| Three's A Crowd | |
|---|---|
| Format | Game show |
| Created by | Chuck Barris |
| Presented by | Jim Peck (1979-1980) Alan Thicke (2000) |
| Narrated by | Johnny Jacobs (1979-1980) Randy West (2000) Bob Hilton (substitute) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Chuck Barris Productions (1979-1980) The Gurin Company (2000) Columbia TriStar Television Distribution (2000) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Syndicated (1979-1980) Game Show Network (2000) |
| Original run | September 17, 1979 – 2000 |
Three's a Crowd (also known as 3's a Crowd) was an American game show originally packaged by Chuck Barris Productions. The first version aired in syndication from September 17, 1979 to February 1, 1980. The second version ran in 2000 on Game Show Network.
Contents |
Hosted by Jim Peck, this version's tagline was "Who knows a man better, his wife or his secretary?" It bore many similarities to Barris' The Newlywed Game. Three sets of husband-wife-secretary teams appeared, and the game started with the men answering three pointed questions, usually referencing their wives and secretaries in ways that would lead to potential marital discord.
The secretaries then were brought back to answer the same questions, followed by the wives. Whichever team — wives or secretaries — matched the men's answers more often split a $1,000 prize ($333.33 each or $166.67 if the wives & secretaries tied). The men received an announced prize for their participation.
Because of the show's premise of adultery and sexual innuendo, Three's a Crowd immediately attracted strong criticism from both feminists and conservative religious activists. According to Barris in his first autobiography, The Game Show King, the protests against the show – as well as the sometimes-evident lack of fun the contestants seemed to be having on it – prompted him to retreat from television production entirely.
At the time, Barris' company had four other shows on the air: revivals of both The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, the still-running syndicated Gong Show and its spin-off The $1.98 Beauty Show. Barris wrote that "The public backlash from Three's a Crowd not only caused the program to be canceled, but it took three other TV shows of mine with it. I went to my house in Malibu and stayed there for a year." Indeed, it was largely due to the backlash from Three's a Crowd that ratings for all of his other shows – including the still-popular Gong Show – plummeted and were removed from the air by the start of the next television season.
The series was replaced on February 4 by a revival of the 1960s game show Camouflage, also produced by Barris. This show also failed and was canceled after thirteen weeks, largely due to poor clearances due to its being a weekly series as opposed to a daily "strip", the former of which had fallen out of favor with TV stations by 1980. Three's A Crowd was the last original format Barris tried, with rest of his productions either being revivals of old shows (as Camouflage and a second Barris revival of Treasure Hunt were) or his previous efforts (as The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and The Gong Show were all revived in the mid-to-late 1980s).
This version was hosted by Alan Thicke. GSN defused its remake, produced by sister company Columbia TriStar Television, markedly. The wives-secretaries pairings were replaced by pairing such as girlfriend-best friend, girlfriend-mother and such. Just as often, a female would be the central subject with the pairings altered appropriately, etc.
As in the original, the middle people were asked three questions about their significant others. The significant others were asked the same questions when they returned altogether. Each time they or either one match, they get 5 points.
The tables were turned as the significant others were asked three questions about their mate. The middle people were asked the same questions when they returned altogether. Each time either one or both significant others match, they get 10 points.
Each middle person was given four words/phrases that may or may not relate to them. They must answer with one of three possible choices such as, "Be There", "Wouldn't Dare", "No Fair"; "I Win", "I Lose", "It's a Draw" etc. (so, in other words, choice A would be a "Yes" answer, choice B would be a "No" answer, and choice C would be a "Maybe" answer) Before they answer, each significant other must lock in their predictions to how their mates will answer. Once again each match is worth 10 points.
Originally, the middle person makes the choice of an answer after locking in their answer; in Season 2 the person now holds the card (like in the first round) to show the answer after they locked it in.
Unlike the original, the significant others don't work as a team. The significant other with the most points at show's end won $1,000. The central characters, as before, received an unannounced prize for participating.
Most, if not all, of the original series is intact. GSN reran many episodes, including two pilots from 1978 and a third from 1979.
The pilots are distinguishable from the rest of the series through a somewhat different set (a brown backdrop with green stripes behind the contestants, plus Peck's podium having a large "3" as the backdrop) and Peck himself not having the perm he sported during most of the series.