Question: I never understood the meaning of the dialogue in a scene with the Ropers in the first episode. Stanley says to Helen something like "Too bad you're not from India - you'd be sacred there." Helen then comes back by saying "and contented." What did both of these phrases mean?
Question: What is the picture of women on the walls of the set? Not the butterfly picture, the others.
Answer: I believe you are referring to the artwork of Alphonse Mucha. On the wall next to the front door was "Feather" (which is one half of "Primrose and Feather"). Above the telephone in early episodes was "Zodiac". Also seen through The Apartment was "Spring" and "Autumn".
Answer: Or, you may be referring to Tranquillo Cremona's High Life (A Piquant Conversation), which hangs above the side table.
Question: Lana Shields became a regular cast member then she disappeared from show without any explanation, why?
Answer: No official explanation was given for why the Lana Shields character was abruptly written out after a handful of episodes. Ann Wedgeworth, the actress who played Lana, said she was never given a reason, but according to Wedgeworth's daughter, her late mother was unhappy playing a one-dimensional character that had little development potential. The daughter said Wedgeworth and the Three's Company producers came to a mutual agreement for her to leave the show.
Answer: John Ritter also said in interviews that there was no way that Jack would continue to resist Lana's advances since she was attractive and Jack was notoriously sex-crazed, so that could have been a factor as well.
Question: If Roper wouldn't rent to Jack unless he faked being gay then what made him not suspect the girls of being gay?
Answer: Possibly because in the 70s/80s, no-one would bat an eye about two girls living together, or 2 guys living together.
Answer: Because they've had various boyfriends and dates over the years. How he never noticed Jack had a stream of women coming to The Apartment is another issue.
Question: Given they come from the Love Generation, why would Janet care about Jack having what she thinks is a vasectomy?
Answer: She was worried that Jack would come to regret his decision. She thought at some point in the future he would marry and want to have children.
Question: Who decided to make Chrissy stupid? Watch an early episode like "Roper's Niece" then a later one like "Jack's Pie", So who decided to make her stupid? Some network executive?
Answer: It's also likely a case of "Flanderization", where as the show progresses, the writers zero in on a single aspect of a character that they get the most material out of, and think is the funniest, and expand it at the expense of realism or development, to the point where it is the character's entire personality.
Question: I never understand why the bully backs off from Jack suddenly once he thinks Jack has a steel plate in his head from Vietnam. What does a steel plate in the head mean and how did it fend off the bully?
Answer: Jack never said he had a steel plate in his head... Janet told that to the bartender who in turn questioned Jack about it.
Answer: Jack is saying that part of his skull has been replaced with a metal prosthetic, due to having been wounded in Vietnam. The bully now sees Jack as a wounded veteran who could suffer severe health problems if punched.
Question: During the first three seasons, all the main cast appeared in every episode (except one without Joyce Dewitt by season 3), but it seems once Suzanne Somers left the show, episodes had some cast members absent on a regular basis (mainly Richard Kline and Don Knotts who both only appeared in selected episodes in the later seasons). Was it a sudden budget cut or another reason for this?
Answer: Richard Kline and Don Knotts were supporting cast members, who could be replaced at anytime. It was John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers who were the star vehicles they relied on to carry the show.
Question: In this episode, Chrissy's Date Michael asks her (while eating a salad) "How did you introduce the dressing?" Chrissy responds, "I just said salad meet the dressing, dressing meet the salad." Although the response made for a very funny scene, my question is what did Michael actually mean by "introduce the dressing"?
Answer: Michael, being a chef who thinks Chrissy made everything, I think he's basically asking how she prepared the salad. Did she fold the salad into the dressing, drizzle it over the salad, etc.
Question: How can Jack, Janet and Chrissy confuse Ralph Furley's furniture with Mr. Roper's? They have been to Mr. Roper's apartment so many times that they should have known that furniture was not Mr. Roper's.
Answer: In addition to the other answer submitted, don't forget - the trio hadn't met Furley yet at that point nor did they know The New Landlord had moved in yet so it would make sense if they thought it was Roper's furniture (even if it was unfamiliar to them).
Answer: As the Ropers were the landlords, it's possible they kept unused furniture in the building storeroom or an unrented apartment (or so Jack might have assumed).
Question: In the second episode Chrissy's mother comes to visit. In future episodes her father comes to visit - who is an actual "father" (i.e. priest). Aren't priests forbidden to be married?
Answer: He's not a Catholic priest. He's a pastor, with the title Reverend, at a community church who chooses to wear a clerical collar. Some people still address pastors as "Father" though. I'm not sure of his religious denomination, but most pastors can marry.
Answer: Yes Pastors can marry... I was asking for Priests since his collar appears to be that of a Catholic descent.
Some protestant pastors wear the clerical collar as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_collar.
Answer: Mr. Roper was basically comparing Mrs. Roper to a cow, which is a sacred and highly revered animal among Hindus; Mrs. Roper's retort meant that she wasn't happy with her marriage or current station in life, so she'd be happier as a cow in India.
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