Man About the House

Popular ITV sitcom (1973-1976) about a male student chef named Robin Tripp, who shares a flat with two gorgeous girls, a brunette named Chrissy and a blonde named Jo. Downstairs lived George and Mildred Roper, the landlords. Ran for six seasons in total, but they were only broadcast over a space of three years. A theatrical film was also released in 1974.

The show had two spinoffs (George and Mildred and Robin's Nest) and a very successful American remake in the form of Three's Company.

Man About the House was primarily created as a vehicle for Richard O'Sullivan, who was a rising star at the time thanks to his role in another Britcom, Doctor In The House.

Came sixty-ninth in Britain's Best Sitcom.


 * The Alleged Car: Roper's poor old motor was always having something go wrong with it.
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Jo, Chrissy and Mrs Roper respectively (although Mrs Roper's is probably tinted).
 * Brainy Brunette
 * Chivalrous Pervert
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Jo.
 * Drop-In Character: Larry Simmonds.
 * Embarrassing Middle Name: Robin's middle name is revealed to be "Oswald". Chrissy delights in pointing out to him that this makes his initials "rot".
 * Everyone Loves Blondes: Although Jo's obviously got a lot of appeal, the series actually subverts the stereotype by showing that Robin is (usually) far more interested in the brunette Chrissy. The American remake completely missed the point by reverting to the stereotype and making the blonde the 'desirable' one again.
 * Dumb Blonde: Averted, generally. Jo is shown to be a bit of a ditz at times, but she's usually intelligent enough to recognise it.
 * When Chrissy opines that Robin only sees women as "brainless sex objects", Jo pipes up with a very Genre Savvy "You leave me out of this!".
 * Fridge Logic: Frequently employed by Jo.
 * Faux Yay: Averted. Whereas its American remake used this as a running gag throughout the series, this UK original only ever seen it being used it as a one-line joke in the Pilot Episode. The second episode sees Robin come clean to the Ropers about being strictly heterosexual, which they accept at face value and move on.
 * Innocent Cohabitation: Like its American remake, the show was largely a response to the growing trend in The Seventies of nonsexual, opposite-sex roommates, which just a decade before was almost unheard of.
 * My Local: 'The White Swan'
 * The Movie
 * Mrs. Robinson: Mrs Roper flirts openly with Robin. A lot. He doesn't reciprocate.
 * Not What It Looks Like
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Chrissy was originally supposed to be from Yorkshire, and actress Paula Wilcox reflected this very strongly in the Pilot Episode. For the rest of the series, though, this was significantly toned down (though never gone completely).
 * Later episodes retconned her as being from Sussex (naturally, neither of her parents displayed a Yorkshire accent either). Any risidual northern accent is probably down to the actress being from Manchester, so it is still an example of this trope.
 * One Dialogue, Two Conversations
 * Plot-Driven Breakdown: In the episode "Home And Away", when Robin and Chrissy borrow Roper's car to go to a football match, they end up breaking down on the side of the motorway and missing the game.
 * Punny Name: George Roper (G. Roper) is a Stealth Pun. Chrissy once jokingly abbreviated his name to "Mister Groper", for his habit of accidentally touching them up.
 * The Seventies
 * Spin-Off: George and Mildred has the Ropers moving to a new neighbourhood, while Robin's Nest sees Robin Tripp follow his dreams of opening a restaurant.
 * Trans-Atlantic Equivalent: Famously remade as Threes Company. Both of the spin offs were also adapted to the American market.
 * Wedding Day: The series ends with.
 * What Did I Do Last Night?: In the first episode, Robin wakes up in the bathtub of the girl's flat. The girls have no recollection of how he got there, and neither does he (it was one wild party the night before).
 * Will They or Won't They?: The premise of the show. There's a good degree of UST between Robin and Chrissy, to the point where them not getting together at the end of the series almost counts as something of a Downer Ending.
 * You Look Familiar: Norman Eshley, who played Robin's older brother (and Chrissy's eventual husband) Norman, had previously appeared in another role (where he even got to seduce Chrissy!), and would immediately after this go on to appear as Jeffrey Fourmile, the Roper's next door neighbour, in their Spin-Off series George & Mildred.
 * Zany Scheme: George Roper frequently, much to the chagrin of his wife Mildred.