Joyce DeWitt Movies

Independent filmmaker Richard Gabai gives Jack London's literary classic a modern-day makeover with this family-friendly adventure. Nine-year-old city girl Ryan (Ariel Gade) is visiting her grandpa (Christopher Lloyd) in Montana and lamenting the lack of shopping malls when she befriends a wounded wild dog and names it Buck. As the annual sledding race draws near, Ryan and her new friends begin training Buck for the big day in hopes that he can win the gold. Can Buck's wild spirit be tamed in time for the race, or is he more comfortable out in the wilderness, running free with his four-legged friends? Veronica Cartwright, Timothy Bottoms, and Joyce DeWitt co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In the tradition of the previous "backstage" TV movies about such iconic series as Batman, The Partridge Family, Gilligan's Island, and The Brady Bunch, this NBC effort promised to give the lowdown on the long-running (1977-1984) ABC sitcom Three's Company. In truth, there is little in this film that was not already common knowledge when it first aired on May 12, 2003, but it's still fun to see a cast of attractive actors portraying another cast of attractive actors. In case anyone needs reminding, Three's Company was the popular tickle-and-tease comedy series based upon the British Man About the House, in which a virile young heterosexual man was forced to pose as a homosexual so that he could remain the roommate of two sexy young ladies. It was perhaps the quintessential "jiggle" sitcom, thanks primarily to its well-endowed co-star Suzanne Somers (here played by Judy Tylor). Because of its risqué (but basically inoffensive) content, Three's Company was turned down by both NBC and CBS before ambitious ABC CEO Fred Silverman (played by Brian Dennehy) decided to take a chance on the property. The rest, as they say, is history, with Three's Company not only setting ratings records but also establishing a whole new threshold for what was and wasn't acceptable in network prime time. Inevitably, the show collapsed under its own weight, especially after the revolving-door cast changes which followed in the wake of the acrimonious defection of Suzanne Somers, but it was fun while it lasted. For the record, the other Three's Company stars were the multi-talented John Ritter (played by Bret Anthony) and the underrated Joyce DeWitt (Melanie Deane-Moore). The actual Joyce DeWitt also appears as herself in this movie, serving as narrator and sidelines commentator. Though the film often pulls its punches regarding the original series' backstage intrigues and legal entanglements, there is enough authentic detail remaining to satisfy the casual sitcom buff. Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company was filmed under the title Three's Company Revisited. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The eighth and final season of Three's Company finds most of the cast intact (though it's not entirely the original line-up): John Ritter as restauranteur Jack Tripper, Joyce DeWitt as Jack's florist roommate Janet Wood, and Priscilla Barnes as his other roommate, nurse Terri Alden. Also on hand is Don Knotts as the trio's landlord, Ralph Furley, who wrongly suspects that there's a ménage à trois going on under his roof, despite Jack's deceptive pose as a homosexual. Additionally, Richard Kline continues popping up in the role of Jack's libidinous photographer pal, Larry Dallas. In contrast, two recurring characters, Brad Blaisdell as Mike the bartender and Jordan Charney as Jack's former boss Frank Angelino, bid farewell to the series during season eight. Just as Three's Company's British-TV predecessor, Man About the House, was succeeded by the spin-off series Robin's Nest, so too were plans drawn up to end Three's Company at the close of its eighth season and replace it with a new show, Three's a Crowd. In preparation for this transition, Jack Tripper meets and falls in love with Vicki Bradford (Mary Cadorette), with whom he decides to move in. Once this decision has been made, Janet likewise leaves the old apartment, having married a guy named Philip (David Ruprecht), while Terri heads off to do charity work in Hawaii. And thus, after 172 episodes, the song called Three's Company is ended. ~ All Movie Guide

Now that the problems with former series regular Suzanne Somers were behind them, the producers and stars of Three's Company moved into the series' sixth season with renewed confidence and a sense of relaxation. Back on the job were John Ritter as aspiring chef Jack Tripper, Joyce DeWitt as his (platonic) florist roommate Janet Wood, and Don Knotts as their neurotic landlord, Ralph Furley. The position of third roommate, formerly the province of Suzanne Somers as Chrissy Snow, had been effectively filled throughout season five by Jenilee Harrison as Chrissy's klutzy cousin Cindy Snow. But because Cindy hadn't completely clicked with viewers, the producers opted to develop a new character as her replacement: Priscilla Barnes as Terri Alden, a vivacious, level-headed nurse who was completely unlike the ditzy Chrissy or her airheaded cousin. While Cindy moved out of the apartment, she had not totally left the series; it was explained that she was attending UCLA, the better to allow her a few occasional drop-ins as a guest star. In the middle of the season, there was concerted effort to retain both Priscilla Barnes and Jenilee Harrison on a full-time basis, by contriving to have Jack and Janet hire Cindy as their maid. But when this didn't work out story-wise, the decision was made to write Cindy out entirely, with an episode depicting to a bitter argument between herself and Janet (thereby sorely annoying Joyce DeWitt, who liked Harrison and felt that argument was completely out of character for both actresses). Season six of Three's Company concluded with a one-hour best-of clip special, hosted by Lucille Ball. The series itself regained much of the ratings ground it had lost during the previous season, moving up from eighth to fourth place. ~ All Movie Guide

Although Three's Company was still one of America's most popular sitcoms during its fifth season, there was little reason to celebrate on the set of the program. Having incurred a lot of negative publicity because of her salary hassles with the series' producers, Suzanne Somers (Chrissy Snow) found herself persona non grata with her co-stars, John Ritter (Jack Tripper) and Joyce DeWitt (Janet Wood). This feeling carried over to the production staff, who saw to it that the appearances of Somers' character, Chrissy, would progressively diminish throughout the first half of the season. In one episode, all of Chrissy's dialogue was rewritten and given to Don Knotts, in the role of landlord Ralph Furley. And in other instances, Chrissy was shown communicating with roommates Jack and Janet via telephone so that the three stars would not have to appear together in the same scene. After a mere nine appearances, Suzanne Somers was gone for good, and it was "explained" that Chrissy had decided to move "out of town." Ironically, the last episode in which Somers appeared, "And Baby Makes Four," also represents a one-shot return of former series regulars Norman Fell and Audra Lindley as Stanley and Helen Roper. Still, the title of the show remained Three's Company, necessitating a third character as Chrissy's replacement. The first candidate for this position was Jenilee Harrison as Chrissy's klutzy cousin Cindy Snow. Cindy remained on the series throughout all of season five and part of season six, when she herself was succeeded by a new roommate, Terri Alden (Priscilla Barnes). Another defecting character this season was Dean Travers (William Pearson), head of the cooking school where Jack Tripper was studying to be a master chef. Travers' exit was borne not of backstage resentment but of necessity; having graduated, Jack was now ready to take his place in the professional culinary world, and would within the next two seasons open up his own restaurant. ~ All Movie Guide

As the third most popular program on network television, Three's Company entered its third season on ABC with the greatest of ease in the fall of 1978. No major changes had been made in the format or premise: Jack (John Ritter) still shared a Santa Monica apartment with Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy (Suzanne Somers), the relationship was still strictly platonic, and the trio's landlord, Mr. Roper (Norman Fell), remained convinced that Jack was gay (this was the story given him by the girls, who didn't want to be kicked out), though both Jack and the audience knew that this was far from the truth. As the season progressed, Jack graduated from cooking school and began work as a caterer, Chrissy landed a new secretarial job in the firm run by female executive J.C. Braddock (Emmaline Henry), and Janet, the "calm, reliable" roommate, occasionally kicked over the traces and acted silly just for the heck of it. Towards the end of the season, Mr. Roper and his wife, Helen (Audra Lindley), sold their apartment building and moved into a ritzy Cheviot Hills townhouse, thereby seguing into their own spin-off series, The Ropers, which premiered on March 13, 1979. (A precedent for this move had been established on Man About the House, the British sitcom upon which Three's Company was based, which had likewise spawned a spin-off called George and Mildred.) At the same time, recurring actor Richard Kline was elevated to regular status in the role of glib car salesman Larry Dallas. Not only did Three's Company retain its popularity, but it actually increased its viewership, moving from the number three to the number two ratings slot by the end of its third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the British sitcom Man About the House, Three's Company was given a six-week trial run on ABC's Thursday-night schedule in the spring of 1977. In the first episode, aspiring chef Jack Tripper (John Ritter) was found sleeping in the bathtub of the Santa Monica apartment shared by floral-shop employee Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) and typist Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) the morning after the girls' going-away party for their former roommate. Hoping to quickly snatch up a new roomie to share expenses -- and gratified that at last they had found someone who could actually cook -- Jane and Chrissy invited Jack to move in with them -- on a strictly platonic basis, of course. In order to persuade their landlord, Stanley Roper (Norman Fell), that no hanky-panky was going on, the girls convinced Mr. Roper that Jack was gay. This, of course, was the subterfuge to end all subterfuges: not only was Jack aggressively heterosexual, but he never let an opportunity pass to be alone with the voluptuous but innocent Chrissy (though he never succeeded in making her one of his conquests). Roper's wife, Helen (Audra Lindley), discovered early on that Jack was not gay, but she agreed to keep his secret because she liked the girls -- and she liked to one-up her bombastic, overbearing husband. A handful of recurring characters were introduced in season one, notably slick-talking car salesman Larry Dallas (Richard Kline), who would become a regular by the end of season three. Most of the episodes during the series' six-week tryout were adapted from scripts originally written for Man About the House, a derivative practice that would slowly die out over the next several years. After its requisite six showings, Three's Company was replaced, as intended, by ABC's The Tony Randall Show. But during its brief tryout, Three's Company managed to soar to 11th place in the ratings, making its return for a full season in the fall of 1977 a fait accompli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide