Suzanne Somers on Joyce DeWitt and leaving 'Three's Company' - EMMYTVLEGENDS

[BradfordStokes]

she wanted $150, 000 per episode plus 10% of the profits. that was crazy. John was making around $50, 000 per episode at the time. She cost them around $230, 000 by not showing up and making them rewrite scripts. She thought she was bigger then every body else. That is why everybody is mad at her.

[wrsltnmusclefan]

Somers and Dewitt did eventually have a reconciliation of sorts.  So that's something nice at least. 

[nycinstyle]

I think they were all great at playing their parts (all the girl roomates, the landlords and Larry, etc.) ; but John Ritter was irreplaceable. Without Ritter, it isn't Three's Company, anymore. The others even though they were terrific, were not absolutely necessary for the show's success. The role of Jack Tripper played by John Ritter was. Just my opinion. His roommates were fantastic and so was Larry and the landlords but the show could go on and be successful without those actors (almost surely not as successful), but, nonetheless, Ritter's terrific comedic acting carried that show, IMO.

[oldschoolqueen]

You are right. He told her she was the "real" star of the show and that she should demand more money or she would quit. I believe he was her "manager" at that time. Everyone that has seen the show realizes that John Ritter was the true star and everyone else was just good at what they did.

[MyMuleHasAName]

That was a big deal back in the mid 70s. But getting paid what your worth is worth fighting for.

[MMAfighter]

I respect Suzanne and am glad she beat cancer, but her she and her husband demanded too much: 30% ownership of the show and over $150, 000. per episode. The only people making that kind of money at that time were:Carrol o'conner, Alan Alda, and Larry Hagman and they were the major stars of their shows. Could you imagine ALLin the Family w/out Carrol o'Conner or Dallas w/out Larry Hagman? Three's company suffered some w/out suzanne, but she was not the star of the show that John Ritter was.

[uteech]

Suzanne is so endearing here. she's not speaking cliche. her honesty makes her appealing.

[Astraldragon]

Wasn't it her Husband who started all the trouble to begain with? or so I heared but not 100% sure....bottom line any actor or actress would want the best deal on a contract be it TV or movies...so in a bussiness sence you can't blame her...yet how she went about it was not the right way.

[gtbb]

I kinda think she messed it up for a wile but Terry was a great replacement wish she was on longer

[smouse]

It's good to know that she did at least regret this a little as it upset a lot of people and threw a wrench in Three's Company even though it carried on without her.  I don't feel like it was worth it, and I doubt she really does either.

[Mrscott]

Nice diatribe, unfortunately you have the story completely wrong. Somers did not quit, she was fired. She went, on her own, to the producers demanding more money even though she was under contract. It was widely publicized by Somers herself at the time that she felt she should be paid the same as the other big stars of the time, Alan Alda and Carroll O'Connor. She was not the biggest star on her own show, never mind of the caliber of Alda and O'Connor. Thus they got rid of her.

[Prof_Tickles]

So why were so many people pissed? Was what she did that unforgiveable?

[Yabbadabbawhat]

"It was on the news!" She went on Donahue and TALKED about the contract negotiations! How is she surprised?

[KeithGalahad]

Don't see a problem with her asking for a pay raise as one of the stars of a successful show. However, if she wanted equal pay to Ritter, than she was wrong, as Ritter was THE main star of the show.  With that said, I will admit they never were able to replace her as neither Jenilee Harrison or Priscilla Barnes  were the answer. But the show did fine without Somers with a nice run from 1977 to 1984.

[tugslug]

If the people you work with don't like you maybe it's because the way you treated them while you were working with them.

[caradecaballo]

I think Suzanne did just fine and she proved she was worth the same salary as John ritter after all joyce, suzanne and jack made the show. it was called Three's Company for Christ sake.. Big Mistake in letting Suzanne Summers go.. She did just fine without the show if you asked me.

[MultiSmartass]

Yeah, she made the mistake in thinking she was the star of the show and thus entitled to the compensation a star of a tv show was making at the time.
Ritter clearly was the star as was apparently not only from the premise of the show but of the show it was a spin off of-MAN OF THE HOUSE.
The huge error was asking for ownership.
Had she asked for more money, she might have got more but she got greedy and asked for a cut of syndication and ownership and that wasnt going to happen.

[mrtigerboy]

There is nothing wrong with saying to a boss: "I believe I am worth more that I am being paid. I am giving you the opportunity to raise my salary, or I will look elsewhere." Suzanne Somers has made a TON of money for herself in the last thirty years. And she was hugely popular when she played Chrissy Snow. She felt she deserved a bigger piece of the HUGE amount of money being made by the show's producers. She probably did deserve that! They should have stuck together, like the cast of "Friends."

[jonathanschweizer]

I've always felt that she wasn't wrong to try and negotiate a better deal for herself, especially knowing how popular she was at the time. I would imagine there was certainly a lot of sexism behind the decisions of the producers. At the same time, she shut down the production of the show on few occasions (a detail she tends to leave out) during her negotiations. I give her credit for what she's done with her career, but it sounds like she still doesn't recognize her role in losing the Three's Company gig. 

[GenLee]

So what was the reason her and Joyce didn't get along? ...curious to know. I also liked Suzanne on Step by Step, man I miss that show too. The good shows r gone. :(