The Ropers

A couple of talented people, Audra Lindley and Norman Fell had some great supporting roles in Three's Company. Audra was a forty/fifty something who wanted a little romance in her life or at least some sex from her husband. Living on the beach front as they did I'm surprised that Lindley didn't have her pick of surfer dudes to fill her with high octane. But that was the characters that were created, the disinterested husband and the lovelorn wife.

They were great supporting characters. But that's all they were, supporting characters. So it was no surprise that The Ropers who sold their building just could not carry a show built around them for more than one season.

Somehow they should have been worked back into Three's Company.

The Ropers were spun off of Three's Company after the third season. This spin-off actually fared better than the later spin-off Three's a Crowd in 1984, lasting roughly two seasons versus TAC's one season.

I personally find the Ropers (the show) to be very funny and humorous. Sure, it didn't have the sexual innuendos or physical comedic value that its parent series did but it had plenty of misunderstandings to make it a pleasant watch.

Jeffrey Tambor excels as Jeffrey P. Brookes III, the snooty and high-brow real estate agent that ends up being the Ropers' neighbor. His wife Anne is very down-to-earth and genuine, making friends with Helen Roper instantly. But it's no surprise that Brookes and Roper wouldn't get along with Roper being very unsophisticated and Brookes the opposite. Roper and Brookes are funny to watch but they can't hold the series up by themselves.

Gaining widespread popularity from the hit sitcom "Three's Company", producers looked to give the Ropers (Norman Fell and Audra Lindley, respectively) their own series. The result is this short-lived spin-off (itself based on "George and Mildred", the British spin-off of "Man About the House", on which "Three's Company" was based). True to their characters, Lindley was excited for the opportunity while Fell was reluctant to leave a good role on a proven hit show. He was finally won over by a promise from the producers to give the show a year, and if canceled before that, they would return to their roles on "Three's Company". However, the legendary Don Knotts had come on board to replace the Ropers, and became a highly popular character in his own right. "The Ropers" ran for 28 episodes over two short seasons in 1979-80. The sitcom finds Stanley and Helen having sold their apartment building to move into a more luxurious locale in the affluent neighborhood of Cheviot Hills. Unlike her husband, Helen tries hard to fit in. Stanley is often at odds with their realtor, next-door neighbor Jeffrey P. Brooks III (Jeffrey Tambor), while Helen befriends his wife Anne (Patty McCormack) and their seven-year-old son David (Evan Cohen).

Make no mistake, the Ropers are beloved characters of television. But, they thrive in short bursts or working off top talent, as the case with John Ritter and "Three's Company". A show revolving around them was a struggle to ever find a way to takeoff. The kept their character traits, but the writing was prone to weak plots. The comedy was there, however, and at times hilarious. In some episodes there are two plots- a storyline with the Ropers and a completely unrelated one with the Brookes. Unlike a show such as "Seinfeld" where the different storylines ingeniously connect, the ones presented here sometimes exist well apart from one another. In these instances, the Brooke's plot is vague, limited and weak. In the second season they "jumped the shark" by adding a young homeless girl who had unknowingly been living in their attic to stay on in a recurring role.

A few personal favorite episodes are "The Party" (the only one with Jack, Janet, and Chrissy from "Three's Company"), "The Other Woman", and a tender script for "Baby Talk".

Just finished a month-long nostalgia kick: all eight seasons of Three's Company, two seasons of The Ropers, and the sole season of Three's a Crowd.

The Ropers is too often maligned, often making Internet lists for "Worst Spin-Off" or "Top Ten Terrible Spin-Offs." Make no mistake. The Ropers is no disaster like Joanie Loves Chachi or AfterMASH. In fact, The Ropers is quite palatable; often, it is hilarious. Norman Fell and Audra Lindley are terrific as always, and Jeffrey Tambor shines (thanks to his bald crown, of course) as the Ropers' uptight, upward-obsessed neighbor.

As others have stated, The Ropers may not be great. The couple are stronger in small doses. Still, the fact that this show lasted only a season plus six (season one is only six episodes) is a shame. The Ropers was a ratings smash for that first mini-season but tanked once it was switched to Saturday nights opposite CHiPS (why do television programmers do this?). It's a shame.

Concerns? As stated, Stanley/Fell and Helen/Lindley struggle to carry the weight of entire show, but what's really missing is a stronger supporting cast. Tambor is fantastic--don't get me wrong--but there's little else. Patricia McCormack is perfectly acceptable as Tambor's wife, and Evan Cohen is likable as the little boy, but Three's Company always boasted at least five strong characters, while The Ropers at times can feel claustrophobic: the two neighboring couples and not much else.

I don't know much about the history of The Ropers' ratings, but my guess is the addition of Stephanie Vallance as Jenny in the last ten episodes or so was a desperate attempt to inject a new storyline. This gambit is understandable, but Jenny, a young adult runaway with a heart of gold who moves in with the Ropers as their surrogate child of sorts, makes for an odd addition. Jenny is perfectly anodyne, and that's the problem. The show desperately needs another character or three, but only if that character is A) interesting and B) funny.

The Ropers deserved a better fate. It's certainly a good enough show to last four or five seasons. It's equally as good as, and often better than, other sitcoms that enjoyed healthy runs. And who knows? Given a chance to grow, The Ropers might have blossomed into something beyond its surface pleasures. Oh well.

This is a pretty good spin-off from Three's Company, where the kids' landlords, Stanley and Helen Roper, sold their apartment building and moved into a new house.

The Ropers have the same dynamic as they had in Three's Company, and it was fun seeing them deal with their neighbors and visiting relatives. Not too keen on Jeffrey Tambor's character though - seems only a one dimensional character with no redeeming qualities.

I do enjoy the guest appearances of the Three's Company characters - makes you feel like you're watching that show again. Quite an entertaining show - too bad it didn't last longer.

Grade B