You’ve got to hand it to Norman Fell: the guy knew when he had a good thing going. And the role of Stanley Roper on Three’s Company was a very good thing indeed. For three seasons beginning in 1976, he, along with actress Audra Lindley, played the wacky landlords who frequently butted into the lives of their tenants Jack (John Ritter), Chrissy (Suzanne Somers) and Janet (Joyce DeWitt) on the classic series.
Fell, who had previously appeared in roles in dozens of films and TV shows including The Graduate, was a genuinely funny guy, with pitch-perfect comedic timing. To this day, whenever I want to, I can conjure up that image in my head of Stanley Roper breaking the fourth wall, looking straight at the camera with that wicked little smile of his — you probably can, too. Fell had been a journeyman actor for years before landing Three’s Company, and he didn’t want to give up the great thing he had going.
Especially not to take a chance on a spinoff series for the Ropers. When the producers of Three’s Company, along with Audra Lindley, started to apply pressure to Fell during the third season about leaving to shoot their own series, he would politely and firmly decline to even engage in the conversation. He was happy to be in Three’s Company. It was a huge hit … and successful TV programs are hard to come by.
At some point during that fateful third season, the producers decided to offer Norman the equivalent of a money back guarantee: if he filmed the spin-off series and it didn’t work out, he and Lindley would be welcomed back to Three’s Company.
Even with a guarantee, Fell was still hesitant to jump ship and take a risk. But, in the end, he caved. On March 13, 1979, The Ropers debuted on the ABC television network to fantastic ratings. All spring and summer long, new episodes of The Ropers competed against reruns of other shows and, as you might guess, Stanley and Helen were triumphant.
Why Did Norman Fell Leave Three’s Company?
However, when the show returned in the fall, ABC decided to move the program to a new time slot and, wouldn’t you know it, ratings started to dip. When that happened, week after week, the production company’s promise loomed: if things didn’t work out, Fell and Lindley would be able to go back to Three’s Company.
Of course, in the meantime, the producers of Three’s Company had to fill the void left by the absence of the Ropers, which they did with comedic legend Don Knotts. Knotts played the new landlord, Ralph Furley, an out-of-touch, aging swinger who didn’t know that time had passed him by. He considered himself a ladies’ man in much the same way that Deputy Barney Fife had; in fact, the similarities between Ralph Furley and Deputy Fife were plentiful. Ralph Furley was a hoot and with each passing episode, Stanley and Helen seemed to become more and more of a memory.
Meanwhile, as the new season of The Ropers progressed, the network moved the show around to a few different time slots, hoping that the superlative ratings that they had seen early on would return. Unfortunately for everyone involved in the spin-off, they did not. The show was cancelled on May 22, 1980, just 14 months after its premiere.
When they say you can never truly go home again, they may have been directly referring to Norman Fell. Despite his best efforts and multiple conversations with the producers of Three’s Company, it turns out neither he nor Lindley would be returning after all. You see, The Ropers had technically had two seasons. A short, abbreviated first season that ran from March to August in 1979 and then a full second season that ran from September 1979 to May of 1980. As such, the producers had technically honored their end of the contract. Fell could have returned to Three’s Company if it had been cancelled during the summer of 1979. But it wasn’t, and because of that, both he and Findley were out of luck.
Over the years, all parties expressed regret regarding how the whole deal played out. Fell certainly felt bad. But, you know what? He didn’t let that get him down. During the next decade and a half, he would make numerous guest appearances on various TV shows. However, even though he was constantly working, he never again had a hit TV series to call his very own. Way back then, Fell knew exactly how special it was to have a job to go to week after week. He didn’t want to give it up. He really didn’t.
