The Golden Girls is an American television sitcom created by Susan Harris that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty as four older women who share friendship and a home in Miami, Florida. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions, in association with Touchstone Television. Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas and Harris served as the original executive producers.
Jonathan Southworth Ritter was an American actor and comedian. He was the son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. Ritter is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ABC sitcom Three's Company (1977–1984), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1984. He briefly reprised the role on the spin-off Three's a Crowd, which aired for one season, producing 22 episodes before its cancellation in 1985. Ritter appeared in over 100 films and television series combined and performed on Broadway, with roles including adult Ben Hanscom in It (1990), Problem Child (1990), Problem Child 2 (1991), and Bad Santa in 2003. In 2002, Don Knotts called Ritter the "greatest physical comedian on the planet". His final roles include voicing the title character on the PBS children's program Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000–2003), for which he received four Daytime Emmy Award nominations, as Paul Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2002–2003) and an uncredited role for providing the normal voice as Three in Seven Little Monsters (2000–2003).
Three's Company is an American sitcom television series that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. It is based on the British sitcom Man About the House.
Man About the House is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer that 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. The show was made by Thames Television and recorded at its Teddington studio in Greater London. It is regularly repeated on ITV3.
Jack Tripper is a fictional character on the sitcoms Three's Company and Three's a Crowd, based upon the character Robin Tripp of Man About the House and Robin's Nest. Jack was played by John Ritter.
Family Matters is an American television sitcom that originated on ABC from September 22, 1989 to May 9, 1997, before moving to CBS from September 19, 1997 to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of Perfect Strangers, the series revolves around the Winslow family, a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois. Midway through the first season, the show introduced the Winslows’ nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel, who was originally scripted to appear as a one-time character; however, he quickly became the show's breakout character, joining the main cast. Having run for nine seasons, Family Matters became the second-longest-running non-animated U.S. sitcom with a predominantly African-American cast, behind only The Jeffersons. Having aired 215 episodes, Family Matters is ranked third, behind only Tyler Perry's House of Payne (254), and The Jeffersons (253).
Who's the Boss? is an American sitcom television series created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, which aired on ABC from September 20, 1984, to April 25, 1992. Produced by Hunter-Cohan Productions in association with Embassy Television and Columbia Pictures Television, the series starred Tony Danza as Tony Micelli, a former major league baseball player who relocates to Fairfield, Connecticut, to work as a live-in housekeeper for a divorced advertising executive, played by Judith Light. Also featured were Alyssa Milano, Danny Pintauro and Katherine Helmond.
A television pilot is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its creation, the pilot is meant to be the testing ground to gauge whether a series will be successful. It is, therefore, a test episode for the intended television series, an early step in the series development, much like pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity.
Empty Nest is an American television sitcom that originally aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to April 29, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of The Golden Girls by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Richard Mulligan as recently widowed pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston, whose two adult daughters return home to live with him.
Robert Mandan was an American actor, best known for his roles as Chester Tate, the womanizing businessman husband of Jessica Tate on the satirical sitcom Soap from 1977–1981 and James Bradford on the short lived Three's Company spin off Three's A Crowd that lasted for one season.
The Ropers is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 13, 1979, to May 22, 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.
Robin's Nest is a British sitcom made by Thames Television, which aired on the ITV network for six series from 11 January 1977 to 31 March 1981. It saw Richard O'Sullivan reprise the role of Robin Tripp, one of the lead characters in the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended on 7 April 1976, and co-starred Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend – and later wife – Vicky, and Tony Britton as her father. As well as playing a couple in Robin's Nest, Richard O'Sullivan and Tessa Wyatt were a couple in real life at the time having one son, Jamie O'Sullivan.
Elizabeth Ann Wedgeworth was an American character actress, known for her roles as Lana Shields in Three's Company, Hilda Hensley in Sweet Dreams, and Merleen Elldridge in Evening Shade. She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Chapter Two (1978).
Richard Kline is an American actor and television director. His roles include Larry Dallas on the sitcom Three's Company, Richie in the later seasons of It's A Living and Jeff Beznick in Noah Knows Best.
Nurses is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 14, 1991, to May 7, 1994, created and produced by Susan Harris as a spin-off of Empty Nest, which itself was a spin-off of The Golden Girls.
Tessa Wyatt is an English actress best known for her role as Vicky Tripp on the ITV sitcom Robin's Nest.
Mary Therese Cadorette is an American actress best known for playing John Ritter's live-in girlfriend, flight attendant Vicky Bradford, on the short-lived 1984 Three's Company spin-off Three's a Crowd.
Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company is a 2003 American made-for-television comedy-drama film made by NBC, documenting the success of the sitcom Three's Company, as well as the interpersonal conflicts that occurred among its staff and cast. Former Three's Company cast member Joyce DeWitt served as co-producer and host.
Witt/Thomas Productions is an American television and movie production company run by TV producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. The company was consistently productive between its founding in 1975 and 1999, but is still active, producing the occasional film and TV series project. It has produced more than 25 American primetime television series, mostly half-hour sitcoms. Witt/Thomas is perhaps best known for producing the popular sitcoms Soap, Benson, It's a Living, The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Blossom and Brotherly Love. Witt and Thomas have also produced many cinematic works, including the 1989 box office success Dead Poets Society.
