YMMV / Three's Company

• Base-Breaking Character: Mr. Furley definitely has his fans, with some even adoring him more than the Ropers. However, some think the character is the catalyst to the show's Seasonal Rot. Others don't mind the character himself, and Don Knotts' performance, but find him out-of-place in the show.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Many fans over the years have expressed disappointment that Jack and Janet didn't get together in the end. Ritter himself speculated that the sequel sitcom Three's A Crowd, where he is paired with Vicky, failed in part because fans couldn't accept Jack settling down with anyone but Janet.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • A bumper from when the show aired on Nick at Nite, called "Three Blonde Mates," featured the chorus joking about the revolving third roommate. Given the very cruel treatment of Suzanne Somers (Chrissy), Jenilee Harrison (Cindy), and Priscilla Barnes (Terri) by the producers it comes off as rather inappropriate.
  • The episode where Jack fakes a heart attack and has a fake funeral can be stomach-churning to watch after knowing John Ritter died from cardiac arrest. Especially with Mr. Furley mourning him that Jack died before him when you also know that John Ritter died before Don Knotts.
  • The episode "Chrissy's Hospitality" shows Jack and Janet believing Chrissy's dying after talking to a doctor who was crying but only from laughing at Chrissy's jokes. This episode now seems poignant since Suzanne Somers' death on October 15, 2023.
• Informed Wrongness:
  • In the episode "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do", Terri dates a man who (unbeknownst to her) is a convicted murderer. Jack, Janet and Mr. Furley begin panicking when they learn this as they fear the man will try to kill Terri. They finally manage to tell her, and she is horrified. The man notices their behavior and guesses they've learned about his past. He insists he is a changed man, but in a way that accuses them of being wrongfully judgmental of him. Changed or not, the fact remains that he did kill someone, and it is perfectly reasonable for that to have caused concern. The overall message in the episode seems to be don't jump to conclusions and to give people a second chance, which would be fine if the roommates weren't supposed to be in the wrong for showing fear and concern at all. Not only that, there were some troubling scenes earlier on where the man reacted like a Crazy Jealous Guy towards Jack, indicating that he may not be entirely rehabilitated.
  • In "Jack's Other Mother", a My Beloved Smother named Gladys latches onto Jack and drives him crazy. She jeopardizes his job by "helping" him there and sends away a date because she didn't think the girl was right for Jack. When Jack tries to avoid Gladys by claiming he is sick, she begins acting as his nurse despite his protests. Jack finally has enough and tells Gladys so. She leaves, promising never to bother him again. Later on, Jack gets in trouble when the brother of his would-be date comes and threatens him. Gladys shows up and tells the man off. While she did a good thing, it does not excuse her previous behavior. In spite of that, Jack is still the one who apologizes — not just for being a bit harsh with her, but as though he was entirely in the wrong for asking this woman to leave him alone. Gladys never admits that maybe she was wrong for being extremely overbearing and interfering in Jack's personal life when it wasn't her place to do so. She even sets her sights on Larry at the end of the episode. In fact, from what Gladys has said, her own son was tired of his mother's toxic behavior and broke free of her, which is apparently why she is constantly on the hunt for another young man to similarly control.
• Nightmare Fuel: In the episode "Dying to Meet You," Jack flirts with a woman who happened to have a jealous boyfriend who wanted to harm Jack but Jack had to pretend to be dead so the boyfriend will leave him alone, it is scary because the only way to get rid of the angry boyfriend, Jack had to lie in a coffin, which is pretty creepy.
• One True Threesome: Some people ship Jack/Janet/Chrissy.
• Replacement Scrappy: Cindy, Chrissy's cousin, was almost a carbon clone with considerably less jiggle factor and the added annoyance of being The Klutz. Terri managed to avoid this fate by actually having a brain.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Actors who appeared on this show before gaining more notable work include Loni Anderson, Lauri Hendler, Joanna Kerns, John Larroquette, and Anne Schedeen.
  • In addition to their work on Three's Company, developers and executive producers Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, and Bernie West are also best known as creators and executive producers of The Jeffersons.
    • Don Nicholl is still well-known in the screenwriting community today, but not exactly for his writing. After he died in 1980, his widow Gee established the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting in his memory. Now administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it's far and away the most prestigious annual competition for amateur screenwriters.
  • David Mirkin wrote seven episodes. Mirkin is best known as co-creator and co-executive producer of Get a Life, as well as the showrunner for The Simpsons's fifth and sixth seasons.
  • Roger Shulman and John Baskin wrote four episodes and served as producers. Both are best known as creators and executive producers of Crazy Like a Fox.
  • John Boni wrote three episodes. Boni is best known for co-creating When Things Were Rotten.
  • Neal Marlens wrote two episodes. Marlens is best known as creator and executive producer of Growing Pains and co-creator and co-executive producer of The Wonder Years and Ellen.
  • Joyce Burditt wrote an episode. Burditt is best known for creating Diagnosis: Murder.
  • Howard Gewirtz also wrote an episode. Gewirtz is best known as creator and executive producer of Oliver Beene.
  • Mark Fink also wrote an episode. Fink is best known as co-creator and executive producer of Hang Time.
  • Prudence Fraser and Robert Sternin also wrote an episode. Both are best known as creators and executive producers of The Charmings and developers and executive producers of The Nanny.
  • In the final four episodes, Janet's new husband was played by David Ruprecht who went onto host Supermarket Sweep.
• Seasonal Rot: The first three seasons with the original cast lineup are the most remembered, but season four (the first with Mr. Furley) has its fans as well. After Suzanne Somers left, the show's quality got progressively worse, with lazier writing and many recycled plots, and the characters Cindy and Terri being far less memorable than Chrissy.
• Tear Jerker: Mr. Furley recounting how he once had a pet as a kid, but it was hit by a car and died, he then decides to name the cat he found after it.
• Values Dissonance: The premise of the show (a man pretending to be gay to live with two women) would no longer be necessary in most US cities, especially Los Angeles. Most of society (again, in cities) would not make an issue of Jack's supposed orientation. In addition, the landlords' repeated invasion of the threesome's private life would not be accepted. This also extends to smaller things. For example, in one episode, Chrissy falls and hits her head, with Janet suggesting she go to bed. Modern medicine would recommend that she at least stay awake, or perhaps even go to an emergency room to ensure she did not have a concussion. Also, Jack's Loveable Sex Maniac antics, including those of several other men in the show, would not be seen as amusing and instead creepy in modern times.

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