When the Ropers left Three's Company for their own spin-off at the end of the third season, producers decided to go a different direction with replacement characters, casting two very different characters to replace them. The first was Ralph Furley, played by Don Knotts, who acted as the bumbling, clueless landlord for Jack, Chrissy, and Janet. The second was Lana Shields, played by Ann Wedgeworth, who was an older divorcee living in the same building as our main characters. Lana was an extremely sexualized character, and most of her character traits revolved around rebuffing Mr. Furley's advances or attempting her own advances on neighbor Jack Tripper. The addition of Lana caused tension between John Ritter and the show's writers. Ritter believed it was out of character for the sex-crazed Jack to turn down the advances of an attractive woman, though the writers reasoned that Jack would turn her down because she was older. But it was Wedgeworth herself who asked to be released from the character, as she did not appreciate her diminishing role on the series. As a result, Lana was written out before the fourth season was even half over and was never mentioned again. Did I miss one of your favorite forgotten characters? Let me know in the comments section below.
Christopher A. Rothbauer is a freelance writer who specializes in nostalgic television and B-movies. His current project is the blog Saved by the Bell...Reviewed!, which reviews every episode of the Saved by the Bell franchise one week at a time. He lives in the southern Indiana suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky.
