Customer Reviews

Three's Company: Season Five

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The laughs continue with Season 5, in which Suzanne Somers' Chrissy is replaced by Jenilee Harrison as her cousin Cindy. While much smarter than Chrissy, Cindy proves to be a klutz, frequently tripping, knocking things over and running into people...usually Jack, who was the main source of physical comedy to this point.

Although Somers still appears in the opening credits, she only appears in small segments at the end of episodes, where she is supposedly at her parents' home, calling her old friends. This was, supposedly, because Somers had walked off the set upset over her salary, and was no longer on speaking terms with the cast. (In fact, Somers came to the studio to record her end of the telephone conversations early in the day, before either John Ritter or Joyce DeWitt, so she would not have to interact with them. The scenes were later edited to appear as if the characters were together.)

While providing some sense of continuity, the calls are rather ridiculous...even for Chrissy, who had always been portrayed as ditzy and dumb. Her end of the conversation is always so exasperating that Jack or Janet are shown rolling their eyes and putting down the phone in frustration. Instead of showing a connection with their old friend, it seems more like writers felt a need to keep showing Somers in some fashion, yet were venting their frustrations toward her with over-the-top, superfluous scenes.

Season five of Three's Company while remains consistantly funny, it is also the year that is known as the last season that Suzanne Somers appeared in, and then, in only two full episodes.

In year five, Three's Company was sold into syndication making a ton of money for the producers, and its three stars in terms of residuals if Somers and her husband had looked in the long term; but Somers and her husband tried to re-negotiate while the show was in full production for more money. Somers started to miss work, conveniently blaming it on a back injury she sustained. So entered Cindy Snow, played by Jennilee Harrison.

With all due respect, Harrison was not an experienced actress, much less an experienced comedic actress. Unlike Priscilla Barnes, whom the producers had ample time to find, Harrison was a last minute replacement that the producers had to scrambled to find with pratically just days on their hands. Furthermore, while Teri Alden was a completely original character, Harrison was stuck with a character whose purpose was use up the scripts that was already written with Chrissy in mind. You have to admit that Harrison was faced with a bunch of hurdles while on the show.

While I sympathize with Harrison, I still have to admit, she is no Chrissy Snow or Suzanne Somers, although she did made a good effort and showed that another blonde roommate other than Chrissy is possible for the show. After Suzanne Somers left, something did went out with the show that it never could quite replace. Ironically, Harrison would have some her best moments in Season Six, particularly in the episode "Maid to Order", where the storylines were actually written with her character in mind.

In any case, season five still managed to generate a lot of laughs in episodes such as "And Justice For Jack", "Downhill Chaser", "The Case of the Missing Blonde", "Dying to Meet You", "Father of the Bride", and Somer's last full show: "A Hundred Dollars a What". But still I wouldn't say that this year deserve a five stars rating, which is another problem I have with people who review on Amazon.com...they give out five star ratings like Halloween candy.

As for the DvD cover, it is misleading to show Suzanne on the cover, but perhaps, it is done contractually....during the entire season of Seasn Five, Suzanne is still billed as the star while Harrison got relegated to "guest-starring" status. No doubt her image will probably be on one of the discs.

I may be in the minority, but I believe that Three's Company got better once Suzanne Somers left the show. The story lines really started to let John Ritter showcase his physical comedy and while Jenilee Harrison is not usually thought of as the best of the blond roommates (I prefer Terry myself) I really believe that she brought John Ritter's physcial comedy up a notch. They work well together. And with this fifth season, the show really started to leave the confines of Apartment 201 and expand. Not to mention that we meet, for the first time, Mr. Angelino and Felipe in the hilarious episode of "The Not-So-Great Imposter. "The "Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs" episode is as good an episode of any in the show's eight seasons. The extras are a little bare boned compared to the previous seasons, but at least we are treated to a brand new Jenilee Harrison interview. It's too bad that we never got to hear from Suzanne Somers; I hope Priscilla Barnes will participate next season. But in an era where a Seinfeld DVD release gets all of the hype,let's remember a classic sitcom that I'm sure more than inspired Kramer's own physcial comedy a decade later.

Ok, stop the Jenilee bashing! Yes, we were all disappointed when Suzanne left, but that's no reason to take it out on Jenilee. Jenilee Harrison actually got better as the season progressed. She was particularly funning in 'Janet's Secret', 'Father of the Bride' and 'Double Trouble'. I was disappointed when she eventually left the show. Besides, this season has some of the funniest episodes, even though some people refuse to admit it. And yes, Jenilee does deserve to be on this cover. So buy season 5 asap and watch Cindy 'knock Jack off his feet with a door'!

I'm also interested in watching those tag scenes with Suzanne, which seemed to have been edited out for syndication.

This is also a season where Joyce and Don do some of their best work on the show.

YOU GOT TO LOVE MR FURLEY,
HE IS A REAL BLAST ! I LOVE HIM AND I MISS HIM AS WELL R.I.P

I'm sorry, but no matter how you look at it, the dynamics of this show were with the original six, including the Chrissy character, which made Jack and Janet funnier, since Janet was always watching over Jack, since Chrissy was always unknowingly sexy. The replacement characters didn't have that quality, and the show was never AS funny again. Please note this comment is not about the actresses. The character of Cindy was clumsy but not desired by Jack, and the Terri character was smart and more of a comic sidekick for Janet. You can't re-create magic. The Chrissy character truly had it. I wish I could give this season more stars, but like many fans, I really invested in the Chrissy character, and her completely unbelievable disappearance to take care of a sick relative without ever hearing from her ever again was a slap in the face to the fans of this show. Although this season rates the lowest for me, it picks up more stars in the next season, so I have to give this season a two.

Now, in the case of Suzanne Somers, the sitcom star, many people are in deep denial here: it takes a very smart actress to play a dumb blonde. Ms. Somers is and has been underrated. On top of that, she opened the door for future TV talent to get a fair share of the pie. The female leads (DeWitt and Somers) both received a lot less in salary than Ritter, a fact that would be overturned in 1981 if they were men. The contract called for any increase in one actress' salary to match the other's, and for that increase to also increase Mr. Ritter's contract, keeping his salary significantly above the actresses' salaries. Now I'm not here to speculate what each one deserved, but the fact is that they ALL deserved a raise in the fifth year. The producers, who were taking in big money for a number one show by this time, were unwilling to negotiate with Suzanne's request for an increase in the contract renewal. It is important to recognize an artist's contribution to the success of a show. Today's TV stars get much more respect and better treatment, and they have Suzanne Somers to thank for that.

And why does all of this matter in reviewing Season Five of Three's Company? Because a radical shift in direction like this changes the tone of a show. Each cast member, including the imaginative John Ritter (whose contribution to television history is indisputable) and the committed Joyce DeWitt (bless the trouper) are important comical pieces of a puzzle. As a result of this shift, the writing changed, the suspension of belief changed, the quality changed. No one really acknowledged Chrissy's absence in any profound way (were they really a family of friends after all?), nor did Cindy even mention her cousin. Come on, people! Have a little more respect for your loyal audience, who follows the show. It became watered-down, and a bit more goofy, a bit more corny and silly.

Maybe that's okay - as the change from the Ropers to Mr. Furley didn't seem to harm that tone. But take a closer look at seasons one and two. There is some truly groundbreaking work there in the writing and the message sent to America about people living together back in March, 1977. It was funny and sexy, and yet there was some serious social commentary underneath the humor (almost in the way All In The Family had). In terms of the story of these characters, Three's Company became a completely different show. While the original show was more daring (and leaving Jack and Janet alone, unmarried and living together would have been a move forward to keep it daring), fans will clamor for the full series on DVD to enjoy the works of the late John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt, with the latter seasons to enjoy Don Knotts. For the talent alone, it is worth the watch.

To her credit, my favorite Joyce DeWitt moment is in a non-Chrissy episode later in season six. I know what I've stated - but she holds her own in "Some Of That Jazz", where she believes she has what it takes to make it as a dancer, and her mentor/instructor has less than honorable intentions. Toward the end, Jack has a tender moment with Janet and share a slow dance with her. That moment for Ms. DeWitt is REAL, she's really crying, and I tear every time I watch it to this day. That's the show I wish it turned into.

To sum it up, here's my final two cents: if there was ever gonna be a sequel to Three's Company, it should have been called JACK AND JANET!!!

While this show is one of my all-time favorites, there are many factors that made the 5th season less enjoyable than any of the previous 4 seasons, or the following 3 for that matter.

The first and most obvious is the departure of Chrissy Snow, the original blonde roommate as portrayed by Suzanne Somers. Personally, she was my favorite of all the blondes, especially in the earlier seasons where her character was more naive than stupid. Admittedly, Chrissy's stupidity became distracting and slightly annoying toward the end of her run on the series, but in my eyes, the show never regained the original chemistry it once had. Besides, there is no closure when it comes to Chrissy; they should have at least tried to air a goodbye episode to explain her sudden disappearance. However, the show was notorious for these unexplained departures, such as Cindy later on and Lana in the previous season.

I in no way blame Jennilee Harrison for the show's drop in quality during the 5th season. Though it is obvious she is an untrained actress, she entered the show during a tense period and handled better than most people could. She had big shoes to fill, and it's too bad they made her character so similar to Chrissy, because when the inevitable comparison comes, she does not quite match up to Suzanne.

Lastly, because of the void that had to be filled several times during this season, Richard Kline's role as Larry Dallas expanded significantly. I love Larry, but I think he makes for a much better minor character, only coming in once in awhile to bring some variety into the roommates' lives.

Overall, despite knowing that I would not enjoy this season as much as my other four DVD sets, I still purchased the Season 5 set for a couple reasons. I was most curious about all of the taglines that are usually cut out in syndicated episodes where Chrissy Snow makes her final appearances. Though Chrissy is dumb as ever, it is the only opportunity a Three's Company fan will have to see Suzanne's final episodes. Also, Chrissy's final two full appearances happen to be two of my favorite episodes. And lastly, I think the show is still funny, despite all of the setbacks during this season, and I look forward to buying Season 6, when Terri Alden moves in and becomes the third (second best) blonde roommate.

It was a pivotal year: Suzanne leaving and breaking the wonderful dynamic between TC's three stars. I am fond of Jenilee Harrison; however, the chemistry just wasn't the same. A show that generally treated its lead actors as equals was in the early stages of appearing lopsided. John Ritter's role would begin to expand, culminating in a virtual "one man show" by the 7th and 8th seasons.

Still, season 5 has wonderful moments. Suzanne remained for the first few episodes and, at this point, she, Joyce, and John have their act honed to a perfect pitch. Jenilee at least brought an on-screen distraction to the off-screen legal battles that continued for many months. The scripts still seemed original and it was wonderful having Mr. Don Knotts return for his second season. The roommates really get their groove on in season 6, when Priscilla Barnes makes her debut.

The disc quality is great and it feels as though you are watching the original broadcast of each episode.

This 5th season of TC presents a show in transition - still wonderfully funny, but just slightly to the left of its very best.

By now, we're all up to speed on the behind-the-scenes machinations of this classic television sitcom from an era where there were only three television networks to choose from (besides UHF).

For its time, especially the '70s seasons, 'Three's Company' was pretty risque for prime-time television with its ribald/charmingly naughty look at three adult 'kids'(gasp)living together in Southern California and the male roommate (Mr. Ritter) supposedly gay. Groundbreaking stuf and with the writing, production and acting talent to pull it off.

Season 5 is the season where all of America knew something was going on behind the scenes but the public relations machine of a bygone era kept most of it at bay, unless you were watching daytime talk shows and saw either Suzanne Somers, clearly unhappy and marginal, on talk shows or the genuine enthusiasm of Jenilee Harrison on the same circuit rallying viewers that all was okay.

As for Jenilee Harrison, of the revolving roommates in the wake of Mrs. Somers, she is similar to the many James Bonds in the 007 franchise. For my generation, it depends on when you were able to watch 'Three's Company' every week (without being sent to bed) that you latch onto whichever actress was prominent at the time. For me, it was Jenilee...she brought a slapstick, gorgeous innocence to the roommate-dynamic that not only reassured a lot of viewers but also was metaphorical for the offstage turmoil happening around them. As a worker in the entertainment industry now in my late 30s, I can only imagine that Jenilee's addition to the cast soothed the proprietary egos and tension that affected the entire production staff.

Season Five is the same comfort food TV that any regular viewer of the show remembers. As other reviewers have mentioned, Joyce DeWitt has more room to play and becomes the clear-cut alpha female of the show. She is a deft comedian with perfect timing, a more sophisticated style and perhaps it's just natural time passing by and our knowledge, in hindsight, of the pressures of the show that makes some of her acting 'business' seem more slapstick and shrill, as if the directors want to fill up every second. John Ritter, the male star, is even more elastic and affable and his talent is missed. Don Knotts and Richard Kline have more airtime too with mixed results, depending on your fondness for them in the first place. Suzanne Somers' now infamous 'tags' at the end of the show get increasingly more far-fetched, taking the 'dumb blonde' schtick to a nadir I'm sure even she didn't appreciate, wardrobe and disco ponytails notwithstanding. By the time she stops appearing, it seems almost merciful to both role and actress.

All in all, a fun season to replay and witness the professionalism required of a juggernaut show giving its A-game to stay a hit and not unravel at a critical time. Again, I'm team Jenilee on this one. I liked Suzanne Somers and, later, Priscilla Barnes' refreshingly lucid take within the show's formula, but considering that Jenilee was only 20 years old and had to mesh with actors long ensconced in their roles, she deserves credit for smoothing the fences and endearing herself to millions of fans at a time when every viewer counted. Enjoy the season for the time capsule it is and when dirty laundry in show business took a much longer time to see the light of day!

Three's Company - Season Five is the season we said farewell to Chrissy Snow. Even though I never was a fan of Suzanne Somers, her character being written off the show was kinda heartbreaking. Otherwise, this is an excellent season of this hilarious show. Don Knotts is still a hoot as Mr. Furley and Joyce DeWitt had some great moments in season five. I highly recommend this classic sitcom.