Back in the mid to late 1970's I was a big fan of the British series Man About The House. It played on the CBC when it was new and we watched it as often as it was on, even the repeats. I think I saw some of the episodes on PBS in the early 1980s but I can't be sure. It's pretty much a typical sitcom, you might have see the American version, Three's Company. I didn't like that show as much. I liked the characters in the original better. Man About The House was created and written by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. They worked as a team and were responsible for many TV series over their careers. MATH show was voted the 69th Best British Show in 2004. I got the DVD from England as there is no complete set here in the US. You can see some of series 4-6 on YouTube.
It stars Richard O'Sullivan, Sally Thomsett, Paula Wilcox, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. That's Richard, Sally and Paula above. Richard and Sally dated when they were making the series. The first series aired from August 15 to September 26 1973 and it had 7 episodes. There were 5 more series through 1976 with a total of 39 episodes. There was a 1974 theatrical film that cost £40 on Amazon UK so I probably won't be seeing that anytime soon.
That's Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy above. They play Mildred and George Roper. They went on to star in a spin off series called George And Mildred. That program ended after 5 series when Yootha died in 1980. I'm tempted to get that and the other spin-off series from the UK. Here's a bit from the Wikipedia.
The format of Man About the House was sold internationally, and it was remade in the United States as Three's Company in 1976; in the Netherlands as Sam Sam in 1994; in Sweden as En fyra för tre in 1996; in Norway as Tre på toppen in 1997; in Poland as Lokatorzy in 2000; in Portugal as Camilo, o penduramin 2002; in Russia as Troe sverhy in 2006; in Ecuador as El hombre de la casa and in Chile as Tres son multitud, both in 2007.
The American Three's Company also spawned the same spin-offs as Man About the House had: Three's a Crowd and The Ropers, based upon Robin's Nest and George and Mildred, respectively.
Paula is Chrissy, Richard is Robin and Sally is Jo. The two girls live in a flat in a house with the Roper's living below. Mr Roper's the caretaker but it's a rather ill defined part of his character. In the opening scene Chrissy finds Robin sleeping in the bathtub after a party and nearly drowns him. While his clothes are drying Robin makes them breakfast and they ask him to replace the roommate that just moved out. Robin goes to cooking school and they really like his cooking. Mr Roper isn't liking the idea of the combination but they tell him Robin is gay. Robin moves in and there's all sorts of situational comedy based on their character traits. Robin's a good bit goofy, Chrissy is more normal and Jo is a ditzy girl who surprises you once in a while.
I really enjoyed watching the series again. The actors are all really great as their characters and I enjoyed spending time with them. It was like seeing an old friend. The plot's are simple, the gags are the fun bit, and there are plenty of jokes. Many made me laugh out loud. I'll be watching the rest of the series as quick as I can get to them.
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