Ritter and DeWitt were infuriated, producer Michael Ross balked and Somers’ role was ultimately reduced to a weekly walk-on bit Chrissy’s brief scenes, staged as phone calls to her roommates, were shot separately. Somers demanded a five-fold increase in her salary to $150,000 per episode and a 10% cut of the show’s profits. However, a widely publicized business conflict at the outset of season five ultimately resolved itself in Somers’ exit. It was a show that never stopped talking about sex even though none of its principal characters actually had any, but the titillation kept it lashed into the Nielsen top five through the beginning of its 1980 season. Lindley and Fell star in "The Ropers." (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) From left to right: Audra Lindley, Joyce DeWitt, Ritter, Suzanne Somers, Don Knotts, and Norman Fell. In the minds of many, male-female cohabitation was anything but innocent and, apparently, would lead only to the evils of premarital sex.”Īctor John Ritter points towards guests attending a press preview luncheon for television's "Three's Company," and its spinoff show "The Ropers," in Los Angeles, Sept. Three’s Company, though otherwise apolitical in content, was the first sitcom to address the sexual implications and frustrations of co-ed living, which in 1977 was still somewhat taboo. 3 in the national ratings in its first full season in 1977-78.Ī Television Academy Foundation retrospective feature noted, “‘Three’s Company’ entered the television scene in the midst of TV’s ‘jiggle era’ that began in 1976 with ABC’s ‘Charlie’s Angels,’ and was the medium’s response to the sexual revolution and the swinging single. John Ritter, the most familiar of the three stars, was top-billed as Jack Tripper, a culinary school student who jumps at the cheap housing, but he is forced to pose as a gay man to placate the girls’ landlord, who is opposed to opposite-sex tenants.įeeding audiences a steady diet of improbable plotlines, Ritter pratfalls and double-entendre humor seasoned with Somers’ bubbling presence, “Three’s Company” vaulted to No. “Three’s Company” featured Somers as quintessential “dumb blonde” Chrissy Snow, roommate of the smarter and more level-headed Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) in an inexpensive Santa Monica apartment. Small parts on TV and in film followed, but Somers finally hit the Hollywood jackpot in 1977 when, after a torturous development period in which the producers couldn’t settle on a fresh female lead, she was cast as one of the two female leads in the third, successful pilot for a suggestive new ABC comedy based (as were the earlier hits “All in the Family” and “Sanford & Son”) on a successful British show, “Man About the House.” 15, 2023, her family said in a statement provided by her longtime publicist R. Somers, the effervescent blonde actor known for playing Chrissy Snow on the television show “Three’s Company,” as well as her business endeavors, died early Sunday, Oct. She first attracted attention with a small but eye-catching role on the big screen, as the nameless beauty in a white Thunderbird who captivates departing college freshman Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) in George Lucas’ ‘60s hit comedy-drama “American Graffiti” (1973).įILE - Actor Suzanne Somers is photographed at the Lowell Hotel in New York on June 30, 2005. Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.” “Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th. “Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family,” the statement continued. Couri Hay wrote in a statement to People shared on behalf of the actress’ family. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years,” Somers’ longtime publicist R. “Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th. Suzanne Somers, who parlayed TV stardom in the sitcom hits “Three’s Company” and “Step by Step” into a personal fortune as a health and fitness pitchwoman and author, has died, People has confirmed. FILE - Suzanne Somers is seen during the funeral services for Merv Griffin at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, Calif., Aug.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |