HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Producers Jeff Mullen and Scott David of X-Play are jazzed about Not Three's Company XXX, their latest X-Play sitcom parody arriving on DVD March 3 from Hustler Video.
"I really think John Ritter would have loved it," said Mullen. "Growing up, I was a huge fan of Three's Company. The Jack Tripper character was the kind of guy that everybody wanted to be friends with, and from what I’ve heard, John Ritter was every bit as cool as Tripper...plus, he loved music."
Music was the final element added to X-Play's pornographic spoof of the 1970s ABC television series. Co-producer Scott David spoke about the effort that went into recreating the classic TV sitcom score.
"Jeff writes and produces all of our music, and he takes the process very seriously," David said. "He spends a lot of time in the studio capturing the essence of the original style, and then writes his own music for each of our sex comedies.
"Plus, with the entire John Ritter musical legacy with his dad, I really think it was even more important for Jeff to nail this one perfectly."
David was alluding to the fact that Ritter's father, the legendary country musician Tex Ritter, was among the first artists to sign with Capitol Records. The famous Capitol building is located just a few feet away from the X-Play offices at Hollywood & Vine.
"You really can’t do a great job of parody unless you get every detail right, and music is an important detail for sure," Mullen said. "We came about as close as we could with the music on this one without getting ourselves arrested. There’s no chicka-chicka-bow-wow with our stuff. Unless we decide to produce Not Shaft XXX, of course."
One of the five BTS features on the DVD takes a look at the making of the musical soundtrack. Fans can listen to the theme musiconline at www.notthreescompanyxxx.com or at www.sitcums.com.
The movie's synopsis reads like an episode from the TV show: "When Jack loses his restaurant job, the gang can’t afford rent. So Chrissy picks up a night job, leading Janet, Jack & the Ropers to think she’s become a hooker."
Mullen believes the late, great Ritter would have seen the humor in this.
"It’s too bad that John Ritter had to die at such a young age," Mullen said. "He was a great man and I would have loved to hear what he had to say about our movie on a TV show like Entertainment Tonight or The Insider."
But what will Suzanne Somers think?
"I hope Suzanne Somers doesn’t get mad when she hears about it, because she might crush me with a thigh master," Mullen said.
Directed by Will Ryder, Not Three’s Company XXX stars Brynn Tyler as Chrissy, Penny Flame as Janet and Van Damage as Jack. The movie also features Nina Hartley as Mrs. Roper, Dino Bravo as Mr. Roper, Sienna West as Lana, Tommy Gunn as Larry, and Scott Lyons as Mr. Furley. Jenny Hendrix plays "the prostitute", Madison Scott plays Chrissy’s little sister, and Ron Jeremy guest stars as "Jim the Bartender". Allyssa Hall, Roxy Jezel, Cynthia Van Damage, James Bartholet, and Eric Swiss complete the cast.
Check out all of X-Play's sitcom parodies at sitcums.com.
