Hmm

[dancerjodi]

I guess John Ritter's show will go on without him: see here

Since it was conceived as a comedy this will change the show quite a bit (the characters will be reacting to the death of their on-show Dad). I'm wondering if it will keep its popularity.

This reminds me of with Mr. Hooper died and how the Children's Television Workshop handled it in a similar way, only they used it as an opportunity to teach kids about dealing with the death of a loved one.

Comments

it's a positive thing

[dawntreader]

personally, i think it's a great idea. they were talking to Priscilla Barnes and Richard Kline on saturday (Terri Alden and Larry from Three's Company) who said John Ritter's greatest joy was making people laugh and making sure eveyrone had a good time.

they both said they didn't think he would want the network to scrap the show because he was gone.

they have three episodes in the can. it's going to be torture for those actors to play the part of a family who lost their dad. it's so sad.

in a way, yes it's cashing in on horrible circumstances. but i think it would be disservice to his memory if they scrapped the show because of his death.

as for the Mr. Hooper thing, i remember that. i thought it was sad at the time, even though i wasn't completely clear on what was going on. looking back, tho, i can't believe they pulled it off so well. the muppets tribute to Jim Henson was much more an emotional thing for me, and again, just as necessary and lovingly done.

they'd never do it nowadays tho for a kids show. kids are so fragile you know. you have to protect them from everything including learning about life circumstances. /rant

[dawntreader]

thanks for sharing the link by the way. that was a really awesome story.

[rantarn.livejournal.com]

Although I have never seen the show, I hope it continues. Some shows do okay like that, especially when they have a good ensemble cast to make up for the loss. Others just don't. News Radio wasn't the same after Phil Hartman died, for example.