Although this was such a sad episode it was a very fitting tribute to John Ritter. Katy Segal and the rest of the cast did an excellent job and this show will go on! This was the first of four separate episodes dealing with Paul's death. Please comment.

As far as I am concerned, Katey deserves not only an Emmy nomination, but the award as well. She and the rest of the cast did a exellent job in that episode. Writing the death of a character into a show is always difficult. Look at Dallas, The Royal Family, etc. The cast handled that episode with exellence, and they should all be thanked for putting on one of the most emotional, well-written hours of television on. It would be a real shame if the show is taken off after this season. If they can go on with the show, the least I can do is watch. I am new here, and I just wanted to say hi and posts my thoughts. Thanks.

Originally posted by Mac
As far as I am concerned, Katey deserves not only an Emmy nomination, but the award as well. She and the rest of the cast did a exellent job in that episode. Writing the death of a character into a show is always difficult. Look at Dallas, The Royal Family, etc. The cast handled that episode with exellence, and they should all be thanked for putting on one of the most emotional, well-written hours of television on. It would be a real shame if the show is taken off after this season. If they can go on with the show, the least I can do is watch. I am new here, and I just wanted to say hi and posts my thoughts. Thanks.

Hi to you too, and I agree with your comments 100%!

I watched & taped it too -- great episode!! It definitely made me reach for the tissues - I had to reach over three times and I bawled at the end when Cate was reading Paul's last column to the kids in bed, and then at the end when they showed Paul & Cate's wedding and sombero (sp?) pictures...:crying:

Originally posted by Mac
As far as I am concerned, Katey deserves not only an Emmy nomination, but the award as well. She and the rest of the cast did a exellent job in that episode. Writing the death of a character into a show is always difficult. Look at Dallas, The Royal Family, etc. The cast handled that episode with exellence, and they should all be thanked for putting on one of the most emotional, well-written hours of television on. It would be a real shame if the show is taken off after this season. If they can go on with the show, the least I can do is watch. I am new here, and I just wanted to say hi and posts my thoughts. Thanks. Katey does deserve a nomination!!! I mentioned this in another thread, that she did a fantastic job in this episode!

Yeah that is a great episode and sad i did cry in it.

I thought it was a great episode :(

I did though feel the funeral was the weakest part.. I didn't like the jokes & no laugh track.. it was just weird..

BUT all the scenes with Katey and the kids were GREAT! Amazing acting by all of them!

I also thought James Garner was amazing! When I first heard he was comming on board to do the show.. I didn't think he would be good..

boy was I wrong :) great work

I think this was a nice tribute to John

I love you John.. you were the best

:)

This was a great episode. I knew it would be sad, but I had no idea it would have the effect on me that it did. The main thing this episode did for me was make me want to go out and be a better person.

I agree that everyone did a great job. I wasn't a big fan of the grandparents arguing back and fourth, but it didn't take anything away from the episode.

It's like John died all over again. But since I watched the show on and off last season, I was saddened by the death of not only John Ritter, but Paul Hennessey as well.

I definately think the show will do well, after watching the first episode in the new era of "8 Simple Rules...".

I thought the entire episode was outstanding. I cried all throughout it, but it somehow left me feeling better than I did before. Kudos to the cast, writers... everyone who worked on the show.

I agrree Katey desereves an emmy! I broke down crying soo many times during the episode! The end was like...heart grabbing. and when Katey was talking to God. Just as you'd stop crying it'd get u going again. It's such a sad thing He's gone, and He's one of the last people on earth that should of gone. He touched SOOO many peoples lives. They made it SOO believable. and did make you sad about Paul too. I wasn't crying jsut about John Ritter but also about Paul.

Boy, I was confused at the beginning of the show seeing the kids on their chipper way, THEN we got hit with the news. Pretty sad, but a fine episode.

Yeah.. you could tell in the beginning when the kids were trying to act like they usually did (like fighting) something seemed different about the way the kids were acting..

I'm guessing it was a combination of the kids (kaley, amy and martin) knowing what was going to happen to their characters and making them fight about stupid petty things just didn't seem right, esp. with John/Paul gone.

it was a very sad epsiode and I did cry alot.

Yeah that didn't really make sense.. maybe this will:

Yeah.. you could tell in the beginning when Kaley, Amy and Martin were trying to make their characters act like they usually do (like fighting), something seemed different about the way they were acting.

Originally posted by luckilab1
Yeah.. you could tell in the beginning when the kids were trying to act like they usually did (like fighting) something seemed different about the way the kids were acting..

I'm guessing it was a combination of the kids (kaley, amy and martin) knowing what was going to happen to their characters and making them fight about stupid petty things just didn't seem right, esp. with John/Paul gone. Yea I noticed that too. Luckily they only had to do that for about a minute.

Comparing this to other episodes dealing with the death of Major character and or actor this was among the best I seen well acted by the cast Garner and Pleshette were great too. This is certainly in the same class as the Peabody winning Archie Alone from Archie Bunker’s Place which dealt with the Death of Edith after Jean Stapleton chose to leave. Other notable episodes in the same genre include the great Dallas episode that deals with Jock Ewing’s Death after the death of actor Jim Davis The death of the Sarget ( Michael Conrad) on Hill Street Blues. I have also seen a few series also drop the ball with this kind of episodes Cheers could have given Coach a better sendoff than just Mentioning he had died when pen pal Woody comes to meet him. Murphy Brown killed off Phil the bartender when the Actor decided to leave the show and did an episode about coping with his death only to have Phil turn up alive on the final episode.
This was a great episode I think this Episode of 8 Simple rules is very worthy of a Peabody award and I hope Garner a Pleshette stick around for a while.

My father has been in the hospital for the past several weeks, recovering from a heart transplant.

I got to the hospital last night at 8:00 to catch the first part of the show. However, it was overrun with local election coverage. So, I only got to see from when SP and JG came to the house.

How did they explain Paul's death? Heart attack? Car accident?

I'm sure it will reair again.

That was too sad. I was crying like crazy, especially in the beginning when they first found out. Wonderful episode, though. But it must have been hard for the cast to film it.

Originally posted by luckilab1
Yeah that didn't really make sense.. maybe this will:

Yeah.. you could tell in the beginning when Kaley, Amy and Martin were trying to make their characters act like they usually do (like fighting), something seemed different about the way they were acting.


I totally agree that you could even see the saddness in their eyes as they went about trying to begin the show. I think with the job they had to do and with the saddness they had to be feeling , they did an awesome job. And Katey you deserve an award for handling this episode the way you did. thank you so much for a night of reflection.

They explained it by saying he "fell out in Aisle 3". I'm guessing it meant he just collapsed in the store when he went to get milk.

Did anyone else notice Amy Davidson constantly clinging onto Martin in a lot of the scenes? I don't know if that was swriitne into the script-probably holding each other for comfort.

I was impressed with everyone on this episode. They all delt with it in their own way. Katey Sagal did an excellent job, and despite the fact that they tried to get a little laugh to lighten up the mood, no one laughed, except for the kids fighting at the beginning. I also liked the tender moments where Bridget and Kerry were in bed together, and in the end the kids and Mom all crawl into Mom's bed. Very touching. I shed some tears last night. This show was dealt in a very healthy way. I guess it hit me that the shows credits started with "Starring Katey Sagal." I am going to stick with this show. I am going to show that I support it, because I have grown to like all of the actors on the show. Cindy Williams was missing from the episode, I noticed, but I don't want to create a stir. Well, hope everyone tunes in next week. It's probably going to be sad as well.

The only thing I did not like was that they did not make it clear how the character of Paul died. Katey just ran out of the house saying where's my keys? oh my god where's my keys but never mentioning what exactly happened. Were we supposed to assume it was a heart problem like with JR in real life. As far as Cindy Williams is concerned I think she will be in at least one of the other 3 remaining episodes in this 4 episode arc dealing with the death. I know James Garner has joined the cast on a regular basis howver suzzanne plashette has a role on Good Morning Miami and is under contract. If that show gets canceled maybe they will bring her on full time. That would be great.

Jason

I do not think that Suzanne is on that show this season.

Originally posted by JClabaugh@aol.com
The only thing I did not like was that they did not make it clear how the character of Paul died. Katey just ran out of the house saying where's my keys? oh my god where's my keys but never mentioning what exactly happened. Were we supposed to assume it was a heart problem like with JR in real life. As far as Cindy Williams is concerned I think she will be in at least one of the other 3 remaining episodes in this 4 episode arc dealing with the death. I know James Garner has joined the cast on a regular basis howver suzzanne plashette has a role on Good Morning Miami and is under contract. If that show gets canceled maybe they will bring her on full time. That would be great.

Jason

From what I read on the abc site both characters will be with the show for the next few to ease the transition for the family and viewers. James Garner is to remain with the show from that point on....

The reason they had the kids acting normal in the beginning was because their characters didn't know anything was going to happen that day. The day my dad died, I didn't find out about it until about 8:45 (3 hours later!!!). I went on about my day normally, because I hadn't a clue that my dad was no longer on this earth. Bridget even said later in the episode that she and Paul had been arguing, so she was probably in a bad mood. It was very normal for them to act normal because nothing was changed in their lives yet.

The only thing I did not like was that they did not make it clear how the character of Paul died. Katey just ran out of the house saying where's my keys? oh my god where's my keys but never mentioning what exactly happened.

I was under the impression that it was a car accident. He went to the store to buy milk, and Bridget made a point to say that they were arguing about the car...I dunno...I could be wrong. That's what I got from it though. Anyone else have any thoughts

Originally posted by Tiffany22
I was under the impression that it was a car accident. He went to the store to buy milk, and Bridget made a point to say that they were arguing about the car...I dunno...I could be wrong. That's what I got from it though. Anyone else have any thoughts

Somewhere in the program they said he collapsed in the store. We were left to assume it was a heartattack. Somewhat immitating life. I still say there was no real right way to portray what they had to . But they handled it with class.

Ummm....How did you not understand how he died? Bridget said he collapsed in Aisle 3. That pretty much means a heart attack or something along those lines. It said nothing about a car wreck.

~Michelle~

Originally posted by Frodo_Chic7
Ummm....How did you not understand how he died? Bridget said he collapsed in Aisle 3. That pretty much means a heart attack or something along those lines. It said nothing about a car wreck.

~Michelle~

I agree but come guys and gals does it really matter how they portrayed his death. The reality is the man died and there was no easy way to reflect that on the show. Lets just hope the show goes on cause jr would want that and that would be the best tribute to his love for the show.....

My favorite part of the show was when Kerry and Kyle were on the sofa and she asked him if he believed in heaven. And he asked if she meant God heaven or sitting here with you heaven. That was so sweet. Then he said that Papa H was in both places and then he moved away from her because he felt Paul there. Also the end when the kids started to act like their normal selves again in bed.

I have a question. Fred Doyle was there but where was his wife?

Sorry I didn't like it. I'm not saying it wasn't a great episode, because it was some of the best acting I have ever seen. But it was an ordeal to sit thriugh, and had I known what it was going to be like, I wouldn't have put myself through it. I don't think this show is going to make it without John.:crying:

Originally posted by wallyisneat
Sorry I didn't like it. I'm not saying it wasn't a great episode, because it was some of the best acting I have ever seen. But it was an ordeal to sit thriugh, and had I known what it was going to be like, I wouldn't have put myself through it. I don't think this show is going to make it without John.:crying:
Why? I think the show has great actors and actresses. It'll make it.

Sorry if I was too wrapped up in my emotions to hear that part Michelle...when did she say it? I definitely missed it.

Excellent episode. I hope the show lasts. Katey Sagal did an excellent job as well as the kids and Garner/Pleshette(sp?). John Ritter will always be deeply missed and his absence will be a void, but the rest of the family (especially the daughters) leave a familiar and comforting presence. I will definitely continue to watch. :)

What a great tribut the show was don't you think? I taped it . I've always liked John Ritter, and the show needs to continue..so far so good!

I thought the episode was very well done. I cried through the whole thing. They never mentioned Paul's parents. Does anyone know anything about that?