IMDb > Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company' (2003) (TV)

Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company' (2003) (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.0/10   294 votes
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Director:
Jason Ensler
Writer (WGA):
Elisa Bell (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company' on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
5 May 2003 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Comedy more
Plot:
An insider's look at the unfunny side of comedic success on network television. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Very Serious Behind the Scenes Business more (29 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Melanie Deanne Moore ... Joyce DeWitt

Bret Anthony ... John Ritter

Jud Tylor ... Suzanne Somers

Brian Dennehy ... Fred Silverman

Wallace Langham ... Jay
Daniel Roebuck ... Ted Bergman
Michael David Simms ... Don Taffner

Gregg Binkley ... Don Knotts
Barbara Gordon ... Audra Lindley

Joyce DeWitt ... Herself - Host
Rick Skene ... Alpha Beta director

Terence Kelly ... Norman Fell

Christopher Shyer ... Alan Hamel

Gary Hudson ... Tony Thomopolous
David Lewis ... Ira Denmark
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
USA:120 min (including commercials)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Filming Locations:
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Company:
NBC Studios more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Although an actor was hired to portray Richard Kline, he never appeared in the movie. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: The actors are using mobile telephones in cars and on the set in 1979. Mobile phones weren't mass produced until 1983. more
Quotes:
Jay Bernstein: You wanna smoke me, give it your best shot. more
Movie Connections:
References Nothing Personal (1980) more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful.
Very Serious Behind the Scenes Business, 27 May 2003
Author: gjung01 from Waterford, MI

It is sobering to see that a show that exemplified the mindless, 70s sex revolution with it's, at the time, envelope pushing innuendo and double entendres, was fraught with deception, greed and betrayal behind the scenes.

The actors chosen to portray the various performers of "Three's Company" are very good, most notably the ones chosen to portray John Ritter/Jack Tripper and Joyce DeWitt/Janet Wood. The actress who played Suzanne Sommers/Chrissy Snow did a wonderful job playing the conflicted yet easily swayed by her husband star who ends up becoming a pariah of the set of the show after unreasonable contractual demands and skipping out on tapings. The performances of the network brass, show's producers, and Sommer's husband, Alan Hamel are excellent also. The supporting cast, the Roepers, Mr. Furley and Cyndi Snow, are also represented. Priscilla Barnes/Teri is merely an extra with no lines and Larry is nowhere to be found. It would be interesting to see how the rest of the cast and crew were affected by the contractual warfare that became very personal between Sommers and the producers. Joyce DeWitt took on a role as a producer of this film and narrates the film. Although this was not necessary, I suppose it lent a bit of authority since DeWitt was obviously there when all of these things were happening. But one wonders if this also could mean that the movie is slanted by representing DeWitt as the Saint who is just doing her job who gets wronged by Sommers, the Producers and Ritter who keeps plans of him getting a spinoff that doesn't include Janet from her. But the facts speak for themselves and one can see that this could all be very well true.

One can say that Sommers is painted in a bad light but it does evoke sympathy for her when she begins to wonder if she has gone too far and is killing her career but is easily sold on the idea by her slick talking husband who is an unsuccessful actor who's claim to fame are local supermarket commercials. Sommers quickness to believe this man is revealed when she talks about humiliating herself early in her career to help pay her son's hospital costs by dressing as a squirrel and passing out nuts and when she says that she wanted to become the next Farrah not Liberace in one of the films funnier (unintentionally lines). Ritter is portrayed as a nice guy who loses patience with Sommers antics but also as a passive, milquetoast who gives in too easily to the producers' offer of his own spinoff at the expense of the other cast members.

The bottom line is that what energy or magic the series had early on in it's run, was spoiled by the lack of appreciation for the actors by the producers, avarice of Sommers and "her people," Alan Hamel and the constant tinkering that was designed to spite Sommers. In the end, everyone seemed to lose and seems embittered by the whole experience. Ritter and Sommers did not seem to want part of this project and DeWitt seems to be gritting her teeth to this day in the segments where she narrates the goings on.

All in all, this is one of the more interesting, well made TV movies about a TV show because it deals with what made the show work and ultimately what ruined it, the best and worst of human nature.

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