Man About the House

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Man About the House
Man About the House
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke
Starring	Richard O'Sullivan Paula Wilcox Sally Thomsett Brian Murphy Yootha Joyce
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	39 + 1 short
Production
Producer(s)	Peter Frazer-Jones
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	15 August 1973 – 7 April 1976
Chronology
Followed by	George and Mildred Robin's Nest
Related shows	Three's Company Sam sam En Fyra för tre Tre på toppen
External links
IMDb profile

Man About the House was a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett that was broadcast for six series on ITV from 1973 to 1976. It was made by Thames Television, and two spin-offs were later made: George and Mildred and Robin's Nest. In 2004, it came 69th in Britain's Best Sitcom. The series was remade in the United States as Three's Company in 1977.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Plot 3 Episodes 3.1 Series One (1973) 3.2 Series Two (1974) 3.3 Series Three (1974) 3.4 Series Four (1975) 3.5 Series Five (1975) 3.6 Series Six (1976) 4 Theme music 5 Spin-offs and remakes 6 DVD releases 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Cast

• Richard O'Sullivan - Robin Tripp
• Paula Wilcox - Chrissy Plummer
• Sally Thomsett - Jo
• Brian Murphy - George Roper
• Yootha Joyce - Mildred Roper
• Doug Fisher - Larry Simmonds
• Roy Kinnear - Jerry (series 3 to 5)
• Norman Eshley - Norman Tripp (series 6)

[edit] Plot

Young flatmates Chrissy and Jo find a stranger called Robin asleep in their bath after a party. He moves in permanently on a platonic basis, although they have to tell the landlord that Robin is gay in order to get permission for him to move in. Robin is a student chef who spends much of the time trying to seduce Chrissy and flirting with Jo. Although the women have no romantic interest and spurn his mild advances, they quickly adapt to his presence in the flat.

The landlord, in truth a sub-letting landlord placed by the council, is George Roper, a bumbling, accident-prone and gullible man under the thumb of his domineering and sexually-frustrated wife Mildred, whose way of making up for her husband's inadequacy as landlord and lover is to make suggestive remarks to Robin and frequently side with her tenants against George. That said, for all their battles, the Ropers are a devoted couple. After the first series, Robin's friend Larry, a lovable rogue, moves into the loft apartment and is a frequent source of trouble. Another occasional cast member is dodgy builder and schemer Jerry.

[edit] Episodes

First airing on 15 August 1973, Man About the House went to air until 7 April 1976, after 39 episodes in six series. In addition, on 25 December 1973 a short special aired as part of All-Star Comedy Carnival.^[1]

[edit] Series One (1973)

1. Three's a Crowd (15 August 1973)
2. And Mother Makes Four (22 August 1973)
3. Some Enchanted Evening (29 August 1973)
4. And Then There Were Two (5 September 1973)
5. It's Only Money (12 September 1973)
6. Match of the Day (19 September 1973)
7. No Children, No Dogs (26 September 1973)

[edit] Series Two (1974)

1. While the Cat's Away (9 January 1974)
2. Colour Me Yellow (16 January 1974)
3. In Praise of Older Men (23 January 1974)
4. Did You Ever Meet Rommel? (30 January 1974)
5. Two Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (6 February 1974)
6. Carry Me Back to Old Southampton (13 February 1974)

[edit] Series Three (1974)

1. Cuckoo in the Nest (9 October 1974)
2. Come Into My Parlour (16 October 1974)
3. I Won't Dance, Don't Ask Me ... (23 October 1974)
4. Of Mice and Women (30 October 1974)
5. Somebody Out There Likes Me (6 November 1974)
6. We Shall Not Be Moved (13 November 1974)
7. Three of a Kind (20 November 1974)

[edit] Series Four (1975)

1. Home and Away (6 March 1975)
2. One for the Road (13 March 1975)
3. All In The Game (20 March 1975)
4. Never Give Your Real Name (27 March 1975)
5. The Tender Trap (3 April 1975)
6. My Son, My Son (10 April 1975)

[edit] Series Five (1975)

1. The Last Picture Show (4 September 1975)
2. Right Said George (11 September 1975)
3. A Little Knowledge (18 September 1975)
4. Love and Let Love (25 September 1975)
5. How Does Your Garden Grow? (2 October 1975)
6. Come Fly With Me (9 October 1975)

[edit] Series Six (1976)

1. The Party's Over (25 February 1976)
2. One More for the Pot (3 March 1976)
3. The Generation Game (10 March 1976)
4. The Sunshine Boys (17 March 1976)
5. Mum Always Liked You Best (24 March 1976)
6. Fire Down Below (31 March 1976)
7. Another Bride, Another Groom (7 April 1976)

[edit] Theme music

The show utilsed the same piece of music for both the title and end credits. Written by Johnny Hawksworth and entitled "Up to Date", it was not specially commissioned for the show, rather provided via the Production music company De Wolfe Music and most recently made available in 1996 by independent record company Studio2Stereo on their CD "The Sound Gallery Volume Two". (Matrix number 7243 8 52990 2 5)

[edit] Spin-offs and remakes

After the series ended two successful spin-off series followed. These were Robin's Nest where Robin gets married and opens a restaurant, and George & Mildred where the Ropers move to the suburbs. Man About The House was later remade in the United States as Three's Company in 1977, in the Netherlands as Sam sam in 1994, in Sweden as En Fyra för tre in 1996, and in Norway as Tre på toppen in 1997. In 1974, a film version was made.

[edit] DVD releases

All six series have been released on DVD by Network DVD.

[edit] See also

• List of films based on British sitcoms

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Man About the House at the British Sitcom Guide

v • d • e Three's Company Characters Jack Tripper · Janet Wood · Chrissy Snow · Cindy Snow · Terri Alden · Stanley Roper · Helen Roper · Ralph Furley · Larry Dallas · Lana Shields Other List of episodes · Behind the Camera · George and Mildred · Man About the House · Robin's Nest · The Ropers · Three's a Crowd