A Character Analysis of Jack Tripper

Physical comedy is when characters would cause extreme and exaggerated pain to themselves to convey laughter to an audience. Farce is when characters would be involved in unlikely situations such as hiding as a lamp or pretending to be a statue; everybody, but a few characters within the story, would know that that character is trying to get away with something (TheFreeDictionaly.com). Misunderstanding is when characters would jump to conclusions about a character(s) without completely learning the situation. In Three's Company, the fictional character Jack Tripper is a phenomenal comic character because he is good at physical comedy, farce, and misunderstanding.

Physical Comedy was Jack's forte because the audience could see how much pain and discomfort he had to endure when something physically happened to him. For example, in the episode "Jack's Navy Pal", Jack was forced to hit his old Navy acquaintance, Jim Walsh. At first, Jack refused. Then Walsh decided to terrorize Jack, his roommates, and the Ropers until Jack finally agreed to hit him. When Jack struck Walsh, he hit Jack instead. As Jack was struck, he made a silly face as he fell down. Jack making a funny face was an exaggeration because nobody would make a funny face when they get struck. Jack's facial expression was what made his physical comedy work so well.

Jack often misunderstood most situations he was in (misunderstanding was a common them in Three's Company). When Jack learned of a situation, he always jumped to conclusions without getting understanding all of the facts. In the episode, "Janet's Promotion", Janet was passed for promotion because Chloe, her co-worker, was extremely voluptuous. Janet decided to fight back by considering a bust enlargement to persuade her boss to reconsider her for the position. When Jack saw Chrissy with photos of Janet's potential bust enlargement, he marched to Janet's room to persuade her to stop with the procedure. But when Janet walked out the door, the job was already done. When Janet asked Jack about her new look, Jack could not responded properly because he was tripping over his own words. But Jack learned that Janet's enlarged bust was false when she pulled out a bundle of socks for Jack to hold while she showered. Jack's misunderstanding was funny because he interpreted Janet's bust job as a reality when it really was not. In the end, Chloe left because she learned that her boss was not interested in her skills but her looks. Ultimately, Janet got the promotion without any change to her figure. In misunderstanding, the situation usually works out with the characters getting they want.

Jack's comic prowess was also in the act of Farce. Jack used farce extremely well in the episode "Double Trouble". In this episode, Jack posed as his own twin, Austin, in order to court Ralph Furley's beautiful niece (Ralph Furley became the new landlord when Stanley Roper was written off the series). Throughout the episode, Jack would stand behind the couch at opposite ends posing as Austin with a cowboy hat. When Furley looked for Jack, Jack would be kneeling down looking innocent as himself. In the end Jack's farcical performance fooled Furley, as he never learned about Jack's deception. This episode was a good example of a Farce because it is impossible to be at two places at once, but Jack made it possible he knew when Furley was going to look at him as Austin and as himself.

To summarize, Jack tripper was an outstanding comic character because the actor (John Ritter) knew how to maximize physical, farce and misunderstanding in comedy. If anyone else played Jack Tripper, I don't believe that Jack would be the comic character that he was. In order for an audience to love comic characters, they have to maintain their routine throughout each episode. Also, comic characters must have a serious side, on occasion, to demonstrate that they are human in order for an audience to like them.

Works Cited

Television Episodes:

"Double Trouble". Three's Company. September 27, 1977.

"Jack's Navy Pal". Three's Company. February 7, 1978.

"Janet's Promotion" Three's Company. March 24, 1981.

Websites:

Farce. www.thereedictionary.com

Jack Tripper. www.wikipedia.org

List of Three's Company Episodes. www.wikipedia.org

Physical Comedy. www.wikipedia.org