| Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company |
Melanie (Joyce), Jud (Suzanne) and Bret (John) |
| Directed by |
Jason Ensler |
| Produced by |
Stanley M. Brooks |
| Written by |
Elisa Bell |
| Narrated by |
Joyce DeWitt |
| Starring |
Bret Anthony
Melanie Deanne Moore
Jud Tylor
Terence Kelly
|
| Music by |
Adam Cohen |
| Cinematography |
Brian Pearson |
| Editing by |
Sandra Montiel |
| Release date(s) |
May 12, 2003 |
| Running time |
84 minutes |
| Country |
 United States |
| Language |
English |
Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company is a 2003 made-for-television movie made by NBC documenting the trouble on the set and the journey to the top of Three's Company. It starred Brian Dennehy as Fred Silverman, Jud Tylor as Suzanne Somers, Bret Anthony as John Ritter, Melanie Deanne Moore as Joyce DeWitt, Christopher Shyer as Alan Hamel, and Gregg Binkley as Don Knotts. Former Three's Company cast member Joyce DeWitt served as co-producer and host.
Plot
The movie jumps from the second season to the fifth, covering the time when troubles were emerging from Suzanne Somers. It then jumps to season eight to cover the end of the series. Although the movie describes some of the negative sides of the creation of the show, the original script was much worse before Joyce DeWitt got involved and added focus on the good times during the production of the show [1]. DeWitt was helped by John Ritter, who saw the final cut of the movie before he died. Suzanne Somers was also contacted, but gave little input.
The research of the movie was mostly done by Chris Mann from his book Come and Knock on Our Door. He was tricked by one of the two producers and has never been credited for his indirect work on the project[2].
Key events
The movie occasionally displays dates at the bottom of the screen to tell the viewers at the current time period. These are the shown dates and their related events.
| Date |
Event |
| November 1975 |
American producer Donald L. Taffner and partner Ted Bergmann try to sell the idea to make an American version of the BBC-TV show Man About The House to various TV stations. |
| January 1976 |
New ABC programming chief Fred Silverman looks for a risque TV show and finds Three's Company. |
| January 28, 1977 |
Taping of the first show (this also being the third pilot). |
| March 15, 1977 |
First broadcast. |
| May 1977 |
First season wrap party. |
| November 1977 |
Somers asks Jay Bernstein to manage her career and try to make her the next Farrah Fawcett. |
| February 1979 |
Somers tries to get a new deal with CBS for her own show. |
| July 1979 |
While filming Nothing Personal, Somers calls Bernstein to fire him. |
| October 1980 |
Alan Hamel, now managing Somers' career, attempts deal with ABC to boost Somers' salary by 500%. |
| October 21, 1980 |
Somers fakes a cracked rib and misses the taping. |
| November 2, 1980 |
Somers misses her second taping. |
| November 9, 1980 |
Somers misses her third taping. |
| November 20, 1980 |
Somers tapes separately from main cast for the first time. |
| January 18, 1981 |
Somers appears on The Phil Donahue Show. |
| March 1981 |
Somers gets a sue threat from ABC about using her Chrissy character in Vegas. |
| April 2, 1981 |
Somers is fired from ABC. |
| May 1982 |
Because of the ABC sue threat, Somers learns that her CBS deal is canceled because her character of Chrissy can't be used. |
| November 1983 |
Hamel fails to convince the producers that Suzanne would be perfect to play Jack Tripper's wife in the Three's a Crowd spin-off. |
| February 17, 1984 |
Final taping of the show. |
Events discrepancies
The movie is known to be inaccurate in many places. It is important to realize that some mentioned events are not exactly how it really was.
- The show's title "Three's Company" was coined by Gary Markowitz, one of the first two writers who wrote the pilot[3]. However, the producers use this name while pitching the show to the networks, long before the pilot was made.
- After Suzanne Somers was cast, it seems as if the three actors are meeting for the first time on the night of the taping when they should have spent a week of rehearsals together.
- Suzanne mentions to John and Joyce during a rehearsal that she had her 11-year-old son when she was 17. Her son Bruce Jr. was born on November 8, 1965[4] and that actually means she had him when she was 19 since she was born on October 16, 1946. Also, if what she first said was true, it would have meant that the current year would have been 1974 or 1975 (1946+11+17), and Three's Company didn't start until 1977. She couldn't have had this conversation with them.
- At the same time Suzanne misses the first day of taping, Ted Bergmann tells Don Taffner that Fred Silverman has "jumped ship to NBC". Actually, Silverman left for NBC in January 1978, long before the Suzanne contract renegotiation problems began in October 1980.
- During the first season wrap party, everyone seems to know the show is a big hit. However, all six episodes of the first season were taped before the show premiered. Nobody could have known how well the show would be received.
- The episode Suzanne first missed the taping of was "A Crowded Romance", an episode that Don Knotts did not appear on. However, Bergmann briefly talks to Knotts, fully costumed backstage, just a few minutes before filming was supposed to start.
- After the missed tapings, we see the actors receiving a blue and a pink copy of the scripts; one if Suzanne shows up and one if she doesn't. When Suzanne comes in the room, she receives both copies as well. She should have only been given the copy with her in it, not both of them.
- After the producers proposed the spinoff to Audra Lindley and Norman Fell, it actually took Norman Fell at least six months to sign on. In the movie, he agrees in less than two minutes.
- As a narrator of the movie, Joyce DeWitt says that Three's Company was filmed on Fridays, something Jenilee Harrison confirmed in the interview of the fifth season DVD release of the show. However, Taffner and Ritter are said to hold the audition for Jack's fiancé on a Friday when Joyce suddenly comes in. Taffner asks her "What are you doing here?" to which she replies "I like to come in the day before and set up my dressing room", which would mean the show would tape on Saturdays, which is inaccurate.
- As mentioned above, the shows were taped on Fridays and the dates that are said to be when Somers missed the tapings of the show are Tuesday (October 21, 1980) and Sundays (November 2 & 9, 1980).
- The Three's A Crowd spinoff was not developed until after season eight began and the ratings started to fall. In the film, John Ritter was proposed the idea right after season seven ended.
- Vicky is stated to be Jack's fiancé, yet she turned down Jack's proposal in the Three's Company series finale, and became his girlfriend/live-in roommate.
- In the movie, Jack turns off the light and closes the door to apartment 291. In the actual series finale, Terri is the one who turns off the light, and the door has the number 201.
External links
References
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