Man About the House is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. It starred Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. Six series were broadcast on ITV 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 Studios in Greater London. It is regularly repeated on ITV3.

Two spin-off series were later made: George and Mildred and Robin's Nest. as well as working for the same company. The women find a stranger, student chef Robin Tripp, asleep in their bath 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) as a potential replacement for Eleanor, but they are impressed by Robin's culinary skills, as they cannot cook at all.

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, 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 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 (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 an American 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 that The Complete Series would be released on October 21, 2020 but this was never published, which would be the first time this series would be released as a collection.

In 2019, a 19-disc DVD set (Region 2) was issued by Network/Fremantle featuring every episode of Man About the House, George and Mildred and Robin's Nest.

  • Dennis Waterman appeared in Man About the House as Franz Wasserman, a German philosophy student invited to a party by Robin in the episode "Did You Ever Meet Rommel?". Wasserman is German for Waterman.

See also

  • British sitcom
  • List of films based on British sitcoms

References

  • Man about the house – George and Mildred book at Publisher's website