Yeah. Only $500 now! I only have season 4. Should have bought the entire series when it was available.
That's how I feel about a lot of TV shows. I never bought the whole series for a lot of them, and if they aren't re-packaged, i'll never get the complete sets.
I think SAG-AFTRA is more involved with benefits and working conditions. The moment the actor gets more than SAG-minimum, it's out of their hands. Contract law is separate and distinct from the SAG basic agreement. If the actor suddenly quits and demands more money than they had agreed to in the contract, it's a problem. A lot boils down to how valuable the actor is to the show.
I think they spent about $10 on that intro to The Ropers. Notice how the camera pulled back too far during Jeffery Tambor’s credit and lost some of the blue backdrop, but they apparently weren’t going to spend the money to reshoot it.
I have been binge-watching the show on DVD. Just got though with the one where Jack keeps lying to get out of accidentally double-dating two women. Hilarious stuff.
I think it was very much a product of its era. Like Dallas or Dynasty, if you didn't take it too seriously, you could enjoy it.
That is a GREAT theme - just trying to figure out the lyrics before the internet! Down at our rendezvous - three is company too!
In addition to being a genuinely nice guy, Ritter was a brilliant slapstick artist. And his appearances on Scrubs!
Oh, I got paid to work on Dallas, Dynasty, and Knott's Landing for about six months, and that's the only way I could watch those shows. They were haaaaaarible. I don't dispute they had a huge audience for their time... but that was 35 years ago.
Antenna TV started a new cycle of “Three’s Company” last week so I decided to record and watch them for the first time in 40 years. I have watched the first three episodes and it simply is not a good show (I am being charitable). I am tempted erase the few on the machine since even if improves, it still isn’t much. Suzanne Somers was better looking than I remember her but that’s all I can say for it. The backstage drama was more interesting than the show.
Well, they weren't as insanely fun as Dukes or CHiPs, but for those able to turn their brains off & roll with the idiot punches, w00t!
Oh, but it was legal, even in Santa Monica, at least in 1977 when the show premiered. There were protections against discrimination based on race, religion, and the presence of children in the household. Owners of buildings of certain sizes (IIRC, six units or less) were also allowed to turn applicants away for any reason other than their race, provided the owners lived on the property. There is still a remaining loophole at the federal level, and that of many states, that allows a property owner to refuse housing to a couple living together without being married. That said, Roper's stipulation that Jack had to go unless he was gay seemed a bit Puritanical for southern California at the time.
Mad Magazine did a spoof of the show as they did for most. The final scene has Mr. Roper deciding to sell the building and divorce "that dirty old lady." Jack hopes that the new landlord will be as tolerant towards Gays. Enter Anita Bryant holding a whip and proclaiming there would be changes coming while Jack cringes in fear. Different times ...
That first short season of six shows is pretty embryonic, for lack of a better term. The characterizations and writing and cast chemistry hadn’t quite gelled yet. There’s a marked difference between those spring 1977 shows, and the shows from the full 1977-78 season. They were also re-using scripts from the British original during that first season. When they started using original or scripts that fall (or at least more tailored adaptations), they came into their own.
I have always loved the show. I started watching a couple days ago from the beginning and am now at episode 21. This will be a struggle to get through the entire series in a quick fashion. It was going smoothly until a few dull episodes crept in. I know it picks back up but it will be hard to keep up the enthusiasm for 8 seasons with all the repetition and weak episodes. I will power through but it might take a long time to finish the series. How many of you have tried watching the entire series from beginning to end? How long did it take you?