Did You Know John Ritter Was the Only ‘Three’s Company’ Roomie to Make It From the Pilot to the Series?
It’s nearly impossible to believe that beloved Three’s Company actor John Ritter died 22 years ago, Sept. 11, 2003, of a tear in his aorta’s lining. He was just 54. Ritter represented the middle generation of an impressive family dynasty of entertainers. His late dad was Tex Ritter, the treasured country singer and star of Western movies and TV series for an impressive 40 years. And his eldest son, Matlock star Jason Ritter, now 45, boasts the same chameleon-like acting ability as his dad. But did you know that Ritter’s apartment-seeking ladies man was the only one of the roommates from the series’ original pilot to make it onto the actual show, when Three’s Company debuted March 15, 1977?
Here’s how it went down.
Ritter First Played Aspiring Filmmaker David Bell
In the first unaired pilot, developed and written by M*A*S*H creator Larry Gelbart, Ritter played cook and aspiring filmmaker David Bell, whom no-nonsense Jenny (Valerie Curtain) and ditsy Samantha (Susanne Zenor) find fully clothed and asleep in their apartment’s bathtub, following their former roommate’s raucous wedding reception. Though he was previously best known as Rev. Matthew Fordwick on The Waltons, Ritter’s unrivaled knack for physical comedy was apparent from his very first Three’s Company scene when he meets his lusty future roommates and spends the rest of the half-hour in Sam’s feathery pink lingerie set.
As with the final product, the ladies are looking for a new third roommate at No. 7 Hacienda Palms. Jack’s got a line on another place, but it doesn’t work out — and the negligee works in his favor. The girls’ landlord, stuffy Stanley Roper (Norman Fell) wants no part of a virile young man living with two lovely single ladies, but his lusty wife Helen (Audra Lindley), Jenny and Sam team up to convince Stanley that David’s really gay, hence the outfit
The ladies have themselves a roomie. But producers didn’t quite have a show they thought would be a hit with hip American viewers.
Out with Jenny and Sam. In with Chrissy and Janet.
Courtesy Everett Collection
Three’s Company was intended as a US version of the British series Man About the House, but producers thought the pilot’s tone hewed a bit too close to the original, making it feel uneven. They loved Ritter’s way with a prat fall and a punchline, and Lindley and Fell’s comical bickering marrieds. But Curtain, cousin of SNL’s Jane Curtain, and Zenor displayed little chemistry with each other or with their fellow actors.
Joyce Dewitt and Suzanne Somers stepped in as pretty, practical Janet and blonde bombshell Chrissy. Paired up with Ritter, the trio’s collective charm and comic timing were irresistible, and the show finished at No. 11 in the ratings in its very first season, then stayed in the Top 10 until its eighth and final season in 1983, when multiple changes were made.
Hamlet in an apartment
Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images
Ritter would go on to more sitcom in Hooperman (1987-1989), Hearts Afire (1992-1995) and his final series 8 Simple Rules (2002-2003), the set for which he was working on when he collapsed and ultimately died. He also gained good notices in the feature films Problem Child (1990), Sling Blade (1996), and the Bad Santa movie series.
But many former TV fans, John Ritter will always be TV’s favorite roomie, Jack Tripper, and he cheerfully applied his signature humor to that.
“Most people don’t know that I am an accomplished dramatic actor,” Ritter once said of his career. “I’ve performed in several Shakespeare productions, including Hamlet — except in this version, Hamlet lives in an apartment with two women, and has to pretend he’s gay so that the landlord won’t evict him.”
To celebrate John Ritter’s life, PlutoTV will air a special marathon of Three’s Company episodes sponsored by The John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health and chosen by his family, friends, and costars, beginning Thursday, Sept. 11 at 6pm ET/3pm PT on PlutoTV.
Remind