History Series / ThreesCompany

Codified, if not actually created, [[MistakenForIndex an entire set of plot tropes]] based on silly misunderstandings and leaping to conclusions. [[ILoveLucy Lucille Ball]] was a huge fan of the show thanks to its pitch-perfect use of sitcom tropes and physical comedy, and even appeared to host a ClipShow.

* YouLookFamiliar: Jeffrey Tambor, now [[HeyItsThatGuy fairly well known]] for playing [[ArrestedDevelopment George Bluth Sr.]], appeared in several episodes, each time as a different character. And that's not even counting his regular role on the spinoff ''TheRopers''.

* CensorSteam:
->'''Mr. Furley:''' You mean Lana saw me in the bathtub?
->'''Chrissy:''' You don't have to be embarassed. The little bubbles hid everything.

* IdiotBall: Everyone at some point, usually thanks to mishearing a conversation or misinterpreting a situation

* ACupAngst: Janet; one episode revolved around her deciding to get breast implants.

* UncleHerbie

* UnresolvedSexualTension: There were multiple episodes throughout the series giving off hints that Janet and Jack might have a think for each other, but nothing ever really came of it, and in the finale they both end up marrying other people.

* TitleThemeTune: "Down at our rendezvous / Three's company, too!"

* CasanovaWannabe: several of them.

In order to share an affordable apartment with two lovely young ladies, [[BrainyBrunette Janet Wood]] (Joyce [=DeWitt=]) and [[TheDitz Chrissy]] [[DumbBlond Snow]] (Suzanne Somers), cooking student [[HandsomeLech Jack Tripper]] (JohnRitter) must pretend to be gay around Stanley Roper (Norman Fell), the repressed, bigoted {{landlord}}. (And not [[StraightGay an average homosexual male]], but rather [[CampGay an over-the-top stereotype]], because that's the only kind of "gay" Mr. Roper - and the average viewer in TheSeventies - knows.) Roper, in turn, frequently finds himself fending off the advances of his good-natured but sexually repressed wife Helen (Audra Lindley), who knows Jack's secret but likes him and the girls enough to keep mum. Complications are introduced through a variety of misunderstandings and mishaps, often caused by the thinking-impaired apartment mates or their cumbersome friends. Everyone in this series suffers from GenreBlindness at one point or another, which is expected considering the show is essentially a comedy of errors. The show launched the careers of the Ritter and Somers, and revived that of DonKnotts.

In order to share an affordable apartment with two lovely young ladies, [[BrainyBrunette Janet Wood]] (Joyce [=DeWitt=]) and [[TheDitz Chrissy]] [[DumbBlond Snow]] (Suzanne Somers), cooking student [[HandsomeLech Jack Tripper]] (JohnRitter) must pretend to be gay around Stanley Roper (Norman Fell), the repressed, bigoted {{landlord}}. (And not [[StraightGay an average homosexual male]], but rather [[CampGay an over-the-top stereotype]], because that's the only kind of "gay" Mr. Roper - and the average viewer in TheSeventies - knows.) Roper, in turn, frequently finds himself fending off the advances of his good-natured but sexually repressed wife Helen (Audra Lindley). Complications are introduced through a variety of misunderstandings and mishaps, often caused by the thinking-impaired apartment mates or their cumbersome friends. Everyone in this series suffers from GenreBlindness at one point or another, which is expected considering the show is essentially a comedy of errors. The show launched the careers of the Ritter and Somers, and revived that of DonKnotts.

In order to share an affordable apartment with two lovely young ladies ([[BrainyBrunette Janet Wood]] and [[TheDitz Chrissy]] [[DumbBlond Snow]]), cooking student [[HandsomeLech Jack Tripper]] must pretend to be gay around Mr. Roper, the repressed, bigoted {{landlord}}. (And not [[StraightGay an average homosexual male]], but rather [[CampGay an over-the-top stereotype]], because that's the only kind of "gay" Mr. Roper - and the average viewer in TheSeventies - knows.) Complications are introduced through a variety of misunderstandings and mishaps, often caused by the thinking-impaired apartment mates or their cumbersome friends. Everyone in this series suffers from GenreBlindness at one point or another, which is expected considering the show is essentially a comedy of errors. Launched the careers of the late JohnRitter and Suzanne Somers, and revived that of the late Don Knotts.

* RequiredSpinoffCrossover: Jack, Janet, and Chrissy appear in an episode of ''TheRopers'', while Larry turns up in a ''Three's a Crowd'' episode.

* AndStarring: During their time on the show, Audra Lindley and Norman Fell got an "And Starring as The Ropers" credit.

* TheAllegedCar: The rust covered Ropermobile. We hear about in an episode in which Roper tries to sell it to Jack and the girls, and actually see it in action in the pilot episode of TheRopers.

* AfterShow: ''Threes A Crowd''.

* AsideGlance: Mr. Roper's specialty, after getting in a dig at his wife.

* GenreBlindness

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Cindy for Chrissy. And later Terri for Cindy, as the show apparently could not exist without a blonde character.