"The Ropers" (1979) TV series 1979-1980

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

13 March 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Stanley and Helen Roper, the beloved landlords from "Three's Company," have sold their apartment complex and moved into a new one...

Plot Keywords:

Sitcom | Based On British TV Series | Remake

Cast

Norman Fell	...	Stanley Roper (28 episodes, 1979-1980)
Audra Lindley	...	Helen Roper (28 episodes, 1979-1980)
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Jeffrey P. Brookes III (28 episodes, 1979-1980)
Patty McCormack	...	Anne Brookes (28 episodes, 1979-1980)
Evan Cohen	...	David Brookes (28 episodes, 1979-1980)

Also Known As:

Three's Company's Friends, the Ropers (syndication title)

Runtime:

30 min (28 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Trivia:

After the series ended, Norman Fell and Audra Lindley made one last appearance on _Three's Company (1977)_ during the episode "Night of the Ropers".

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland (2006)

TWO'S Company?

Back in the good old days, when "Three's Company" had just come on the air, there were plenty of laughs around for Jack, Janet and Chrissy. But it was the crotchety, nosy landlords Stanley and Helen Roper (Fell and Lindley) who got the big guffaws for their live-action version of "the Lockhorns". They were a riot.

So, naturally, they got their own series titled, logically, "The Ropers". Having moved out of the apartment complex, they move into a duplex owned by the EXTREMELY stuffy Jeffrey P. Brooks III (Tambor, who was terrific) and his not-as-stuffy wife (McCormack). Eventually, it was the Ropers' turn to be spied on by a suspicious neighbor.

The first few episodes of this series were great, as Fell and Lindley expanded on their corrosive repartee from the original series. Then, adding Tambor as a humorless foil to their slobbery and the double-entendres that occurred when guests would drop by (usually, Jack, Janet or Crissy) every so often, made things even more hilarious.

But it was too good to last; the writing kind of slacked off as they attempted to make the ever-bickering Ropers more understanding and sensitive to each other. This, of course, entirely missed to point to their appeal; the constant bickering was their only form of communication and, by and large, the only way they could possibly stay together. Take that away, and what do you have left? Not too much else.

A conversation I'll always remember is when Stanley (Fell) is complaining that something Helen (Lindley) was doing was effeminate. Her comeback - "I AM effeminate - just like you're emasculate." Cue laugh track.

Well, I'll always remember the good parts of "The Ropers", anyway.

Six stars for "The Ropers" - the best neighbors you could ever have - move away, that is.