Matters' Guide to Chasing Drama｜ 【Three's Company】

When it comes to American sitcoms, the most successful and well-known should be " Friends " (or translation: "Six People" / "Friends" ). But what this article is going to recommend is the " Three's Company " (Taiwan translation: "Three's Line" ), the ancestor of the "good friend sitcom".

The younger generation may not have known [Friends], let alone [Three's Company]! The show aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984, with a total of 8 seasons and a total of 172 episodes. It was broadcast by China Television in Taiwan from 1979 to 1985, so the audience who watched this drama may be almost at retirement age, right? But this classic series is still worth recommending.

The story goes: After a party, Jack (John Ritter) is found sleeping in the bathroom of the apartment shared by Chris (Susan Summers) and Jenna (Joyce DeWitt). . Because the original roommate got married and moved away, in order to share the rent, the two girls made Jack, who had not yet found a place to live, as their new roommate. But in order to hide from her stoic landlord Stanley (Norman Fair), Jenna lied that Jack was gay and persuaded the landlord to let him live with the two girls. The plot starts from the life of these three people living together, and starts a series of hilarious and ridiculous.

The three protagonists in the play behave in a style that is like the concrete presentation of the three aspects of human self-analysis in psychology:

• Chris : Set in the appearance of a blond, big-breasted and brainless big sister, with words and deeds that roughly follow the Pleasure principle , showing the typical thinking of [I] (Latin: id) . ※ This role is succeeded by Sandy (Jenny Lee Harrison) in seasons 5-6 and Teri (Priscilla Barnes) in seasons 6-8, but the basic character setting is different Far.
• Jenna : Black-haired, shrewd little man (suspected of insinuating oriental people), all behavioral thinking is based on moral principles (Moral principle) , is a picket of behavior among the three, showing the [superego] (English: super) -ego) A style of behavior that responds to sociocultural norms and moral expectations.
• Jack : As the only man, he often swings between wanting to satisfy his own desires and taking care of two roommates (conflicting and struggling between "happiness" and "morality"), thus developing words and deeds that conform to the Reality principle , showing the behavior of [self] (Latin: Ego).

Of course, other characters also played the finishing touch, such as:

• The landlord, Stanley (Norman Fair), is a lecherous and brash old man. (Seasons 1-3)
• The landlady, Helen (Ojo Lindley), Stanley's wife, complains repeatedly about her sexual dissatisfaction. It has long been known that Jack is not gay, and occasionally seduces Jack. (Seasons 1-3)
• The landlord Rafe (played by Don Knotz), the landlord who took over after the original landlord and his wife moved out ( actually to perform "The Wonderful Landlord" , which can be regarded as a derivative work of "Threesome" ). (Seasons 4-8)
• Riley (Richard Klein) is Jack's best friend and an unreliable playboy.

Another feature of this series that deserves a special mention is that each episode was shot with an audience on site! In other words, this series is like a TV version of a small stage play , which is a test of the actors' acting skills. Basic skills, such as moving positions, memorizing lines, etc., must be in place at one time and cannot be repeated. Because of this, the actors who participated in the filming of this film were all first-class candidates for basic skills at that time (of course, fame is not necessarily proportional~)

The works contributed by this group of excellent actors are naturally good materials for watching acting or learning English at that time. Moreover, because the play successfully opened the precedent of situation comedy, it allowed more talents and capital investment in the follow-up to create more popular works. Based on the concept of "eat fruit and worship the tree head" , I recommend this drama to everyone.