How Did We All Miss These 5 Hidden Truths About Three’s Company?

1. There Were Three Pilots Made

Despite all its success, getting Three’s Company off the ground was a harder endeavor than it might have seemed. Three separate pilots were made for the series before it was determined it was ready to go on the air. Casting changes and story problems meant there was a lot of reworking in building the classic sitcom. Similarly, Game of Thrones had to reshoot the majority of its expensive pilot, which was deemed a disaster initially. All that work paid off for Three’s Company, as the series went on to win several prestigious awards, such as Primetime Emmys and Golden Globes.

2. The Toddler In The Season 6 Intro Was Actually John Ritter’s Son

Introduced during the series’ sixth season, the intro featuring the characters goofing around at the Los Angeles Zoo is perhaps its most memorable. Interestingly enough, during Joyce DeWitt’s spotlight, she’s seen petting a goat before being approached by a small child. That child was actually cast member John Ritter’s then one-year-old son. In a 2010 interview with The Huffington Post, Jason Ritter admits that he doesn’t actually remember the event, but, allegedly, he slipped away from his mother and wandered into the shot, and producers liked the take enough to add it in. The youngster has moved on to have a strong film and TV career, appearing in Frozen 2, Parenthood, The Event, and more.

3. Suzanne Somers And John Ritter Reconciled Just Before His Death

The firing of Suzanne Somers from the show also affected her relationship with the rest of the Three’s Company cast. Specifically, Somers remembers that she and John Ritter had a falling out that lasted for decades. She assumes that, given their chemistry, Ritter bore some resentment for her leaving the show. However, when they finally spoke again, Somers revealed Ritter had a plan to reunite on his new show 8 Simple Rules along with Joyce DeWitt in a nightmare sequence. However, Somers reveals she was not sold on the idea (via ET):

“I said, ‘You know, the public has such a craving for you and I to be together again. I don’t think my coming back as a nightmare is the best thing that we can do.’ I said, ‘Why don’t we look for a proper project for the two of us?’ and so we decided to do that. Let’s find a show for the two of us and then a month later he died.”

4. Suzanne Somers Got The Part At The Last Minute

Part of the reason the Three’s Company cast were so late in meeting each other was due to the fact that the role of Chrissy had not been cast until the day before production began. The producers still had not found their perfect Chrissy, and the deadline was rapidly approaching. The production team desperately went through audition tapes, and they stumbled upon Suzanne Somer’s audition. Network executive Fred Silverman felt that Somers was the lady for the job, hired her that day and she started filming the very next day.

5. Larry Was Not Supposed To Be A Regular

Jack’s best friend Larry became a fan-favorite character since he often had some of the funniest lines as the lady’s man. Three’s Company would not have been the same without Larry, but, originally, he was not supposed to be a regular on the sitcom. The original plan for Larry was to be a one-time character. However, the response to the character was more positive than anticipated, while Richard Cline and John Ritter had such great chemistry that the producers decided to keep him on as a regular.

In fact, Larry was often a key part of some of the best Three’s Company episodes throughout its lengthy run. The popularity of the character ended up being so great that he and Ritter are the only two characters to appear on Three’s Company as well as its two spinoffs.