benjamoon
10-10-2003, 02:51 PM
from Zap2It.com
http://images.zap2it.com/20030925/8simplerules_240_003.jpg
"ABC Schedule Set for 'Rules' Hiatus"
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - On Tuesday night (Oct. 7), nearly 18 million viewers tuned in to ABC and said goodbye to John Ritter. The final episode of "8 Simple Rules" to feature the late actor set series records for total viewers and for ratings among adults 18-49 (7.1 rating/21 share in the popular demographic). Now, ABC has begun its plan to move on.
Almost immediately following Ritter's death, ABC announced that the show would go on without him. Tuesday's episode was the last of three new episodes that Ritter had completed before his death. ABC has always intended for the show to go on a brief hiatus while the writers conceive of what can only be described as a massive shift in tone for the second-year comedy.
That puts Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. in limbo for a while. The fallow period will actually begin with a repeat of "8 Simple Rules" on Oct. 14. ABC will reair last season's "Come and Knock on Our Door" episode, which featured a "Three's Company"-inspired dream sequence. The next week, will see the 8 p.m. slot filled with "According to Jim" and on Oct. 28, ABC will take the opportunity to air the classic holiday special "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
That would position ABC perfectly to have "8 Simple Rules" return with a very special hour-long episode on either Nov. 4 (the first Tuesday of the sweeps period) or the week after (still comfortably during sweeps). The network has yet to officially announce plans for the show's dramatic return, but given the likelihood that viewer curiosity will yield huge audiences, a sweeps relaunch seems inevitable.
http://images.zap2it.com/20030925/8simplerules_240_003.jpg
"ABC Schedule Set for 'Rules' Hiatus"
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - On Tuesday night (Oct. 7), nearly 18 million viewers tuned in to ABC and said goodbye to John Ritter. The final episode of "8 Simple Rules" to feature the late actor set series records for total viewers and for ratings among adults 18-49 (7.1 rating/21 share in the popular demographic). Now, ABC has begun its plan to move on.
Almost immediately following Ritter's death, ABC announced that the show would go on without him. Tuesday's episode was the last of three new episodes that Ritter had completed before his death. ABC has always intended for the show to go on a brief hiatus while the writers conceive of what can only be described as a massive shift in tone for the second-year comedy.
That puts Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. in limbo for a while. The fallow period will actually begin with a repeat of "8 Simple Rules" on Oct. 14. ABC will reair last season's "Come and Knock on Our Door" episode, which featured a "Three's Company"-inspired dream sequence. The next week, will see the 8 p.m. slot filled with "According to Jim" and on Oct. 28, ABC will take the opportunity to air the classic holiday special "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
That would position ABC perfectly to have "8 Simple Rules" return with a very special hour-long episode on either Nov. 4 (the first Tuesday of the sweeps period) or the week after (still comfortably during sweeps). The network has yet to officially announce plans for the show's dramatic return, but given the likelihood that viewer curiosity will yield huge audiences, a sweeps relaunch seems inevitable.