Are you ready to come and knock on our pod? Well, you’d better be, as Adam and I are spending the next 3 episodes revisiting the Three’s Company franchise – starting with the show that started it all, 1973’s UK hit Man About The House. Three’s Company, like many sitcoms of the 70s and 80s, had its origins in a UK show that was, then, adapted for American audiences. Well, not much was changed, but they did cast a trio with a more…”American look”.
If you’re not familiar, Three’s Company starred John Ritter, Joyce Dewitt, and Suzanne Somers as 3 twenty-somethings living as roommates in Santa Monica, CA. Since it was pretty salacious for a man to be living with two women, their cover story was that Ritter’s character, Jack Tripper, was gay. Looking back, I found it pretty progressive that their landlords, the Ropers, were fine with that explanation. Hell, there are apartment complexes now, in the Year of our Lord 2025, that would deny a gay guy from living there. As far as the Ropers were concerned, as long as Jack’s money was green, and there was no “hanky panky” going on, then everything was fine. The landlords would change, as well as some of the roommates, but the show would go on to last eight seasons, spinning off two other shows along the way. And we’re going to discuss all of them!
Growing up, I knew about Man About The House only because it was briefly listed as the Three’s Company “source material” in its closing credits. That said, I had never seen an entire episode prior to prepping for this podcast. Similar to Three’s Company, Man was a hit with UK audiences, where it would go on to run 6 seasons, and spawn 2 spinoffs and a theatrical release. A lot of American adaptations will do their own version of a few of the scripts, and then go on to forge their own path. From what I noticed, however, it seems like Three’s Company pretty much adapted all 39 episodes of Man About The House, while peppering in original scripts since our seasons are longer.
The biggest difference between the shows, however, is the depiction of the female roommates. In Man About The House, Chrissy is the “main” roommate, who’s brunette and has a Will They/Won’t They relationship with male roommate Robin. The blonde roommate, Jo, is almost an afterthought, as they never seemed to figure out what to do with her. Meanwhile, in America, Chrissy was the blonde roommate, who becomes something of a breakout star, while brunette Janet is the one they never really give a fair shake. Otherwise, Man About The House gives us a more in-depth look at other characters, like Robin’s pal Larry, as well as the guy who tends bar at the Not Regal Beagle.
Watching this show was like watching Three’s Company through a fun house mirror, yielding fascinating results. I’ve gone on record that Three’s Company is one of my favorite shows of all time, so it was fun viewing it through a new lens. Like I said earlier, this is only the beginning, as we’ll be chugging along to cover The Ropers and Three’s A Crowd, but we can’t get to those until we take a look at how it all started. If you’d like to dance on our floor, you can check out the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.