Customer Reviews

Three's Company: Season Eight

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Here it is, the eighth and final season of Three's Company! I'm certain that everyone reading this is quite familiar with the exploits of the characters and the quality of this series, so I'm not going to waste everyone's time with a "review" that rehashes all the details or lists episodes or plot outlines.

I would like to take a moment to thank ANCHOR BAY for releasing all eight seasons QUICKLY and with all the care and attention to detail that they deserved! Every box set has been packaged with great cover designs and photo's. The discs themselves have contained high quality transfers of the episiodes as well as a healthy amount of EXTRA content. Anyone wanting to collect this series on DVD will be quite happy with EVERY set in this collection!

How lucky have we been? Just look around at some of the other TV series being released and some of the problems encountered! "Too close for comfort", season one contained edited SYNDICATED VERSIONS (a total slap in the face!). "Lavern & Shirley" and "Night Court" are STILL on season ONE. The "Greatest American Hero" had major chunks removed or re-dubbed because of music copyrights practically ruining a few of the episodes. "Kung Fu" season one was formatted to wide-screen when it was NEVER intended to be viewed that way (chopping off 25% of the screen content!). And of course, the great "WKRP" is still in LIMBO! These are all examples of what could have gone wrong with these releases and I thank ANCHOR BAY for getting it RIGHT every step of the way! Other production companies would do well to examine these box sets before they mess up another DVD release!

I'm sure that our Three's Company DVD collection will NOT end here with THIS release! ANCHOR BAY will continue to do what is right and release "the Ropers" and "Three's a Crowd" on DVD as well! I know we're all waiting and ready to buy! Perhaps they'll release them as a COMBO box... both series in one box set?

At any rate, thanks ANCHOR BAY and thanks to the cast and writers of Three's Company!

-JM

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CONTINUE TO BRING US MORE OF WHAT WE LOVE! PLEASE PRODUCE DVD'S OF "THE ROPERS" SERIES AND "THREE'S A CROWD" SERIES AS WELL! THERE IS A DEMAND!

If your considering buying this product, I'm sure you don't need to read someones review of it. I know I didn't. When I was a kid, this show was like my Sesame Street. While other kids were learning to count, Jack Tripper was teaching me how to pick-up girls at the Regal Beagle. This show just makes me feel good everytime I watch it. Rest in peace John.

Here are the final adventures of apartment 201 and its occupants Jack Tripper(the late John Ritter),Janet Wood(Joyce DeWitt) and Terri Alden(Priscilla Barnes). Highlights from the final season which premiered on ABC on September 27,1983 include Jack,Terri,Janet and their upstairs neighbor Larry Dallas(Richard Kline) on a weekend getaway in the mountains. Jack suspected either Terri or Janet planned to have an affair with him(a similar situation occurred during season 4). Jack's Bistro is visited by a restaurant critic and because the critic only sampled one of the Bistro's entrees,Jack thought the restaurant was gonna close down(the critic does give Jack's Bistro a great review). The trio's couch on its last leg is replaced by landlord Ralph Furley(the late Don Knotts). Jack on a dinner date with a female,married but separated,reporter(she wants to have a baby with him). Larry pretending to be Jack to impress Janet's friend Agnes Platt(guest appearance by Rita Wilson). Janet terrified of Jack's therapist girlfriend(after seeing the word "therapist" on the girlfriend's business card,Janet read it as "the rapist"!). Jack,entered in a cooking contest as "Grandma Tripper" by Larry(the contest was only open to women). Jack's father visiting the trio(guest appearance by the late Dick Shawn). Terri,a nurse at Wilshire Memorial Hospital and about to receive a promotion,is sexually harrassed by her married male boss(the boss and his wife are dinner guests and respectively,Terri and Jack and Janet and Larry pretend to be husband and wife). Jack is at a lavish casino party given by his girlfriend's father. An English ventriloquist named Leslie Bennington moves in next door to the trio(his character is similar to Paul Benedict's Harry Bentley on CBS's The Jeffersons). Janet finally quits her job at Arcade Florists to teach aerobics(she started as a student then was promoted to instructor). Jack is visited,at first on separate occasions,by two high school classmates who are now husband and wife and the husband believes his wife is cheating on him. The trio and Ralph are dinner guests at the couple's home. Jack and Ralph are locked in the freezer of Jack's former workplace,Angelino's restaurant. Jack,with permission from his former boss(seen in one episode this season,but not this one),stores a side of beef in the freezer while the restaurant is closed for vacation. A robber steals Jack's wallet and Ralph's cash and wrist watch,all later surrendered by order of the policeman who arrested the robber. The trio temporarily take in a stray cat that belongs to a little girl(she later decides to surrender it so Ralph takes it into his care-only he's allowed to have pets). Jack is one of Terri's patients when he has an unwanted tattoo on his derriere removed(it reads "the love butt"-courtesy of Jack's old navymates at a reunion). Another new next door neighbor,a saxophonist and art teacher paints Jack in the nude. Jack takes a figure drawing class given by the neighbor and after class,she composes the sketch. Ralph enrolls in the class also,because it was free. Jack has an accident with Janet's new car and fakes amnesia to avoid a personal injury from Janet. Janet meets her future husband Philip Dawson at a willreading(one of Janet's male customers,Philip's uncle,passed away and he bequested her one of his treasured vases). Then there's the prelude to the spinoff Three's a Crowd which was the series finale. Ritter's new castmates Mary Cadorette as flight attendant Vicki Bradford and Soap veteran Robert Mandan as Vicki's father James Bradford are guest stars in the series finale. Also,there's the wedding of Janet and Philip held in the apartment(unfortunately Janet's parents were unable to make it). Terri moves to Hawaii to work at another hospital there. So,Jack,Janet and Terri all bid apartment 201 adieu at the same time. Jack and his new girlfriend Vicki move into a new apartment above Jack's Bistro. James purchases the property from Frank Angelino who was Jack's Jack's Bistro landlord. "Say hello to your new landlord!",James tells his daughter and her new boyfriend with a key in James' hand. Jack Tripper continued for one more season in the not-too-popular spinoff. I dedicate this item to the memories of Ritter(September 17,1948-September 11,2003) and Knotts(July 21,1924-February 24,2006).

I remember this series when it originally aired in the 70s. I was close to the same age of the characters. 30 years later they still have me practically rolling on the fall with laughter. There has never been a series since that has been so funny. I think the Terrie Alden character was an excellent replacement for the Crissy character. I didn't care for Crissy's klutzy cousin who moved in with Jack and Janet for a short time. I was glad when she moved out. I am currently watching Season 7 and can't wait to see Season 8 although I will be a little sad since it's the last Season. Never did care too much for Three's a Crowd. I guess a lot of people didn't care for it either or it would have lasted longer than one season.

Thank you Anchor Bay for releasing the entire run in a reasonable time as well as for packaging each season attractively and including extras. Your efforts are certainly appreciated.
I've said it in other reviews for other 3's Company seasons, but I'll say it again: John Ritter was a true television pioneer for physical comedy. Before him, no one did the things he did (though John did credit Lucille Ball as the true pioneer). The plots are simplistic, true. Double entendres, misunderstandings, and physical comedy ruled the roost. But at the center of the show was heart; the three roommates really loved each other and cared for one another.
This season continued more of the same scenarios as the previous ones while culminating, of course, with Jack falling for Vicky, Janet marrying, and the spinoff show, Three's A Crowd. Like many fans, I felt ripped off by the cheap wedding Janet gotand the lack of familiar faces that attended it. So, the final episode was anti-climatic, but the episode where Janet met her husband-to-be, Phil, was classic Three's Company.
It is nice to see Joyce Dewitt and John's first wife reminiscing about John Ritter the actor and man. I still wish Priscilla Barnes and Suzanne Somers would have contributed something. They didn't and that is our loss.
Overall, each season was released in a manner befitting a classic comedy show which is still re-running all over the world. Every season is well worth getting.

I can't wait for this set to arrive. I'm praying that Anchor Bay will quickley have available The Ropers,Threes a Crowd, and a collection of Bloopers only. Please Anchor Bay, make all that's left available. We're waiting to buy them so we can hold John Ritter close to our hearts. There's never going to be another like him.

I hate to be the barer of bad news, but I recieved this e-mail reply from an Anchor Bay Rep today as the answer to the question that we've been asking. Will The Ropers & Three's A Crowd series' be released on DVD? This is what the Rep had to say...


We don't own these series at this time, I'm sorry.


~Rose

Rose Marie Zivkovich
Brand Manager- TV on DVD/Fitness
Starz! Home Entertainment
3rd Rock Season 6- On DVD 11/14/06

Anchor Bay has once again done a fabulous job bringing another season, this time the final one, of Three's Company to fruition. The question I (and many others) now ask is, "What happens next?"

I always considered the 8th season of the show to be somewhat depressing as it marks the end of my favorite television series. While watching Three's Company in syndication over the years during my youth, I eventually got used to watching the series finale only to be followed by the very first episode the next day. I would always cross my fingers hoping for a few episodes of Three's A Crowd - in hopes of letting the show go on, but that never happened. I went as far as paying an enormous amount of money on eBay for some bootlegged episodes of Three's A Crowd (and The Roper's) on VHS when I realized I'd probably never see those two shows again. But Anchor Bay brings renewed faith that both shows will be released on DVD. Not only would it make sense - considering Three's Company has been one of the best-selling DVD series to date, but also because there has become quite a cult-following for the release of these two spin-offs on DVD. While many avid Three's Company fans have never even seen an episode of Three's A Crowd and The Roper's, I must say that there is a *LOT* of interest in both shows, regardless.

The difference between me dreaming that TBS would air a few episodes of these two spin-offs and Anchor Bay actually releasing these two shows is that the former is a company that aired Three's Company in horrible syndication - cutting out 2-3 minutes of scenes from each episode to fill the voids with repetitive commercials, while the latter has brought back these "missing" scenes that haven't been seen since the original airings some 30 years ago. Which leads me to believe that Anchor Bay seems to be paying attention to what the viewers and fans want by releasing all 8 seasons in such a quick manner, by filling each season with extra features, and by allowing fans alike to re-live all those laughable scenes that the gang brought us in each episode!

I'm quite confident that in due time, we'll see the two spin-offs make their DVD debut on Anchor Bay!

This is the eighth and final season of Three's Company. To begin the season, Jack's girlfriend(played by Joanna Kerns) wants him to father her child, although he believes at first that she wants him to marry her. Another misunderstanding is in the second episode when Jack reads a magazine quiz which has been filled out, and concludes that one of the girls is in love with him, but as it turns out, the magazine belongs to a patient of Terri's at the hopital. Some other moments include: Jack and Terri and Janet and Larry posing as married couples to ward off the romantic advances of Terri's boss, the trio believing that an Englishman who has moved in next door is a murderer(although he is really a ventriloquist), Jack waking up with a tattoo on his derriere, and Jack faking amnesia after totalling Janet's car. I know that by this season, the writers found it difficult to come up with original storylines. This is particularly evident in the episode "Look What I Found," where the trio tries to hide a kitten from Mr. Furley, which is reminiscent of the season 1 episode "No Children, No Dogs," when they try to hide a puppy from Mr. Roper. The last few episodes of this season mark the transition into the spin-off series "Three's A Crowd." Janet meets her future husband Philip Dawson at the reading of the will for his uncle, who was also one of Janet's customers at the flower shop. Jack then meets Vicky Bradford, a stewardess who will become his live-in girlfriend, and her opinionated father. In the final one hour episode titled "Friends and Lovers," Janet and Philip marry, Terri moves to Hawaii, and Jack and Vicky move in together. The transition into "Three's A Crowd" was very difficult behind the scenes as the new series was developed in secret, and the girls were left out of the new series as Jack was the only character being spun off. Nevertheless, an absolutely classic season and classic series. I am hopeful that "The Ropers," and "Three's A Crowd" will be released on DVD soon.