The phone call tags that Chrissy made are a really sad reminder of the frustrating situation that took place in season five of Three’s Company. They were designed to keep her away from the main production and still be part of the show, but also allowed the producers to punish her for behavior that they were angry about. Everyone in that situation could have and should have acted differently, and in the end it was the viewers who lost out as the show was never as good after Suzanne was fired. Those phone calls are just a reminder of how badly the producers handled the whole situation.
What is amazing is that people today are as chauvinistic in their attitude toward what happened to Suzanne Somers as the ABC network bosses and Three’s Company producers were in 1980 when Suzanne tried to renegotiate her contract. Even John Ritter admitted in Chris Mann’s book that he believed he was the star of the show and was entitled to more money than his female co-stars, and couldn’t understand why Suzanne didn’t get that.
It is important to note that in season 5 John Ritter was making $50,000 an episode, not $150,000. Suzanne’s team opened the negotiation with that number because that was in league with what other top TV stars, such as Alan Alda and Carroll O’Connor, were making. ABC and the producers were way too cheap to ever pay that amount, even to John Ritter. They agreed to pay Suzanne $5000 more per episode starting in season six, but refused to negotiate after that initial meeting.
The network was also looking to make an example out of her for asking for more money. Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams had recently negotiated huge pay raises for “Laverne and Shirley,” and network brass wanted to put a stop to stars, particularly women, asking for more money. It was felt if they would fire Suzanne Somers, the most recognizable female star on TV at that time, they would do it to anyone. The network it seems was not negotiating in good faith with Suzanne Somers.
What really may have been her biggest mistake was missing a taping after having been present at rehearsals all week. Suzanne injured herself in a dance routine on the Tonight Show, but producers reported that she refused to allow the network’s doctor to examine her so that the show could collect the insurance for having to cancel the taping. The producers didn’t want a repeat of this situation so they reduced her role to a short phone call. If she didn’t show up to tape the scene, then the show would go without her appearance. She actually only made phone calls in 7 episodes and completely disappeared after the 17th episode in season 5.
What should have been a simple contract renegotiation ended up being a situation that got Suzanne Somers blacklisted from network TV for a decade and left unnecessary hurt feelings in its wake. It took many years before any level of reconciliation took place between the stars of the show and the producers refused to ever speak to her again.
