Three's Company: Pilot #2

Three's Company: Pilot #2
ABC
October 1976
Sitcom
DVD
B-

I'd put this on a level with the Man About the House episode it's based on, although it wouldn't have worked as a first episode to air of course.  The formula for the show is getting closer to what would work, with Mrs. Roper a definite improvement-- funnier and more likable-- than on the first pilot, while Fell adds some touches to his portrayal of Mr. Roper (now Stanley rather than George).  Ritter's rendition of Jack is close to what it'd become, and very different than David Bell.  Twenty-seven-year-old Joyce DeWitt plays a naughtier, more East Coast version of Janet than we would usually see on the show.  As for Lanier, I have to wonder if the role might've worked better if it were more like her Bambi character on Welcome Back, Kotter, the spacy Californian I mean, not the bitter Texan underneath the surface.  She's not bad but I can see why she was replaced and the role rewritten to be more like MAtH's Jo, or Gracie Allen.  (In the early seasons I mean, not what Suzanne Somers morphed into.)

The script, which runs fairly close to the MAtH version, was written by the trio of producers: Nicholl, Ross, and West.  It has some of the flaws of the original, including that they don't just tell Chrissy's mother the situation, since she's got to find out sometime.  Watching it now, I couldn't help missing some of the lines that were added for the version that would air the following Spring.

Bill Hobin, who had directed a couple of recent Welcome Back, Kotter episodes, would go on to do another 30 3'sC episodes.  His style here is serviceable, although there was one part where Chrissy's mother was talking and the camera stayed too long with just Chrissy's reaction.

"Goodnight, John-Boy."

Cab Driver Lou Wills would also be on the revamped "And Mother Makes Four," but I suspect that they just reused the footage, since it was only Wills and Ritter.  On the other hand, I think they may've brought Shera Danese back as the Barmaid, although it is possible that her footage was recycled, too.  I don't recognize the actress playing Chrissy's mother and she's not listed on IMDB.  And note that they're still using that dooty-doo version of the title song, although the opening credits are a bit more creative.