8 Simple Rules
| 8 Simple Rules | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Tracy Gamble |
| Starring | John Ritter Katey Sagal Kaley Cuoco Amy Davidson Martin Spanjers James Garner David Spade |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 76 |
| Production | |
| Running time |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 17, 2002 – April 15, 2005 |
8 Simple Rules (formerly known as 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter) was a United States television situation comedy that aired on ABC in the US and ABC1 in the UK.
It is set in Detroit, Michigan where it is about a married couple with three children. The father, Paul Hennessy, played by John Ritter, is a sportswriter who is prompted by his wife Cate's (Katey Sagal) return to nursing to take a more active role in raising their two teenage daughters and young son. The show, created by veteran comedy writer Tracy Gamble, derives its name and some of its elements from W. Bruce Cameron's book 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter (ISBN 0761123148).
On September 11, 2003, John Ritter suffered an aortic dissection and died hours later. ABC later announced that the show would continue after a hiatus, and would incorporate the death of Ritter's character. The three new episodes that Ritter completed were aired with reflections from the cast.
The show returned on November 4, 2003 with a one hour episode, "Goodbye", dedicated to Paul Hennessy's death. Subsequent episodes dealt with the family's reaction to his death and their moving on. The first four post-Ritter episodes were taped without a live audience, in a respectful transition from the shock of his passing. Suzanne Pleshette and James Garner guest starred as Cate's parents. David Spade later guest starred as Cate's wayward nephew. Both Garner and Spade eventually received starring roles.
Shortly after the third season finale, rumors began circulating that 8 Simple Rules was going to get cancelled. In its first season, the show ranked a respectable 42nd in the Nielsen Ratings. It did a little better when more viewers tuned in out of sympathy and curiosity after Ritter's unexpected death. But by the end of the second season, the show slipped to 50th. After ABC moved 8 Simple Rules to Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. it had fallen to 94th in the Nielsen standings. Some observers simply could not get beyond the tragic absence of John Ritter and welcomed its end. But others applauded the show's portrayal of a familly sticking together and growing after a staggering loss that millions of families have shared. Regardless of either view, it is certainly one of a few times, if not the only time, in television history that a series continued two full years beyond the death of its star.
But the Friday night ratings took their toll on the show that had already endured so much. The third season finale (in which Katey Sagal's character tells her family that she's been dating the school principal played by Adam Arkin) wasn't even aired for May sweeps. The finale received a 3.9/8 rating share which gave ABC a third place finish behind NBC's Dateline (5.8/11.) and CBS' Joan of Arcadia (4.9/10.) which happens to star John Ritter's son Jason.
Some viewers believe that the post-Ritter show hit a creative nadir when a third season episode parodied the movie Freaky Friday (the episode itself was aptly titled "Freaky Friday"). Viewers who stuck with the show after John Ritter's death found the Freaky Friday episode to be absolutely clichéd, predictable, and full of cheap sexual humor.
On May 17, 2005, 8 Simple Rules was officially cancelled by ABC. Less than two months later, on July 11, 2005, the WB television network announced it would air back-to-back repeats of all 76 episodes of "8 Simple Rules" from 4–5 p.m. weekdays beginning in January, 2006.
8 Simple Rules currently airs its first and second seasons in the UK on ABC1 and on Disney Channel UK.
Characters
- John Ritter as Paul Hennessy (2002-2003)
- Katey Sagal as Cate Egan Hennessy
- Martin Spanjers as Rory Joseph Hennessy
- Kaley Cuoco as Bridget Erin Hennessy
- Amy Davidson as Kerry Hennessy
- James Garner as Jim Egan (2003-2005)
- David Spade as C.J. Barnes (2004-2005)
- Billy Aaron Brown as Kyle
- Amanda MacDonald as Danielle
- Nikki Danielle Moore as Jenna Sharpe
Internal links
External links
- 8 Simple Rules at IMDb
- An online version of the original article at the author's web site
- 8 Simple Rules at TV.com
- 8 Simple Rules Fan Site