Three's Company
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The series follows three single roommates—Jack Tripper, Janet Wood, and Chrissy Snow—who live platonically in a Santa Monica apartment complex owned by Stanley and Helen Roper.[1] The show aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984, spanning eight seasons.[2]
Key facts and history
The series was based on the British television program Man About the House.[3] Fred Silverman placed the show on the network lineup despite doubts about the actress portraying Chrissy.[4] Silverman discovered Suzanne Somers's audition tape the day before production began and decided she was ideal for the part.[4] Barnes described the show's plots as "very formula; it was a box".[5]
The theme song "Come and Knock on Our Door" was composed by Joe Raposo, known for his work on Sesame Street.[6][3] The agreement reached meant Somers only performed in the brief closing tag of certain episodes, each lasting about one minute.[7] Somers recorded her parts on different days than the main cast and never shared a set with any of the other actors.[7]
What the cited sources add
A 2002 CNN article quotes Priscilla Barnes stating that the show's producers were "very, very controlling" and would call her into the office if her hair was too blonde.[8] A Snopes article confirms that in March 2001, a viewer alerted Nickelodeon that John Ritter's scrotum skin was briefly visible in an episode.[9][2] The Snopes article also quotes Ritter joking about the incident with a candy-bar advertising jingle.[9] A HuffPost interview identifies Jason Ritter, John Ritter's oldest son, as the baby boy in overalls who appears in the opening credits filmed at the Los Angeles Zoo.[10][11]
Don Nicholl, a writer-producer, is credited with penning the lyrics to the theme song, as reported by American Songwriter.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Three's Company" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Official Three's Company website", Threescompany.com, 2005-10-01 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Urban Legends Reference Pages: John Ritter Flashes Camera", Snopes, 4 September 2003. facts only, no text reused. snopes.com
- Benitez-Eves, "The 'Sesame Street' Composer Who Wrote the 'Threes Company' Theme Song "Come and Knock on Our Door"", American Songwriter, October 16, 2023. facts only, no text reused. americansongwriter.com
- Wikipedia, "Three's Company" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Interview of Fred Silverman, part 7", Television Academy Foundation, March 16, 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Kappes, "Barnes statement on controlling producers", CNN, December 31, 2002. facts only, no text reused. edition.cnn.com
- Wikipedia, "Three's Company" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Benitez-Eves, "The 'Sesame Street' Composer Who Wrote the 'Threes Company' Theme Song "Come and Knock on Our Door"", American Songwriter, October 16, 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Three's Company" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Suzanne Somers", Archive of American Television (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Three's Company" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kappes, "Barnes statement on controlling producers", CNN, December 31, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Three's Company" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Urban Legends Reference Pages: John Ritter Flashes Camera", Snopes, 4 September 2003 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Three's Company" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wayne, "Hollywood on Location – TV Locations", Seeing-stars.com; Kit, "Interview: Actor Jason Ritter on his career, his insecurities and life with & without his father", HuffPost, March 18, 2010; Thomlison, "Q & A", TV Media (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Kit, "Interview: Actor Jason Ritter on his career, his insecurities and life with & without his father", HuffPost, March 18, 2010. facts only, no text reused. huffingtonpost.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Three's Company (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Three's Company (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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