Three's Company: The Crush

Three's Company: The Crush
ABC
November 21, 1978
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Gordon & Mendelsohn story has a girl who's visiting the Ropers develop a crush on Jack.  At 10, I could relate to 13-year-old Laurie (played by Lauri Hendler, around the time she was doing ABC Weekend Specials as Little Lulu but about three years before her long-running role on Gimme a Break).  I think I had a crush on Jack myself by then, although I wouldn't have sunk to her methods.  She sends Janet and Chrissy a fake telegram and she keeps interrupting Jack's time alone with Rita (Lois Areno, who'd return as Katy Williams).  I've never been crazy about her twice saying, "I love a man who's forceful!", but otherwise it's a pretty good episode, with Chrissy's dumb-blondeness not yet crossing over into certifiable.   Note that Jack says he's almost twice Laurie's age, so I assume he turned 25 on the Loni Anderson episode.