How John Ritter Responded When He Was Criticized for His ‘Three’s Company’ Spin-off Show
Actor John Ritter hoped to realize the same success he had in Three’s Company with his spin-off show Three’s a Crowd. But certain decisions made with the program didn’t sit well with a section of the show’s audience.
What fans didn’t like about John Ritter’s ‘Three’s a Crowd’
Three’s Company enjoyed an incredible run for the eight seasons it ran on air. At its peak, the series was both a ratings and critical juggernaut, earning its cast and crew accolades like the Emmys and Golden Globes. Even after losing one of their key actors, the late Suzanne Somers, the show continued its momentum. Jenilee Harrison was brought on board to pick up where Somers left off, fitting right in with Ritter and Joyce DeWitt.
But Three’s Company lost considerable steam during its final season. Researcher and author Chris Mann, who’d been closely following Three’s Company, noted that fan reception for the show was still high. But the hit sitcom found itself recycling old plots, and its ratings weren’t what they used to be. All of these factors contributed to the series eventually getting canceled.
“A lot of fans feel that there are a handful of episodes in Season 8 that are among the series’ best. Things were still jelling so well, especially with the physical comedy, but I think what you had happening was a repeat of some storylines,” Mann once told Closer Weekly. “On top of that, The A-Team premiered in ’83 on NBC and they were knocking off everything. They were the show that knocked off the Fonz [Happy Days], and it knocked off The Jeffersons. Three’s Company had also lost its lead-in with Laverne and Shirley in ’83. So the sitcom itself was dying out.”
But Ritter wasn’t ready to part ways with Jack Tripper after the conclusion of Three’s Company. He and producers decided to further explore the character in the spin-off Three’s a Crowd. The show saw Jack surrounding himself with a new cast of characters, including Mary Therese Cadorette, who played Jack’s girlfriend Vicky. But there was a group of fans that were concerned by the idea that Ritter’s character was living with Vicky.
Jack and Vicky weren’t married in the spin-off, but lived with each other and remained intimately involved. The show also aired at 8:30 PM, so many figured a lot of younger audience members might be exposed to the program. Some thought an unmarried couple living together presented a bad example to impressionable minds.
According to The Morning Call, Ritter felt the situation was being overblown.
“I never had any reservations about the situation. They both love each other with all their hearts. I lived with my wife for two years before we got married,” he said.
Joyce DeWitt felt that ‘Three’s a Crowd’ should’ve been about Janet and Jack
Joyce DeWitt, who played Jack’s roommate Janet in the series, was caught off guard by Three’s a Crowd. According to Mann, Ritter was told by producers not to disclose this information to Joyce. When she found out, DeWitt didn’t take too kindly to the secrecy. This just added further tension to the Three’s Company cast.
“So I think the writing was sort of on the wall that Three’s Company would be winding down, but for whatever reason John followed the producers’ advice not to disclose to Joyce that they had planned to spin off his character at the end of Season 8. So there was deception there that she took personally. John was in a very tricky situation, and maybe there was a better way to handle it, but there were certainly differences on the set then,” Mann said.
Three’s a Crowd wasn’t nearly as successful as Three’s Company, and was canceled after one season. Certain fans thought the series might’ve done better if it was about Jack and Janet as a couple instead. It was an opinion that even DeWitt seemed to agree with.
“I think our producers made a very serious misjudgment when they spun John’s character off into his own show, in the fact that it wasn’t just Janet in my opinion, it was all the characters. They underestimated the relationship of all the other characters with the American audience, and the intimacy and importance of that. So I think, they were just dumber than boxes of rocks,” DeWitt said according to Phoenix Sisters.
