# How (un)realistic a premise was Three's Company's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487 "2011-08-29T12:24:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/21 "2011-08-30T00:06:03Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I think the idea was that Roper didn’t want any sex between unmarried tenants, and if Jack was gay and had female roommates, that made it OK. Female/female sex wasn’t considered likely. It’s a bit of a stretch, I’ll admit. What I don’t believe is that Mr. Roper, who was old fashioned enough to not let unmarried people of the opposite sex live in his building, would let a gay man live in his building at all. It seems his moral outrage at unmarried people having sex (or threesomes) would be dwarfed by his moral outrage at homosexuality. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/22 "2011-08-30T00:15:54Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I think the idea was that Roper didn’t want any sex between unmarried tenants, and if Jack was gay and had female roommates, that made it OK. \*\* Female/female sex wasn’t considered likely\*\*. No, Roper overheard Chrissy and Janet goin’ at it all the time. But he would misunderstand and just assume they were hanging pictures or something. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/23 "2011-08-30T08:21:59Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > What I don’t believe is that Mr. Roper, who was old fashioned enough to not let unmarried people of the opposite sex live in his building, would let a gay man live in his building at all. > > It seems his moral outrage at unmarried people having sex (or threesomes) would be dwarfed by his moral outrage at homosexuality. Well, yeah—that was the point of my OP. Maybe GQ would have been a better place for it, because all I’m asking is whether there was actually some significant number of people in the 1970s who were morally outraged at unmarried heterosexuals of opposite sex living together, but not at homosexuality in general. Does anyone here actually know such a person who holds this view, or at least held it in the 1970s? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/24 "2011-08-30T10:00:46Z")
I wonder if the ‘idea’ of a gay-acting character really comes from a British comedy tradition of the time – we had many comedy TV shows, films and even TV presenters with suggestively gay/high camp characters\*, although it is never explicitly stated that they are (they just do a lot of flirting and good dressing). The fact that he isn’t actually gay would pass the moral outrage test for the audience of the time and I imagine George’s ‘real-life’ reaction to a gay man is simply ignored for comic effect. (\*[Larry Grayson](http://www.astabgay.com/KingsOfCamp/LarryGrayson.htm), Kenneth Williams in the [Carry on Films](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On_%28film_series%29#Cast), [Mr Humphries](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Inman) in Are You Being Served, ‘[Gloria](http://retrosmiles.com/gunnerbombardier-gloria-beaumont-melvyn-hayes-profile)’ in It Ain’t Arf Hot Mum, etc) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/25 "2011-08-30T13:20:30Z")
The 1976 comedy [Snip](http://www.tvparty.com/recsnip.html), starring David Brenner and Leslie Ann Warren, was cancelled at the last minute and never aired in the US, reportedly beause one of the main characters was openly gay. It was okay to pretend to be gay, but not to actually be gay. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/26 "2011-08-30T13:52:50Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Don Knotts guested on an episode of the **short-lived John Ritter** show, _Eight Simple Rules For Dating My Daughter_. At the end of the episode, they added a quick after-credits gag where Knotts, as Furley, woke up in the John Ritter character’s bed. Very funny bit. That’s just cold. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/27 "2011-08-30T14:52:39Z")
I figure that it was due to it being the “swinging 70s”. A man and two women living together didn’t just mean premarital sex, it meant ORGIES OMG WTF BBQ. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/28 "2011-08-30T18:59:33Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Don Knotts guested on an episode of the short-lived John Ritter show, _Eight Simple Rules For Dating My Daughter_. At the end of the episode, they added a quick after-credits gag where Knotts, as Furley, woke up in the John Ritter character’s bed. Very funny bit. I didn’t see that episode, but it sounds like they were parodying the last _Newhart_ show. If so, that was funny to the max. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/29 "2011-08-30T19:31:18Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > That’s just cold. Heartbreaking, too. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/30 "2011-08-30T19:58:48Z")
Well, you could look at it this way. Mr Ropper is more worried about the “souls” of those two nice young girls, (did he know them well before Jack showed up?) than he is of Jacks soul. He can either convince them to not live in sin or let them live in sin. If a gay man moves in they certainly aren’t nearly as likely in his mind to do much sinning. Jacks sinning? Well, he’s just gay and fucked afterlife wise. Keep the women folk safe and let God sort the rest out. I don’t think its TOO much of a stretch to believe some men of that era would be looking out for “the best interests” of nice young girls and not be too concerned about some random guy. You could also use the angle that while he ain’t pro homo he has a certain pervy interest in having one around and seeing how they operate. Plus i think Mrs Ropper liked Jack and maybe even herself had that pervy angle. So Mrs Ropper was putting pressure on Mr Ropper to let Jack stay. Hell, now that I think about it, wasn’t Mrs Ropper often doing some serious flirtting with Jack? Hell, if you are going to have a fling with a much younger male tenant, a gay man that strayed a bit would be the perfect candidate right? Anyhow, this is way more believable than warp drives, transporters, wormholes, and teenage vampire killers 🙂 Damn, now I am thinking of Don Knotts and John Ritter and have something in my eye…but I bet that credit scene was funny…anybody got a link? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/31 "2011-08-30T20:17:03Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Many TV shows have had worst premises to deal with. (E.g., stupid, out of shape, ugly guy and smart hot wife.) > [@TV\_time](#): > > “My Mother the Car” comes to mind. I don’t know - Jerry Van Dyke wasn’t that ugly and his mother the car wasn’t that hot. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/32 "2011-08-30T20:38:41Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I didn’t see that episode, but it sounds like they were parodying the last _Newhart_ show. If so, that was funny to the max. That depends; was John Ritter’s character in the bed with him? If so, they were more likely parodying _Three’s Company_ – my memory is hazy as to whether Mr. Furley ever woke up in Jack’s bed, but Mr. Roper certainly did. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/33 "2011-08-30T21:01:54Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Well, you could look at it this way. Mr Ropper is more worried about the “souls” of those two nice young girls, (did he know them well before Jack showed up?) than he is of Jacks soul. He can either convince them to not live in sin or let them live in sin. If a gay man moves in they certainly aren’t nearly as likely in his mind to do much sinning. Jacks sinning? Well, he’s just gay and fucked afterlife wise. Keep the women folk safe and let God sort the rest out. I don’t think its TOO much of a stretch to believe some men of that era would be looking out for “the best interests” of nice young girls and not be too concerned about some random guy. That’s what I was thinking. Mr. Roper wasn’t particularly homophobic, but he’s more than a little sexist in a paternalistic fashion. Guys, in his view, are basically all sluts. Girls are innocent and helpless. Letting a straight guy live with two girls, he’s going to end up corrupting them, getting them pregnant, infecting them with VDs, and then abandoning them, because guys are scum, and that’s what they do. Except gay guys, who are exactly the same, except they only do it to other guys, so that’s okay, if gross. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/34 "2011-08-30T21:38:13Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > That depends; was John Ritter’s character in the bed with him? If so, they were more likely parodying _Three’s Company_ – my memory is hazy as to whether Mr. Furley ever woke up in Jack’s bed, but Mr. Roper certainly did. I think Mr. Roper woke up in bed with Mr. Furley. Perfect. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/35 "2011-08-30T21:58:51Z")
I haven’t seen an episode of Three’s Company in close to 30 years but didn’t either Mr. Roper or Mr. Furley used to always call Jack Tripper “Twinkletoes”? Isn’t a gay man sometimes called a “Twink”? Was this offensive to gay guys? Finally did anyone else think that the actress who played Terri, (who was the replacement character for Suzanne Sommer’s role as Chrissy) was way, WAY hotter than SS was? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/36 "2011-08-30T22:04:39Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Well, you could look at it this way. Mr Ropper is more worried about the “souls” of those two nice young girls, (did he know them well before Jack showed up?) than he is of Jacks soul. He can either convince them to not live in sin or let them live in sin. I don’t think Roper was particularly religious- wasn’t ever stated anyway. I think he just didn’t want his apartments to have a reputation as a “shack up” place. Norman Fell had played an almost identical character in _The Graduate_ incidentally: he’s a landlord who doesn’t want to rent to anybody who’s a hippie or having weird sex or into drugs, etc.. There was an episode of _It’s Garry Shandling’s Show_ that had a _Graduate_ premise and Garry put out word that he needed either Dustin Hoffman or Anne Bancroft to come advise him. Dustin and Anne didn’t show up but Norman Fell did. After Garry tells him “Oh, I think I see where you’re confused, you were the landlord on _Three’s Company_, but I’m talking about _The Graduate_” Norman puts in a VHS tape that’s wound to his scene in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/37 "2011-08-30T22:09:29Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I haven’t seen an episode of Three’s Company in close to 30 years but didn’t either Mr. Roper or Mr. Furley used to always call Jack Tripper “Twinkletoes”? > > Isn’t a gay man sometimes called a “Twink”? Twink’s slang for a particular type of gay guy- very boyish, hairless body, slim, etc.. Zac Efron or Kurt from GLEE would be twinks, but Jack wouldn’t be. [QUOTE=MPB in Salt Lake] Was this offensive to gay guys? [/QUOTE] It was. I was in the pre-gay stage myself so I personally wasn’t offended but I remember gay rights groups protesting the show because of the stereotypes. Tony Randall starred in a TV movie during the same era called _Sidney Shorr_ in which he was a gay man who takes in a pregnant woman and raises her kid; the show became a short lived TV series in which they essentially neutered Sidney’s character to just be an asexual old fussbudget (or, as it’s known in TV, Felix Unger) with only an occasional reference to him being gay. He said in an interview at the time that he hated the show because he had very high hopes it would be groundbreaking in the gay exposure (and it would have been) but instead “it was just another Three’s Company”. [QUOTE=MPB in Salt Lake] Finally did anyone else think that the actress who played Terri, (who was the replacement character for Suzanne Sommer’s role as Chrissy) was way, WAY hotter than SS was? [/QUOTE] As mentioned I’m gay, but if my opinion counts I certainly thought so. Of course I’ve never liked Suzanne Somers- she looks cheap. I actually thought Janet was much cuter. (A friend of mine ran into Joyce Dewitt on the street in NYC when he was on vacation a couple of years ago and gushed over her; he said she was super sweet and glad to pose for pictures and the like.) ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/38 "2011-08-30T22:11:19Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Finally did anyone else think that the actress who played Terri, (who was the replacement character for Suzanne Sommer’s role as Chrissy) was way, WAY hotter than SS was? I thought the most unrealistic premise on this show was the Suzanne Somers was hot. The premise of the show was that any woman willing to appear on camera without a bra under her blouse was ipso facto hot. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/39 "2011-08-30T22:25:24Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I thought the most unrealistic premise on this show was the Suzanne Somers was hot. The premise of the show was that any woman willing to appear on camera without a bra under her blouse was ipso facto hot. Similar thing with Loni Anderson on WKRP. Not that her character Jennifer didn’t look good, but I don’t think every man who lived in or passed through Cincinatti would be drooling over her the way they were. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487/40 "2011-08-30T22:45:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Of course I’ve never liked Suzanne Somers- she looks cheap. > [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I thought the most unrealistic premise on this show was the Suzanne Somers was hot. The premise of the show was that any woman willing to appear on camera without a bra under her blouse was ipso facto hot. > [@Sampiro](#): > > Similar thing with Loni Anderson on WKRP. Not that her character Jennifer didn’t look good, but I don’t think every man who lived in or passed through Cincinatti would be drooling over her the way they were. Agree 100% with all of this, and I will throw in the the huge hype over Farrah Fawcett never made any sense to me either, especially with Jaclyn Smith clearly being one of the most stunning women in television history… (Kate Jackson was also much better looking than Farrah was, although not close to being in Jaclyn Smith’s league) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-realistic-a-premise-was-threes-companys/594487.md?page=3)