Reel to Real Filming Locations: Three’s Company (1977-1984)

After their roommate moves out, Janet Wood and Chrissy Snow decide to let party crasher Jack Tripper move in. This breaks landlord Stanley Roper's rule about unwed men and women sharing an apartment. They tell him that Jack is gay even though Helen Roper knows he's not, but she decides to go along with the charade. The hijinks and misunderstandings continue under new apartment manager Ralph Furley and new roommates Cindy and Terri, who take Chrissy's place. Jack eventually finds love with Vicky Bradford and they move in together.

Three's Company was based off the British sitcom Man About The House. The original pilot had John Ritter, Valerie Curtin and Suzanne Zenor as the three roomies and was supposed to be on the fall 1976 schedule. It was then retooled with Ritter, Joyce DeWitt and Susan Lanier. There were doubts about Lanier playing Chrissy and at the last minute, Suzanne Somers audition tape was discovered. Since third times a charm, another pilot was taped with Ritter, DeWitt and Somers and Three's Company debuted in the spring of 1977. The show was an immediate hit.

There were many cast changes throughout the series run. Norman Fell and Audra Lindley were given a spin-off in the spring of 1979, aptly named The Ropers (1979-1980) and Don Knotts assumed the landlord role. Fell and Lindley were promised a return to the show if theirs failed within a year, but The Ropers was canceled just over a year, and with the popularity of Mr. Furley, there was little desire to bring The Ropers back. During the fifth season, Suzanne Somers demanded a significant pay hike, which was denied by producers. She was reduced to a short phone call scene while caring for her sick mother. Somers was eventually fired and Chrissy's clumsy cousin Cindy moved in, who was then replaced with sassy nurse Terri Alden when Cindy decided to attend college. The opening credits of the earlier seasons showed the cast at the Santa Monica Pier and the later ones at the Los Angeles Zoo. Ritter would get his own spin-off, Three's A Crowd, focusing on his new love life.

Location: The Hacienda Palms Apartment Building (Pilot)

Address: 5154 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, CA