8 Simple Rules..... - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

bogey · 11-04-2003, 08:41 PM

I am watching 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. I've never watched a whole episode before but I had to see this one. John Ritter is gone. This was a tear jerking episode that really bumed me out.

Such a sad story.

bogey · 11-04-2003, 08:41 PM

The episode was titled....."Goodbye"

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

Nash13 · 11-04-2003, 11:16 PM

I probably watched about half of the first season.

How did they write off Ritter's character?

bogey · 11-05-2003, 12:33 AM

Automobile accident.

This was a classic show. Paul (Ritter) was a writer. He was working on a column when he died. All of the family had said or done things that they regretted. For instance, one of the daughters last words to her dad was "I hate you". In his final column he had written down examples of what was tearing up the entire family and revealed that he understood why they said or did the things they did. It was because they were family and even though some things were said or done that were rude, hurtful, etc.....there was always love behind the emotion. He gave them all a final gift with that column.....peace and a final confirmation that he knew they loved him....and that he loved them as well.

Classic tv episode.

Psychedelic Fuzz · 11-05-2003, 12:42 AM

I didn't get to watch it, and it sounds like a real tear jerker, but I'm kind of put off by the fact that they are continuing then show without him.

Murphy3 · 11-05-2003, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: bogey
Automobile accident.

This was a classic show. Paul (Ritter) was a writer. He was working on a column when he died. All of the family had said or done things that they regretted. For instance, one of the daughters last words to her dad was "I hate you". In his final column he had written down examples of what was tearing up the entire family and revealed that he understood why they said or did the things they did. It was because they were family and even though some things were said or done that were rude, hurtful, etc.....there was always love behind the emotion. He gave them all a final gift with that column.....peace and a final confirmation that he knew they loved him....and that he loved them as well.

Classic tv episode.

I've never seen the show before, but it always looked good. I'll have to tune in when they show the re-runs

bogey · 11-05-2003, 09:57 AM

I never really watched it either. Just parts here and there. It was always funny, but I was always busy or soemsuch. I watched this one the entire way though. It was sad, inspiring....and a lot more.

MavsFanatik33 · 11-05-2003, 05:47 PM

Such a dumb episode, they should've ended it after the 3 this season that John Ritter taped. What are they doing to do next week, act like he's not dead and make it a comedy again. John Ritter was teh start of that show and you cant replace him. They said next season they will introduce a step-dad for a father figure for the show. This is all a horrible idea....

Murphy3 · 11-05-2003, 05:55 PM

shades of 'The Hogans' ..'Valerie's Family' or whatever it was... with Jason Bateman

Murphy3 · 11-06-2003, 09:49 AM

'Rules' Back Without Ritter
Nov 5, 8:06 AM EST

Associated Press

When John Ritter died a few weeks ago, his ABC sitcom seemed doomed as well.

But pausing only long enough for a drastic but delicate makeover, "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" was back Tuesday night to confront Ritter's tragic absence and the death of the character he played.

The hour-long episode began with the usual domestic foolishness as the Hennessy household began an ordinary hectic morning. Then, preparing breakfast, wife Cate (Katey Sagal) and the three teenagers got a fateful phone call: Patriarch Paul Hennessy (Ritter's character), who had dashed out to buy milk, had died of a heart attack at the grocery.

After a commercial break, preparations for the funeral were under way as Cate's parents arrived.

"Can I get you something?" asked Cate's mom (played by Suzanne Pleshette).

"Yesterday would be nice," Cate replied.

Pleshette and fellow guest star James Garner, as Cate's dad, are on hand for several episodes to serve "8 Simple Rules..." in somewhat the same way as their characters: Lending support as the Hennessy family makes the transition to life without Paul, the harried dad and newspaper columnist played by Ritter, the show's much-loved star.

The two veteran TV favorites did the trick, lending a comfortable presence, particularly with their intermittent bickering: This feisty couple have long been separated.

During the hour in various combinations, all the characters grieved, reminisced and paid tribute — and what they said often seemed to apply as much to Ritter as Paul Hennessy.

While his gramps did an emergency repair on the upstairs toilet, son Rory (Martin Spanjers) recalled how his dad retreated to the bathroom when a column deadline was pressing.

"Once in a while Mom would knock on the door to make sure he didn't fall in," Rory said.

Then Cate sat with her daughters in a lonely bedroom.

"You know what his last words to me were? 'Hasta la vista, baby!' Such a cornball," she laughed.

"You know what I'm going to miss about Dad?" said Kerry (Amy Davidson). "Those bogus pancakes he used to make. Like eating Tupperware covers."

"Pancake mix and water!" said Bridget (Kaley Cuoco). "How do you mess that up?"

Ritter had completed three episodes for the new season when he died of a heart ailment Sept. 11. His last episode aired Oct. 7.

Gambling that a lighthearted sitcom can sustain the loss of its central figure, "8 Simple Rules..." is making a desperate bid to carry on as one of ABC's higher-rated series. Doing so, the producers and the network have risked conspicuous failure as well as criticism for tastelessness.

It's hard to say where the show might go now. But with Tuesday's lovely episode, at least, "8 Simple Rules..." made their efforts worthwhile. It rose to the sad, unsought occasion.

MavsFanatik33 · 11-08-2003, 04:13 PM

Wanted to bump this up since the re-broadcast is tonight....

arsenalth9 · 11-08-2003, 04:26 PM

lol im kinda late on this...but o well

i watched the first season, and i found it to be one of my favorite shows, really funny stuff.

after i heard he died i didn't bother watching it anyomre, i didnt see the point. I agree with Mavsfanatik, it should have been canceled...its pointless to keep it going.