Three's Company: Handcuffed

Three's Company: Handcuffed
ABC
January 29, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B

OK, this Baser & Weiskopf script, based on a story by an outside writer, is implausible from beginning to end, but at least it's funny.  Chrissy's distant cousin Jay Garfield (well played by Daniel Trent, who was Elliott the previous season) is a cop who leaves his handcuffs at the trio's apartment.  While Janet is at the library, Jack and Chrissy handcuff themselves together for fun, but neither has the key.  Jack refuses to break his date with "Brenda the Human Blender," so he meets her at the Regal Beagle, where hijinks ensue.  (Including Somers accidentally fondling the actress's breast a couple times, see Chris Mann's book on the show.)  A cop sees Jack and Chrissy leave in handcuffs, so he asks Jim the Bartender (Paul Ainsley) about it.  Then Jim calls Janet, who's home by now.  And so on.  When Jack and Chrissy eat a cake together, it's a bit like the Helping Hands game on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, only with one hand each.

Alan Manson, who plays Mike the Cop, was Col. Hersh on M*A*S*H and Congressman Avery on The Bob Newhart Show, and ironically would return as Chrissy's uncle, father to Cindy.)