Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company'

I was thrilled when they were going to air this movie. Yes, I do agree it basically was the E! True Hollywood Story of a few years ago, but it was exceptionally well done nonetheless.

The acting was good on all parts. I was a little annoyed by the actor who played Don Knotts/Mr.Furley but other than that all of the other actors were more than outstanding in their roles.

The few problems I had with the show other than the above mentioned Don Knotts actor were these: Richard Kline/Larry Dallas not even mentioned. Did they think no one would notice this, or did they just have too much already and could not figure out how to place him in any of it. He was missed.

I also had quarks with the set as well, and the scenes where the Suzanne Somers character complained that her "Tag-On" scenes were just four lines. Recent episodes on Nick-at-Nite that have re-run show that they were NEVER that short.

And the shot of the final episode being taped. Teri Never wore her nurses uniform in the final Three's Company episode. That was way too cheesy.

Other than that it was nicely handeled and I liked that it showed Alan Hamel and the producers of the show to be more of the villains than Suzanne Somers.

One final thought. And this goes back to one of my quirks with the actual show. Will anyone ever really acknowledge that Ann Wedgeworth/Lana Shields was ever on the show?????? I know she was only on for maybe half a season but jeez-louise. Give a older lady/tramp a break. Long Live Lana!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Three's company" was on my favorite shows as a young kid ,although now I think that so many misunderstandings make the situations unbelievable and grotesque. Also, over the years I had the chance to watch the much better and much subtle original - "Man about the house" Any how, this film presents the behind-the-scenes happenings on the "Three's company" set, from what I believe to be a Joyce DeWitt point of view. True, Suzanne Somers was hired for her looks and not her talent/brains (not to say that she doesn't have one or the other or both), and it seems as though she did manage to drive everyone crazy, but lets face it - she only did what many other TV stars do - take advantage of their success while it is still there (and TV success usually lasts only a few years). Actually, I believe the one member of the cast without whom there would have been no show is John Ritter. Both girls could have been easily replaced by other actress'. This film shows to little of Ritters' talent.

As shown in all the promo ads for this MOW, the focus of the show was on the whole Suzanne Somers debacle. The show becomes a hit, tapping into a nerve of the country post Sexual Revolution and pre-plague where the idea of a gay man is still considered relatively harmless and nancyingly funny. Everyone is happy. Then Somers' star power is doubly fueled by her greedy husband and the misshapen and ultimately fruitless desire to be the next Farrah Fawcett (note where both are today). Fights ensue on and off the set and then we are treated to the only real moment of drama in the film. When Somers arrives and is escorted to a backstage set where she tapes the infamous "phone call from sick mother's" house. I can totally remember watching those scenes as a youngster and thinking, Why is Chrissy there?

This was one of my favorite shows growing up, but watching this movie, you wouldn't understand why anyone ever watched it. We are treated to one scene of the show with one of the famous misunderstandings which were such a staple. Although, the emphasis was on Somers, I felt that there could have been more of an explanation of why this show was so popular. It was toted as a behind-the-scenes look at the show, but felt more like Somers life story 1977-1983. I was interested to learn, however, that Somers wanted to play Jack's fiancee in the spin-off. Can you imagine how interesting that would have been? That Vicki was so incredibly boring. I can remember at least one storyline from "The Ropers". "Three's a Crowd" does not ring the faintest bell.

Poor Priscilla Barnes gets no more than one minute. And where were Larry, Lana, an ever-so-small glimpse of The Regal Beagle? And did anyone else get the feeling that Jud Taylor looked almost too much like Gwyneth Paltrow? During the movie I was thinking she should play her next. But who would play Brad Pitt?

The Joyce DeWitt narration bookends were wholly unnecessary and further testament to the fact that she really did get the short end of that whole deal. I liked the woman that played her. She achieved a very fine balance between wanting to maintain the equilibrium of the show and the jealousy she must have been feeling toward Somers and, later, Ritter. The Ritter casting was remarkable. For me, he was always the real star, next to the remarkable Audra Lindley.

Overall, enjoyable, especially for fans of the show. But for a much better treatment of the subject, watch the E! True Hollywood story. It's one of their best.

7/10

I loved Three's Company when it was on, but this movie does not give it it a very good treatment. The whole movie comes off as very rushed with the series development and the first season all revealed within the first thirty minutes and then a segue straight into the Suzanne Somers travesty when her head became bigger than her chest. In fact, the movie has an eerie quality as if it was filmed by the crew from Sixty Minutes, but then, this is a ABC series being done by NBC. The pace was way too fast like a recreation from America's Most Wanted on steroids. The set didn't look very good; it looked like it was built as a high school set. In fact, it looked a lot better when it was recreated on that episode of "Eight Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter." They should have borrowed that set. And the background Seventies motif in the "real-world" was too awful. Did it really look like that back then ? Bret Anthony pulls off a fair John Ritter impression, but he just lacks the charm and panache of the original; there will never be another Ritter. The slapstick was just bad; Ritter does it better. Judy Taylor was a passable Suzanne, but then I never saw the fuss in Somers; I thought she was way over-rated. I loved Melanie Deanna Moore ! She is just too adorable and perfect for Joyce. Nice to see her in something else besides those glad commercials. I just didn't buy the young guy playing Don Knotts and couldn't believe they omitted Richard Kline entirely. I thought Company was best when it was around Kline, Ritter and Knotts and they dropped the tired husband and wife routines. There were brief parts with Priscilla Barnes, and my favorite roommate Jenilee Harrison is just barely given a scene. Some of the behind the scenes quotes I know were lifted from real life. Brian Dennehy looks and acts like the Skipper from Gilligan's Island corrupted by Hollywood; he just has one obnoxious producer scene too many. On a whole, I'd say the movie was fair, but I'm glad I watched it, but I do believe it could have been done much better.

TV movies about the making of old TV shows have become a cottage industry in Hollywood. Producers have pulled back the curtain on several classic TV shows including "The Brady Bunch","Star Trek","Happy Days","Batman", "Gilligan's Island","The Partridge Family",and now "Three's Company".

And this goes to show that Hollywood has ran out of original ideas,but instead we get a behind the scenes movie that is based on the classic TV series of the mid-1970's and early-1980's. Isn't this enough don't you think? I really am a huge fan of the original series(which ran on ABC-TV from 1976-1984),but I believe that the producers who thought of this concept decided at the last minute to do a story based on a TV show that centers around the following elements:arrogance,greed,jealously and envy,not to mention total backstabbing and complete bitchery within the original cast members. They didn't think for a second that Suzanne Sommers was the star of the original show,but she sure was the star of the movie about the original show in which just "to see how stupid Sommers was" here since she was always typecasted as a goofy blonde. And here in this TV-movie it shows why Sommers blew it due to her alterego on the set after her success on the show,which to reasons why she left the series at the height of her fame.

I'm surprised that Suzanne Sommers herself hasn't seen this! If she did there would be a huge lawsuit against the producers who thought of this! The TV-Movie that is based on her classic 70's show.

As for the rest of it,was very good especially in the casting of the actors who played John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt,not to mention the casting of the other actors who portrayed Don Knotts,Norman Fell,and Audra Lindley. In all,it was excellent. This isn't over as of yet,there are more behind the scenes movies to come including "Laverne and Shirley", "Family Matters","Saved By The Bell","The Love Boat","Good Times", "Charlie's Angels","Gimme A Break",and another Suzanne Sommers classic "She's The Sheriff",not to mention "Step By Step",and the bickerings behind the set between her and co-star Patrick Duffy.