“Come and Knock on my Door”       

           While flipping channels, I come across three familiar faces, Jack, Chrissy, and Janet stumbling into their apartment. As they slam the door shut, the distinct voice of Mr. Roper, their ever vigilant and nosey landlord beats on the door, demanding entry. While the description could be of a contemporary drama playing out a plot involving something sinister and vile, it is not. It is actually the Seventies sitcom Three’s Company. The light-hearted show that ran for seven seasons, premiering in March 1977.  After some investigation on line, I discovered that Three’s Company was much more than a sitcom, it was a pioneer in the exploration of sex and gender identity in television.

            It is hard to imagine than when Three’s Company first aired on television, the show was considered grounding breaking due to its sexual subject matter. Three’s Company is a show that would be considered tame in today’s world of sex and violence, but thirty-five years ago it was the source of great controversary. To understand the controversay, it is important to have a understanding of the country’s cultural climate during the mid seventies. Americans had just lived through a decade of great change. Revolutions had taken place in the area of women’s rights, civil rights, and sexuality, and a new era of openness and toleration was taking hold.

            Thus in 1977, when Three’s Company first aired it was looked upon by some people as much more than just a sitcom. It was a show that for the first time addressed subject matter that had been considered off limits for television viewing. The majority of the show revolved around harmless (by today’s standards) sexual innuendos, but the very premise, questioned the ethics of the day from several fronts. First, “Three’s Company was the first sitcom to address the sexual implications and frustrations of co-ed living,”(Museum of Broadcast Communications 1) and second was the aspect that a single man was “pretending to be openly gay”, in a society that was just beginning to tolerate persons of different sexual orientations and preferences. It had only been eight years since the Stonewell riots in New York began a movement for gay rights, yet, most homosexual persons still had not “come out” of the closet to lead public lives. As a result of depicting and experimenting with these subject areas, Three’s Company was considered “groundbreaking”(Buchta 1).

            In the Seventies, the popular notion, was that single men and women should not live together. The only acceptable exception was if they were related. It was generally understood that cohabitation was not possible because it would lead to promiscuity and sexual relations. In an article released by the Museum of Broadcast Communications, it stated,“in the minds of many; male-female cohabitation was anything but innocent and, apparently, would lead only to the evils of premarital sex” (1).  In reality, the writers of Three’s Company took advantage of the changing times in American society, and gambled by making it the premise of their show.

            The show was set in a state that tended to be more liberal, California. It followed the antics of a bachelor named Jack Tripper, and two young women, “one a cute, down-to-earth brunette named Janet Wood, the other a sexy, dimwitted blonde named Christmas “Chrissy” Snow” (Museum of Broadcast Communications 1).The two single women met Jack after he fell asleep in their bathtub following a party. The girls find out that he needed a place to stay and they needed a new roommate. The only problem was they felt their landlord would not allow a living arrangement between opposite sexes, so they decided to tell the landlord, Mr. Roper that Jack was gay. Interestingly, Mr. Roper did not have a problem with a gay man living in the apartment with the girls. Jack continues to play the part of being gay throughout the show and the series became an immediate commercial success. The portrayal of Jack’s gay character was also new fairly new to television. The character was  portrayed in a positive light, without any serious negativity aimed toward homosexual persons. In fact, the affectionate relationships that were built between Jack, the girls, and the landlords, I would say confirmed an air of acceptance that had never been seen before on television. It is important to note that in a period like the sixties and seventies, when individuals fought so hard for change, that a show like Three’s Company was able to gain public acceptance so easily. The acceptance of single persons of the opposite sex platonically living together, and the portrayal of a gay man (even if just pretend) in a positive light, were both new and novel approaches to television.

            The show also explored a new level of viewer acceptance to various sexual identities. Identity is especially important in the real world, because it can influence an audiences’ view of certain minority groups, or can even influence an individual’s own view of themselves. Jack Tripper’s character can be bisected into his two roles. He was both a “skirt-chasing”(Buchta 2) bachelor and an effeminate chef. Chrissy’s identity was equally transparent as the typical blond bimboo who wore tight fitting clothes. Her role was often the source of misunderstanding that complimented her identity. While the primary cast fit recognizable sexual identities, the secondary cast, the Ropers provided an element of contradiction. The Ropers made up a dysfunctional sexual marriage. Mr. Roper’s character displayed a total lack of sexual drive or interest toward his wife, while Mrs. Roper takes on the role of the sexual instigator. Instead of the wife putting off the husband, the comedy is in the opposite translation, of the husband putting off his wife.

            Anyone viewing an episode of Three’s Company today would have difficulty identifying it as a ground breaking show in terms of its handling and exploration of sexual identities and roles because it seems so tame by todays standards. Today, sex on television is not only common, but expected. Innuendo has been replaced by blatant language and images that leave nothing to the imagination. While considering Three’s Company’s place in television history, we must remember that at the time it aired programs like Happy Days, All in the Family, and Love Boat were standard for popular programming. With that in mind, it’s easier to recognize Three’s Company’s role in revolutionizing the use of sex on TV.

Buchta, Adrianne. “Analysis of Man About the House and Three’s Company” Http://voices.yahoo.com/analysis-man-house-threes-company-1.

“Three’s Company”. http://www.tvland.com/shows/threes-company.

“Three’s Company”. Museum of Broadcast Communications. http:www.museum.tv/eotv/threescompa.htm.