Three's Company: Season 4 | ||||
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Three's Company Season 4 DVD cover. | ||||
Program information | ||||
Episodes aired: | ||||
25 | ||||
Dates aired: | ||||
September 11, 1979 - May 6, 1980 | ||||
Network/Country: | ||||
ABC-TV / United States | ||||
Previous Season: Season 3 | ||||
Next Season: Season 5 |
This page lists all of the episodes aired during the fourth season of the popular ABC-TV sitcom series Three's Company, which ran on the network from 1977 to 1984.
Major cast changes[]
A major cast change came into being when two of the series's stars, Audra Lindley, who played the part of Helen Roper, and Norman Fell, who appeared as husband Stanley, were granted the opportunity to co-star in their own series, titled The Ropers, which premiered in September. At the end of the previous season, two episodes were written to accommodate the Ropers' move from the Hacienda Palms Apartments into the exclusive Cheviot Hills neighborhood in the new series.
For the new season, the series would gain two accomplished veteran actors; veteran TV comedy series/film star Don Knotts, who starred on the hit 1960's CBS series The Andy Griffith Show would assume the role of new landlord, quirky, loud-dressing, self-professed ladies man Ralph Furley, and actress Ann Wedgeworth would join the cast as Lana Shields, a saucy, attractive, 40-something divorcee, who really has the "HOTS" for Jack, after going out with him, where Jack was working as a paid escort, but whom Furley would go head over heels for, much to the character Lana's cringing displeasure.
In the case of Don Knotts, the Furley character would prove to be highly popular as the series would remain at the top of the season's Nielsen ratings, while in the case of Ann Wedgeworth, who never felt comfortable in her role as Lana, and whom producers had a hard time in developing stories for, agreed to let her out of her contract after 13 episodes, the last appearance being in A Black Letter Day in early December.
Series overview[]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | DVD set
release date | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season premiere | Season finale | ||||
1 | 6 | March 15, 1977 | April 21, 1977 | November 11, 2003 | |
2 | 25 | September 13, 1977 | May 16, 1978 | May 4, 2004 | |
3 | 22 | September 12, 1978 | May 8, 1979 | November 2, 2004 | |
4 | 25 | September 11, 1979 | May 6, 1980 | May 3, 2005 | |
5 | 22 | October 28, 1980 | May 19, 1981 | November 15, 2005 | |
6 | 28 | October 6, 1981 | May 18, 1982 | March 7, 2006 | |
7 | 22 | September 28, 1982 | May 10, 1983 | July 25, 2006 | |
8 | 22 | September 27, 1983 | September 18, 1984 | October 3, 2006 |
Season 4 (1979-80)[]
No. in series | Ep.# in season | Title | Directed by: | Written by: | Original airdate | Prod. Code | |||||||
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54 | 1 | "Jack On The Lam" | Dave Powers | Neil Lebowitz | September 11, 1979 | 0401 | |||||||
When FBI agents come to the apartment asking for Jack, he is convinced it is because he finagled an early discharge from the Navy and that they intend to send him back to finish his duty. In truth, they want Jack to act as a character reference for an old Navy friend of his. | |||||||||||||
55 | 2 | "Love Thy Neighbor" | Dave Powers | Mark Tuttle | September 18, 1979 | 0402 | |||||||
Jack wants to raise money to buy a gift for Janet and Chrissy. He takes Larry's place as a male escort and winds up with Lana Shields, an overly amorous older woman who falls hard for Jack.
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56 | 3 | "The New Landlord" | Dave Powers | Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf | September 25, 1979 | 0403 | |||||||
Ralph Furley, who's now the new landlord, gets off on the wrong foot with the roommates; the situation only worsens when the gang accidentally sells his furniture, thinking it was the Ropers' old furniture. Furley gives the roommates 24 hours to get out, until he meets (and falls for) Lana, who convinces him to let Jack and the girls stay.
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57 | 4 | "Snow Job" | Dave Powers | Rowby Goren | October 2, 1979 | 0404 | |||||||
Chrissy gets a new job selling cosmetics door-to-door and unexpectedly finds herself in Ralph Furley's winner-takes-all strip poker game. | |||||||||||||
58 | 5 | "Jack The Ripper" | Dave Powers | Gene Perret & Bill Richmond | October 9, 1979 | 0406 | |||||||
Jack has been feeling walked on by Furley, Dean Travers, and the girls lately, so he takes an "assertiveness training course". It works too well, and Jack becomes aggressive and unbearable, causing a dispute with Mr. Furley to become an angry shouting match. Jack and Furley realize they have been taking the same course, and Jack chooses to go back to his old ways, but not to let people push him around. | |||||||||||||
59 | 6 | "The Life Saver" | Dave Powers | George Atkins | October 23, 1979 | 0407 | |||||||
While working in a restaurant, Jack saves a man's life with the Heimlich maneuver. The man offers Jack a rent-free luxury apartment in exchange for a gourmet dinner, but the man is only looking for a handout. The roommates have insulted Furley and told him they are leaving. Meanwhile, Furley has told off his brother because the same freeholder has offered him a (nonexistent) manager's job in a luxury apartment building. Jack helps smooth things over between Furley and his brother when the truth comes to light. | |||||||||||||
60 | 7 | "Old Folks at Home" | Dave Powers | Michael S. Baser,
Kim Weiskopf |
October 30, 1979 | 0409 | |||||||
Chrissy takes in an old man named Leo who has come looking for an apartment after he has recently become homeless. He makes a nuisance of himself when Jack brings home a date, but Jack makes her leave when she insults the old man. When Leo disappears the next day, the roommates become worried, but Leo returns to tell them he has moved in with some "buddies", a pair of older women. | |||||||||||||
61 | 8 | "A Camping We Will Go" | Dave Powers | Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf | November 6, 1979 | 0405 | |||||||
Jack's weekend at Larry's boss' secluded mountain lodge turns into a hilarious scramble for beds when Chrissy and Janet show up with a crowd. | |||||||||||||
62 | 9 | "Chrissy's Hospitality" | Dave Powers | Mark Tuttle | November 13, 1979 | 0408 | |||||||
Chrissy falls in the bathtub and suffers dizzy spells, so she lands in the hospital overnight. When Jack and Janet visit her in the morning, they find the doctor leaving her room in tears and saying that "it won't be long now". Assuming the worst, Jack and Janet are uncertain how to break the news to Chrissy. In actuality, the doctor (Keene Curtis) is tearing up from laughing at Chrissy's jokes and that Chrissy is due to be discharged that day in perfect health. | |||||||||||||
63 | 10 | "The Loan Shark" | Dave Powers | Mark Tuttle | November 20, 1979 | 0410 | |||||||
Chrissy loses a check Jack planned to use to pay his tuition. Chrissy gets the money for Jack, who is horrified to discover she got it from a loan shark. The shark learns Jack is a chef, who will trade cooking lessons for his wife in lieu of paying interest on the loan. However, the shark's young, beautiful wife is more interested in Jack than in learning cuisine. When her husband catches her kissing Jack, she explains that she is congratulating Jack for the baby he and his "wife" Chrissy are "expecting". | |||||||||||||
64 | 11 | "The Love Barge" | Dave Powers | Gene Perret & Bill Richmond | November 27, 1979 | 0411 | |||||||
Jack gets the opportunity to work as a chef on a cruise ship and the girls almost end their friendship over who Jack can take as his one guest. Lana tries to invite herself, under the pretense that Janet and Chrissy shouldn't end their friendship over a cruise. Jack doesn't relish being pursued by Lana, so he passes off the opportunity to a thrilled Furley. However, Lana returns less than thrilled and Furley spends the week-long voyage seasick. | |||||||||||||
65 | 12 | "Ralph's Rival" | Dave Powers | George Atkins | December 4, 1979 | 0412 | |||||||
Furley's old rival, Merl Denker (Roger C. Carmel), has come into town and Ralph wants to look like a big-shot, because Denker has always been more successful. He talks Chrissy into posing as his trophy wife while Denker visits. Larry overhears Furley and Chrissy talking about her staying overnight with Furley, and he tell Jack and Janet that Chrissy and Furley are sleeping together. In the end, Furley is forced to admit the ruse, and Denker confesses that he is a perpetual failure. | |||||||||||||
66 | 13 | "A Black Letter Day" | Dave Powers | Michael S. Baser, Mark Chambers & Kim Weiskopf | December 11, 1979 | 0413 | |||||||
Lana reads a letter in an advice column that mentions a man living with two girls and who is having an affair with one of them. She mentions this to Chrissy and Janet, and they each think the other is having an affair with Jack. Jack decides to teach the girls a lesson, but the girls eventually figure out the letter was not about them.
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67 | 14 | "The Reverend Steps Out" | Dave Powers | Michael S. Baser,
Kim Weiskopf |
December 18, 1979 | 0414 | |||||||
Chrissy's father, Reverend Snow, has the given the opportunity to take over a church in Santa Monica. Chrissy is unaware of this when she sees him with another woman in an ice cream shop and jumps to the conclusion that her father is having an affair. The woman, Mrs. Claremont, is among those who will decide whether to accept Reverend Snow, but she does not approve of Chrissy's living with a man. Reverend Snow is passed on by Mrs. Claremont, but not before he straightens out the situation for Chrissy. | |||||||||||||
68 | 15 | "Larry Loves Janet" | Dave Powers | John Boni | January 8, 1980 | 0415 | |||||||
Larry returns home after a big date goes bad and Janet decides to cheer him up. Larry is so won over by her "nice girl" attitude that he falls hard for her. Janet tries to dissuade him by playing herself as the vamp that Larry normally goes for, but this only bolsters his feelings. Jack and Chrissy come to her rescue by congratulating Larry for his new future filled with marriage and children, which frightens Larry back to his senses. | |||||||||||||
69 | 16 | "Mighty Mouth" | Dave Powers | Howard Gewirtz & Ian Praiser | January 15, 1980 | 0416 | |||||||
Chrissy and Janet's efforts to get Jack into prime physical condition succeed beyond their wildest expectations when their voluptuous gym instructor falls for him. | |||||||||||||
70 | 17 | "The Love Lesson" | Dave Powers | Mark Tuttle | January 22, 1980 | 0417 | |||||||
Jack faces eviction from the apartment when he inadvertently reveals to Furley his great passion for the opposite sex. | |||||||||||||
71 | 18 | "Handcuffed" | Dave Powers | Michael S. Baser, Len Richmond & Kim Weiskopf | January 29, 1980 | 0418 | |||||||
A policeman, who is coincidentally Chrissy's cousin Jay, visits the apartment on a noise complaint and inadvertently leaves his handcuffs behind. Chrissy and Jack end up handcuffed together, and Jack even tries to bring Chrissy with him on a date to the Regal Beagle. Another cop spots Jack and Chrissy together and Jim the bartender gives them a heads-up. They go to Furley's to try to get the cuffs off, but the other cop catches up to them. Jay returns with the keys, but the other cop tells him that he's finished. Chrissy comes to Jay's rescue when she manages to get the other cop's badge due to his own carelessness. | |||||||||||||
72 | 19 | "And Baby Makes Two" | Dave Powers | Ellen Guylas | February 5, 1980 | 0419 | |||||||
The three roommates talk about a friend of Janet's who had a child by advertising in the newspaper for a partner. When Janet bows out of a planned ski trip and men start responding to an ad she placed in the paper, Jack and Chrissy think she is doing the same thing. Janet is actually planning to redecorate their bedroom to surprise Chrissy and has been trying to recruit an art student to help her. | |||||||||||||
73 | 20 | "Jack's Bad Boy" | Dave Powers | Mark Tuttle | February 12, 1980 | 0420 | |||||||
Jack Tripper finally meets his match when a twelve-year-old boy wins the girl's sympathy moves into the apartment. | |||||||||||||
74 | 21 | "Lee Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" | Dave Powers | Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf | February 26, 1980 | 0421 | |||||||
Jack's older brother Lee has come to town and Jack is depressed, as he has always been in Lee's shadow. He gets even more upset when Lee takes Chrissy to a dinner in his honor and kisses her on the doorstep. Furley tries to cheer Jack up, but gets depressed when he starts thinking about his own more successful brother, Bart. Lee takes Jack and Chrissy to dinner, where Jack proceeds to make a fool of himself. Chrissy tells Jack she would rather be with him than Lee, who is too self-involved for her tastes. | |||||||||||||
75 | 22 | "The Root of All Evil" | Dave Powers | Howard Albrecht & Sol Weinstein | March 4, 1980 | 0422 | |||||||
Chrissy gives Jack and Larry some money to place a bet for her when they go to the racetrack. Her crazy choices pay off, earning her $1,637.00 and she decides to split it with Jack & Janet and puts the money into a joint savings account. However, a big fight ensues when Janet buys a $75.00 bottle of wine and Chrissy buys a $200.00 stuffed giraffe. | |||||||||||||
76 | 23 | "Secret Admirer" | Dave Powers | Steve Clements, Joyce Gittlin & Mark Tuttle | March 11, 1980 | 0423 | |||||||
Chrissy has been receiving notes from a secret admirer and tries to meet with him at the Regal Beagle, but he never shows up. He leaves Chrissy another saying he will come to the apartment, and when he arrives, he turns out to be Gilbert Larwin, a shy, nebbish man. Janet and Jack try to get rid of him by having Larry pose as a date of Chrissy's. However, Gilbert tells Chrissy that he just wants to be friends and Chrissy tells him they already are friends. | |||||||||||||
77 | 24 | "The Goodbye Guy" | Dave Powers | Howard Albrecht,
Sol Weinstein |
March 25, 1980 | 0424 | |||||||
The three roommates become convinced that Mr. Furley plans to kill himself after finding him depressed. In order prevent him from doing himself in, the gang decides to shower Furley with praise and friendship. However, Furley begins to take advantage of their concern for his well-being. | |||||||||||||
78 | 25 | "Jack's Graduation" | Dave Powers | Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf | May 6, 1980 | 0425 | |||||||
Jack's graduation from cooking school is jeopardized when a scheming classmate steals the dish Jack made for his final project. The gang puts together a plan to trap the thief in his lie with the unwitting help of Dean Travers. |