Could a THREE'S COMPANY reboot, done as an actual menage a trois, work in 2015>

[j666]

@Lemur866

No, Waldo’s premise is clearly the winner. The problem with the original premise is that the conflict was between the square landlord and the hip room-mates. So we have to bring the conflict into the main characters.

Jack is banging both Janet and Chrissy, and neither knows. But another notch is that either Janet and Chrissy have to be having sex but pretending not to, or they have to be not having sex but pretending to. They could either be an official lesbian couple, but secretly are straight. Or they could be officially straight and having a secret lesbian affair, of which Jack is ignorant.

But would that play on broadcast?

[Master_Wang-Ka]

I can’t see the trio keeping secrets from each other for any length of time, lest the audience get restless… like every sexual tension situation on TV, ever. Will they or won’t they, and if so, when? And what happens afterwards?

And more importantly, in a day and age where there’s a reality TV show that features naked people running around in the woods, does anyone give a rat about Chrissy’s nipple bumps? In this day and age, the girls would have to be dominatrixes or something to evoke the same level of titillation…

[Balthisar]

The landlord is Hank Moody, famous novelist etc. Except he’s really Fox Mulder who’s been on a deep cover assignment since the birth of his daughter Becca. He maintains his persona as Hank while continuing to secretly pursue his X-Files while being oblivious to the dark coven consisting of leader Jack and followers Janet and Chrissy.

In this setting we can witness sexy, witchy rituals that might require three-ways to execute. We can laugh as Hank almost catches Jack with the head of his latest blood sacrifice in the kitchen stock pot. We can share our feelings about the very special episode in which Larry (played by Malcolm’s dad) has to confront his recent diagnosis of cancer (happy ending when the coven secretly cures it with a spell).

[j666]

Janet would make a better coven leader.

[TBG]

They’d have to flip it so that Mr Roper doesn’t want to rent to a gay so Jack (actually gay in this version) has to pretend he’s straight and sleeping with Janet and Chrissy.

Of course you’d get complaints that Jack should just sue Mr Roper, but what do you want, it’s a silly sitcom, of course everything has a much quicker real solution than what the characters come up with.

In another change, Mrs Roper is actually post op MTF, but Mr Roper is totally oblivious to that fact.

Janet is now black, Chrissy hispanic. Larry is now a muslim. The Regal Beagle is a gay bar, but Mr Roper is oblivious to that as well.

[Measure_for_Measure]

@TBG

Of course you’d get complaints that Jack should just sue Mr Roper, but what do you want, it’s a silly sitcom, of course everything has a much quicker real solution than what the characters come up with.

22 states and many municipalities ban housing discrimination on the basis of sexual preference, but there are no federal guarantees. All they would have to do is put the setting in Arizona, Pennsylvania or any southern state. Then Roper couldn’t be sued.

LGBTQ rights in the United States

[Apocalypso]

@Jophiel

Are they going to get a third bedroom? Seems unfair otherwise.

I don’t really see where the humor comes from. Product of its time as it was, part of the Three’s Company humor came from the “Jack’s pretending to be gay” angle. What sort of humor comes from the new dynamic? Sounds more like a wearisome drama than a sit com to me.

You could reverse it and have the Ropers be homophobes. Jack is gay but the Ropers won’t allow him to live there if they know that, so he pretends to be straight. Wacky Hijinks ensue as Jack has to keep up the pretense of having hot sex with the girls. This will lead to the usual misheard conversations while eavesdropping, etc.

I think it could work.

ETA: Damn, didn’t see TBG’s post a couple above mine. Still, it just proves it’s an idea whose time has come

[Sunny_Daze]

I do like The Odd Trio, with the 3 not getting along and only pretending for the sake of their adoring public. Different show, but could be fun. Especially if one of them actually does like another, but only the audience knows. So there’s thwarted love all mixed in with back-stabbing bitchiness. Why isn’t this on TV already?!