Death of TV's John Ritter leaves sitcom's future unsure

There will be one primetime comedy tonight that will be airing a rerun. It won't be because the network executives are pulling the show due to poor ratings, and it isn't because it is serving as a replacement for another failed sitcom. It's because the heart of the show, John Ritter who effortlessly played the 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter's lead male character, Paul Hennessy, passed away last month.

Ritter was the nucleus of the show about a neurotic and overprotective father of three teenage kids: Rory, the wisecracking and romantically insecure son, Kerry, the artsy and underappreciated daughter, and Bridget, the stereotypical vapid and beautiful blonde. As each go out on their romantic escapades, Paul's reaction and relationship with their respective dates creates the situation for hilarious scenes with witty one-liners. Paul's wife, Kate, served as the "straight man" foil to his wildly animated anxiety over his daughters' safety. While most every episode had a morally conclusive ending, it rarely came across as preachy and patronizing as if it were a Full House episode.

Seventeen million viewers tuned in to Ritter's final episode of 8 Simple Rules...last week. It was an astounding number considering that the show had not attracted that many viewers since its series premiere in September of 2002. The sitcom became the lone bright spot in ABC's comedic offerings last year, and was meant to be the flagship program of the network's Tuesday night lineup this year. The new series I'm With Her had hoped to reap the benefits of 8 Simple Rules...'s large audience by following it in the 8:30 time slot. Yet all of these prognoses meant nothing with the shocking death of Ritter.

The cast was in the process of taping the show's fourth episode when Ritter collapsed on the set, only to die later from heart failure, the result of an undiagnosed coronary problem. The news of Ritter's death jolted and shocked the Hollywood establishment. Many were thrilled to see the former television star back in his element in the second season of the modest hit 8 Simple Rules...

After the end of Three's Company, the sitcom that made Ritter a star, the actor attempted a couple of failed sitcoms and bit movie roles until landing the part of Paul Hennessy last year. It was as Jack Tripper on Three's Company that Ritter became a household name and racked up Golden Globes and Emmys for his performances. Playing a straight man posing as a gay man in order to live with two beautiful and buxom women, Ritter exhibited an understanding of slapstick comedy at a Lucille Ball level. Cast alongside television legend Don Knotts and the ebullient Suzanne Somers, Ritter shone and his show became a comedic standard throughout the early 1980s. It is because of this brilliance that tonight's episode of 8 Simple Rules...is one that aired last year, and the cast's favorite, as it is a spoof of Three's Company, with his children in the roles of Jack, Janet, and Chrissy.

The death of a major character in a television series is not a tragedy unique to 8 Simple Rules...The cast of NewsRadio was hit hard by the loss of leading man Phil Hartman when he was murdered by his wife, and the show never recovered in terms of quality or viewership. On Cheers, Nicholas Colasanto, who played the proprietor of the bar "Coach," died after the third season of the wildly adored show. To replace him, the producers cast Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd, and Cheers never missed a beat.

Specific plans have still not been made for whenever the show returns, although Ritter's character will most definitely not be replaced by another actor in the same role. The first episodes that air will deal with Ritter's death. Rumors have swirled that Henry Winkler, of Happy Days fame, will take on a fatherly figure in the show as the uncle of the three children.

Ritter's death has left a gaping hole in the lives, hearts, and careers of the cast of 8 Simple Rules... Here's hoping that 8 Simple Rules... has the same degree of good fortune as Cheers and misses the pratfalls of NewsRadio. The spirit of John Ritter deserves it.