Landlord from Hell

The gang's landlord is slacking on fixing things in the building, so the tenants fight back, usually with a rent strike. This leads to an all-out war, which often involves the landlord turning off the heat, electricity, and/or water.

What's Happening!!

Appearances

• Car 54, Where Are You?: Season 1, episode 10, "Thirty Days Notice" (1961). The Toodys' apartment is falling apart: the electricity only works intermittantly, the windows get stuck, the refrigerator door won't open, and the stove explodes whenever Lucille lights it. Gunther gets fed up and tells the landlord they're moving out, but he immediately regrets it when he realizes they can't afford any other apartment in New York.
• Good Times: Season 1, episode 9, "The Visitor" (1974). Conditions in the Evans family's building are getting worse every day: the elevator never works (forcing them to climb 17 flights of stairs), their phone doesn't work, their refrigerator is broken, and their water isn't running. Michael gets fed up and writes a letter to a local newspaper, which prompts a housing authority official to pay them a visit and experience the poor conditions for himself.
• The Odd Couple: Season 5, episode 17, "The Rent Strike" (1975). Felix gets the tenants of the building together to protest the manager's lackluster attitude toward making repairs, and when he learns that the manager intends to raise the rent, he joins the others in a rent strike, which prompts the landlord to turn off their heat and remove their doors.
• The Bob Newhart Show: Season 5, episode 5, "The Great Rent Strike" (1976). When things start breaking in his apartment, and he can't get his landlord on the phone, Bob tries to organize a rent strike with the other tenants in the building, but nobody wants to join him, so he asks Mr. Carlin for help. Instead of helping, Mr. Carlin buys the building, and he's just as bad as the previous landlord.
• What's Happening!!: Season 3, episode 17, "The Eviction" (1979). Raj and Rerun's apartment building is falling into disrepair, and their new landlord's not lifting a finger to fix anything, so Raj rallies all the tenants in the building to demand that the landlord do his job. The landlord respons by evicting them, and the other tenants go on a rent strike until he lets them move back in.
• Perfect Strangers: Season 2, episode 10, "The Rent Strike" (1986). Mr. Twincetti is letting the apartment building fall into disrepair, and Larry is fed up, so he gets all other tenants together to demand that Twinkacetti make repairs. When he refuses, Larry calls for a rent strike, and Twinkacetti responds by turning off the heat, water, and electricity, but he finally gives in when he racks up a hefty gambling debt and needs money fast.
• Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place: Season 1, episode 13, "Two Guys, a Girl and a Landlord" (1998). The mysterious new landlord has been terrorizing his tenants with a strict "uniformity code," including making Pete's satellite dish disappear. Pete gets revenge by putting welcome mats and tacky wreaths on all the apartment doors. This leads to a war between the landlord and Pete, and Berg joins in when the landlord turns off the heat, killing his trained goldfish.