dream cast: hypothetical ‘Three’s Company’ movie
It’s Thursday, so it’s time for another Dream Cast, in which we take a classic movie or TV show -- perferrably something with Xer appeal that we can either trash or have fun with -- and recast a hypothetical (or sometimes not so hypothetical) remake with actors working today. This week: Three’s Company, the 1977-84 ABC sitcom about a straight man who pretends to be gay so he can share a Santa Monica apartment with two straight women.
(If you have a suggestion for a classic TV show or movie we could play Dream Cast with, feel free to email me.)
I remember being a small, stupid, uncritical child and loving this show. I’m not sure whether I understood, at the time, much of what passed for humor here. Did I know what it meant when people said a man was gay, or why mistaken sexual identity could be “funny”? I’m not sure I did.
The original cast featured:
Jack Tripper: John Ritter
Janet Wood: Joyce DeWitt
Chrissy Snow: Suzanne Somers
Larry Dallas: Richard Kline
and
Mr. Roper: Norman Fell
Mrs. Roper: Audra Lindley
or
Ralph Furley: Don Knotts
It’s almost inevitable that a movie mounting -- heh, I said mounting -- of this sitcom would have to be a sendup. Because a story about a man denied an apartment on account of his heterosexuality would be an episode of Boston Legal these days, not a farce. So that means either a brilliant Brady Bunch-style wink-and-nod, or a tedious Starsky & Hutch-style phony nostalgia fest.
If it went bad, my dreading cast would be:
Jack Tripper: Ben Stiller
Janet Wood: Megan Fox
Chrissy Snow: Anna Faris
Larry Dallas: Jack Black
and
Ralph Furley: Kevin James
If it went right, my dream cast would be:
Jack Tripper: Sam Rockwell
Janet Wood: Missi Pyle
Chrissy Snow: Kristin Chenoweth
Larry Dallas: James Spader
and
Ralph Furley: Paul Giamatti
Who’s in your Dream Cast (or Dreading Cast)?
Come and knock on our door:
)
)
comments
posted by Bill (Thu Jun 18 09, 10:11PM)
Jack Tripper: Zach Braff
Janet Wood: Tina Fey
Chrissy Snow: Sarah Paulson
Larry Dallas: Vince Vaughn or Matthew McConaughey
Mr. Roper: Allison Janney
Mrs. Roper: J.K. Simmons
posted by PaulW (Thu Jun 18 09, 10:37PM)
The gags were almost always a "mistaken identity" plot, where people got confused about who was straight, who was gay, and each episode ended up with a guest character slapping or punching poor Jack just so we could see John Ritter make funny faces at the camera. At least that's what it was for the 8-to-10 year old crowd. The whole gay thing didn't really seem to make sense until puberty.
Dream Cast possibilities would be:
Jack Tripper: Vin Diesel
Janet Wood: Rumer Willis (Demi Moore/Bruce's daughter)
Crissy Snow: Diora Baird (Accepted)
Larry Dallas: Ron Jeremy! No, I kid. How about Adrian Zmed?
I'm torn between casting Mr. Furley as a clueless swinging guy or as a Ms. Furley as a clueless cougar lady...
posted by Victor Plenty (Fri Jun 19 09, 5:54PM)
If the premise stays the same as in the original, I can't hope to do better than MaryAnn's picks for the cast, but if we tweak the premise, we can use a Very Special dream cast. (cue theme from The Twilight Zone)
Picture if you will a nation where the most ridiculous paranoid fantasies of right wing pundits and talk show hosts are coming true.
It's the near future. Democrats have won solid majorities everywhere. They've legalized gay marriage. Now for the next item on The Gay Agenda (imaginary in the real world, but real in the show's world), they outlaw traditional "opposite marriage" and try to end heterosexuality. In this new gay America, straight couples must pretend to be gay, or face legal discrimination in housing.
Now the cast for the Three's Company set in this imaginary world:
Jack Tripper: Glenn Beck
Janet Wood: Michelle Malkin
Chrissy Snow: Ann Coulter
Larry Dallas: Karl Rove
and
Mr. Roper: Barney Frank
Mrs. Roper: Nancy Pelosi
or
Ralph Furley: William Jefferson Clinton
Hilarity ensues.
posted by Weimlady (Fri Jun 19 09, 10:04PM)
Oh no no no. No young 'uns. Let's make the hypothetical movie be about the roommates 25 years (or more) on. Still living together after all these years. James Garner can play Jack (there's already precedent for him stepping into a John Ritter role), Joyce, Suzanne and Richard can reprise their previous roles (assuming they're still around and working), Mrs. & Mrs. Roper can be British and played by Dame Judith Dench and Bernard Cribbins.
posted by Paul (Sun Jun 21 09, 7:08AM)
Eek, Victor, you're giving me nightmares. I don't want to think of Bill Clinton and Ann Coulter that close together. They might breed, and spawn the anti-Christ. Coulter's beliefs + Clinton's charisma = frightening thought.
posted by druekeb (Tue Jul 07 09, 12:57AM)
As a fan of the original show (even though it was on before I was born lol), I'd have to say that it shouldn't deviate from the original too much.
I think this crew would go really great together.
Jack Tripper: John Krasinski (from The Office) or Ryan Reynolds (Blade Trinity, Just Friends)
Janet Wood: Rumor Willis (Bruce and Demi's daughter)
Chrissy Snow: Kristen Bell (from Heroes)
or
Terry Alden: Hayden Panettiere (from Heroes and I Love You Beth Davis)
Larry Dallas: Jack Black (yeah, him)
Mr. Roper: Hugh Laurie
Mrs. Roper: Lisa Edelstein
(these two already work together so well as House and Cuddy, I think they could make a great married couple)
or
Mr. Furley: Ray Romano (enough said)
I mean, these could never fill the shoes of the originals but I bet they could do a pretty good job.