John Ritter Dead At 54

[reismark]

Well, there goes another of ABC's foundations...

[Q Classic]

reagan had an attempt on his life, which i count. most of the attempts before that were just successful.

[JohnT]

Well, there was no attempt on FDR's life while he was President, so your "cycle" extends to just two Presidencies.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

He died in office, so that sticks with the cycle.

Bush almost choked on a pretzel...does that count?

[Drake Tungsten]

He died in office, so that sticks with the cycle.

Not if you're claiming an assassination-attempt cycle like Q^3 is. You can either have a death cycle (which Reagan ended) or an assassination-attempt cycle (which only goes back two presidencies), not both at the same time.

[JohnT]

Yeah, there was a "death" cycle but not an "assassination" cycle.

[JohnT]

I wonder how the show is going to deal with this. They haven't premiered the season opener yet (I checked), and I'm sure things are just totally anarchic on the set right now.

Imo, I would air the completed shows and then have an episode dealing with the death of the father, thereby ending the series.

I can't recall the last time a major character in a TV show died while it was being taped - Laura thought of "Good Times", but the actor playing the father is very much alive - John Amos was just kicked off the show and "killed" as a character. Coach of "Cheers" died, but his was a supporting role.

I'm pretty sure it happened, though - I've got a good case of "tip-of-the-tongue"-itis which means I'm forgetting something obvious.

[FrustratedPoet]

I can't recall the last time a major character in a TV show died while it was being taped

One of the principle actresses from a BBC hospital drama (Casualty I think, or maybe it was Holby City) recently died during a filming run of the show. She fell from her boyfriend's balcony at his flat in London. They wrote her out of the show by making her character win the lottery and run off without telling anyone (it was the actresses' family's idea).

[Jac de Molay]

Man, first Cash then this?!

What the hell's going on? Is there some weird planetary alignment going on this week?

[Drake Tungsten]

Man, first Cash then this?!

Well, technically it was first this, then Cash.

[reismark]

Originally posted by JohnT
I wonder how the show is going to deal with this. They haven't premiered the season opener yet (I checked), and I'm sure things are just totally anarchic on the set right now.

Considering that the show revolved around him for the most part (half the humor was in him busting on the shenangians of the daughters) I'd have to say 8 Simple Rules is done. There's no way they can recast him - just wouldn't be the same. I wouldn't be surprised if the premiere never sees the light of day.

Like I said, this really hurts ABC - 8 Simple Rules was one of their few bright spots last year.

The most recent example I can think of is Phil Hartman on Newsradio. They tried to go on without him, but it just wasn't the same and the show itself had been lagging in recent years anyway.

[My Wife Hates CIV]

dissection of aorta - ? someone explain.

[Q Classic]

his aorta ruptured. i'm sure there are more technical definitions, but darned if i know them.

[My Wife Hates CIV]

that had to hurt. never really heard of that.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by reismark
The most recent example I can think of is Phil Hartman on Newsradio. They tried to go on without him, but it just wasn't the same and the show itself had been lagging in recent years anyway.

That's it! Thanks.