Lucille Ball and Three's Company

[Jimmy Todd]

I remember a Three's Company special hosted by Lucy in which she said how much she liked the show. Was anyone else surprised that she would do this? I have nothing against the cast of 3's Company, but it didnt seem to be a show she would particularly care for, being part of 70's "jiggle t.v." and nowhere the caliber of a comedy like I Love Lucy
( although few are).
Any thoughts?

 

[Chris2]

Lucille Ball loved John Ritter and that he was doing physical comedy like she had done on her series (physical comedy had mostly gone out of style by that point). And Ball and Ritter were both marvelous physical comedians. She’s also greatly preferred TC to the issue-oriented sitcoms of the time, like Norman’s Lear’s shows.

Agreed that Three’s Company was nowhere near the caliber of “I Love Lucy”. But neither was “Here’s Lucy,” and that didn’t stop Ball from appearing on that show.

 

[Grant Jennings]

Lucille Ball was such an admirer of John Ritter that she had him appear as himself in an episode of Life With Lucy. I think Three's Company was pretty tame, especially compared to TV today - WETV has not one but two shows about pole dancers!

 

[Crimson]

To be honest, I don't think Lucy was a good judge of quality. It's generally acknowledged that it was Desi who handled the writers of I LOVE LUCY (and part of the first season of THE LUCY SHOW). After Desi left, the quality of Lucy's shows progressively declined. So however she viewed THREE'S COMPANY it was not through the lens of someone with a highbrow, critical eye towards TV comedy.

Now she was a bit prudish and was known to dislike 'blue' comedy. She expressed some reservations about the Norman Lear style of TV in the early 70s and once reportedly halted a private showing of Woody Allen's EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK)*. But THREE'S COMPANY, smarmy though it might have been, was pretty innocuous; like an old burlesque act. Lucy either liked it or admired John Ritter enough to look past it's jiggle aspect.

* What the heck did she expect with a title like that?

 

[DallasFanForever]

Off topic maybe but I haven’t seen the Lucille Ball appearance on Three’s Company in many years, and I was just wondering how they handled the flashbacks with Suzanne Sommers.

Was she just glossed over mostly or did they feature her prominently? I honestly can’t remember how they handled this.

 

[Chris2]

They used Chrissy clips and they did have to get permission from Somers, who agreed. She said she was disappointed that Chrissy was just presented as “one of the girls” and nothing more.

 

[DallasFanForever]

They used Chrissy clips and they did have to get permission from Somers, who agreed. She said she was disappointed that Chrissy was just presented as “one of the girls” and nothing more.

Thank you! I have to go back and watch this again as it’s been years. I had totally forgotten that Suzanne was already gone when they did the flashback show. I had always wrongly assumed she was still on the show. This must’ve been more than a little awkward at the time.

 

[Chris2]

Given Suzanne’s protracted, acrimonious departure - and it was really ugly - I was surprised at first that she gave permission. But her career was at a low point and she and her husband/manager likely figured that more exposure of her past work on the show would be good for her.

 

[ClassyCo]

Lucy apparently admired John Ritter a great deal.

I remember Ritter saying how "honored" he was that Lucy "endorsed" THREE'S COMPANY and agreed to host the 100th-episode anniversary special. I know I'd be ecstatic had Lucille Ball decided to come in and endorse the TV show I was the star of. Ritter was the star of THREE'S COMPANY, regardless to what Suzanne Somers, her hubby, and lawyers had to say about the subject.

Ritter later returned Lucy's favor when he guest-starred on her ill-fated LIFE WITH LUCY in 1986. His guest-gig was one of that show's better-written episodes. Maybe it was the excitement of seeing Lucy and John together that deemed that episode something "special".

​

 

[DallasFanForever]

I’m sure her endorsement carried a lot of weight. And she did a fantastic job hosting. I don’t think there was a bigger comedy legend to do that back then. And let’s face it, Threes Company was a lot of fun but Lucy didn’t need to endorse anything considering who she was. She could’ve very easily felt that doing this was beneath her.

 

[Chris2]

Ball liked to work and she did the shows that pleased her. She was still a big star in the late 70s, yet she was continuing to appear on game shows like Password and Body Language, long after her peers decided that daytime game shows were beneath them . I don’t think she always made the best choices for her material post-I Love Lucy, but you can’t accuse her of being a snob. Some of her appearances on Body Language are on YouTube. Worth checking out because as a physical comedian, she’s very good on the show.

 

[Crimson]

I find it interesting that Lucy made so few guest appearances on sitcoms through her career, considering that's where she found her greatest fame. Excluding the not-in-character retrospective on THREE'S COMPANY, she only guested on a few sitcoms -- Ann Sothern's in the 50s; Danny Thomas' in the 50s and 70s; I think perhaps a couple others. Most of her TV work, outside her own series, was on variety shows, game shows, award shows or talk shows. I've read that she had been asked to play Diane's mom on CHEERS, although Shelly Long has said she didn't know anything about it.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

If you were Lucille Ball and you were asked to host a special episode honoring a sitcom the way she did for Three's Company which would it be? It can only one show, but from any decade.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Tough for me to decide cause I love so many sitcoms but I’d probably go with All in the Family. Yes I know the show is not politically correct in today’s world. I’m not even sure it was politically correct back then to be honest but it was a great show nonetheless. I would’ve loved to visit that iconic set and meet the cast and introduce some of those great scenes.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Excellent choice! It was controversial when it first premiered, but the show, despite being politically incorrect in it's language, was actually politically correct in the episode plots. Brilliantly written and acted show.

 

[Crimson]

LAVERNE & SHIRLEY -- which was, for a time, the spiritual successor to Lucy, even if never matching the quality of Lucy's early comedy. Gary Marshall (who wrote a few episodes of THE LUCY SHOW) has even said his inspiration was the realization no one was doing "early Lucy" on TV in the mid-70s.

 

[DallasFanForever]

LAVERNE & SHIRLEY -- which was, for a time, the spiritual successor to Lucy, even if never matching the quality of Lucy's early comedy. Gary Marshall (who wrote a few episodes of THE LUCY SHOW) has even said his inspiration was the realization no one was doing "early Lucy" on TV in the mid-70s.

I’m glad this show got a mention, as I feel it never really gets its due. It’s definitely at the top of my list as far as great sitcoms is concerned. Penny and Cindy had great chemistry, and Lenny and Squiggy were such likable morons.

 

[Grant Jennings]

I thought of several series but the word "honoring" made it difficult for me as I would want to give the unvarnished truth about the show, even if it is one I think of fondly. The sitcom I would want to honor would be Schitt$ Creek.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

LAVERNE & SHIRLEY -- which was, for a time, the spiritual successor to Lucy, even if never matching the quality of Lucy's early comedy. Gary Marshall (who wrote a few episodes of THE LUCY SHOW) has even said his inspiration was the realization no one was doing "early Lucy" on TV in the mid-70s.

I wonder if Lucy was a fan of L&S. It seems she would like the physical comedy.
I recall in an interview Mervyn Griffin asked her who she liked to watch on t.v. and she said Nancy Walker.

 

[Chris2]

Lucy didn’t like the issue-oriented Norman Lear shows, especially their use of racial slurs. But the thread is about what you would do if you were Lucille Ball, not what Lucille Ball would have actually done.

Agreed on Laverne & Shirley. And I bet Lucy liked that show in actuality. Penny and Cindy had such great chemistry and just played off each other beautifully. Cindy in particular could take any line and make it funny (I remember one of the writers saying that in an interview). And both actresses were masters at physical comedy.