I think once he died, the show should've been cancelled.

I think so too. IMO John was the heart of the show

I think they made the right move. John would not have wanted all those people to lose their jobs. It was a great tribute to John to continue and I'm glad they went on for another 2 seasons.

I'm glad they went on without him. There was no replacing him, that's for sure. But it was nice seeing James Garner on a sitcom and Spade's return to sitcoms. I enjoyed the show the whole way through, and wished it had continued past it's third season.

I'm glad they continued. It was still good.

I liked how they handled John's death in the second season but I wasn't as interested by the 3rd season. I'm just not a David Spade fan although I did like James Garner on the show.

They should've continued to mid-season and then gone off the air.

I think it should have continued. I like how they brought in James Garner as the grandfather, but think they should have played up him raising Kate (his teenage daughter). I think it was a mistake bringing in David Spade. His character changed the show for the worse.

Even though I missed John Ritter when he was off the show, I enjoyed seeing the family try to cope with the death of the dad. I also enjoyed seeing CJ and Grandpa on the show in season 2 and 3. They regulary play the Ritter shows on ABC Family, as a matter of fact the pilot episode of 8 simple rules is on tomorrow Dec.1,2010 and so is Wall of Shame.They have the Ritter episodes of 8 simple rules on youtube so anytime you miss John Ritter on 8 simple rules, you can see him.I am glad they did the show for season 2 and 3 even though Ritter was only in a couple episodes from season 2.They had already started to film season 2 episodes before Ritter passed away.When they show season 1 episodes without Grandpa and CJ, I miss seeing them.When they show season 2 and 3 episodes with CJ and Grandpa, I miss seeing John Ritter who played Paul.

it's very useful

I think they made the right move. John would not have wanted all those people to lose their jobs. It was a great tribute to John to continue and I'm glad they went on for another 2 seasons.

I never thought about that, but I don't think he would have wanted anyone to lose their jobs because of him being gone either. Good point and I think he would have been happy that it continued. I mean, had he still been alive who knows how long it would have lasted.



I think it should have continued. I like how they brought in James Garner as the grandfather, but think they should have played up him raising Kate (his teenage daughter). I think it was a mistake bringing in David Spade. His character changed the show for the worse.
I very much agree with this. David Spade was funny at first but it brought the show down and made it like all the other shows out there, IMO. I did like James Garner as the grandfather, though.

I liked how they handled John's death in the second season but I wasn't as interested by the 3rd season. I'm just not a David Spade fan although I did like James Garner on the show.

I thought they handled John's death very well because he was probably a father figure to the kids so it made it easier to show their emotions on screen. I love how they shot the first episode without him using no background laughter. I remember watching that and thinking about how proud he must have been to see that tribute to him.

JOHN RITTER could never be replaced ,i think the show had a little trouble with direction after his death but it had some funny moments after john would have liked it i think.

I too think the show have been cancelled. David Spade sucks big time anyway.

I agree, John Ritter wouldn't have wanted the show to be cancelled just because of him... i'm glad they went on with it.

I liked how they handled John's death in the second season but I wasn't as interested by the 3rd season. I'm just not a David Spade fan although I did like James Garner on the show.

Seeing how The Goldbergs (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/122533-season-9-discussion/) addressed recent death of George Segal, I started to wonder if 8 Simple Rules also would've been better served had it too done a "time jump". Instead, the show played with John Ritter/Paul Hennessey's death virtually in real time.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'm not comfortable watching a TV show, which essentially recreates the moments when a character died to explain why the actor playing said character is no longer going to be around. It basically feels like we're reliving the sadness and sheer shock of John's death, instead of giving us the viewers some space and time to grieve too.