It’s unrealistic.
Why?
1. Jack pretending to be gay was unnecessary – Southern California in the 1970s was not as conservative as many other parts of the country. A man living with two single women would not have been a big deal, unless he couldn’t pay the rent.
2. Jack pretending to be gay may have been a more important stop than him being straight – Homosexuality was not viewed as positively then as it is now. If the Roper family (the owners of the apartment complex) were as conservative as the show portrayed them to be, they would have been more opposed to Jack being gay than him living with two single women as a straight man.
3. Lack of overnight guests – If none of the three were intimate, they would have had to be intimate with someone. That would have meant overnight guests and all the problems that entailed. The series largely avoids this, although it would provide the series with a wealth of comedic possibilities.
4. Their wealth or lack thereof – The three are poor enough to share a small apartment, but are “rich” enough to afford a car (although Jack doesn’t have one in earlier episodes), multiple changes of clothes, and frequent the Regal Beagle in their neighborhood. While life in Southern California was expensive in the 1970s, it wasn’t as harsh as it is today. If they could afford a car, they could live on their own.
5. Jack doesn’t find Lana attractive – About nine episodes into the fourth season, a character is introduced to act as a surrogate woman for Jack Tripper. Strangely enough, the writers and producers didn’t have Jack interested in this woman, Lana (played by the late Ann Wedgeworth) and even the actor who played Jack (the late John Ritter) had problems with this incongruity. The character was written off because the writers really couldn’t do much with her.
6. The female roommates don’t find Larry (Jack’s upstairs neighbor and former friend) attractive – Although the character is cheesy and rude, he is not portrayed as an unattractive man. It’s impossible that none of the female roommates find him at least somewhat attractive (even if it’s just a passing relationship).
7. The female roommates don’t find Jack attractive – He’s not an ugly guy and they live near each other. Since he wasn’t supposed to be a long-term friend and none of the women were lesbian or bisexual, the fabrication that there would never be a quick fling is unlikely.
The show, while entertaining at the time, is now almost unwatchable, over 40 years later. The comedy is weak, the premise is flawed, and the anti-gay and sexist “jokes” rarely make today’s audience groan. Additionally, the show ran too long and ran out of ideas after its third season, which ironically was when star Suzanne Sommers decided to ask for a raise and was eventually fired from the show.
A completely unrealistic show.
