The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – ABC

NOTE: This series is based on the 1973 British sitcom “Man About the House” created by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke

Developed by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, and Bernie West.

Theme Song: “Come and Knock on Our Door” composed by Joe Raposo and performed by Ray Charles and Julia Rinker

• 001. A Man About the House – 3/15/1977
  • On the morning after roommates Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) throw their L.A. townhouse roommate Eleanor a bachelorette party – during which she goes into a labor – they find a man named Jack Tripper (John Ritter) asleep in their water-filled bathtub. The girls befriend and allow him to wear one of Eleanor’s old robes, and soon find that he is training to be a chef and begins to prepare them breakfast. The landlords Stanley (Norman Fell) and Helen Roper (Audra Lindley) are directly below them, and Mr. Roper was bothered by the noise all night. When Mrs. Roper goes upstairs to request that the girls keep it down in the future, she finds Jack in the nightgown. Meanwhile an applicant named Patricia Crawford (Kit McDonough) comes in response to the ad for a roommate. Not only does Janet find her dreadfully annoying, but Mr. Roper mistakes her for the ‘man’ in the apartment. After Janet and Chrissy taste how good Jack’s breakfast is, they get the idea to allow him to take Eleanor’s old room. With Jack’s obvious attraction to Chrissy, Janet make it clear that there can be no funny business if he moves in. The Ropers return to the apartment to settle the matter of whether there was a man or woman in the apartment. Stanley refuses to allow a man to move in with two women. Jack is about to give him a piece of his mind, when Roper changes his tune and says he can move in after all… after Janet tells Roper that Jack is gay. 12/27/18

• 002.And Mother Makes Four – 3/24/1977
  • As the girls are getting ready for Jack to move in, Chrissy is worried about putting Jack’s name on the mailbox because she is concerned her minister father will find out that she is living with a man. Jack arrives while Mr. Roper is fixing the doorbell and subject to further gay jokes from him. Mrs. Roper tries to get Jack to visit the local bar The Regal Beagle with her, but he refuses… until Janet is forced to pull him down there because Chrissy’s mother (Priscilla Morrill) phones that she’s stopping by for a visit. Chrissy tells her mother that they haven’t replace Eleanor’s old room yet, so she decides to spend the night. The only option is to let Jack stay in the girls’ room, although they insist on no hanky panky. Jack is nearly caught by Mrs. Snow, but disguises himself as a floor lamp and later jumps out the window. Jack gets angry and nearly exposes that he lives there, but Mrs. Snow already knows because Mr. Roper has told her… also telling her that he is gay. Mrs. Roper however figures out that Jack really isn’t gay when she sees his reaction to one of the busty barmaids (Shera Danese). Since Mrs. Snow is okay with the arrangement thinking that Jack will help protect the girls, Jack is then sent to the couch to sleep. Lou Wills Jr. is the cab driver. 12/27/18
• 003. Roper’s Niece – 3/31/1977
  • Roper’s niece Karen (Christina Hart) has come for a visit from New York, but it is clear to Mrs. Roper that she is bored to death since Stanley won’t let her go out and have fun. He then gets the idea to let Jack take her out since he has nothing to worry about since he thinks Jack is gay. Jack turns down the offer, using Janet’s birthday party as an excuse, but as soon as gets a sight of how beautiful she is, he takes off on the ate, leaving Janet and Chrissy behind fuming. Jack and Karen use Roper’s car, but it breaks down causing Jack to completely miss the party which infuriates even Janet even more, and causes Stanley to start worrying. When they finally make it home, Karen makes advance on Jack, but he turns her down in order to not upset Roper. However when she strips to her negligee, Jack can’t help but kiss her… only to be caught in the act by Roper, who promptly tells Jack he needs to move out. Jack returns home to pack, and although Janet and Chrissy are furious with him, they quickly get over it when they find out he has to leave. Roper then comes up and apologizes and tells Jack that Karen had told him that Jack seemed to have no interest in her and she threw herself at him… and he made Karen feel better by telling her that Jack was gay. All is forgiven by everyone. 12/8/19
• 004. No Children, No Dogs – 4/7/1977
  • The Ropers’ 20th wedding anniversary is coming up, Chrissy is sleepwalking, and Jack brings home a puppy that he got from his slimy friend Larry (Richard Kline), a used car salesman. Although the girls love the puppy, they remind him that they can’t keep it at the apartment because of Roper’s anti-pet policy. They attempt to give it back to Larry, but he convinces them that it will ultimately go the pound if they can’t find an owner, so they take it back. The dog leads to several misunderstandings including Janet thinking that Jack and Chrissy are ‘petting’ in the kitchen, and  Mrs. Furley thinking that the dog food is one of Jack’s gourmet recipes, which she takes downstairs and feeds to Mr. Roper, despite Jack’s attempts at recovering the dog food. Chrissy then gets the idea to secretly place the puppy on the Ropers’ doorstep as part of a plan to find it an owner. When Mrs. Roper finds it and tanks Stanley for the surprise anniversary gift, he can’t help but take ownership, meaning the dog can stay in their custody where the Jack and the girls and regularly visit it. 12/8/19
• 005. Jack the Giant Killer – 4/14/1977
  • Janet wants to work on making repairs in the apartment, but Jack and Chrissy convince her to head to the Regal Beagle for drinks. While there, a bully named Jeff (Peter Palmer) makes a pass at Chrissy and insults Jack, who is too petrified to stand up for himself. To make matters worse, when Mr. Roper, who is suffering from a toothache, snaps at Jeff, he is impressed that a pipsqueak will stand up to him and Jack won’t. Jeff leaves with his friend Pete (Peter Schuck) and Jack is left feeling like a chicken. The next day he still feels like less than a man, and Mr. Roper makes fun of him for being gay and wimpy. Jack is determined to stand up for himself and returns to the bar that night. When the bartender Joe (Paul Ainsley) tells him that Jeff won’t be in, Jack talks even more confidently. When Jeff does in fact come in, Janet tries to confront him before Jack can, but Jack can’t take it any longer and unleashes on Jeff, who backs down and apologizes. Joe later tells Jack that he never new he had a plate in his head from Vietnam. Jack feels embarrassed again until Chrissy reminds him that he was brave to face him thinking that he could have killed him.  Karen Fredrik is the barmaid. 4/2/20
• 006. It’s Only Money – 4/21/1977
  • Jack and Chrissy return home and find that their front door is unlocked. They look to see if there is anything missing or if there are burglars hiding in the other room. They discover that their radio is missing along with the $300 envelope that had been marked for rent. Chrissy returns home and tells them that she took the radio into the shop, but left the money on the shelf, and it is still missing. Meanwhile, Mrs. Roper is happy that Chrissy brought her some flowers from Mr. Roper’s garden, and talks Mr. Roper into inviting them to dinner. However when he goes up to ask them, they sneak out thinking he is trying to collect the rent money. Jack reports the missing money to the police, but the officer (Joey Forman) thinks they are making it up as an excuse to get out of paying the rent. Jack then goes to see Dean Travers (William Pierson) from his school to see if he qualifies for a loan, but he is denied because his father makes over $6000 a year. Roper is upset about being snubbed, but Helen convinces him to try again. When the Ropers comes to the door, they try to sneak out again, but this time they are stopped and they are able to get out the invite. The kids are stunned and admit that they thought he was coming for the rent. Stanley then tells them that he had been up earlier and thought the envelope was meant for him, so they have in fact already paid the rent. He realizes he forgot to leave a receipt for them, and they all head out to dinner. 4/3/20

SEASON 2

• 007. Ground Rules – 9/13/1977
  • Janet brings home her date Alex (Gary Cookson) who wouldn’t understand that she has a male roommate, so she pretends that Jack is her brother from out of town and sends him down to the Regal Beagle. There he meets a girl named Veronica (Jenifer Shaw) and makes a date with her for Sunday, also pretending that Chrissy is his sister when she comes in and mentions seeing him at home. Jack and Chrissy both interrupt Janet’s date when they go back home, so they all come to an agreement about making claims on getting the apartment to themselves on certain evenings. With Jack taking Sunday, Janet agrees to have to just take that particular Saturday evening, although she only plans to watch TV. However Veronica changes plans and wants to come over that night, so Jack asks Janet to trade nights. She is already irritated with Jack so she refuses. However she does agree to trade with Chrissy, so she goes to a movie. Meanwhile Jack tries to entertain Veronica at the bar but she gets bored. Mr. Roper is there and sees Jack with Veronica and becomes suspicious, but Jack tells him that they are only friends. Roper laments having Helen constantly nag him for affection. He also mentions to Jack that he went up to fix his leaky toilet and found no one in the apartment. In light of this, Jack takes Veronica up to the apartment, but while she is in the bathroom and Jack is in the kitchen, Chrissy comes home and leaves her date outside. Jack mistakes Chrissy for Veronica and pounces on her. Veronica sees them together and thinks they are brother and sister, then when Janet comes home, she becomes even more disgusted and storms out. Janet and Chrissy declare there is a penalty for Jack violating the new ground rules, and tell him he has lost his apartment privileges for a month. Stanley comes home drunk from the Regal Beagle and finally decides to be romantic with Helen, even if it means ignoring the water dripping on his head form the toilet upstairs. 7/14/20
• 008. Jack Looks for a Job – 9/20/1977
  • With their budget getting tighter, the girls convince Jack to try and get a part-time job while he goes through school. He initially responds to an ad at a model agency, but when he arrives to interview he is told by the photographer (Bill Fiore) that he would be posing nude for Living Love magazine. Jack is too embarrassed to do that…until he finds out that it pays $10 per hour. However when he is then told that he’ll be posing with the female model Sally (Sally Kirkland), he abandons the job. His next job is to sell door-to-door encyclopedias for his new boss Morris Morris (John Fiedler). He tries to practice on Janet but she keeps on flirting with him. Mr. Roper however is entering a contest for a trip to Hawaii with Carters Baked Beans and comes up to find out the capitol of Equador for their questionnaire. Jack thinks the Ropers might be good candidates, so he goes down to convince them to buy a set. While he is there, Mr. Morris comes to see Jack about the encyclopedias, and Janet and Chrissy attempt him to sell him a set. When they realize who he is, they tell him that Jack is selling a set to the Ropers. He doesn’t think Jack should be attempting to sell alone yet, so he heads down to intervene. When he gets there he looks at the paperwork and realizes that they each signed the wrong line and Jack has agreed to buy a set and Roper is supposed to get the commission. Jack tears up the contract, rips up the contract, and gets a job as a part-time chef at the Pizza Paradise. Janet and Chrissy get a copy of the latest Living Love and tease Jack about the centerfold model being him, which he flatly denies. 7/15/20
• 009. Janet’s Promotion – 9/27/1977
  • Jack tries to teach Chrissy karate, but when Janet comes home, Jack finds that she knows a little more than he does when she tosses him over the couch. She then begins working overtime on the book from her job at the Arcade flower shop, where’s she’s had to pick up the slack when the store manager quit unexpectedly. She tells Jack and Chrissy that she has no hope of getting promoted to the manager job because the owner is a chauvinist who only hires men for managers. Jack however is more confident that she’ll be rewarded for her hard work. Janet has also just begun to train a new girl named Chloe Steltemeier (Sandra de Bruin) who is both busty and ditzy, although she is trying hard. The owner Mr. Compton (J.J. Barry) then comes in and delivers Janet a surprise and tells her that he’s not going to bring in a man for the position, but instead plans to promote… Chloe. Janet comes home furious and self-conscious about never being as busty as Chloe. Meanwhile Mrs. Roper plans to go to a clinic for a couple of weeks to have a face lift. Although Mr. Roper overhears her plans and stops her, this gives Janet the idea to have her bust enlarged. She visits a doctor and comes home and shares photos with Chrissy. Chloe stops by at the apartment and tells Janet that she is quitting because Mr. Compton has been hitting on her and only sees her for her busts. She tells Janet how lucky she is that men take her seriously because she is confident and intelligent, while they only look at her for her body. The helps Janet decide not to get the operation, and she is also promoted to the acting manager at the flower shop. Janet however does hire someone with a good body… but it turns out to be a man. Margaret Wheeler is the elderly customer. 10/30/20
• 010. Strange Bedfellows – 10/4/1977
  • Janet and Chrissy head to San Diego for the night to attend their friend Judy Hogan’s wedding, leaving Jack home alone to resort to throwing a wild party to stave off loneliness. When the noise becomes intense, Mr. Roper comes up to put an end to it but guest Celise (Kare Smith-Bercovici) talks him into staying and having a drink. The next morning Janet and Chrissy return to find a gigantic mess and Jack in bed with someone. The speculate on who it might be, but it turns out to be Mr. Roper, who is mortified at thought of spending the night in a gay man’s bed. He tries to lie his way out of it, nervous to tell either the girls or Helen, when she comes up looking for him. Things look even worse when Celise comes home find find something she left, and starts telling everyone how much he and Jack surprised everyone by carrying on. Roper slinks off to the kitchen, where Jack sees no choice but tell him that he is actually straight in order to help him get past it. Roper doesn’t believe it, and the goes out to face the music and hear what they did. Celise tells everyone that Jack and Roper sang I’m a Little Teapot all evening, and that he was adorable. Helen however gets annoyed again when Celise finds what she was looking for: her earring that fell off when Roper was nibbling on her ear. Before they leave, Roper tells everyone that if Jack is really straight, he knows that he’ll be forced to move out… but declares this is why Jack is a great guy, and why he said that just to make Roper feel better. Alan Koss appears as Ralph. 10/31/20
• 011. Chrissy’s Date – 10/11/1977
  • Chrissy has a date with a 40-year old man named Lloyd Cross (Dick Sargent), whom she met in the grocery store. Jack takes an instant disliking to him, before he and Janet leave the apartment for the Regal Beagle, while Chrissy serves Lloyd the dinner she cooked. While at the bar, Mr. Roper tries to convince Jack to buy his car since they just put a parking meter in front of their house. Mrs. Roper mentions seeing Lloyd get out of his own car, and remarks that she knows his wife. Jack and Janet hightail it out of the bar and quickly interrupt Lloyd’s date with Chrissy by pulling out the Scrabble board. Once he leaves, they tell her the bad news. The next night Chrissy meets Lloyd at the bar and after ‘spilling’ several drinks on him, but agreeing to go on a business trip with him to San Francisco, she tell him that she knows he’s married. Chrissy returns home and tells Jack and Chrissy that he’s actually divorced, and that she’s going away with him after all. They feel terrible, and Jack heads back to the bar alone, where Mr. Roper continues to push the car on him. Jack tells Mrs. Roper how she got him in trouble, and she seems shocked to find out that the Crosses are divorced. Jack agrees to test drive the car, and takes Chrissy for a drive… straight to Lloyd’s house, where they find out that he indeed has a wife (Joyce Bulifant), who has two kids with Lloyd and is expecting a third, and is packing for Lloyd for his San Francisco trip. Jack and Chrissy pose as a couple looking to buy their house that is for sale. When Lloyd sees them there, his jaw hits the floor. Chrissy doesn’t reveal their relationship out of respect for his wife, but as she and Jack leave, she pours her cup of coffee over his head. 2/18/21
• 012. Alone Together – 10/25/1977
  • Stanley is planning to go on an overnight trip to look at the Apache Springs desert property to see if he wants to buy a plot of land. Mrs. Roper comes upstairs while Chrissy and Janet are teaching Jack to do yoga, and asks if Janet will spend the night with her while Stanley is gone. Janet is concerned about leaving Chrissy alone with Jack, but she thinks she can fend for herself. That night Jack and Chrissy have some dinner and wine and despite the fact that Chrissy has dressed in curlers and a bathrobe, it looks as if they might become amorous. The next morning Janet comes home to find a depressed and distracted Chrissy, while Jack is in a terrific mood and is beaming with happiness. Janet assumes that he has taken advantage of Chrissy, but then finds out that actually she is upset that he never made a move on her and she is afraid she is losing her sex appeal. Janet then asks Jack to assure Chrissy that she is still attractive. He tells her that he is seeing a girl named Linda regularly, but he hadn’t been, then he would have seduced her and thrown her on the couch and ravaged her… all of which Chrissy takes as a compliment. Meanwhile, Stanley hasn’t purchased any land in Apache Springs, and has called the police on his noisy neighbors who are throwing a party. The party-thrower turns out to be one of the salesmen Mr. Crawford (Stuart Nisbet), who comes to invite Stanley to the party and leaves behind his girl Sherry Lee (Sondra Currie) to seduce Roper and then make a sale. Before he can make any move in any direction, the policeman (Will MacMillan) who he called shows up and arrests him for solicitation. Helen gets world that Stanley is going to be detained for two more nights, so she asks Janet to spend the next two nights with her. With nothing to worry about with Jack, she gladly accepts… but then Jack announces that Linda just broke up with him. Stanley comes clean with Helen but insists that he had no thoughts of the girl because he’s a happily married man… but then accidentally calls her Sherry. 2/19/21
• 013. Roper’s Car – 11/1/1977
  • Roper has been trying to get rid of his old Chevy that he bought back in 1957, but Jack couldn’t afford his asking price of $750 so Roper offered it to a used car dealer named Mr. Wagstaff (Tom Lacy)… only getting $200. When Jack hears about this, he pools his resources with Janet and Chrissy, and they are able to top that price by $12.60, so despite that fact that Helen thinks he shouldn’t have gone back on his world with Wagstaff, he sells the car to Jack and the girls. First, they have trouble figuring out how to best utilize it between the three of them, then they have transmission issues that will cost $300 more to repair. Meanwhile, Wagstaff tells Roper that he was a fool to part with the car so cheaply, since 1957 Chevys are collectors’ items and could easily fetch $1200. Helen will not allow Stanley to go back on his offer to Jack and demands that he offer him at least half of the proceeds. Instead, Stanley gives them an extra $100, and they are all too happy to get rid of the car, although Chrissy insists that they fully disclose the transmission issues to him. When Wagstaff draws up the paperwork and presents it Stanley in front of Jack of the girls, they are onto his scheme. However, Jack then notifies them all that the car is a 1958 model that Stanley had bought late in 1957, rendering it practically worthless. Feeling like a fool, Stanley asks for his $100 back, but they have bought Mrs. Roper a dress with the money and tell Mr. Roper that he has to give it to her, under threat of them revealing to her that he tries to cheat them out of their share of the $1200, so he has no choice but to comply. 6/15/21
• 014. Cyrano de Tripper – 11/8/1977
  • Jack buys Chrissy the latest Peter Frampton album and hopes to spend the evening listening to it with her, but he is let down when she tells him that she has a date with Michael Winthrop (Jess Nadelman), a guy she’s been seeing who fancies himself a gourmet. Jack is incredulous when she tells him that he’s coming to the apartment and is expecting her to cook for him. She wants him to teach her how to cook, but he tells her there’s no way he can do that in that short of time, but instead reluctantly agrees to cook the meal himself. She is so happy, that she kisses him… just as Roper is walking in. Roper starts to get suspicious that Jack isn’t gay after all, and his guess seems even more validated when an girl (Sarah Smith) stops by to return a sweater that she had borrowed from him at the beach. Meanwhile upstairs, Jack enjoys the compliments that Winthrop is paying the meal, finds it funny to hear Chrissy try and answer his questions about how ‘she’ prepared it, but then blows his stack and reveals himself when Winthrop starts to criticize certain elements. Winthrop is dumbfounded that Jack had cooked the meal, but ultimately is pleased that Chrissy went to such lengths to impress him. Jack is still out of sorts when Winthrop asks him to leave so he can continue his date, but then when Jack finds out that Winthrop does in fact known some famous chefs who Jack admires, he invites Winthrop into the kitchen so they can share ideas. When Roper storms up to accuse Jack of being straight, he finds Jack and Winthrop in the kitchen discussing cooking and changes his mind again. Jack tries to apologize for ruining her date, but Chrissy says that Winthrop turned out to be a creep, and instead of wanting ‘her’ for dessert, he wanted actual dessert. 6/15/21
• 015. Chrissy’s Night Out – 11/15/1977
  • Janet is up pacing in the middle of the night because it’s after 3am, and Chrissy still isn’t home from her night on the town. She irritates Mr. Roper with the pacing, and then wakes up Jack to express concern. Jack also becomes worried, and they speculate where she could be. She soon comes from the Funky Fox home crying, and tells them that she met a nice man, but their date ended when he told her that he thought she was a hooker. Jack makes a joke about it, and then feels terrible when it upsets Chrissy even more. The man turns out to be a police officer named Detective Lannigan (James Cromwell). He comes to find Chrissy’s and stops by the Ropers’ place so they can direct him. When he goes up stairs to see Chrissy, she identifies him immediately, causing Jack to punch him out. As soon as he finds out he’s a vice squad cop, he regrets it. Lannigan is forgiving when he comes to, but still tells Jack he has to arrest him. However, when Roper lets it be known that Jack is gay, Lannigan is afraid of being laughed at by his peers, and forgets the whole thing. Lannigan also apologizes to Chrissy for his accusation, and then asks her to go to dinner, and she accepts. But when Jack tells him that he lives there with the girls, he figures Chrissy must be of loose morals and invites him back to his place instead of going to dinner. Chrissy calls him a creep and throws him out, to the delight of everyone in the room. 10/12/21
• 016. Stanley Casanova – 11/12/1977
  • Jack, Janet, and Chrissy are ready to spend a Saturday night alone, when Jack gets called by the Regal Beagle’s bartender Steve (Seth Foster) to come fill in for him at the bar. Downstairs Stanley and Helen get in an argument, when Stanley maintains that he’s a catch, while Helen says no other women would be interested in him. With his feelings hurt, he goes down to the Regal Beagle as well. Jack gets hit on by Steve’s girlfriend Joanie (Alba Francesca) and her friend Sandy (Avana Moore), but Jack won’t go out with her since she is Steve’s girl. However, when Jack sees how bad Roper feels, he talks Joanie into flirting with Roper, in exchange for taking her out the next night. She lays it on for Roper until he feels like a regular Casanova. Mrs. Roper feels bad for insulting him and goes to talk to Janet and Chrissy, who invite her to go to dinner at the Regal Beagle with them. She sees Stanley getting a kiss from Joanie and runs out of the bar. They tell Mr. Roper that she saw him, and his is quite pleased with himself for showing that a woman would find him attractive. Stanley goes home and rubs it in to Helen. Steve returns and relieves Jack of bartending, and the girls force him to go tell Mrs. Roper the truth. She and Stanley have gotten into a fight, and she has told him to run to his new woman. However, when Jack admits that he talked her into flirting, Helen is relieved and runs back into Stanley. He is still haughty about the women love him, and decides to go to be early… for once inviting Helen to join him. 10/13/21
• 017. Janet’s High School Sweetheart – 11/29/1977
  • Janet comes home from the store floating on a cloud because she’s run into her former classmate Peter Van Horn (John Elerick), the most popular guy in her high school. She is thrilled because he recognizes her and asks her out on a date. When he shows up to pick up Janet, he seems nice enough, and although Jack likes him, Chrissy gets bad vibes about him and declares to Jack that she can’t stand him. She and Jack go to the Regal Beagle so that Janet can be alone with Peter. She explains to Jack that she could tell by the way he shook her hand with a double squeeze, and the way he told her that he was very pleased to meet her. Upstairs Peter does in fact come on strong with Janet and tries to get Janet on the floor. Mrs. Roper stops by and interrupts the action. Chrissy talks Jack into calling upstairs and disguising his voice to check on her and tell her that Peter is a no-good snake, but she recognizes his voice right away. Peter continues to come on strong, and Janet continues to resist him until he chases her into his bedroom. When Jack and Chrissy return, Janet comes out of the bedroom and tells them that Peter had really come after her… but he tripped and hit his head on the end table. Jack is ready to fight him, but when he comes to, Janet handles him on her own. Peter still comes on strong, so Jack and Chrissy interrupt and tell Peter that Janet’s not interested. Peter is convinced that the reason she’s not interested is because Janet and Chrissy are lovers themselves. Jack winds up kicking him out of the apartment, literally. Janet feels like a fool, and Jack does as well for not realizing what a jerk he was. 4/8/22
• 018. Jack’s Uncle – 12/6/1977
  • Jack is short of his share of the monthly rent, and Mrs. Roper comes up to warn them that Mr. Roper is on the warpath. Jack is unable to collect the debt that Larry owes him, so they decide to try to avoid him. Meanwhile, Jack’s Uncle Fremont (Don Porter) pops in for a visit after his most recent stay in Argentina. He is particularly surprised to find Chrissy and Janet living in the apartment, especially since they’re in their bathing suits. One of Uncle Fremont’s old girlfriends Mona Carmichael (Shirley Mitchell) calls to talk to him, but he avoids the call because she is trying to snag him. Mr. Roper comes to collect the money and is furious when they don’t have it. Roper meets Fremont, and referring to the girls, he tells Roper that he’s proud of the way Jack turned out. Roper misunderstands and believes that both Jack’s father and Uncle Fremont are gay. When Uncle Fremont finds out that Jack is $100 short on the rent, he writes Roper a check for the money. Jack tries to stop him, but is too late. He then tells the girls that his uncle always writes checks that literally cannot be cashed because he doesn’t have the money. Jack berates him because he knows he’ll have to face the music when Roper realizes it is a bad check. Uncle Fremont then has the idea to invite the Ropers up for drinks, and then Jack can steal the check back from Roper. Helen shows up for drinks, but Roper stays home, so Jack tries to swipe the check while Roper takes a nap. Roper ends up catching Jack in the act, but has no idea what he is doing. Jack brings Roper up to the party, and they convince Roper that Fremont is a lucrative investor. Roper decides he wants to invest in some stock through Fremont, so he gives him the check back. Jack eventually is able to collect his debt from Larry and pay Mr. Roper the $100 himself, telling him that the stock went bust and he wanted to pay him his money back. Mona shows up at the apartment, and tries to convince him to marry her again. However, Uncle Fremont chooses to run off to an island in South America to be among the ladies there. 4/8/22
• 019. Helen’s Job – 12/13/1977
  • Helen pesters Stanley about raising her allowance, and at first she threatens to not buy the things he wants at the grocery… and then threatens to get a job. He only laughs at her, knowing full well that she will never do that. Helen goes upstairs to ask the kids to borrow some syrup, and tells them how she nearly opened her big mouth too wide and wound up with a job. Although Jack thinks they should mind their own business, Janet tries to encourage Mrs. Roper to actually take a job. She tells her about an opening for a cashier at the cafeteria next to her flower shop, and tells her that this will make her more independent. She still isn’t interested, until Stanley follows her upstairs and forbids her from taking a job. This prompts her to call his bluff, and apply for the job after all. However, after one day of work she is completely exhausted and filthy from someone who spilled food all over her. She immediately wants to quit, but Jack decides to help do damage control so that she can save face. Jack tells Mr. Roper that she loved the job and is excited about the prospect of being offered a promotion already. He also tells him that there are plenty of men flirting with her too. Stanley goes to see her and starts to demand that she quit, but Jack lays it on a little too thick and tells him that she’s been offered a big raise. At that point, he agrees she should keep the job as the extra money will help them financially. The kids all apologize for getting her into this mess, but she decides to take the bulls buy the horn and clean it up herself. She tells Stanley that after working all day, he will have to settle for peanut butter sandwiches, like he made himself for lunch. This is too much for him to handle, and he then offers to raise her allowance like she had asked originally. She tells him that he will make it worth his while… in bed. This causes him to accidentally apply peanut butter to his arm. 8/7/22
• 020. Three’s Christmas – 12/13/1977
  • Jack, Janet, and Chrissy enjoy a nice Christmas morning together, with Jack taking full advantage of the mistletoe he’s attached to his head. The girls each give him a pair of socks, and not knowing which one to wear for the day, he wears one of each. Jack gives them each a gift, and they exchange them with each other. Despite the jollity of the morning, Chrissy – who reveals her real name is actually Christmas Snow – is sad to not be having a party like she normally has with her family. They all then decide to try and throw their own party, but it seems that everyone they know is already invited to their friends Jimmy and Betty Stevens’ party. Meanwhile, the Ropers come early from Helen’s brother Billy’s house when Stanley pours wine in their fish tank. They decide to have their own little gathering and they invite the kids. Chrissy accepts immediately, even though Jack and Janet would rather not spend the day with them. Since Chrissy has committed, they all agree to go. Jack then gets a call from Jimmy Stevens telling them that they were in fact invited to the party, but it apparently got lost in the mail. They decide they need to visit the Ropers to not be rude, and then when they go to bed early, they will head to the Stevens’ party. The gathering at the Ropers is as lame as they imagined, Mr. Roper doing a failed card trick, and Jack playing the piano while Mr. Roper sings The Road to Mandalay and Roll Out the Barrell. Mr. Roper then brings out his trumpet and stars playing Reveille. It becomes more than the kids can stand, so they head out, claiming to be tired… then head to the party. Helen is furious how boring Stanley was, but he tells her that he purposely drove them out so they could attend the Stevens’ party after getting a phone call while the kids were there. They all wind up at the party and have a great time, with the kids helping Mrs. Roper get the drunken Mr. Roper home afterward. 8/8/22
• 021. The Gift – 1/3/1978
  • Mrs. Roper is lamenting the fact that Stanley hasn’t taken her to Las Vegas like he’s been promising. When Jack comes down to give him the rent money, he gripes because she’s been constantly asking him to buy thing for her, including a $400 fur coat. Since a Vegas trip would cost roughly $600, Jack suggests that he save some money and buy her the coat, also noting that he knows someone who works at the store where the coat is being sold that could save him 25 percent. Mr. Roper reluctantly returns the $300 to Jack so that he can pick up the coat for him to give Mrs. Roper. Meanwhile, it is Chrissy’s birthday, and she is receiving cards left and right, but fears that Jack has forgotten her birthday. When she spots the wrapped -up coat that Jack has ready to give to Mr. Roper, she assumes that is her gift from Jack, and she opens it. She is so moved by the wonderful gift that Jack doesn’t have the heart to tell her that it belongs to Mr. Roper. Jack goes down to tell Mr. Roper that he’s going to wait for her excitement to die down the next day and will then ask for the coat back. Roper tells Jack that he wants the coat later that night to give to Helen, who has just seen Chrissy’s coat and fallen in love with it. Stanley tells her that he has in fact purchased her the same coat. She is grateful but tells him that she doesn’t want it since now Chrissy has one. With their problems settled, it just leaves one major one: Jack owes Roper $300. He decides to try and take out a loan from the school via Dean Travers, who is fascinated by all of the women in Jack’s life. Janet tells Chrissy the truth about the coat having been intended for Mr. Roper, so she holds a raffle at work, leading the men to think that the grand prize is her rather than the coat she is wearing. She is able to raise the money and get it to Mr. Roper without Jack finding out. Jack is shocked when Roper tells Jack that he doesn’t owe him anything. As Roper counts all of his money downstairs, Helen jumps at her chance to tell Stanley that their bags are packed, and they are leaving that evening for Las Vegas. He has a hard time telling her he has no money while he is counting hundreds and hundreds of dollars right in front of her. 12/6/22
• 022. The Rivals – 1/10/1978
  • Helen is smitten when reading old love letters from Stanley, but still she asks Janet if she can spend the night on their couch that night because they are having the apartment painted. Janet agrees but asks her to come after 11pm because she is meeting with a man named Barry Gates (John Fink), the new assistant manager of the Carlisle Hotel. She hopes to get his business for all of the flower purchases the hotel makes. Since Janet has never met Barry, she assumes he will be a stodgy old businessman, so she asks Jack and Chrissy to hang around for a while even though Chrissy has plans to go to a beach barbecue and Jack had a date with his girl Debbie. Janet begs Jack to stay and talk to him about sports, and for Chrissy to make conversation and flatter him. However, once she sees that Barry is actually an attractive guy, she tries to get Jack and Chrissy out the door as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it is too late, and he has taken an instant liking to Chrissy. He makes a promise to Janet to order a good number of flowers and then he and Chrissy leave together to go to the beach. Janet is fuming when Chrissy doesn’t come home until late. Since Chrissy knew that Janet liked him, she says she tries to keep him in her sight singing and dancing because lots of the women were hitting on him. Janet won’t listen to her and blames her for stealing him away, even forcing Chrissy to sleep on the couch. Jack tries to get them to make peace, and they both wind up yelling at Jack. After everyone goes to bed, Jack gets up and goes into Janet’s room to try and smooth things over by telling Janet that Chrissy would never intentionally steal her man. Mrs. Roper then comes up to sleep on the couch as Janet said she could, only to find Chrissy there. She tells Mrs. Roper about the fight and sends her to sleep in her bed. When she enters the bedroom, she finds Jack and Janet in there. Chrissy rushes in and accuses them of having an affair, and for being the cause that she was asked to sleep on the couch. Jack again smooths things over, and Janet and Chrissy both realize that they jumped to conclusions about each other. They all finally get to bed, but Mrs. Roper wants to take a bath… and begins singing in the tub so no one can go to sleep after all. The next night, Mrs. Roper asks Stanley to write her a love letter like the old days. He says he’s too tired and tells her that he’ll prove his love when they go to bed. Then when he realizes what he just said, he asks for the paper and pen. 12/6/22
• 023. The Babysitters – 1/17/1978
  • Janet is looking forward to her date with a guy named David (Gary Hollis), but has forgotten that she promised her friends Jerry (Archie Hahn) and Punkin Randall (Lee Bryant) that she would babysit for their toddler Jonathan (Brian Kend). Janet begs Chrissy to fill in for her but she is scared to be alone with a baby. She then gets Jack to agree to join her and help out by telling him that the Randalls have a much nicer TV to watch the basketball game as well as some fancy cook alcohol that Jack has wanted to cook with. When they arrive to babysit, they find that Punkin is very pregnant with their second child… and that the TV is out for repairs. After they leave, Jack also realizes that they have a lock on their liquor cabinet, so he is out of luck for both activities. They also struggle quite a bit as Jonathan keeps waking up crying and they have to find ways to get him back to sleep, including singing him dirty lyrics and reading him the book Percy Puff Puff and His Little Red Tooter. Meanwhile, Janet goes on her date with David but he proves to be a disappointment by taking her to a 14th century music concert. She has to get him out of the apartment when he wants to linger around. Jack and Chrissy call Janet to ask how to get the baby quiet, but when she can’t help, she recommends that they check with Mrs. Roper, who is home with the flu and relying on Stanley to take care of her. Stanley is incredulous when he hears Helen talking about putting salve between someone’s legs and rubbing it on his nipple. Jack then gets a call from Jerry telling him that Punkin went into labor, so they are going to be quite late. Jack sees this as a great opportunity to share a bed with Chrissy, but he winds up sleeping all night on the couch. Janet shows up in the morning wondering why they never came home. Punkin’s mother (Sheila Rogers) shows up and informs them that Jerry is in the hospital as well since he watched the birth of his daughter, fainted, and ended up with a concussion. Jack and Chrissy decide to sneak out and leave Janet to fend for herself with the mother, who is a taskmaster who makes Janet do all of the work. 5/23/23
• 024. Home Movies – 1/24/1978
  • Chrissy begins dating a guy named Neil (Stuart Gillard) who is a major film buff who likes to watch footage cut from movies. When Chrissy tells her parents about her new boyfriend, they send her a movie camera of her own to make movies. She films Jack and Janet acting goofy around the apartment, and then shows it to Neil to try and impress him. Meanwhile, Larry buys a stag film called Naked Dreams from a friend for $50 and wants to borrow Chrissy’s projector to watch it. He find the perfect opportunity when both Janet and Chrissy plan to be away from the apartment. Mr. Roper sees the copy of the movie when Larry accidentally drops it. He has been hooked on adult magazines called Playhouse, and has recently retrieved a batch of them from the garbage after Helen threw them away. He is anxious to get a look at the stag film as well, goes home to get his glasses to join Larry, and finds that Helen has once again found his stash of magazines on top of their wardrobe. Larry gets the film loaded in the projector, but just then Janet and Chrissy come home. Chrissy has become fed up with Neil, but is pleased when she thinks the guys are going to watch her movie again. Mr. Roper then shows up to watch the film, and is not only shocked when the girls want to watch it, but tell him that they and Jack are all in it. Mrs. Roper comes up and wants to watch Chrissy’s movie as well. Larry and Jack try to think of ways to keep from showing it, but everyone makes them sit down and run the film. To their relief, it turns out to be a Woody Woodpecker cartoon. Larry feels thankful… but also ripped off by his friend. Chrissy begins dating an artist and has Mr. Roper pose for her holding his plunger. When Jack and Janet take a look, it turns out she is only painting the plunger. 5/23/23
• 025. Jack in the Flower Shop – 1/31/1978
  • Jack is still having trouble finding a part-time job, while the girls come home from work exhausted every evening. Janet tells Jack that her boss Mr. Compton (J.J. Barry) has put her in charge as acting manager at Arcade Florists, so she feels that she can hire Jack to help her out at work. Jack is very grateful, so he begins right away and Janet starts to train him. Jack spends the first day doing a lot of messing around, not coming when Janet calls him to assist with a difficult customer named Mrs. Simpson (Natalie Schaffer) while she is already trying to help another customer named Andy Harwood (Mickey Deems), and then hitting on another attractive customer. Janet has to start yelling at him to get him to do his work, and Jack starts to resent it. That night is very bitter and passive aggressive with her, causing Chrissy to have to be pushed in the middle of their bickering. Meanwhile, Mrs. Roper comes into the shop to send flowers to herself to make Mr. Roper jealous. The trick works like a charm aa Stanley gets more and more annoyed and jealous by the flowers. The next day at work, Jack continues to be sarcastic and bitter toward Janet to the point that Janet can’t take much more. However, when Mr. Compton stops in the shop and yells at Janet for not delivering the flowers to the Benson wedding, which he had reminded her about, Jack steps in and takes responsibility for forgetting to deliver the flowers. He then walks out, assuming that Compton wants him fired. Later, after Mrs. Roper receives a box of candy from the so-called secret admirer, they both visit the Janet and Chrissy and invite them to a celebration at the Regal Beagle, which is mean to celebrate the opening of Mr. Roper’s eyes about how much Mrs. Roper means to him. He privately admits to the girls that he tipped the flower delivery boy to findo ut who is ordering the flowers. He also admits that he was flattered that Mrs. Roper loves him so much that she was trying to make him jealous. When Janet tells Chrissy that Jack was fired and she wants to talk to him, Chrissy does everything in her power to keep them from fighting. However, Janet wants to express her appreciation to Jack for sticking up for her, and they all make up. Mr. Roper later does in fact bring Mrs. Roper home flowers, but she gets furious when she finds out he stole them from the cemetery. 9/24/23
• 026. Jack’s Navy Pal – 2/7/1978
  • While Chrissy is helping Jack learn the Charleston for a Roaring 20’s party with Madeline Wentworth, Janet comes home with the bad news that their neighbor Maxine Devlin told her that Roper is raising the rent by $75. They decide to try and butter him by inviting the Ropers for dinner where they will make him his favorite food of lamb chops. Roper immediately suspects that they heard about the rent. Despite Helen’s pleas to the contrary, Stanley tells her that he has to raise their rent due to rising expenses. While Jack is preparing the meal, Chrissy answers a call from one of Jack’s old Navy cohorts named Jim Walsh (David Dukes) who wants to come visit, so she invites him to stop by. Jack is disturbed by this because no one liked him because he was a big bully who liked to beat people up back in the Navy. Jack is surprised when Jim arrives that he is blind. However, upon meeting, Jim sucker punches Jack in the face. Jim claims that it was Jack who cost him by his stripes when he reported him to captain for hitting Ensign Smith. Jack tells him that he couldn’t have told on him because Jim had put Jack in sick bay by beating him up earlier that week. Jim remembers this and tells Jack that he can’t have him one up on him and demands that Jack hit him back. Jack refuses to punch him because he is blind. Jim won’t leave the apartment until he hits him. The Ropers then show up for the dinner, and Jim does everything he can to disrupt the meal. He pours wine in Roper’s lap, throws his food, and then begins breaking things in the apartment. Roper freaks out about all of the broken furniture, but he insists that everyone ignore Jim. Finally, after he insults everyone in the place, everyone agrees that Jack should punch him. Jack finally agrees, but Jim asks him to let him know when it is coming. He then blocks the punch and hits Jack in the face again, saying that is what he gets for trying to hit a blind man. Roper agrees not to raise the rent since they are going to have to pay for the broken furniture. Jack comes home from the Roaring 20’s party in a bad mood after being kissed so often by Madeline on his broken face. 9/24/23
• 027. Will the Real Jack Tripper… – 2/14/1978
  • While the girls are in the apartment doing chores, Jack is up at Larry’s getting ready to go to the Lakers game. A woman named Sandra Boyd (Susan Blu) calls for Jack, but Chrissy directs her to call over to Larry’s and catch him there. When Larry answers the phone, he inexplicably pretends that he is Jack and an airline pilot, then hangs up on her. Sandra then personally pays a visit to Jack’s apartment while he is out and tells Janet and Chrissy that she thinks that she is pregnant. When Jack gets home, they tell her how his girlfriend showed up at the door and that she thinks she is pregnant. Jack assumes that it is the girl who he is currently dating, Linda (Anne Schedeen), so Jack proposes marriage to her. He then takes her back to the apartment to tells Janet and Chrissy the good news. They both treat him horribly thinking that he proposed marriage to one girl while he has another girl pregnant. Jack meets up with Larry and tells him that he thought he was doing the noble thing, but it has gotten him in trouble. When Jack describes the girl who visited him, Larry confesses that he had been the one who went out with Sandra and had given her his usual treatment of not telling her his real name. He also did the same thing to her that he does to all women when he breaks off the relationship and gave her what he says is his mother’s wedding ring, which actually comes from a box of cheap rings. Jack now has to break it to Linda that he doesn’t really want to marry her, but thankfully, she tells him that she doesn’t want to get married before he gets the chance. Larry tries to rescue Jack by acting like a gay lover of his, but Jack tells him that things are okay. However, Larry then mentions to Linda that the only reason Jack proposed was because he thought she was pregnant, causing Linda to walk out on Jack. Larry later gets a call from Sandra telling him that the pregnancy scare was a false alarm, but that she was able to sell the ring he gave her and got several hundred dollars… since Larry accidentally gave her his ring. She also tells him that her father is really mad at him and plans to come visit. Mr. Roper, who has been busy trying to get his bird to say “Stanley” finally finds the time to go fix Jack and the girls’ window that is stuck. While he is there, he gets a visit from Sandra’s father (Ted Gehring), who thinks Roper is Jack, and chases him around the room. 1/23/24 
• 028. Days of Beer and Weeds – 2/21/1978
  • Roper stops by and asks the kids if they can help clear up an overgrown garden behind the apartment garages, with a threat to raise their rent if they don’t help. While they are busy working outside, Roper is busy bottling his own beer in the apartment. They find some attractive foliage before they are finished, Chrissy picks out a bundle to take with her. They stop by the Ropers’ place and Stanley gives Jack some of his homemade brew. Mrs. Roper sees the foliage and asks if she can have some to add to her plant arrangement that she is entering into an Arts & Crafts show. Later, when Larry stops by and sees the foliage that the girls picked, he recognizes it as cannabis. Jack and Chrissy are nervous about being caught with it, so they head to the police station to inquire what happens if someone finds marijuana growing. They get too scared to actually reveal why they are there, but before they go, the police sergeant (David Tress) questions Jack about whether he was drinking when he rode his bike to the station. He winds up making him pee in a cup and then gives Jack a court date. When they get home, Chrissy suddenly remembers Mrs. Ropers flower arrangement and they call over to the show to warn Mr. Roper that her arrangement contains marijuana. Before he can tell her what is going on, Roper throws a huge lump of clay on top of it to hide the pot, causing her to become furious with him. The flower judge (Ludi Claire) finds the arrangement sloppy and tells Mrs. Roper that it isn’t her best work. She also reveals that the plants are not Cannabis, but rather False Aralia. Helen hits Stanley over the head with her purse just as a photographer takes her picture. Janet later concurs that the plants are indeed False Aralia, but she also finds that there are Cannabis plants in Chrissy’s arrangement. Stanely is furious when he sees his photo in the newspaper looking ridiculous. Janet mediates between them and tells them that everyone had the best intentions. She encourages them to kiss and make up, but Helen winds up trying to get even friskier. 1/23/24 

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