Three's Company

Three's Company is an American television sitcom that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. It is based on the British sitcom Man About the House created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. The story revolves around three single roommates: Jack Tripper, Janet Wood, and Chrissy Snow, who all platonically live together in a Santa Monica, California, apartment complex owned by Stanley and Helen Roper. The show, a farce, chronicles the escapades and hijinks of the trio's constant misunderstandings, social lives, and financial struggles. A top 10 hit from 1977 to 1983, the series has remained popular in syndication and through DVD releases. The show also spawned similar spin-offs to those that Man About the House had: The Ropers and Three's a Crowd, based upon George and Mildred and Robin's Nest, respectively. Synopsis Florist Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) and secretary Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) live in Santa Monica, sharing a multi-bedroom apartment with their roommate Eleanor. When Eleanor decides to move out, culinary school student Jack Tripper (John Ritter) crashes her going-away party at the apartment and is found by Janet and Chrissy the next morning, passed out in the bathtub. Needing someone to cover Eleanor's share of the rent, the women offer to let Jack move in with them and he quickly accepts so that he can have a place to stay other than the local YMCA. However, overbearing landlord Stanley Roper (Norman Fell) refuses to allow unmarried men and women to live together in his apartment. He allows Jack to move in only after Janet tells him that Jack is homosexual. Although Stanley's wife Helen (Audra Lindley) quickly figures out that Jack is straight, she trusts him with the girls and keeps the secret from Stanley, who tolerates Jack but mocks him. Frequently siding with the three roommates instead of her husband, Helen's bond with them grows through the couple's departure, leading into the spin-off The Ropers.