Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, Bernard West	January 26, 1980 (1980-01-26)
The Ropers find out that an 18-year-old girl has been living in their store room for weeks.
20	14	"Jenny's Date"	Jack Shea	Martin Rips, Joseph Staretski	February 2, 1980 (1980-02-02)
Stanley pays the Brookes' nephew $50 to take Jenny out on a date.
21	15	"Of Mice and Horses"	Jack Shea	George Burditt	February 9, 1980 (1980-02-09)
Ethel attempts to retrieve a valuable horse-shaped vase from the Ropers. Based on "I Gotta Horse!" by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
22	16	"Family Feud"	Jack Shea	Katherine Green, Barbara Allyn	February 16, 1980 (1980-02-16)
The Ropers and Brookes feud on David and Helen's birthday.
23	17	"The Other Woman"	Jack Shea	Stephen Neigher	March 1, 1980 (1980-03-01)
Helen thinks Stanley is cheating on her.
24	18	"Men About the House"	Jack Shea	Martin Rips, Joseph Staretski	March 8, 1980 (1980-03-08)
Stanley takes David to a poker game while babysitting him.
25	19	"Old Flames"	Jack Shea	Martin Rips, Joseph Staretski	March 15, 1980 (1980-03-15)
Stanley is jealous when Helen's old boyfriend wants to see her.
26	20	"The Rummage Sale"	Jack Shea	George Burditt	May 1, 1980 (1980-05-01)
Stanley's men's magazines are accidentally donated to a church rummage sale. Based on "Jumble Pie" by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
27	21	"Four Letter Word"	Jack Shea	George Burditt	May 8, 1980 (1980-05-08)
When Stanley goes over to his brother-in-law Hubert's office to get a job, he finds two tickets for Hubert and his secretary to Acapulco.
28	22	"Mother's Wake"	Jack Shea	George Burditt	May 18, 1980 (1980-05-18)
Helen's mother holds a wake at the Ropers' house to discuss her will, complete with presents.

Syndication

The Ropers has been aired in syndication on local channels in the 1980s and early 1990s, but has had limited airings in recent years, likely because, due to its relatively short network run—roughly a season and a half—there aren't enough episodes to strip the show. Two episodes of the series, however, play in the syndication package of Three's Company. When initially offered in syndication, the series ran under the title Three's Company's Friends, The Ropers. That version used an instrumental version of the original series' theme song. Six episodes of the series were aired on TV Land in September 2006, and four episodes were aired on WGN America in October 2008.

The Ropers aired in Canada beginning September 15, 2007, on CanWest Global's digital specialty channel, DejaView.

Beginning in January 2011 Antenna TV, a television network designed for digital television subchannels and owned by Tribune Broadcasting, aired the sitcom. The series started on Tuesday, February 15, 2011, and went through one entire rotation of all episodes before being removed from the lineup. On August 29, 2011, the show returned to the lineup as the Three's Company cycle again came to the point of the series where the Ropers left.

Antenna TV usually shows back-to-back episodes of Three's Company. But when the cycle comes to the point of the Ropers' departure, the network then airs The Ropers following a single episode of Three's Company until the end of the Ropers cycle, then resumes the back-to-back Three's Company airings.

External links

• The Ropers at IMDb
• The Ropers at TV.com
• Sitcoms Online: The Ropers