At the beginning of the movie, an American version of the British series "Man About the House" is being pitched to the networks, without much success. Eventually, Fred Silverman, president of ABC, is willing to go against the usual formula of family-friendly shows, and he takes a chance on the show.
"Three's Company" has trouble from the start. The pilot has to be reshot several times because of the difficulty in finding someone who is right for the role of Chrissy. Eventually, Suzanne Somers is selected for the part, and the show is a big hit. Somers realizes she is the reason people are watching, and she wishes she could have everything Farrah Fawcett does. She hires Fawcett's agent, and later lets her husband Alan Hamel take over her career. That's when everything starts to go downhill.
Judy Tylor was wonderful as Somers, intelligent and likeable (when she was not being something that rhymes with witch). Brian Dennehy certainly made his presence known, with a demeanor that made people afraid to refuse what he wanted. I was a little worried about him at first, but he delivered.
Joyce DeWitt appeared several times to provide commentary, but not enough to be intrusive. Melanie Deanne Moore did a good job as DeWitt, except her voice was too high. Bret Anthony gave us good physical comedy, though I doubt John Ritter actually fell down that much when he wasn't on the show. We are so used to seeing him fall that the character was probably written that way. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see him re-enact pratfalls from the show. The actor playing Don Knotts made quite an impression when he first showed up, but he didn't come with an off switch. Barney Fife and Ralph Furley were just characters, and somehow I don't think Knotts was really that way. As for the actor playing Norman Fell, I didn't think he played Mr. Roper as well as Fell did, and he didn't do Fell nearly as well as the actress portraying Audra Lindley played her part. And Alan Hamel was mostly well played as a real jerk, and a man who apparently had to run his wife's career to make a living because he didn't appear to have acting talent, based on his performance in a supermarket commercial.
"Three's Company" was one of my favorite shows, and I enjoyed this movie.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW:
In the first scene where Suzanne Somers had been banished from the regular set to film her scenes on the telephone, Tylor did some of her best work. Even though Somers was falling apart, she had to calm down and be a professional, and she delivered her lines credibly as Chrissy. The actor playing the director in charge of that scene gave another standout performance.
Hamel's last-ditch effort to save his wife's career was not one of the better moments in the actor's performance. His idea was so ridiculous no one would have listened, yet he acted quite childish when rejected.
And one of my favorite lines in the movie was the one spoken by Fred Silverman after his move to NBC, as he observed difficulties "Three's Company" was having: "Not my problem anymore".
"Three's Company" has trouble from the start. The pilot has to be reshot several times because of the difficulty in finding someone who is right for the role of Chrissy. Eventually, Suzanne Somers is selected for the part, and the show is a big hit. Somers realizes she is the reason people are watching, and she wishes she could have everything Farrah Fawcett does. She hires Fawcett's agent, and later lets her husband Alan Hamel take over her career. That's when everything starts to go downhill.
Judy Tylor was wonderful as Somers, intelligent and likeable (when she was not being something that rhymes with witch). Brian Dennehy certainly made his presence known, with a demeanor that made people afraid to refuse what he wanted. I was a little worried about him at first, but he delivered.
Joyce DeWitt appeared several times to provide commentary, but not enough to be intrusive. Melanie Deanne Moore did a good job as DeWitt, except her voice was too high. Bret Anthony gave us good physical comedy, though I doubt John Ritter actually fell down that much when he wasn't on the show. We are so used to seeing him fall that the character was probably written that way. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see him re-enact pratfalls from the show. The actor playing Don Knotts made quite an impression when he first showed up, but he didn't come with an off switch. Barney Fife and Ralph Furley were just characters, and somehow I don't think Knotts was really that way. As for the actor playing Norman Fell, I didn't think he played Mr. Roper as well as Fell did, and he didn't do Fell nearly as well as the actress portraying Audra Lindley played her part. And Alan Hamel was mostly well played as a real jerk, and a man who apparently had to run his wife's career to make a living because he didn't appear to have acting talent, based on his performance in a supermarket commercial.
"Three's Company" was one of my favorite shows, and I enjoyed this movie.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW:
In the first scene where Suzanne Somers had been banished from the regular set to film her scenes on the telephone, Tylor did some of her best work. Even though Somers was falling apart, she had to calm down and be a professional, and she delivered her lines credibly as Chrissy. The actor playing the director in charge of that scene gave another standout performance.
Hamel's last-ditch effort to save his wife's career was not one of the better moments in the actor's performance. His idea was so ridiculous no one would have listened, yet he acted quite childish when rejected.
And one of my favorite lines in the movie was the one spoken by Fred Silverman after his move to NBC, as he observed difficulties "Three's Company" was having: "Not my problem anymore".