Suzanne Somers, dead at 76
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Suzanne Somers vastly overstated her own importance when it came to THREE'S COMPANY. I heard one biographer say it this way -- Ritter was the star, DeWitt was the actress, and Somers was the celebrity.
Not entirely wrong, but I'm unsure if I entirely agree.
Somers wanted $150,000 per episode in 1980, and she quoted the salaries that Alan Alda and Carroll O'Connor were getting on their respective shows. I believe she edged for either 10% of the series' revenue or ownership in the show, too. The producers were baffled, and understandably so. What Somers and her agent-hubby Alan Hamel didn't seem to "get" though was M*A*S*H and ALL IN THE FAMILY had been on for years, raking in awards and high ratings. THREE'S COMPANY was still in its infancy, and Somers wasn't really in any position to demand so much.
Had Somers gotten Ritter and DeWitt to stand with her... Well, ABC might've sweetened the deal, but they wouldn't have given a raise drastic enough to please Somers.
ABC had also dealt with Somers' agents and PR people before, as they handled Farrah Fawcett and her 1977 exit from CHARLIE'S ANGELS. The brass at ABC were apparently determined not to get swindled with Somers like they had been with Fawcett.
If one needed to be named, John Ritter was the star of THREE'S COMPANY. DeWitt and Somers had a "favored nations" clause in their contracts that said they got equal pay, but Ritter's contract held a clause that stated he got more per episode than either of the girls along with his star billing.
ABC simply wouldn't raise Somers' salary to a level she saw fit, but they kept her under their thumb. ABC threatened to sue if Somers' new sitcom deal at CBS presented any similarities whatsoever to "Chrissy Snow" -- a decision that pushed CBS to buy out Somers' contract and shelve her pilot for THE SUZANNE SOMERS SHOW.
ABC took a stab at Somers' popularity. They dwindled her part down for the remainder of the 1980-81 season, and she only appeared sporadically in the "tag" of episodes. Still, the producers deemed the "Suzanne Somers" important enough to the show not to change the opening credits for the season -- which, another reason could've been their decision not to dish out any more money than they were already having to.
It was all a mess, and it took years for the trio of Somers, Ritter, and DeWitt to work everything out.
Not entirely wrong, but I'm unsure if I entirely agree.
Somers wanted $150,000 per episode in 1980, and she quoted the salaries that Alan Alda and Carroll O'Connor were getting on their respective shows. I believe she edged for either 10% of the series' revenue or ownership in the show, too. The producers were baffled, and understandably so. What Somers and her agent-hubby Alan Hamel didn't seem to "get" though was M*A*S*H and ALL IN THE FAMILY had been on for years, raking in awards and high ratings. THREE'S COMPANY was still in its infancy, and Somers wasn't really in any position to demand so much.
Had Somers gotten Ritter and DeWitt to stand with her... Well, ABC might've sweetened the deal, but they wouldn't have given a raise drastic enough to please Somers.
ABC had also dealt with Somers' agents and PR people before, as they handled Farrah Fawcett and her 1977 exit from CHARLIE'S ANGELS. The brass at ABC were apparently determined not to get swindled with Somers like they had been with Fawcett.
If one needed to be named, John Ritter was the star of THREE'S COMPANY. DeWitt and Somers had a "favored nations" clause in their contracts that said they got equal pay, but Ritter's contract held a clause that stated he got more per episode than either of the girls along with his star billing.
ABC simply wouldn't raise Somers' salary to a level she saw fit, but they kept her under their thumb. ABC threatened to sue if Somers' new sitcom deal at CBS presented any similarities whatsoever to "Chrissy Snow" -- a decision that pushed CBS to buy out Somers' contract and shelve her pilot for THE SUZANNE SOMERS SHOW.
ABC took a stab at Somers' popularity. They dwindled her part down for the remainder of the 1980-81 season, and she only appeared sporadically in the "tag" of episodes. Still, the producers deemed the "Suzanne Somers" important enough to the show not to change the opening credits for the season -- which, another reason could've been their decision not to dish out any more money than they were already having to.
It was all a mess, and it took years for the trio of Somers, Ritter, and DeWitt to work everything out.
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yeah i blame here husband on that she had admitted in recent years that she was going to take the offer than her husband went you sure you can't get a higher sum than that? and than she listened to him and lost some good friends over it
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Perhaps I should start thinking of more of them that way (maybe Bob Barker was ready in much the same way).
The best way to get profit participation would have been for the three of them to negotiate together, like the cast of Friends did successfully in the 1990s (the Friends cast all got profit participation during that renegotiation). Barring that, even if just Suzanne and Joyce had banded together, they would have at least gotten a raise. It would have been very tough to replace both of them.
Prior to the contract dispute, Suzanne and Alan had already managed to piss off ABC by signing a deal with CBS for a new series once Somers was done with Three’s Company (at that point, it was presumed that would happen when TC was over). It’s a bad idea to sign a deal to work for the competition when you still have a contract with your current company. Later, ABC was more than happy to get rid of her - I’m sure the thinking was “Why should we build her up and promote her so she can go work for the competition?”
Suzanne’s CBS deal called for 13 episodes. She did two rejected pilots, and then CBS paid her off for the other 11 episodes .
Prior to the contract dispute, Suzanne and Alan had already managed to piss off ABC by signing a deal with CBS for a new series once Somers was done with Three’s Company (at that point, it was presumed that would happen when TC was over). It’s a bad idea to sign a deal to work for the competition when you still have a contract with your current company. Later, ABC was more than happy to get rid of her - I’m sure the thinking was “Why should we build her up and promote her so she can go work for the competition?”
Suzanne’s CBS deal called for 13 episodes. She did two rejected pilots, and then CBS paid her off for the other 11 episodes .
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Suzanne's is probably one of those names and faces that's part of the pop culture landscape, known to even people like me who only know her by reputation. The backstage schisms on Three's Company are the stuff of legend to the point that I've occasionally found myself reading up on it despite never actually having watched an episode (off the back of it being a remake of British sitcom Man About The House, I've only seen a handful of clips of the series and never wanted to watch beyond that).
Possibly only thing in which I've watched her - John Waters' Serial Mom - saw her play herself as a cheesy, publicity-loving actress trying to make a comeback. To this day, whenever I see her name I always think of Kathleen Turner's line "Suzanne Somers: this is my bad side"...
(film ending spoilers, by the way)
Possibly only thing in which I've watched her - John Waters' Serial Mom - saw her play herself as a cheesy, publicity-loving actress trying to make a comeback. To this day, whenever I see her name I always think of Kathleen Turner's line "Suzanne Somers: this is my bad side"...
(film ending spoilers, by the way)
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I miss the 80's. No smartphones, social media, reality shows pretending to be drama and nobodies thinking they were something special.
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Interestingly, in the '90s, after several years of so-so career stuff (until STEP BY STEP) and a book about her alcoholic upbringing, Somers began kind of admitting to her questionable behavior. But after enough time had passed, and with Ritter safely dead, Suzanne began to backslide and started to re-introduce her lies to see if they'd "take" with a new generation.
No wonder they hated her.
R.I.P., of course.
No wonder they hated her.
R.I.P., of course.
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Now it's goddamn "year six" (the show started in Spring 1977, her contract dispute was in 1980). "The men on television" at the time were not averaging $150,000/week in 1980. (Only O'Connor and Alda were doing so). And she was asking for far more than Ritter was getting.
The woman is (was) such a casual pathological liar, just like DeWitt has said.
I know lies are dispensed 24/7 in Hollywood, but, Jeezus.
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Yeah, Suzanne's story is wildly contradicting and full of a whole lotta crap. She had done only three full seasons on THREE'S COMPANY (their first season was a mid-season replacement with six episodes in 1977) and I'm questioning whether or not she had the highest demographics for women on TV. On the same network, LAVERNE & SHIRLEY was #1 in the ratings, so wouldn't that make them have the higher demographics?
Suzanne tried for decades to whitewash what happened when she stomped her feet and demanded more money. It isn't unusual that she wanted more money, it's just she went about it all wrong. She wanted a salary not even her co-stars -- no, not even "the men" -- were getting. It was flat ridiculous, and she had to know it was.
I guess greed blurred her judgment back in 1980. Her husband certainly didn't help matters. And then she spends 40 years explaining away her role in the situation, while casually disregarding important facts that show her selfishness and unprofessional behavior.
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Oh, the woman was just a shameless liar. But she knew exactly what she was doing. And she framed her grasping in a faux-feminist cloak for the rest of her life. She even lies that Ritter called her up 23 years later to do a cameo on 8 SIMPLE RULES as if he was desperate for her, when Ritter's wife forced them together at a 2000 party to make nicey-nice (which Mrs. Ritter probably shouldn't have done). Just like Joyce shouldn't have done Somers' talk show when DeWitt got her DUI.
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Suzanne alienated everyone she worked with. The only one that seemed to have semi-good memories of her firing was Don Knotts, who got all of her lines and gags.
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And her make-up.
She's clever enough to have probably cleaned up her act (if not her stories) by the time she did STEP BY STEP.
Regarding her claims to "the highest demographic," she's probably talking about Q-ratings. And I doubt hers were as high as she insists, because she was more famous than popular. She did have "visibility" but the audience never really liked her.
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Yeah, she cleaned up her act by the time STEP BY STEP came around, and she stayed with that show for seven years. It did well on ABC's TGIF lineup in the 1990s.
Aww -- she was talking about her "Q-rating," wasn't she? But even that couldn't get ABC to keep her.
Aww -- she was talking about her "Q-rating," wasn't she? But even that couldn't get ABC to keep her.
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And she was probably lying about that. She was a crass celebrity with high recognition, but the general audience didn't really "like" her.
Today, she comes off as more like a smarmy Onlyfans influencer.
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Most of the time those that overstate their relevance are the least "liked" and don't even know it.
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So glad its not just me @Skanky Whore! or @ClassyCo
Thought her comedies were dire, but US comedies never floated my boat except Cheers and Soap
Step by step awful despite Duffy, just couldnt watch it and that fake canned laughter
She was orange and face lifted and looked rather "mannish" (dont know if i can say that now but i will!)
Bought a lot of US mags in the 80s and she always seemed to be slating people.
Thought her comedies were dire, but US comedies never floated my boat except Cheers and Soap
Step by step awful despite Duffy, just couldnt watch it and that fake canned laughter
She was orange and face lifted and looked rather "mannish" (dont know if i can say that now but i will!)
Bought a lot of US mags in the 80s and she always seemed to be slating people.
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Those never floated mine-- it was Barney Miller and The Bob Newhart Show that have been more my speed.