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.

Welcome Back, Kotter: Father Vinnie

Welcome Back, Kotter: Father Vinnie
ABC
February 26, 1976
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Eric Cohen script mentions Gabe's Uncle Jerry and Aunt Jewel, clearly a reference to the Rannows, who were executive script supervisors.  The main story is about how Vinnie considers becoming a priest to make his dying grandmother happy.  Bambi (Susan Lanier) is one reason why he can't go through with it.  It's a bit sad listening to Gabe and the Sweathogs talk about death, knowing that Epstein and Horshack, as well as Julie and Woodman, would be gone less than 40 years later.

WBK in its "freshman" year (when the Sweathogs are in the eleventh-grade), is scruffy and sometimes adorkable.  It lacks the slickness of most of my other shows, even of its peers.  It has the narrow range of C+ to B, with almost half of the episodes earning a B-.  From what I recall, the show got slicker and more formulaic as it went on, but that's not to say there aren't some fun episodes ahead.

Welcome Back, Kotter: California Dreamin'

Welcome Back, Kotter: California Dreamin'
ABC
December 2, 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B

Susan Lanier makes her first of two appearances as Bambi Forrester (yes, a pun).  Apparently this was a big enough splash that it got her the role of the first Chrissy Snow on Three's Company, but more about that later.  What's more notable looking back is that if there's any moment when you can pinpoint Travolta becoming a teen idol, it's here, during his "Barbarino" version of "Barbara Ann."

The California stereotypes were, I recall, widespread in the mid-'70s, although being in the more inland, deserty portion of the state I at age seven never ran into anyone remotely resembling them.  The student crush on "Gabesy" may look more dated in that it simply wouldn't have been handled this way from I'd say the '90s onward.  You definitely wouldn't have got Gabe joking to Julie about running off with Bambi.  Note that for a guy who almost got married not long ago, Freddie isn't exactly faithful to Vernajean.  (He was taking the other black female Sweathog on a date in the previous episode.)  This episode is an early writing credit for Mike Weinberger, who'd go on to write for Three's Company and Who's the Boss? among other shows I watched.