Not that it has anything to do with 8 Simple Rules, and I don't know if this is old news or not, but there is a nice article about Jason Ritter that can be accessed at
www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-tv.html?2004-01/20/12.30.tv

It talks about how his shows strong spiritual message has helped him to make sense of his personal loss.

Ritter Found Solace In Joan

Joan of Arcadia star Jason Ritter told SCI FI Wire that the hit CBS series' spiritual storylines helped him deal with his grief over the sudden death of his father, actor John Ritter, in September. CBS announced over the weekend that Joan of Arcadia has been renewed for a full second season; Jason Ritter plays Kevin Girardi, the disabled brother of Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn).

"The first script I received of Joan of Arcadia after my dad died [on Sept. 11] was this episode called 'Death Be Not Whatever,' which is all about death," Jason Ritter said in an interview at the networks' winter press tour in Hollywood. "And one of the quotes in it ... came from one of the other characters [who] was talking to Mary Steenburgen's character about the loss of Kevin's legs, and how it's sort of like a death. ... And he said, ... 'The philosopher Kierkegaard said, "The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly one you can never have."' And I read that, and ... that was all I had been doing."

Ritter added, "To realize that that was what I was sort of doing allowed me to move forward and just go, 'This is my life now.' And whatever happens after you die, I don't know. I don't know where my dad is. I don't know. But I just know that if he was still alive, what he would want me to do, and that is not crawl into a cave and wither away. Which is, you know, that's one thing that you feel. But instead to take life and just squeeze the last drop out of it, and never let a moment go unseized."

Earlier, co-star Mary Steenburgen (Helen Girardi), who is a friend of the Ritter family, told reporters that the entire cast and crew reached out to Jason Ritter when his father died. "The commitment was, 'Whatever he needs, we're there,'" she said. Joan of Arcadia airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.