It's been over two years since the death of John Ritter, the charismatic actor/comedian who fell victim to an unknown heart complication at the young age of 54. Although he appeared in films as varied as Sling Blade and Problem Child, Ritter was best known for his starring role in Three's Company, a popular sitcom from the late 70s-early 80s. Running for an unprecedented eight seasons (1977-84, to be exact) with a total of 172 episodes, Three's Company also spawned The Ropers (1979-80) and Three's A Crowd (1984-85), two short-lived spinoff series met with only a fraction of the original's popularity.

There's a reason Three's Company was so successful: it was a good show, made funnier with terrific performances by John Ritter and the rest of the cast, and certainly more than the sum of its parts. Though it was never really a staple of mine growing up (even in syndication), it's a fun diversion that seems to have held up fairly well in the last 25-odd years. Three's Company's reliance on sticky situations was hardly anything new by sitcom standards, but the risqué double entrendres really pushed the envelope back then---and who knows, it might even raise a few eyebrows in today's world of PC TV. Either way, Three's Company really clicked with audiences and has maintained a strong following over the last few decades. It may not be in the same league as I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners, but it's a fine example of an sitcom that proved to have real staying power.

Anchor Bay's release of Season Four on DVD was yet another solid collection of episodes paired with a few interesting bonus features. Season Five follows suit, though it marks the last time that John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers would star together, as Somers left early on in the season and Jenilee Harrison (playing Chrissy's cousin, Cindy Snow) jumped on board. She brought an extra layer of slapstick to the group, as her klutzy antics allowed Ritter to further display his physical comedy skill. It was good to see a new face in the lineup, as the previous season's introduction of Don Knotts as Furley the landlord (replacing the Ropers) had already changed things for the better---but it's easy to see that the show's formula was beginning to wind down as it entered the second half of its lifespan. Even so, Three's Company still proved to have plenty of tricks up its sleeve this season, as the episodes included here are still a lot of fun. Let's have a look at the starting lineup:

From top to bottom, Season Five is a fairly solid lineup of episodes that fans should really enjoy. Though the character transition isn't quite as smooth as it could have been, the extremely young Jenilee Harrison proved to do a fine job in her new role (though she'd only remain on board for another year or so). There's several standout episodes here, including "Night of the Ropers" (marking the brief return of the former landlord and his wife) and fan favorite "Double Trouble", in which John Ritter pulls off dual roles as Jack Tripper and his "twin brother" Austin (at top). There are also a few clunkers like "…And Justice For Jack" and "Furley vs. Furley" which aren't truly terrible, just not quite up to the usual standards. Season Five is still quite entertaining overall, especially considering this is the "uncomfortable middle ground" which many shows never manage to make it through.

As mentioned earlier, Season Five follows suit with past volumes, though the extras are a bit slimmer this time around. Even so, the series itself should be the real selling point, and all 22 episodes included look and sound good enough to please fans of the show. Let's look closer, shall we?

The menu styles for this season are consistent with those from the first four: appropriately themed backgrounds paired with the opening music to create the proper vintage atmosphere. While it's disappointing that these episodes still lack chapter stops, this is a relatively minor complaint for an otherwise decent presentation. Menus and bonus features, like the show itself, are all presented in a 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. The packaging is also similar to past seasons, as this four-disc set is housed in a digipak case with a partial slipcover. Strangely enough, Jenilee Harrison isn't so much as mentioned on the front cover, though it's advertised as "the last season with Suzanne Somers".

This isn't a loaded release---and Season Five is thinner than past collections---but it's nice to see that Anchor Bay has continued to include a few interesting extras. Besides for obligatory Highlight Reels for each major character (included here are separate clips for Jack, Janet, Cindy, Larry and Furley), fans are treated to a pair of short featurettes. First up is a newly recorded Interview with Jenilee Harrison (10 minutes); it's a fairly standard retrospective in which Harrison speaks warmly of her co-stars and what a huge break her role was. There's also Of Farce and Censors (10 minutes) with words from producers George Sunga and George Burditt as well as writer Kim Weiskopf, who go into moderate detail about the show's frequent trouble with Standards & Practices (including an amusing bit of "toilet humor" that caused some trouble). Even so, it's a shame we couldn't hear from Joyce DeWitt (or Suzanne Somers, especially given this season's circumstances).

Anchor Bay continues to impress followers of this classic sitcom with another solid 4-disc package. There's no doubt that the series took a small step sideways this season, but it's still a fairly entertaining batch of episodes (not to mention the last time the original cast would all be present). With a decent technical presentation and a small but interesting mix of extras, it's another strong collection for a reasonable price. Fans of the show can easily consider this one Recommended.