I'm not much into old sitcoms, except for Three's Company. It's my all-time favorite sitcom. I can't explain why I like it other than watching that fake apartment in fake Santa Monica somehow brings me comfort. And of course I am a huge John Ritter fan.
The premise of the show is that two chicks live with an all-American dude in a two-bedroom apartment run by (at first), a grumpy, asexual man named Stanley Roper - who is the non-Korean twin of my father - (refer to the pics from my earlier blog). The show was considered to be dicey for the 70's and 80's, but it was actually a very wholesome show, maybe too wholesome. I've often had my own Three's Company theories on what I think was really going on underneath the bubbly exterior of the show. I believe that each of the rommates had a thing for the other, except the girls of course. There were many episodes where one person thought the other was sleeping with Jack and of course did not approve.
After watching every single episode many times - I realized that the show is one big oxymoron and I often wondered whether the show meant to do that, or whether the writers and producers just didn't care to notice.
Contradictions are listed below:
- All three roommates are supposed to be in plutonic relationships amongst themselves - but they are seen constantly hugging, kissing (on the lips), and being groped in many episodes. Jack's sexual innuendos are non-stop, especially when it comes to Chrissy. Not only that, Janet gets jealous when Jack doesn't give her the same attention. In fact, all of the roommates tend to get slightly jealous when someone is dating another person.
- The girls act extremely prissy when Jack comes in their room. (Seems very 1950's, doesn't it?)He isn't allowed in there, even though Chrissy prances around the apartment wearing her next-to-nothing, see-through nightgowns.
- Jack has the reputation of a "playboy" but never really goes all the way with a woman on the show, nor does any boyfriend or girlfriend of the characters ever sleep over. Prime example, Lana, the sex crazed, slightly older woman who occupies a unit in their building. She is in love with Jack and doesn't hide it, but Jack avoids her like the plague!
- When Chrissy comes home late from a date, Jack and Janet stay up late worried sick.
- In one epsiode, Larry's younger sister comes into town and hangs out with Jack. When they are no where to be found, EVERYONE goes crazy thinking the WORST ~ that they *gasp* slept together! Of course you know they didn't.
- Jack is also supposed to be homosexual so that the landlord will allow their living arrangement, but they never ever say the word homosexual and rarely if ever, mention the word gay. That's just a comment on how virtuous the show was, not really a contradiction.
Things I've noticed after watching every single episode:
- They use the same guest characters over and over.
- Jefferey Tambor played many different characters in the show, including Terri's mental patient, a dentist, and the Roper's neighbors after they moved to a condo.
- The show was never the same after Chrissy left the show.
- No character ever had a long-term boyfriend/girlfriend until the last season of the show when Jack and Janet got married, not to each other of course.
- The only place the characters ever went was to the Regal Beagle. Once, they went camping and to Will Rogers Park - which I am guessing was the same set. Seeing a new set was a treat for me.
I think I've tortured Dan with enough episodes of Threes Company to last him a lifetime. But for me, I think the characters are funny - with the exception of Janet - and even though they all act like cartoon characters, I will still watch it. I even used to watch the spin off, Three's A Crowd.
