Los Angeles will be one of four stops on a national tour marking the 50th anniversary of “Three’s Company,” with a live table read of the sitcom’s pilot episode set for the city on September 9, 2027. The event, still without a confirmed venue, cast or ticket details, doubles as a fundraiser for aortic health research tied to the cause of star John Ritter’s death in 2003.
The “Three’s Company Come and Knock on Our Door” tour was officially announced Monday, according to MyNewsLA.com, and will kick off November 2 with a reading at Joe’s Pub in New York City. Jason Biggs will portray lead character Jack Tripper at that first stop, while original cast member Richard Kline — who played Larry Dallas on the series — returns as narrator. The tour then moves to Dallas on February 27, 2027, and Cleveland on March 13, 2027, before arriving in Los Angeles roughly six months later, each stop commemorating the sitcom’s original March 15, 1977 premiere on ABC.
“Three’s Company” was adapted by DLT Entertainment from the British series “Man About the House,” and the show ran for eight seasons and 172 episodes before ending in 1984, according to the Encyclopedia of TV & Radio. It became the highest-rated comedy series in the country during the 1979–1980 season after debuting as a midseason replacement. Though filmed before a Hollywood studio audience, the show was fictionally set in Santa Monica, and its characters’ favorite watering hole, the Regal Beagle, was inspired by the real-life Santa Monica dive bar Chez Jay, per LAist.
A Tour Built Around a Foundation's Mission
DLT Entertainment president Donald Taffner Jr. said bringing the classic scripts back to the stage pays tribute to “Three's Company” while supporting lifesaving aortic health research. The tour is organized in partnership with the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health, which Amy Yasbeck founded and which supports research, education and advocacy around thoracic aortic disease. Yasbeck said the event celebrates John Ritter, the joy he brought through “Three's Company,” and the community carrying his memory forward, adding that bringing the show to the stage 50 years later honors Ritter while supporting aortic dissection awareness and research.
Ritter died in 2003 from an acute aortic dissection that, according to the foundation, was initially misdiagnosed. The John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health was established that October, weeks after his death, and its headquarters remain on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles, anchoring national education and research work from the city where Ritter made his name. Many patients with thoracic aortic dissection die before reaching a hospital.
Spreading the 'Ritter Rules'
To combat the kind of misdiagnosis that preceded Ritter's death, the foundation developed what it calls the “Ritter Rules” — guidelines based on American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology standards meant to help patients, families and emergency responders recognize and prevent thoracic aortic dissection. The rules emphasize early imaging, genetic screening and blood pressure control as tools for catching the condition before it becomes fatal.
The foundation's local fundraising efforts extend beyond the tour. On September 12, it held its annual “Evening from the Heart LA” benefit gala at the Sunset Room Hollywood, featuring a reunion of cast members from the 1990s series “Wings,” according to MyNewsLA.com. Yasbeck starred on “Wings” from 1994 to 1997 alongside Tim Daly, Steven Weber and Tony Shalhoub, and both Yasbeck and original “Three's Company” cast member Joyce DeWitt are set to co-host the foundation's Evening from the Heart event tied to the anniversary tour.
Ritter won both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for his role as Jack Tripper in 1984, the sitcom's only acting Emmy during its eight-season run, per the Television Academy. The show also spawned two spin-offs, “The Ropers” and “Three's a Crowd.” Los Angeles organizers have not yet released venue, casting or ticket-sale details for the September 2027 reading.
