More unpacking has revealed the following essay, horribly written by me in late 1987, for my senior year high school English class. The bolded text points out a statement of particular interest. Enjoy.

“The Most Popular T.V. Show of All Time”

Two girls living with one man—the premise of perhaps the funniest comedy show of all time, Three’s Company. Based on misunderstanding, Three’s Company quickly became one of the most watched comedies of all time.

Many factors made this great show so popular. For one, it had a very original and funny idea. Two girls—Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers)—invited a man, Jack Tripper (John Ritter), to fill the place of an ex-roommate because they wanted protection, a third share of the rent and good cooking (he was a very good cook). Misunderstanding arose quickly as the landlord, Mr. Roper (Norman Fell), thought Jack would be “living in sin” with two girls. This was “cleared up” to Mr. Roper when Janet lied and told him that Jack was gay. This led to many gags through the years as well. This was the plot of the first episode.

Another reason was that its first few years on the air it didn’t have a big name show running against it. The reason many good new programs are axed is that they must air at the same time as a more established show. (For instance, It’s Your Move vs. Dynasty. It’s Your Move had a great future but had to go up against Dynasty. It got cancelled after a year.) Three’s Company was lucky, though. It soon had a large audience and had enough supporters to out M*A*S*H from the #1 position in the ratings. It was consistently in the top ten from 1977 to 1983.

Another reason for Three’s Company being so poular is that when it changed characters and faces, it did so successfully. Many shows have changed because the stars won’t come back. Usually this ruins the show. Not in this case, though. It remained strong with its cast changees. With the depsarture of Mr. Roper and the addition fo Mr. Furley (Don Knotts), the show had an improvement. Don Knotts, the actor, had been in The Andy Griffith Show and many Disney movies; he was a respected comedian. The replacement of Suzanne Somers hurt the show a bit, but the replacement, Jennilee Harrison, who played Cindy Snow, Chrissy’s cousin, was adequate enough. She was soon replaced by Priscilla Barnes, a reknowned model and actress, who played Terry Alden, a nurse. Even with the many changes, the show maintained its top ten rating.

Another reason is that Three’s Company had the uncanny knack to be funny every episode while still being able to come up with the big episode. Many shows can’t do this.

These are the vital reasons that Three’s Company became one of the most popular and funniest shows of all time.

WHY I’M ANGRY TODAY

I just thought about the scent of beef barley soup. Is there anything good about beef barley soup whiff?