Little-Known Details About Three’s Company
Three’s Company is a show that stands the test of time. It had a stellar cast of major and minor characters, some shocking story developments, and many laugh-out-loud moments. Yup, the hilarious and ridiculous antics of three roommates transfixed American audiences for almost a decade in the 1970s. But behind the cameras, life was anything but blissful. This list reveals the darker hidden stories including ruthless firings and friendship splits.
Audra Lindley and Norman Fell couldn't return after they left
Spinoff shows can be a double-edged sword — for audiences and creators. Audra Lindley and Norman Fell learned this all too well when they departed Three’s Company to star in their own offshoot show, The Ropers.
The ABC Network told the actors that they would regain their roles on Three’s Company if the spinoff didn’t last longer than one season. So when The Ropers lasted for one and a half seasons, the producers reneged on the deal. Cold!
Priscilla Barnes was told she was "too blonde"
Imagine this: you land a new job, everything’s going great, and then you get told off by your bosses for being “too blonde.” Well, for Priscilla Barnes, this is her very real story from the set of Three’s Company.
She was allegedly reprimanded for her too-blonde locks on more than one occasion. "Our bosses were very, very controlling," Barnes told CNN in 2002. "If my hair was too blonde, I'd get called up in the office."
The cast only met when they started filming
One of the strengths of Three’s Company is the chemistry between the three main characters, so you might be surprised to learn that the actors who played them weren’t even introduced to one another until it was time to shoot.
This was probably because Suzanne Somers, John Ritter, and Joyce DeWitt were only confirmed as the main cast of the show at the very last minute. There had been plenty of changes behind the scenes before they went before the cameras.
Heather Locklear had a sweaty audition
Fans probably know that Heather Locklear auditioned for the show, but they might not know the awkward circumstances surrounding her tryout. Locklear went in for the role of Chrissy Snow and was nervous about the audition. So nervous, in fact, that the actor began sweating excessively.
So, Locklear put tissues under her armpits to "soak up the perspiration." In the audition, though, the tissues worked their way loose and started showing. "I walk out of the door and as soon as it shut, they all laugh," Locklear later said.
There were other actors who played Chrissy Snow
Suze Lanier-Bramlett succeeded in landing the role of Chrissy Snow before Suzanne Somers nabbed the part. It proved to be a brief success, though, as the actor only lasted through the second pilot of Three’s Company before being dropped.
Lanier-Bramlett later said, "My lowest point in my acting career was being replaced by Suzanne Somers in the TV series Three's Company in the role of Chrissy. It never feels great to fail, but... 'What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.'"
Priscilla Barnes didn't enjoy being on the show
Priscilla Barnes had a hard time with the frosty backstage atmosphere on the set of Three’s Company. In fact, Barnes has described her time on the show as the worst three years of her life and the most unhappy period of her career. It did start well, though.
In a 1981 cover story for People magazine, Barnes said, “There is no hoity-toityness, no ego stroking on this show — it really is a unit, a group effort. I can see why the tension with Suzanne must have been uncomfortable.”
Somers left after discovering unequal pay
Suzanne Somers became the most successful performer in the Chrissy role. Yet despite the fact that she was clearly a fan favorite, it seems the execs didn’t want to put Somers on the same salary as her co-star Ritter.
Officially, Somers left the show because she missed some filming days while lobbying producers for a pay raise from $35,000 to $150,000 per episode. “None of the rest of us would think we were the star of the show,” Joyce DeWitt told People in 1981, adding “Let Suzanne have a wonderful life — just don’t torture me in my own.”
Ritter paid homage to his father
Here’s a neat little fact hidden within the show’s vaults. You may remember the pilot episode when Ritter’s character, Jack, says, “Well, you know you have to learn to trot before you can gallop… who said that?”
This was in reference to Ritter's real-life late father, Tex Ritter, who was a successful musician and actor in his own right. Tex Ritter was a popular country singer and actor from the 1930s until the 1960s.
Don Knotts was an unlikely replacement for Somers
While Somers was demanding a pay rise for filming Three’s Company, she created something of a problem for the cast and crew. She reportedly would show up for rehearsals — and then fail to appear when it came time to film the episodes.
This led to the writers having to rewrite the episodes on the fly. The result was allegedly that Don Knotts was frequently given the lines originally meant for Chrissy. It was a workaround that proved perfect for developing Knotts’ role.
The show is riddled with continuity errors
There were several filming mistakes during the making of Three’s Company, most of which were related to the continuity of the shots. You can bet that the internet has taken glee in pointing them all out!
For example, one episode sees Jack covered in leaves that miraculously change color when the camera cuts back. Other issues include erroneous college names, behind-the-scenes audio spillage, and objects appearing and disappearing during scenes. Spooky!
No one quite knows what the address of the apartment is
Ever notice that the address of the apartment kept changing? It’s true. The main filming location had three separate addresses during the sitcom’s lifespan. You can tell this by the number on the front door.
Interestingly, the name of the apartment was only mentioned once, early on in the show’s lifespan. Its name? Hacienda Palms. The real-life exterior of the apartment can be found at 2912 4th Street in Santa Monica.
Somers and DeWitt didn't speak for 30 years
After the turbulent fashion in which Somers left the show, it’s little surprise that she drifted from a few of her colleagues. The most aggrieved, however, was Joyce DeWitt, who made her feelings pretty clear.
DeWitt felt that Somers’ monetary demands nearly brought the entire show to its end. In fact, the two actors didn’t speak to each other for 30 years until finally putting their differences aside on Somers’ web show, Breaking Through.
Filming equipment blunders were frequent
People had no idea that shows they filmed during the 1970s and ’80s would still be obsessively watched and rewatched almost 50 years later. So that’s maybe why the makers allowed so many cameras and microphones to be seen on screen during the sitcom!
Undoubtedly, though, modern audiences expect an error-free production. Do you remember the uproar when that Starbucks cup appeared in Game of Thrones? But it could also be argued that these visible blunders add a certain charm to Three’s Company.
Richard Kline went from a cameo to a full-time cast member
One of the best characters on the show is the sleazeball neighbor Larry Dallas, played by Richard Kline. However, the devious car salesman was actually only meant to appear in one episode of the sitcom.
Unsurprisingly, though, the producers rethought that when they saw how well he interacted onscreen with Jack. Kline went on to star in over 100 episodes. He also cropped up in the spin-off shows, The Ropers and Three's a Crowd.
Knotts had the other cast members in awe
After the Ropers left to shoot The Ropers, the decision was made to bring in legendary performer Don Knotts to fill the void. He played the new landlord, Ralph Furley. And despite not revitalizing the show in its latter years, Knotts’ stellar reputation had many of the cast in awe.
“It’s amazing how much we learned just by watching a pro like Don,” Ritter once said. “Few people realize what a consummate actor he is. [Director] Dave Powers and I were jumping up and down when Don came in. It was like, ‘Santa’s coming!’”
The spin-off created tension
After all the turmoil that transpired throughout the years, the show couldn’t have a happy swansong. Tension began to stir on set during the final season after Joyce DeWitt discovered that John Ritter was going to get his own spinoff show.
DeWitt felt betrayed that Ritter hadn't kept her in the loop. The eighth season of Three’s Company had already been suffering in the ratings after the juggernaut that was The A-Team came on the scene.
John Ritter’s wardrobe malfunction
John Ritter once suffered an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction when his shorts ended up being a little too short during one particular episode, leaving very little to the audience’s imagination... even if no one noticed at first.
The slip-up wasn’t discovered by a viewer until a re-run of the episode was shown in 2001. You would think that’s the sort of thing that would just jump off the screen...
Joyce DeWitt had a pantyhose sponsorship
DeWitt apparently had a certain bugaboo about showing her bare legs on screen. People have argued that this is why her character, Janet Wood, is only ever seen wearing pantyhose or trousers.
In a bit of unintentional foreshadowing, though, DeWitt became a spokesperson for L'Eggs, the pantyhose brand. "I can’t suddenly become the brunette T&A," she later said. "That’s not my personality. I’m too self-conscious and too shy."
Jenilee Harrison didn't stick around for long
Jenilee Harrison didn’t fare so well while working on Three's Company. Harrison got the job as, essentially, Chrissy Snow's replacement. She played Chrissy’s cousin, a farm girl named Cindy Snow, for two seasons.
“I don't remember Jenilee and Priscilla really catching on,” Chris Mann, author of 1998’s Come and Knock on Our Door: A Hers and Hers and His Guide to Three’s Company, told Closer Weekly. “Jenilee was, I think, too young and thrown in there with little direction.”
Three's Company was once very different
When writer Larry Gelbart initially conceived of Three’s Company, Ritter's character was an aspiring filmmaker named David Bell living with two actresses called Jenny and Samantha. Jenny was played by Valerie Curtin, and Samantha was played by Susanne Zenor.
The pilot wasn't a success, but the head of programming at ABC, Fred Silverman, apparently couldn’t let it go. The show actually went through two more pilot phases before becoming the classic sitcom we know today.
It was based on a British show
One of the initial pilots very closely resembled Man About the House, the British sitcom on which Three’s Company is based. The source material told the very familiar story of a young man pretending to be gay in order to maintain his mixed-sex living arrangement.
Strangely, Man About the House also had two spin-off shows. These were called George and Mildred and Robin’s Nest. The latter restarted the story of Robin Tripp, who was basically the British Jack Tripper.
Billy Crystal tried to get the role
Before John Ritter landed his breakout role as Jack Tripper, a pre-fame Billy Crystal originally tried out for the part. Actor Barry Van Dyke, Dick Van Dyke’s son, and sitcom director Michael Lembeck were also potentials for the role.
Crystal need not have worried about failing to land the role, though. He found fame on another TV show that launched in 1977 on ABC: Soap. That show ran for four seasons.
Loni Anderson was almost Chrissy
WKRP in Cincinnati star Loni Anderson nearly landed the role of Chrissy Snow. However, producers felt that audiences wouldn't buy that someone as classy-looking as Anderson would need to split the rent for an apartment.
Anderson ended up appearing on the Three's Company episode "Coffee, Tea, or Jack" as Susan Walter, a haughty flight attendant. She later revealed how much she loved working with John Ritter and Suzanne Somers.
Suzanne Somers was THIS close to missing out on the gig
Just days before the show began taping, ABC head Fred Silverman was fast-forwarding through audition tapes to try to find a replacement for Susan Lanier-Bramlett as Chrissy. That's when he came across Suzanne Somers.
Even though the casting director had already passed on the unknown actress, Silverman called her into the studio and gave her the part. He thought she would be perfect for the role — and he was obviously right!
The actors almost sang the theme song
It was initially suggested that Ritter, Somers, and DeWitt would sing the memorable theme song for Three’s Company. You know the one: "Come and Knock On Our Door." But after actually hearing the cast sing, the producers seemingly decided to bring the professionals in.
Oddly enough, the Three's Company theme song shares a unique connection with Sesame Street's opening jingle: both were composed by Joe Raposo. Raposo also created the theme for The Electric Company.
Suzanne Somers appeared in disguise in the credits
In the opening credit sequence of the show, Ritter falls off his bike after becoming distracted by an attractive brunette. This mystery woman was none other than Somers in a brown wig!
In Come and Knock on Our Door: A Hers and Hers and His Guide to Three’s Company by Chris Mann, Ritter said, "That brunette is Suzanne with a wig. You can tell by her little Suzanne buns."
John Ritter’s son appeared in the opening credits
In the later seasons, the opening credits featured DeWitt feeding goats alongside a little boy. That little boy was actually John Ritter’s son Jason, who wandered into the shot by accident and wound up in the scene!
"My mom went to every taping so she would take me and we would go there but I don't really have any memory of it. I wish I did," Jason told USA Today in 2012.
Norman Fell based his performance of Mr. Roper on a real person
“I was thinking of a guy I really know in Philadelphia,” Norman Fell said in the book Come and Knock on Our Door about his performance in Three's Company. “The clothes are all wrong... He was innocent and a guy who just can't do things right, whether it's being with a woman or fixing something.”
“And yet he thought he was the cat's meow,” Fell continued. “He thought he was attractive, he liked his clothes. He thought people were looking at him because of how well-preserved he looked. He thought he was all things he's not.”
Suzanne Somers didn’t make her fortune with Three’s Company
The ThighMaster was a pretty odd piece of workout equipment, but Suzanne Somers managed to convince much of the American public that they needed one. In fact, it’s been estimated that Somers made as much as $300 million for sales of the ThighMaster alone. Entertainment Weekly wrote in 1992, “Just look at the legs it has given the career of its spokesperson.”
With all eyes on her, Somers parlayed her infomercial fame into another leading role, this time on the TV series She’s the Sheriff. The show ran from 1987 to 1989.
Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel had a secret to their success
Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel got married in 1977, just as Three’s Company was kicking into gear. Hamel became more than Somers’ husband: he was the actress’ manager during her time on Three’s Company as well. But the two didn’t let work get in the way of their loving relationship at home.
“We date every night. I think dates are really important, especially [in] long-term marriages,” Somers told Us Weekly in 2021. “We meet at Big Al’s bar — that’s the bar at our house — and he pours me a stiff tequila of clear because clear has little to no sugar and a lot of ice. We sip tequila, listen to music, sometimes we dance. … It’s just what we do.”