The Ropers was an American sitcom that ran from March 1979 to April 1980. It was a spinoff of Three's Company and based on the popular British sitcom George and Mildred. The series focused on middle-aged couple Stanley and Helen Roper (played by Norman Fell and Audra Lindley) who had been the landlords to Jack, Janet, and Chrissy on Three's Company. Image File history File links The_Ropers. ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a new company formed from a university research group. ... Threes Company is an American sitcom that ran from 1977 to 1984 on ABC. // Basic description The show was a remake of the British sitcom Man About the House and revolved around two women and a man sharing an apartment together. ... George and Mildred was a British sitcom of the 1970s produced by Thames Television. ... Norman Fell (born March 24, 1924; died December 14, 1998) (born Norman Feld) was an American. ... Audra Lindley (September 24, 1918-October 16, 1997) was an American actress. ... Threes Company is an American sitcom that ran from 1977 to 1984 on ABC. // Basic description The show was a remake of the British sitcom Man About the House and revolved around two women and a man sharing an apartment together. ...

In this spinoff the Ropers moved from their apartment in Three's Company to live in the upmarket community of Cheviot Hills where the social-climbing Helen struggled to fit in with her neighbours. Stanley made little attempt to fit in with the standards of the community thereby causing Helen much embarrassment.

The show premiered directly after Three's Company in March 1979. At the beginning of the next season, it was moved to the weekends where it experienced a major ratings drop, and ABC cancelled the show. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. ...

Despite the fact that moving from Three's Company to The Ropers meant that Fell and Lindley moved from supporting roles to becoming primary stars of their own series, Fell claimed that he had never wanted to assume the risk of leaving an established, successful series for one that was unproven and obviously might fail. He said that he would only agree to it after securing a guarantee that if The Ropers was cancelled after less than a year, he and Lindley would be allowed to return to Three's Company.

During the time that The Ropers was on the air, the characters had been replaced on Three's Company by Don Knotts. The addition had worked well and Three's Company had retained its popularity. The idea of returning Fell and Lindley to their original Three's Company roles was undesirable to producers. The cancellation of The Ropers came just one month after the one-year contractual deadline passed, and Fell stated he always believed that the decision to pull the plug on the show had been made much earlier, but that the network deliberately postponed making the cancellation official until after the one-year mark specifically to be relieved of the obligation to allow Fell and Lindley to return to Three's Company. Despite the obligation, both Fell and Lindley were allowed to make one guest appearence on the show several months after the end of The Ropers. For audiences, it was a chance to see all three actors, Fell, Lindley, and Knotts who assumed the position of landlord on the same stage. Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (a role which earned him five Emmy Awards) and as landlord Mr. ...