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Ritter's "Rules" Rules
He may be gone, but John Ritter still rules.
Viewers tuned in en masse for the second season premiere of Ritter's ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, the first of three episodes the actor completed before his sudden death two weeks ago.
Some 17 million viewers watched the episode, the highest ratings for any show Tuesday night, according to Nielsen Media Research. The numbers were also way up from the sitcom's average audience of 9.8 million viewers last season.
With 8 Simple Rules... anchoring the Alphabet net's prime-time Tuesday lineup, ABC dominated the ratings, easily winning the advertiser-adored adults 18-49 demo for the evening. And thanks to its 8 Simple Rules... lead in, the network's rookie sitcom I'm with Her launched with solid numbers at 8:30, beating its time slot competition, NBC's new John Larroquette-Christine Baranski yukfest Happy Family, 13.2 million viewers to 9.2 million.
The hugely popular Ritter, best known for his Emmy-winning pratfalls on ABC's Three's Company, died of a previously undiagnosed heart condition on September 11. He collapsed while rehearsing the fourth episode of 8 Simple Rules... and was rushed to a hospital, but doctors were unable to save him. He was 54.
While that unfinished episode has since been scrapped, ABC made the risky decision to continue with the show, which the network had counted on to be one of its top programs this season. Ritter's death will be incorporated into 8 Simple Rules...' storyline and the show will focus on the other characters in the ensemble, chiefly former Married...with Children matriarch Katey Sagal, Ritter's wife on the show. (The network has denied speculation that Ritter's friend and former Fonzie Henry Winkler will join the cast as the new father figure.)
We'll have to wait and see whether 8 Simple Rules... can maintain its momentum, but so far, fans keep watching Ritter. A Life of Laughter: Remembering John Ritter, an ABC News tribute to the tube star, drew 14 million viewers on September 16, making it last week's seventh-most watched show.
Meanwhile, Hollywood Squares will air five never-before-seen episodes featuring Ritter next week. The shows were taped over the summer. Winker, who produces the game show, will introduce each episode with a brief message.
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