LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Forty years ago today, the TV show "Three's Company" aired its final original broadcast.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME AND KNOCK ON OUR DOOR (THREE'S COMPANY THEME)")
RAY CHARLES: (Singing) Come and knock on our door.
JULIA RINKER MILLER: (Singing) Come and knock on our door.
CHARLES: (Singing) We've been waiting for you.
FADEL: Who could have guessed that one of their minor characters would emerge as a 21st century pop culture icon? NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hi, Helen.
NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: This bar in Ypsilanti, Mich., has been taken over by dozens of people resplendent in colorful muumuus, red curly wigs and chunky 1970s-style jewelry. People older than 40 know this look. It's Helen Roper's. She was the wacky landlady on "Three's Company."
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: You have to say, hi, Helen, when new Helens come in.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Hi, Helen (whooping).
ULABY: Renea Wright showed up in a blue and pink kaftan and with two of her cousins.
RENEA WRIGHT: I am so glad that they didn't think this was weird.
ULABY: And a very tall man named Jason Ringholz in a rainbow-colored kaftan is here, along with his wife.
JASON RINGHOLZ: This is my second time doing this with her. So...
KERRI PEPPERMAN: Fourth time.
RINGHOLZ: Fourth time actually.
ULABY: The Mrs. Roper Romp is a pop culture phenomenon that started back in 2013.
JEN LEWIS: I believe New Orleans is where it occurred first, and then San Diego.
ULABY: That's Jen Lewis. She's the local organizer of this bar crawl. The romps happen all over the world.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Hi, Helen.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Hi, Helen.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: Hi, Helen.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: Hi, Helen.
ULABY: What is it about Mrs. Roper that you feel speaks to this historical moment?
ANGEL VANAS: It's just the fun, the silliness of it.
ULABY: A Helen named Angel Vanas says there's something loopy and chaotic about the character. And that's what feels relevant to her as she gets older.
VANAS: If we want to run around in kaftans with the gaudiest jewelry we can find, with fantastically curly hair - guess what? - we can do that because there's no rules now.
ULABY: Somewhere, Mrs. Roper is smiling. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME AND KNOCK ON OUR DOOR (THREE'S COMPANY THEME)")
CHARLES: (Singing) Come and dance on our floor.
RINKER MILLER: (Singing) Come and dance on our floor.
CHARLES: (Singing) Take a step that is new.
RINKER MILLER: (Singing) Take a step that is new.
CHARLES: (Singing) We've a loveable...
RAY CHARLES AND JULIA RINKER MILLER: ...(Singing) Space that needs your face. Three's company, too.
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