‘Young & The Restless’ Star Melody Thomas Scott Reveals Her Surprising ‘Three’s Company’ Connection
The Young & The Restless star Melody Thomas Scott said she had some interesting “run-ins” with the cast of Three’s Company while working at CBS Television City back in the day.
The actress, who is best known for her long-running role as Nikki Newman on the CBS soap, opened up about her life as a young actress in her memoir, Always Young and Restless: My Life On and Off America’s #1 Daytime Drama, where she dished about her “crossovers” with other popular 1970s TV shows when she first started on Y&R in 1979.
In an interview with TV Insider, Melody revealed that, back then, Television City was a very busy lot with the daytime shows The Young & The Restless, The Price Is Right, and, later, The Bold and the Beautiful. But the popular ABC comedy Three’s Company also shared place at the famous Los Angeles TV studio.
In the interview, Melody revealed that she recalled the “turbulent” era of Three’s Company during which there was a feud between the show’s main stars John Ritter (Jack) and Joyce DeWitt (Janet) and their co-star Suzanne Somers (Chrissy).
“If they were walking towards Suzanne, they’d turn away. I had both John and Joyce at separate times frantically knock on my dressing room door, which was in the main hallway. I opened my door once and John Ritter was there and he said, ‘Hi, I’m so sorry. I’m John Ritter. Can I come in here for a minute?’ I said, ‘Sure, okay!’ Initially, I had no idea what was going on.”
Suzanne ultimately left the show over her unfair pay after five seasons on the sitcom, and she was replaced by newcomer Jenilee Harrison, who played her character’s ditzy cousin, Cindy Snow.
In another Three’s Company twist, Melody shut down rumors about the father of her daughter Alexandra. When she had been dating Y&R makeup artist Carlos Yeaggy and became pregnant with their daughter, she initially kept the romance a secret and referred to her boyfriend as “Richard.” That led some people to think she was dating Three’s Company actor Richard Kline.
Melody confirmed that she has never met Richard, who played Jack Tripper’s playboy pal Larry Dallas on Three’s Company.
Interestingly, a Three’s Company guest star once played Melody’s character on Y&R. Robin Eisenman, who guest-starred as Mr. Furley’s (Don Knotts) niece and Jack’s date in the Season 5 episode “Double Trouble,” temporarily replaced Melody as Nikki Newman on Y&R in 1984, per IMDB.
In addition to Three’s Company, Melody had some other sitcom connections. In her memoir, the actress revealed that she was almost cast as Marcia Brady on the classic ABC comedy The Brady Bunch but lost the role to Maureen McCormick due to her height.
