The Ropers

The British did a series called Man About The House which in the USA became Three's Company ,there were two spin-offs from Man About The House,one was called Robin's Nest which in the USA became Three's A Crowd and the other was called George and Mildred which in the USA became this show The Ropers.

The premise-Helen and Stanley selling the apt building and moving into an upper class neighborhood with snooty neighbors. I know I watched this show when I was a young teen in 1979 but hardly remembered it since it didn't last very long however this past weekend during TVLAND's Three's Company marathon they showed a few episodes of the short lived series.The show did have a few laughs ,however it was quite evident that the main characters could not keep this show afloat.While the British spin off had much more background and substance the Ropers did not.Helen's love starved landlady and her bickering with Stanley worked great on Three's Company as a supporting act but you couldn't continue to play that gag as a main act.So they started having Stanley and Helen get along better and become more sympathetic to each other.This obviously turned off audiences who had grown to love the zingers between the two. According to IMDb trivia even the stars Norman Fell and Audra Lindley didn't feel good about doing this spin off. They should have heeded their feelings. Making a deal with the network that they could return to Three's Company full time if the show didn't last a season was a curse. The show lasted a season and a half and after a guest appearance on Three's Company they were gone for good. I will always remember them as The Ropers on Three's Company where they should have stayed.

An ambitious effort from Norman Fell and Audra Lindley as they portrayed the hilarious landlord couple Stanley and Helen Roper from the hit series Three's Company. In the spin off show, Stanley and Helen moved from their Santa Monica apartment to the upscale neighbourhood called Cheviott Hills and their new neighbour was not fond of having them as part of the community. The show just didn't seem to be as good as Three's Company. Stanley and Helen were better as supporting cast members rather than as series leads. The cast was small including Jeffrey Tambor as the neighbour Jeffrey P. Brooks III. He's not a likable character, but his dislike towards Stanley and his quirks behind closed doors made the show funny. Recurring cast included Helen's troublemaker sister Ethel, and her mother; these two characters did not appear on Three's Company.

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

Decent at most, "The Ropers" is a spin off to the ABC hit sitcom "Three's Company". The show is based off the British series "George & Mildred", which itself is a spin off of the series " Man About the House" the series "Three's" is based off of.

Stanley and Helen Roper have sold their apartment and move to a townhouse in upscale Cheviot Hills. Their neighbor the pompous stuffed shirt Jeffrey P. Brooks is also their real estate agent. Played to hilarious perfection by Jeffrey Tambor. Brooks is a married man with a child, at times his personality clashes with Stanley's and it's up to his wife Anne (Patty McCormack) and Helen to calm their spouses down. At the same time Helen deals with her snobbish sibling Ethel and her forgetful mother.

Some of the episodes are exact copies of the "George & Mildred" story lines. Much like "Three's" the series had special guest stars, and even introduced a certain actress named Stevie"Louise"Vallance who would later be one of the pioneers in Canadian animation. Unfortunately just as the series had finally found its footing ABC pulled the plug, citing bad ratings. Audra Lindley and Norman Fell both were hesitant to do this series, in fact Norman would only agree if the show flopped and he could return to "Three's", the producers decided to make the show go a season and a half and resulting in the agreement being null and void. Overall, the series was a valiant attempt but it proved that sometimes supporting cast members can not make it on their own.

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.