While searching the website TV Shows On DVD, I found that the series (the British TV equivalent of a season) 1 & 2 set of the highly successful Britcom "Man About the House" was released on Tuesday. As many of you may know, "Man About the House" was the inspiration for "Three's Company". In "Man About the House", the Jack Tripper character was named Robin Tripp and his roomies were Chrissy Plummer and Jo (who for some reason wasn't given a last name). One of the differences between the two shows is that in "Man About the House", Chrissy was the smart brunette and Jo was the ditzy blonde.
"Man About the House" ran from 1973-76 and is one of the most successful sitcoms to come out of the U.K. Just like "Three's Company", it also spawned two spinoffs: "George & Mildred" (the British version of "The Ropers") and "Robin's Nest" (which was "Three's A Crowd"in the U.S.). It even had a feature length film version (also called "Man About the House").
Unfortunately, "Man About the House" isn't seen in reruns over here too often. I have only seen clips here and there. Maybe networks are afraid that viewers will consider it a ripoff of "Three's Company", which is too bad. If you would like to make comparisons between the two, check out the clip below from the pilot episode of "Man About the House". Fans of "Three's Company" who have seen its pilot will notice the similarities.
AN HONORABLE MENTION
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7 comments:
I actually know this show! My father in law (who is British) was a big fan. I too have only seen clips here and there but it would be nice to see full episodes.
George & Mildred was also made into a film.
And either I am losing my mind or one of your posts went seriously bionic and flew right off the page.
I never heard of this show! It's amazing to me how so many U.S. shows are based on British shows. Two of my faves are The Office and What Not to Wear. The U.S. show even copied off of their pilot! But I'm still a TC fan through and through. If anybody knows when reruns are played, I'd be very appreciative to know. It used to play at 11:00 on TVLand, but not anymore.
Taj: I didn't know that "George and Mildred" was made into a film. Thanks for the info.
By the way, you are not losing your mind about the disappearing post. I took a Bionic Assessment Test that I found on another blog. Along with the post, I tried to include the HTML tag that had my test results. Unfortunately, the HTML tag did not agree with the 3 column format of my blog and threw everything out of whack. Since I can't login and write posts from my work PC, once I get home I will include the link to the blog that had the BAT in case anyone else wants to take it.
Angie: Since you are a TC fan from way back, I thought you had heard of "Man About the House". Although there are probably others, the only instance I can think of where an American show inspired a British counterpart is "Who's the Boss". The British version was called "The Upper Hand" and ran from 1990-96. I have never seen it though.
There are some longer clips of the "MAtH" pilot on YouTube. TC's pilot is pretty much a carbon copy of the one for "MAtH".
TC is still on TVLand. To get the exact times, here is the link to their schedule:
http://www.tvland.com/schedule/
Thanks for the link Malcolm. A big DUH on my part. :o) I see I Love Lucy plays on TVLand too - I'll have to start watching it again!
Hey Malcolm,
If I remember correctly, during the 70's and 80's the American television industry remade a bunch of British programming. In fact "Sanford and Son" (Steptoe & Son) and "All in the Family" (Til Death Us Do Part) were based on shows that first aired in the UK.
Pjazzy: After the success of AITF and S&S, it cleared the way for American network execs to see if lightning could strike yet again. Off the top of my head, the only other successful adaptation from the 70s and 80s that I can think of (besides TC, AITF, and S&S) was Too Close For Comfort.
Several years ago, I bought a couple of tapes of episodes of "Steptoe and Son". It wasn't too bad. Steptoe was portrayed by Wilfrid Brambell, who also played Paul's grandfather in The Beatles' film "A Hard Day's Night".
I almost purchased a DVD set of the show that spawned "All In the Family" (Till Death Us Do Part). Maybe when I catch up on the DVDs that I own now, I'll see if I can find it on Amazon.
"On the Buses" is another
Britcom that I bought on VHS awhile back. This show inspired the short-lived Dom DeLuise sitcom "Lotsa Luck". I have vague recollections of watching "Lotsa Luck" in primetime with my mother when I was really little.
I actually love both 'Man About The House' and 'Three's Company' equally. Even though Threes Company was the spin-off; it holds it-self very well - especially once Don Knots as Mr Ralph Furely makes his appearance as the new landlord in 1979. If Man About The House re-runs were shown more often i think a whole new generation of viewers would enjoy it. It is a timeless classic. Not to mention its other spinoffs - Robins Nest and George and Mildred!
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