Reluctant Spark: How M*A*S*H’s Larry Gelbart Helped Create Three's Company
M*A*S*H co-creator Larry Gelbart, burned out after four years on the show, reluctantly agreed in the mid-70s to develop ABC’s Three's Company; he was wary of turning his follow-up into a 'bedroom farce' and criticized diluting the British original, demanding $50,000 for a half-hour pilot. ABC hired him but ultimately rewrote the pilot and recast the leads; Gelbart still earned his fee and royalties, while the resulting series went on to become one of the most beloved sitcoms of the 1980s despite mixed early reviews of the pilot.