''Man About the House'' is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer that starred Richard O'Sullivan,

Paula Wilcox Paula Wilcox (born 13 December 1949) is an English actress. With a career spanning over 50 years, she is best known for her role as Chrissy in the popular ITV sitcom ''Man About The House'' from 1973 to 1976. She has also had roles in TV shows ...

, Sally Thomsett,

Yootha Joyce Yootha Joyce Needham (20 August 1927 – 24 August 1980), known as Yootha Joyce, was an English actress best known for playing Mildred Roper opposite Brian Murphy in the sitcom ''Man About the House'' (1973–1976) and its spin-off ''George and M ...

and Brian Murphy. Six series were broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 15 August 1973 to 7 April 1976. The series was considered daring at the time because it featured a man sharing a London flat with two single women. The show was made by Thames Television and recorded at its Teddington studio in

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. It is regularly repeated on

ITV3 ITV3 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9pm, replacing Plus (Granada). ITV3 is the sixth-largest UK television channel by ...

. Two

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

series were later made: '' George and Mildred'' and '' Robin's Nest''. In 2004, ''Man About the House'' placed 69th in a poll to find '' Britain's Best Sitcom''. The series was remade in the United States as '' Three's Company'' in 1977. A

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

was released in 1974.

Cast

Main stars

* Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp *

as Chrissy Plummer * Sally Thomsett as Jo

Co-stars

Mildred Roper Mildred Dorothy Roper (''née'' Tremble) is a fictional character from the Thames Television sitcoms ''Man About the House'' and ''George and Mildred''. She was portrayed by Yootha Joyce. Biography Mildred Dorothy Tremble was born in London and ...

* Brian Murphy as

George Roper George Roper (15 May 1934 – 1 July 2003) was an English comedian, best known for his appearances in the long-running UK television series '' The Comedians''. Early history He was born George Francis Furnival in Liverpool to a working-cla ...

* Doug Fisher as Larry Simmonds

Recurring cast

* Roy Kinnear as Jerry (series 3 to 5) * Daphne Oxenford as Mrs Plummer (series 1, 4 and 6)

Plot

Chrissy and Jo live in a London flat together and work for the same firm. The women find a stranger, student

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

Robin Tripp, asleep in their

bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

the morning after the farewell party for their departed flatmate Eleanor. When he meets the two girls, Robin has been in London two days, having moved from Southampton to attend University. The girls are unimpressed with Gabrielle (

Helen Fraser Helen Fraser may refer to: * Helen Fraser (actress) (born 1942), English actress * Helen Fraser (executive) (born 1949), British executive and businesswoman * Helen Fraser (feminist) Helen Miller Fraser, later Moyes (14 September 1881 – 2 De ...

) as a potential replacement for Eleanor, but they are impressed by Robin's culinary skills, as they cannot cook at all. Learning that Robin has been staying at the YMCA, they convince him to move in, on the understanding that it will be a platonic relationship. Chrissy tells landlord George Roper that Robin is gay to eliminate George's objections to the mixed-sex living arrangement. George, in truth a subletting landlord placed by the council, is a miserly, spiteful and unkempt man under the thumb of his domineering and sexually frustrated wife Mildred. In the second episode, Robin's true sexuality becomes known to Mildred. She takes out her frustrations with George's lack of class and sexual inadequacy by making suggestive remarks to Robin and frequently siding with the

tenants A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...

against George. Mildred openly flirts with Robin, and Robin frequently flirts with Chrissy and Jo. The girls, adhering to their pledge to maintain a platonic relationship with Robin, spurn his mild advances and adapt to his presence in the flat. Chrissy occasionally shows attraction to Robin, but the two never pursue any romantic interaction. Robin's friend Larry, a

lovable rogue The lovable rogue is a fictional stock character, often from a working-class upbringing, who tends to recklessly defy social norms and social conventions, but who still evokes empathy from the audience or other characters. Description Characte ...

, appears on a recurring basis throughout the series. In the third series, he moves into the loft apartment above the trio's apartment and is a frequent source of trouble. Another occasional cast member is George's friend, the dodgy builder Jerry ( Roy Kinnear). Jerry is the only supporting character to reappear in the spin-off '' George and Mildred''. Robin's brother Norman Tripp (

Norman Eshley Norman Eshley (born 30 May 1945) is an English actor best known for his television roles. Biography Eshley attended Bristol Grammar School and worked in a bank, before training as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He played many ...

) appears in the final three episodes of the sixth and final series, and starts a romance with Chrissy. Eshley had a previous guest role in the episode "In Praise of Older Men" (Series 2, Episode 3).

Episodes

First airing on 15 August 1973, ''Man About the House'' ran until 7 April 1976, spanning 39 episodes in six series. In addition, on Christmas Day 1973, a short special aired as part of ''All-star Comedy Carnival''.

Theme music

Written by Johnny Hawksworth and entitled "Up to Date", the theme song was not specially commissioned for the show, but rather was provided via the

production music Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries. Background ...

company De Wolfe Music. It also appeared on the 1996 compilation CD ''The Sound Gallery – Volume Two'', but credited to the

Simon Park Orchestra The Simon Park Orchestra is a group which is most notable for producing the instrumental "Eye Level", the theme tune for the television series ''Van der Valk'' composed by Jan Stoeckart which spent four weeks at the number one position in the UK ...

Film

A 1974 film version of the show starred all of the main cast members. It was the last in a series of movie screen adaptations of popular TV shows made by

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

,Tom Johnson and Deborah Del Vecchio, Hammer films: An exhaustive filmography, McFarland, 1996. p375. though a ''George and Mildred'' film (featuring Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy) would be made in 1980 by another studio.

Spin-offs and remakes

After the series ended in 1976, two successful spin-off series followed: * '' George and Mildred'', in which the Ropers move to the suburbs. * '' Robin's Nest'', in which Robin gets married and opens a bistro. The format of ''Man About the House'' was sold internationally, and it was remade in the United States as '' Three's Company'' in 1976; in the Netherlands as ''Sam Sam'' in 1994; in Sweden as '' En fyra för tre'' in 1996; in Norway as ''Tre på toppen'' in 1997; in Portugal as ''Não Há Duas Sem Três'' in 1997; in Poland as ''Lokatorzy'' in 2000; in Russia as ''Troe sverhy'' in 2006; in Ecuador as ''El hombre de la casa'' and in Chile as ''Tres son multitud'', both in 2007. The American ''Three's Company'' adaptation also spawned the same spin-offs as had ''Man About the House:'' '' Three's a Crowd'' (based on ''Robin's Nest'') and ''

The Ropers ''The Ropers'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 13, 1979, to May 22, 1980. It is a spin-off of ''Three's Company'' and loosely based on the British sitcom ''George and Mildred'', which was itself a spin-off of ...

'' (based upon ''George and Mildred).''

Home media

All six series have been released on DVD in the UK by Network DVD, as have ''George and Mildred'' and ''Robin's Nest''. Region 2 Releases: * Series 1 - 2005 (reissued on 8 April 2013) * Series 2–30 January 2006 * Series 3–20 March 2006 * Series 4–7 August 2006 * Series 5–22 January 2007 * Series 6–14 May 2007 * The Complete Series (Features the six individual seasons in a box) - 24 September 2007 * The Complete Series (In slimmer packaging) - 26 May 2008 Series 1 and 2 have had a US release as part of a two-disc set by FremantleMedia. Series 1 and 2 were released in Australia in 2004, but a delay was encountered in releasing further series because of contract renegotiations (the same problem affected releases of ''George and Mildred'' and '' Bless This House''). Series 3 was finally released on 16 July 2008, and Series 4 on 5 November 2008. Series 5 and 6 are yet to be released. Series 1 was re-released on 2 April 2009, now with the same cover art as the UK edition. Fremantle Media re-released series 1 on 3 March 2011 with new cover art. Re-releases have continued with Series 2 on 3 October 2012, Series 3 on 1 May 2013, and Series 4 on 1 May 2013. Series 5 and Series 6 finally received a release on 7 August 2013. Via Vision Entertainment announced "The Complete Series" will be released on October 21, 2020, which will be the first time this series will be released as a collection. In 2019, a 19-disc DVD set (Region 2) was issued by Network/Fremantle containing every episode of ''Man About the House'', ''George and Mildred'' and ''Robin's Nest''.

References

External links

* . * .
Man about the house – George and Mildred book
at Publisher's website. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man About The House 1973 British television series debuts 1976 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms 1970s sex comedy television series English-language television shows ITV sitcoms Television shows produced by Thames Television Television shows adapted into films Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in London Television shows shot at Teddington Studios