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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1035.JPG]]
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3''Man About the House'' (1973–76) was a popular Creator/{{ITV}} sitcom about a male student chef named Robin Tripp (Creator/RichardOSullivan), who shares a flat with two gorgeous girls, a brunette named Chrissy (Creator/PaulaWilcox) and a blonde named Jo (Creator/SallyThomsett). Downstairs lived the apartment landlords, George and Mildred Roper (Creator/BrianMurphy and Creator/YoothaJoyce). Also appearing frequently was Robin's womanizing friend Larry (Creator/DougFisher), who occupied an attic flat upstairs.
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5The series had six seasons in total, but [[BritishBrevity they were only broadcast over a space of three years]]. A [[TheMovie theatrical film]] was also released in 1974.
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7The show had two {{spinoff}}s (''Series/GeorgeAndMildred'' and ''Robin's Nest'') and a very successful [[TransAtlanticEquivalent American remake]] in the form of ''Series/ThreesCompany''.
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9''Man About the House'' was primarily created as a vehicle for Richard O'Sullivan, who was a rising star at the time thanks to his role in another BritCom, ''Series/DoctorInTheHouse''.
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11Came sixty-ninth in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.
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13!!This program provides examples of:
14* TheAllegedCar: Roper's poor old motor was always having something go wrong with it.
15* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Jo, Chrissy and Mrs Roper respectively (although Mrs Roper's is probably tinted).
16* BrainyBrunette
17* TheCasanova: Larry
18* ChivalrousPervert
19* CloudCuckooLander: Jo.
20* DropInCharacter: Larry Simmonds.
21* DumbBlonde: Averted, generally. Jo is shown to be a bit of [[TheDitz a ditz]] at times, but she's usually intelligent enough to [[GenreSavvy recognise it]]. When Chrissy opines that Robin only sees women as "helpless, feather-brained sex objects", Jo pipes up with a very GenreSavvy "Leave me out of this!".
22* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Robin's middle name is revealed to be "Oswald". Chrissy delights in pointing out to him that this makes his initials "rot".
23* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Although Jo's obviously got [[MsFanservice a lot of appeal]], the series actually subverts the stereotype by showing that Robin is ([[ChivalrousPervert usually]]) far more interested in the brunette Chrissy. The American remake reverted to the stereotype and making the blonde the 'desirable' one again.
24* FauxYay: Averted. Whereas its American remake used this as a RunningGag throughout the series, this UK original only ever used it as a one-line joke in the PilotEpisode. The second episode sees Robin come clean to the Ropers about being strictly heterosexual, which they accept at face value and move on.
25* LaxativePrank: Done in TheMovie. When the property developer is wining and dining Chrissie in an effort to get her to sign over her lease to him. Robin, Larry and the chef doctor his food with syrup of figs, castor oil and epsom salts.
26* LoveableRogue: Larry
27* LowCountGag: In "We Shall Not Be Moved", when Roper and Jerry are discussing dividing the upstairs flat into smaller units for which Roper can charge more rent, Jerry says half his work force are standing by ready to begin construction - "And if you change your mind, he's not gonna like it!"
28* MyLocal: 'The White Swan'.
29* TheMovie
30* MrsRobinson: Mrs Roper flirts openly with Robin. A lot. He doesn't reciprocate.
31* NotWhatItLooksLike
32* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Chrissy was originally supposed to be from [[OopNorth Yorkshire]], and actress Creator/PaulaWilcox reflected this very strongly in the PilotEpisode. For the rest of the series, though, this was significantly toned down (though never gone completely). Later episodes retconned her as being from Sussex (naturally, neither of her parents displayed a Yorkshire accent either). Any residual northern accent is probably down to the actress being from Manchester, so it is still an example of this trope.
33* OneDialogueTwoConversations
34* PlotDrivenBreakdown: In the episode "Home And Away", when Robin and Chrissy borrow [[TheAllegedCar Roper's car]] to go to a football match, they end up breaking down on the side of the motorway and missing the game.
35* PunnyName: George Roper (G. Roper) is a StealthPun. Chrissy once jokingly abbreviated his name to "Mister Groper", for his habit of [[AccidentalPervert accidentally touching them up]].
36* RoommateCom
37* ScrabbleBabble: "In Praise of Older Men" opens with Robin trying to persuade Jo that the word he has just played in a ''TabletopGame/{{Scrabble}}'' game, "zixic", is an Abyssinian nose flute that imitates the sound of a rhinoceros in the mood for "a bit of the other". Jo isn't convinced, so Robin asks Chrissy to define "zixic", and she says it's an Abyssnian nose flute, to Robin's surprise - until she adds, "Well, that's what you just said!"
38* SpinOff: ''Series/GeorgeAndMildred'' has the Ropers moving to a new neighbourhood, while the AfterShow ''Robin's Nest'' sees Robin Tripp follow his dreams of opening a restaurant.
39* StripPoker: In TheMovie, Robin challenges the girls to a game of strip poker. Chrissie turns out to be a card shark and Robin is the one who ends up naked.
40* TransAtlanticEquivalent: Famously remade in the USA as ''Series/ThreesCompany''. Both of the spin offs were also adapted to the American market, ''Series/GeorgeAndMildred'' as ''The Ropers'' and ''Robin's Nest'' as ''Three's a Crowd''.[[note]] The American spinoffs were much more short-lived than their British counterparts; while ''Three's Company'' ran for seven and a half years and 172 episodes compared to three years and 40 episodes for ''Man About the House'', ''The Ropers'' lasted for 28 episodes over a series and a half compared to five series and 38 episodes over three years for ''George and Mildred'', while ''Three's a Crowd'' lasted one 22-episode series compared to six series and 48 episodes across four years for ''Robin's Nest''.[[/note]]
41* WeddingFinale: The series ends with [[spoiler: Chrissy getting married to Robin's older brother Norman]].
42* WhatDidIDoLastNight: In the first episode, Robin wakes up in the bathtub of the girl's flat. The girls have no recollection of how he got there, and neither does he (it was one wild party the night before).
43* WillTheyOrWontThey: The premise of the show. There's a good degree of {{UST}} between Robin and Chrissy, to the point where them not getting together at the end of the series almost counts as something of a DownerEnding.
44* ZanyScheme: George Roper frequently, much to the chagrin of his wife Mildred.

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