Man About the House | |
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | |
Starring | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 6 |
No. of episodes | 39 + 1 short (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producer | Peter Frazer-Jones |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company | Thames Television |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 15 August 1973 – 7 April 1976 |
Related | |
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Man About the House is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. It starred Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. Six series were broadcast on ITV from 15 August 1973 to 7 April 1976. The series was considered daring at the time because it featured a man sharing a London flat with two single women. [1] The show was made by Thames Television and recorded at its Teddington Studios in Greater London. It is regularly repeated on ITV3.
Two spin-off series were later made: George and Mildred and Robin's Nest . [1] A film version was released in 1974 and the series was remade in the United States as Three's Company in 1977. Man About the House placed 69th in a 2004 poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom .
Chrissy and Jo live in a London flat together and work for the same firm. The women find a stranger, student chef Robin Tripp, asleep in their bath the morning after the farewell party for their departed flatmate Eleanor. When he meets the two girls, Robin has been in London two days, having moved from Southampton to attend university. The girls are unimpressed with Gabrielle (Helen Fraser) as a potential replacement for Eleanor, but they are impressed by Robin's culinary skills, as they cannot cook at all. [1] Learning that Robin has been staying at the YMCA, they convince him to move in, on the understanding that it will be a platonic relationship.
Chrissy tells landlord George Roper that Robin is gay to eliminate George's objections to the mixed-sex living arrangement. George, in truth a subletting landlord placed by the council, is a miserly, spiteful and unkempt man under the thumb of his domineering and sexually frustrated wife Mildred.
In the second episode, Robin's true sexuality becomes known to Mildred. She takes out her frustrations with George's lack of class and sexual inadequacy by making suggestive remarks to Robin and frequently siding with the tenants against George. Mildred openly flirts with Robin, and Robin frequently flirts with Chrissy and Jo. The girls, adhering to their pledge to maintain a platonic relationship with Robin, spurn his mild advances and adapt to his presence in the flat. Chrissy occasionally shows attraction to Robin, but the two never pursue any romantic interaction.
Robin's friend Larry, a lovable rogue, appears on a recurring basis throughout the series. In the third series, he moves into the loft apartment above the trio's apartment and is a frequent source of trouble. Another occasional cast member is George's friend, the dodgy builder Jerry (Roy Kinnear). Jerry is the only supporting character to reappear in the spin-off George and Mildred .
Robin's brother Norman Tripp (Norman Eshley) appears in the final three episodes of the sixth and final series, and starts a romance with Chrissy. The series ends with Norman and Chrissy marrying. Eshley had a previous guest role in the episode "In Praise of Older Men" (Series 2, Episode 3), and would subsequently appear as another character, the Ropers' neighbour, in George and Mildred.
First airing on 15 August 1973, Man About the House ran until 7 April 1976, spanning 39 episodes in six series. In addition, on Christmas Day 1973, a short special aired as part of All-star Comedy Carnival.
Written by Johnny Hawksworth and entitled "Up to Date", the theme song was not specially commissioned for the show, but rather was provided via the production music company De Wolfe Music. It also appeared on the 1996 compilation CD The Sound Gallery – Volume Two, but credited to the Simon Park Orchestra. [2]
A 1974 film version of the show starred all of the main cast members. It was the last in a series of movie screen adaptations of popular TV shows made by Hammer Films, [3] though a George and Mildred film (featuring Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy) would be made in 1980 by another studio.
After the series ended in 1976, two successful spin-off series followed:
The format of Man About the House was sold internationally, and it was remade in the United States as Three's Company [1] 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 Portugal as Não Há Duas Sem Três in 1997; [4] in Poland as Lokatorzy in 2000; 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 adaptation also spawned the same spin-offs as had Man About the House: Three's a Crowd (based on Robin's Nest) and The Ropers (based upon George and Mildred). [5] [1]
Two and a half decades after the original ended, there were plans for Man About the House to return to British TV screens in the early 2000s with a new cast consisting of Johnny Vaughan, Amanda Holden and Jane Wall as the new main stars of the show, but those plans were scrapped before getting past the pre-planning stage. [6]
All six series have been released on DVD in the UK by Network DVD, as have George and Mildred and Robin's Nest.
Region 2 Releases:
Series 1 and 2 have had a US release as part of a two-disc set by FremantleMedia.
Series 1 and 2 were released in Australia in 2004, but a delay was encountered in releasing further series because of contract renegotiations (the same problem affected releases of George and Mildred and Bless This House ). Series 3 was finally released on 16 July 2008, and Series 4 on 5 November 2008. Series 5 and 6 are yet to be released. Series 1 was re-released on 2 April 2009, now with the same cover art as the UK edition. Fremantle Media re-released series 1 on 3 March 2011 with new cover art. [7] Re-releases have continued with Series 2 [8] on 3 October 2012, Series 3 [9] on 1 May 2013, and Series 4 [10] on 1 May 2013. Series 5 [11] and Series 6 [12] finally received a release on 7 August 2013. Via Vision Entertainment announced "The Complete Series" will be released on October 21, 2020, [13] which will be the first time this series will be released as a collection.
In 2019, a 19-disc DVD set (Region 2) was issued by Network/Fremantle containing every episode of Man About the House, George and Mildred and Robin's Nest.
Three's Company is an American television sitcom that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. Developed by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross and Bernie West, it is based on the British sitcom Man About the House created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer.
George and Mildred is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from Man About the House, and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple George and Mildred Roper. The premise of the series had George and Mildred leaving their flat as depicted in Man About the House and moving to a modern, upmarket housing estate in Hampton Wick. Their arrival horrifies their snobbish neighbour Jeffrey Fourmile, a middle-class estate agent who fears the Ropers' presence will devalue his home.
Yootha Joyce Needham, known as Yootha Joyce, was an English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom Man About the House (1973–1976) and its spin-off George and Mildred (1976–1979).
The Ropers is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 13, 1979, to May 15, 1980. It is a spin-off of Three's Company and loosely based on the British sitcom George and Mildred, which was itself a spin-off of Man About the House, on which Three's Company was based.
Three's a Crowd is an American sitcom television series produced as a spin-off and continuation of Three's Company that aired on ABC from September 25, 1984, until April 9, 1985, with reruns airing until September 10, 1985. It is loosely based on the British sitcom Robin's Nest, which was itself a spin-off of Man About the House, on which Three's Company was based.
Robin's Nest is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television that aired on the ITV network for six series from 11 January 1977 to 31 March 1981. Richard O'Sullivan reprised the role of Robin Tripp, a lead character from the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended on 7 April 1976. The series costars Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend and later wife Vicky, and Tony Britton as her father. O'Sullivan and Wyatt were a romantic couple in real life at the time and had a son together.
Bless This House is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 2 February 1971 to 22 April 1976, with a total of 65 episodes. Starring Sid James and Diana Coupland, it was created by Vince Powell and Harry Driver, but mainly written by other hands including Dave Freeman and Carla Lane. It was made for the ITV network by Thames Television. In 2004, Bless This House was ranked by a BBC poll as the 67th Best British Sitcom.
Seven of One, stylised as 7 of 1, is a British sitcom anthology series that aired on BBC2 in 1973. Starring Ronnie Barker, Seven of One is a series of seven separate 30-minute episodes that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms. Originally it was to be called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called And Half a Dozen of the Other. This was a BBC equivalent of a similar showcase for London Weekend Television called Six Dates with Barker created in 1971.
Richard O'Sullivan is an English comedy actor. He is known for his role as Robin Tripp in the TV sitcoms Man About the House (1973–1976) and Robin's Nest (1977–1981) and as the title character in the period adventure series Dick Turpin (1979–1982). He also starred in Doctor at Large (1971), Doctor in Charge (1972–1973), Alcock and Gander (1972), Me and My Girl (1984–1988) and Trouble In Mind (1991).
Brian Trevor John Murphy is an English actor and comedian. He is best known as the henpecked husband George Roper in the popular sitcom Man About the House and its spin-off series George and Mildred. He also played Alvin Smedley in Last of the Summer Wine. Other notable roles include Stan the shopkeeper in the 1990s children's series Wizadora, and Maurice in the comedy drama series The Booze Cruise.
John Edward Mortimer was a British scriptwriter for British TV whose work, along with creative writing partner Brian Cooke, also served as inspiration for American television projects.
Norman Eshley is an English actor best known for his television roles.
Brian Cooke is a British comedy writer who, with co-writer Johnnie Mortimer, penned scripts for and devised many top 1970s/80s television sitcoms, including Man About the House, George and Mildred, and Robin's Nest.
Mildred Dorothy Roper is a fictional character from the Thames Television sitcoms Man About the House and George and Mildred. She was portrayed by Yootha Joyce.
George and Mildred is a 1980 British comedy film directed by Peter Frazer Jones. It was an adaptation of the television series George and Mildred, with Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy reprising their roles as the two title characters. It was written by Dick Sharples.
Man About the House is a 1974 British comedy film directed by John Robins and starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett,Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. It was written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke based on the TV sitcom of the same name (1973–1976), starring the same main cast.