While the late Loni Anderson, who passed on August 3, 2025, at the age of 79, was perhaps best known for her role in WKRP in Cincinnati, she was almost the star of a very different iconic 1970s sitcom. In the mid-’70s, as Three’s Company was coming together, Anderson auditioned for the role of Chrissy Snow. At the time, she had been steadily working in television with guest appearances, but she had not yet landed the role that would make her a household name.
John Ritter, who would go on to play Jack Tripper, later recalled that Anderson gave a solid audition. However, according to the Hollywood Reporter, in Chris Mann’s 1998 book, Come and Knock on My Door, Ritter said that Anderson was “too beautiful, too savvy. No one would believe she couldn’t live in her own apartment, that she would have to struggle to get the rent paid.”
The producers made their final decision at the last minute. Suzanne Somers, who had previously been passed over, ended up getting the role thanks to a stroke of luck; ABC executive Fred Silverman was reviewing audition tapes just one day before production began, when he spotted Somers and felt she was perfect. He acted quickly to cast her, and she joined the show with almost no time to spare.
In the end, Somers became Chrissy, Ritter got the role of Jack and Joyce DeWitt was cast as Janet Wood. Interestingly, Anderson later appeared on Three’s Company in a guest role. In season two, she played Susan Walters, a woman Jack was interested in. That small appearance helped raise her profile and soon led to her breakthrough as Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati, a role that defined her career and turned her into a star. Do you remember when she appeared on Three’s Company? Can you see her as Chrissy or do you think Somers did the best job?
