Come and Knock On Our Door

You know you've soared to new heights of tv-show-obsession (or sunk to new depths, as the case may be) when you go out and buy merchandise for a programme that was over in the early-80s and that was first a huge success back in 1977. And then you soar even higher (or sink even deeper, as the case may be) when you realise you can't readily obtain the merchandise in stores, so you go on Ebay and bid on it, win it, pay for it, and receive it in your mail.

Lo and behold, the official companion to my latest classic-TV obsession:

Yes, you read that right (well, at least you would have, if the image above weren't so darn blurry): Three's Company, the hilarious sitcom starring the late, great John Ritter as Jack Tripper, who moves in with two gorgeous girls into an apartment. What's so odd about that, you ask? Well, this was 1977, and back then, the idea of a guy living with two girls was shocking!! Absolutely risque!! Totally unheard of!!! (and other such overdramatic proclamations with italics and too many exclamation marks).

To make matters worse, the landlord wouldn't let Jack stay with two girls, so Jack pretends — get this — to be gay. Ha!! Hence hilarity ensues as the three of them try to keep their masquerade while getting into comedic farce after comedic farce, in a sitcom world full of double entendres and misunderstandings.

The show wasn't/isn't just downright hilarious; it was considered the Friends of its day in terms of success: it was a phenomenon that lasted eight wonderfully hysterical seasons. But what really got me curious to know more about it (hence the book!) was the behind-the-scenes dramas that were taking place, filled with (and I quote from the book cover) "real-life tensions of fame and controversy, plus personal, financial and creative conflicts". There was the issue of advertisers pulling out because of the "controversialness" of the premise. Churches and religious groups boycotted, jeered, threatened. Oy vey.

Then at the end of season 3, two supporting characters were given a spin-off series, only to be handed the short end of the stick when the other show was cancelled and they couldn't return to Three's Company. At the end of season 4, the blond chick on the cover, Suzanne Somers, decided to pull a diva stunt and demand for more money, effectively threatening to ruin the show, and also effectively killing a four-year friendship with other members of the cast. Then there were new cast members, the last of whom, the beautiful Priscilla Barnes, was unable to deal with fame and fortune and was left sadly jaded and embittered by the whole experience (she even turned down interviews for this book). And the brunette in the picture, the lovely and talented Joyce DeWitt, actually had major falling-outs with the "archaic mentality and machismo" of the show's writers and turned her back on Hollywood since the series ended in 1983. See, it's not all fun and games.

So yes, here I am, about to read the full story in this biography of the series. Call me obsessive, but hey, the show remains one of the funniest of all time, and the backstage goings-on some of the most saddening. I'm hoping the book will shed more light and some closure on these characters and performers I used to watch back when I was a kid, and who now, thanks to illegal downloads DVDs, I've come (over the past three months in a marathon of all eight seasons, circa 180 episodes) to re-know and re-love and get heartbroken by.