Three's Company: A Man About the House

Three's Company: A Man About the House
ABC
March 15, 1977
Sitcom
DVD
B

Yes, they finally got the mix right.  Not only are Ritter, DeWitt, Lindley, and Fell more settled into their roles, but Somers blends right in.  Even Kit McDonough, in the role of Patricia, is just right.  (She'd go on to at least three other of my shows, starting with Mork & Mindy.)  Hobin's direction is more assured, although like other ABC shows of its time, there is a visible hanging mic.  The NRW script follows the first episode of Man About the House [interesting that an "A" is added to the episode title] more closely than Gelbart's for the first pilot did, although there are touches like adding a mention of an earthquake to remind the audience that this is set in Calfornia.  The studio audience is clearly having a good time, and the home audience would quickly embrace the series as well.

If I remember correctly, this aired in the time slot it would claim, Tuesday at 9 p.m., after the hit shows Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley (#1 and #2 in the ratings that season).  This put it, for the moment, opposite M*A*S*H.  I can't swear that I caught this series from the beginning, but I vaguely recall watching it before the end of this short season.  M*A*S*H was still too grown-up for me, but I was at nine starting to appreciate "adolescent comedy."