Three's Company: Jack's Navy Pal

Three's Company: Jack's Navy Pal
ABC
February 7, 1978
Sitcom
DVD
D

This is understandably one of the most hated Three's Company episodes.  It starts out all right, with Jack practicing the Charleston for a date to a Roaring '20s party, and flirting heavily with Chrissy when she dances with him.  And the trio deciding to butter up Mr. Roper so he won't raise their rent $75 (from $300/month) could've been a fine if not terribly original plot.

And then it goes off the rails when the title character shows up.  Jim Walsh was in the Navy with Jack but he was no pal.  Jack tells the girls that Jim was the meanest person he ever met.  And Jim certainly lives up to it: twice hitting Jack for no reason, demolishing the furniture (and Chrissy's teddy bear), insulting everyone, and grinning the whole time.  The audience isn't even given a catharsis when Jack, after much persuasion, tries to hit Jim (he's hesitant because Jim is temporarily blind), since Jim blocks the punch.  And the trio are stuck paying for the damages to the apartment!

Levitt, Wayne, and Burditt all contributed to this story, so who knows how the blame should be apportioned?  Presumably nobody spoke up (as for instance DeWitt would about the "blonde wig" episode) to say that this episode just wasn't going to work.  And there are people out there who actually enjoy this episode, presumably in a dark-comedy sort of way.  I don't know if it's the worst 3'sC episode ever, but I've always found it the worst from the early seasons.