Here’s Why Joyce DeWitt Left ‘Three’s Company’ With a Broken Heart

For most of the eight years that Joyce DeWitt worked on the classic sitcom Three’s Company, it brought her a tremendous amount of joy and happiness. But there was a moment toward the end of the show where she felt the exact opposite. This is the story of that moment — but don’t worry, it’s not a complete downer. 

When Three’s Company debuted in 1977, it was a huge ratings success. Based on the British sitcom Man About the House, Three’s Company was an extremely light and good-hearted comedy that depicted the ongoing hijinks of two girls in desperate need of a roommate, who turns up in the form of a guy they find passed out in the bathtub after a going-away party for their previous roommate. 

The chemistry between costars Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter, and Suzanne Somers was immediately apparent; just watching those early episodes, it’s obvious how much fun they were all having working together. When it works, it’s magic, and you can see it on the screen.  

As time went on, it felt like the show was moving in a particular direction. With Suzanne Somers’ departure and the further development of John and Joyce’s characters, Jack and Janet, it felt like they were becoming more than friends. There were little hints that a romance might be brewing, and a flirtatious air between the two characters in many of the episodes.

And, quite frankly, from everything that I’ve read, I believe that Joyce would have been completely on board with the idea that, when the show finally went off the air, these two wonderful characters might end up together. 

Unfortunately, that was not what the producers of the show had in mind. They were following a roadmap that had been created by the original British version of Three’s Company. After Man About the House ended, the British version of Jack Tripper, named Robin Tripp, did not end up with one of his roommates. Instead, he found love elsewhere, and the show was spun off as Robin’s Nest, which was very successful and ran for six seasons. 

ABC Television/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.

So, during that eighth and final season of Three’s Company, we were introduced to a new character, Vicki Bradford, played by Mary Cadorette. Jack is instantly smitten with her, and over the course of a handful of episodes, courtship ensues, with Jack and Vicki ultimately moving in together against her father’s wishes.

Classic sitcom material, right? Maybe. But I can’t help but think about how difficult this must have been for Joyce. She had been fiercely loyal to everyone involved with the show since the very beginning, and now it was planning to move on without her.  

DLT Entertainment/courtesy Everett Collection

In an August 1984 interview as Three’s Company was winding down, John Ritter told journalist Bruce R. Miller that Joyce was a “complete professional” and that she wanted to “go out with dignity with her head held high”. And you know what? John was right. You would never know the end was near watching Joyce perform with John and Mary. 

When Three’s a Crowd debuted a month later, just one week after the final primetime airing of Three’s Company, audiences in the U.S. must have felt just a little bit betrayed. Instead of the Jack and Janet romance that we’d seen hinted at for most of the show’s eight seasons, we got Vicki and Jack. The new show was not a hit, and it would last just one season.  

Even though Joyce was left out of the new show, as I said at the beginning of this article, this isn’t a particularly sad story. After making a few appearances on other TV shows, Joyce decided to take some time away from the industry to regroup, relax a bit, and rediscover just exactly who she was. And she discovered that she enjoyed performing in live theater. 

ABC/Everett Collection

Every now and again, Joyce will emerge from her beautiful New Mexico home, which is tucked away in near seclusion, to perform on stage with other great actors from decades gone by. Not all that long ago, she co-starred with Micky Dolenz, of the Monkees, in a play called Comedy is Hard, where he played an aging comedian while she plaed an aging actress. You know, something tells me that they might be able to pull those roles off. 

Before Suzanne Somers’ death in 2023, Joyce reunited with her former Three’s Company co-star. After a warm greeting, Joyce sat down with Suzanne and reminisced about the good times that they had together so many years ago. This long-awaited reunion not only brought closure and joy to both actresses, but also provided fans with a touching final glimpse into a friendship that had been forged during their time on one of television’s most beloved sitcoms.