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Emotions Rule As 'Simple' Continues
« on: Nov 11th, 2003, 8:50am » |
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Emotions Rule As 'Simple' Continues
By Jay Bobbin
The "Rules" on John Ritter's former sitcom may be simple, but the current emotions on the set are not.
ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" has resumed on Tuesday nights without the star it was built around. The show's second season began in September following the sudden death of the much-beloved Ritter.
This month's episodes feature television icon James Garner as the father of the newly widowed Cate Hennessy, played by Katey Sagal. Veteran actress Suzanne Pleshette also is appearing in some of the stories as Cate's maritally estranged mother.
"We had never really talked about Paul's [Ritter's character] or Cate's parents," Sagal says, "but this casting makes me understand why Cate married Paul, based on who her parents are. That's kind of what we all do."
Pleshette had visited the "8 Simple Rules" set last season when her husband, Tom Poston ("Newhart"), was a guest star. "I had never met James Garner," Sagal reports, "but when I heard that he was going to do this, I just went, 'Wow.' I don't know who planted the idea, but it was so right."
For the "8 Simple Rules" co-stars who play Sagal's children -- Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson and Martin Spanjers -- Ritter's passing is one of their first significant losses. "I think there's a natural sense of responsibility that comes with having been someplace that someone else hasn't," Sagal says of emotionally supporting the younger cast members.
"This is a very loving group of people, and I've felt really taken care of myself. John just raised the bar of who people are. He was kind and thoughtful to everybody."
In dealing with the death within the show, Sagal reasons, "The only way to do it was to do it truthfully, to tell the story of a family that has suffered a sudden loss. John was the father of this family, in the context of both the show and the work environment. The decision to keep us together is a part of honoring John, of healing, and of getting through something that just took the wind out of everybody."
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