According to a new biography coming out later this month, in 1978, while contemplating a possible Presidential run, then former actor-turned-Governor Ronald Reagan took a chance at sit-com glory in the popular series 'Three's Company" as a recurring supporting character ala "Fonzie" or "Dwayne Shneider". "He was kind of depressed following the Dem's relative good showing in the 1978 mid-term elections" said a Reagan friend. He took his agent up on the role of Russell Patton IV, an eccentric divorced philanderer who was going to live in the same apartment building as Jack and the girls. The producers were trying to make his ex-wife an off-screen character mentioned, but never seen, a popular plot device used in TV shows in those days. He was going to have a catch-phrase "What's up with all the folderol?", another popular gimmick used in TV at the time. Luckily for the Republican Party, Reagan backed out of the entire deal after only a few days of shooting and returned to his political career. "He thought the whole thing was kind of prurient," said the friend. "He also thought John Ritter was a bit of a douche."
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