I wonder if the actors that manhandled or roughed up John throughout the series worried about his safety during their performance.

Episodes like:
Mighty Mouth (John with the weight on his neck)
The Not-So-Great Imposter (the gangster banging his head on the pots and that woman)
Urban Plowboy (when John fell 6 feet into the hay)
Larry's Sister (when Larry punched Jack in the face, his fall off that livingroom step was awkward and he could've injured his head and neck)

Actually the guy in Urban Plowboy for about 2 seconds looked concerned when John stepped on the rake and smashed himself with it

I know I wince in "Honest Jack Tripper" when the girl (same actress who played Linda and also the mom in ALF) whacks John over the head with her blueprint folder. She hits him square on the top of the head and it sounds like it hurt.

Also when Joyce flips him over the couch in "Janet's Promotion," he looks like he was dazed. It was funny but also too real, lol.

John Ritter loved it, though. Dave Powers, the director, said that John would rehearse the physical stunts before the show so he knew exactly what he was doing. It looks like it was spontaneous, but he had it planned down to the second.

John really did get hurt. I think he knew just really falling down and getting hurt was going to make it truly funny. He always seemed to be okay in the end. He said he only got hurt once during the filming of the show. No actor does today what John did then. Physical comedy was somewhat moe popular at the time, but in our modern context John's stunts look absolutely legendary. Like who the hell these days would be willing to take the risk?

Which is the episode where Jack leans on the bathroom door as if it's a wall, and just flat out falls on his back? I know it was early in the series. To me that was the ultimate Ritter stunt.

Which is the episode where Jack leans on the bathroom door as if it's a wall, and just flat out falls on his back? I know it was early in the series. To me that was the ultimate Ritter stunt.

It was the tag scene in Chrissy's Date. It's also in the Season 3 opening credits. I always wondered if they had a mattress behind the door, since we don't see where he falls. He also often fell behind the couch---I hope there was a mat behind it.

Also, in the very first episode of the series, when he is climbing out of the tub and "slipping" on the wet floor---that looked painful and hard to control. If he had really slipped he would've sprained a hamstring or worse.

John was truly a professional at physical comedy, only other male performers that I can think of who would do pratfalls are Chevy Chase and Chris Farley.

John was truly a professional at physical comedy, only other male performers that I can think of who would do pratfalls are Chevy Chase and Chris Farley.

Jerry Lewis, which is how he ended up with chronic pain, and an addiction to pain pills.

Of course pratfalls goes way back to silent cinema with guys like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

John was truly a professional at physical comedy, only other male performers that I can think of who would do pratfalls are Chevy Chase and Chris Farley.


In my opinion two of the least funny 'comedians' ever. There were a lot of comedians that did pratfalls. Jackie Gleason, John Belushi, Sid Ceasar, Dick van Dyke, just to name a few.

I am hopefull they were very careful not to let anyone be hurt when they were making this!!

In Days of weeds and beer it really does look like the rake hits him in the head. He was such a good actor.
I am surprised no one mentioned the only time John said he was hurt on the set. In the episode A Night Not To Remember he is at dinner with Janet and her date. Jack is drunk and slips out of his chair below the table. John has said in interviews that his head hit the table and he was knocked out for several seconds. He is unconscious as slides below the table. That was not acting. They had to do the scene again but John says they used most of the footage of the first scene. He said if you look closely you can still see it happen..

Yes I think I remember when they were at the Beagel and he fell out of the chair!

It was not at the Beagal. It was at a restaurant. The interview of Ritter from the 1990s I think was on Conan when he talked about getting hurt on the episode. Surprisingly that was the only time he got hurt during the show.

I think the pratfalls behind the couches had some sort of padding .

There is also in the Season 5 episode 'Make Room For Daddy' in which Cindy is constantly whacking Jack with the ironing board, it's hilarious but they must've rehearsed that to a tee.