Dead Television: 8 Simple Rules

[TMC]

https://dekkareviews.wordpress.com/2...le-rules-pt-1/

August 21, 2023
Dave Cameron



As a kid in Jersey, initially growing up without cable, I mostly relied on reruns and only being able to watch cartoons in the afternoons, and Saturday mornings. One of my favorite reruns to catch as a kid was Three’s Company, I had no idea what was happening at the time, I just thought it looked funny, and as I got older and understood how the humor worked in this show I grew to appreciate it even more than I did then. But this isn’t about Three’s Company (but it will play a role later on). This is about one of John Ritter’s last TV show’s and one I didn’t watch when it first aired. Something this and the 300th review have in common. This is 8 Simple Rules (for Dating My Teenage Daughter).

Initially, the show loosely followed a book written by W. Bruce Cameron of the same name. The rules are as such:
1. Use your hands on my daughter and you’ll lose them.
2. If she cries, you cry.
3. Safe sex is a myth. Anything you try will be hazardous to your health.
4. Bring her home late, there’s no second date.
5. If you pull into my driveway and honk, drop off a package, because you’re not picking up anything (or, Only delivery men honk, dates ring the doorbell.)
6. No complaining while you’re waiting for her. You’re bored, change my oil.
7. If your pants hang off your hips, I’ll secure them with my staple gun.
8. Dates must be in crowded places. You want romance? Read a book.

The eight rules are mentioned in the opening of the pilot and are heard here and there in Season one. The show mostly (again, initially) focuses on Paul Hennessy, a former sportswriter, turned lifestyle columnist for the local newspaper, his wife Cate decides to work full-time as a nurse, but that means he’ll have to work from home and tend to their three children, feisty Bridget, brainy Kerry, and wisecracking Rory. All the while, Paul is trying to protect the kids from themselves, mostly Bridget and Kerry from dating and the “predatory” boys out there, and hijinx usually ensue.

Some great standout episodes from Season 1 include, “Wing”, where Paul’s reluctant to let Bridget take her driving test, due to him not wanting to let go of his “little girl”, but Cate eventually convinces him to come around, and (albeit, reluctantly) he lets her go. Kerry also shows her skills as an artist, and enters an art contest, but was rejected because her piece was inappropriate. The last scene with the two sisters driving off, as Paul watches is very heartwarming, but also heartbreaking if you saw the last episode he was in Season 2. “Cheerleader”, was great because of how it subverted our expectations, we expected Bridget to be the new cheerleader, but somehow, Kerry won the spot, devastating Bridget. And Kerry just milks it for all its worth. “Give It Up”, where in order for the family to decide where they go for their summer vacation, Paul holds a contest for everyone to break one of their bad habits: Rory (Tattling), Cate (Coffee), Bridget (The telephone), Paul (TV remote), and Kerry (her sarcasm), as the episode progresses its down to Paul and Kerry and we learn there might be more to Kerry’s sarcasm than meets the eye. “Paul Meets His Match”, where he meets his new boss, Nick Sharpe, who treated Rory the same way Paul treats the girls potential boyfriends, thus teaching him a lesson on humility, and deciding to give them a fair chance… Until he meets the Doyle’s. “Every Picture Tells a Story”, where Paul’s given an opportunity to write a book for racecar driver, Carter Tibbits. After Paul makes a joke about stealing the best thing they can find (which Rory actually took seriously), Carter revokes the deal. Also, Robert Guillaume appears as Carter’s crew chief. “Good Moms Gone Wild” which introduces Cate’s parents, Jim and Laura Egan, the former being important later on. Finally, “The Doyle Wedding” and “Sort of an Officer and a Gentleman Pts 1 and 2”. The former introduces the Doyle’s, the annoying neighbor sitcom stereotypes, with Fred Doyle being played by John Ratzenberger. Also, the episode has Bridget falling for the Doyle’s son, Donny, who’s due to join the Naval Academy. The Latter two parter, features Cybil Sheppard as Cate’s sister, Maggie, pays her a visit, and we see these two aren’t two dissimilar to Bridget and Kerry.

But, by far, the best episode and my favorite (as well as John Ritter’s) is “Come and Knock on Our Door”. In the episode before, Kerry finds herself falling for Bridget’s boyfriend, Kyle, and kissed him at a party. After finding out that they kissed, Bridget gives Kerry the silent treatment, which is anything but quiet for Paul. That night, Paul has a dream on the set of Three’s Company, even saying “wow, this place looks familiar!” In the dream, Kyle as Jack, Bridget as Chrissy, Kerry as Janet, Rory as Larry, and Paul and Cate as The Ropers. Don Knotts also appears at the end, despite what the credits say, and the nod to Andy Griffith, if you look at the outfit, he’s definitely meant to be Mr. Furley. This episode was such a fun watch, from the meta humor, making fun of the plot of Three’s Company, the cast nailing the mannerisms of The characters their parodying, to just the painstaking recreation of the apartment.

While not the biggest hit for ABC, it was still a success, and the show was renewed for a second season, with everyone signed on. Unfortunately, as Patrick Warburton (and others) would say years later, that’s not how the story goes.

While rehearsing, John was feeling discomfort, and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was missed diagnosed with a heart attack, his condition worsened later, and passed away from aortic dissection on September 11th 2003. Following his passing, ABC announced that the show would continue on without him but would change its name to the now commonly recognized 8 Simple Rules. Before his passing, John had already filmed three episodes for Season 2. These episodes would air as planned, but with an introduction by Katey Segal. After these episodes, the show would go on month-long hiatus, and return on with a special one-hour tribute episode, “Goodbye”.

The episode starts off, normal enough with Cate corralling the kids to breakfast, while they wait for Paul, who stepped out to grab some milk. As they continue to bicker, Cate receives a phone call, and goes into a panic confusing the kids, as she rushes out the door. Later that night, we learn that Paul had passed away from a heart attack. Cate’s separated parents Jim and Laura arrive to help them through their grief. Bridget is wracked with guilt over the last words she ever said to her dad (which were “I hate you”) and Kerry tries to talk to her to ease her guilt. Cate is afraid of sleeping alone in her bed and sleeps on the couch. After Paul’s funeral, friends and neighbors (many of whom, we’ll never see again after this as they’re associated with Paul) gather at the Hennessys’ for the wake. Nick asks Cate to find the last article Paul wrote so the newspaper can publish it in his memory. When Kerry asks Rory why his hand is bandaged, he says he burned it on a casserole dish while taking it out of the oven. We’d learn later he had actually punched a hole in his wall out of anger. The next day, Jim finds Paul’s last article and gives it to Cate. That night, Cate is finally ready to sleep in her own bed again; she is joined by the kids who want her to read Paul’s article, which she does. Words don’t do it justice, so here’s the scene.

“Goodbye”, was a good episode, a great send off to John Ritter. You can tell everyone wasn’t just acting, they were putting their emotions in this especially Kaley Cuoco, who was very close to Ritter and was the most devastated by his passing. The blend of sadness, reminiscing, healing, and small attempts at moving on were well done, and the little bits of humor really did work well with the scenes and didn’t feel disrespectful or anything. They were kept to a minimum and were handled tastefully.

Usually when an actor dies, a show would do a tribute episode, and move on, but not in this case, they turn this into a full storyline. And we’ll how each member of the family copes without Paul, while Jim and a new member of the family joins them in part II.

https://dekkareviews.wordpress.com/2...le-rules-pt-2/

For those who came in late…

8 Simple Rules was a sitcom that initially starred John Ritter as Paul Hennessy, a stay-at-dad trying to protect his teenaged daughters from the dangers of dating boys. Unfortunately, during production of season two, John unexpected passed away, leading the show to be retooled without him, and having Katey Sagal take over as lead. James Gardner, who guest starred in back in Season One, would join the cast early on as Cate’s father Jim Egan.

I had already gone over Season One as well as briefly went over the troubled production that occurred after John Ritter’s death, in Part I, of my review. If you haven’t read it yet click here. That being said, lets continue.

Like I mentioned at the end of part one, unlike other shows where when an actor dies, the show pays tribute to him and moves on like nothing happened. The writers actually decided to make an entire storyline out of this. Each episode deals mostly with the kids and how they’re coping with Paul (and John’s) passing, Cate would also get her own episode dealing with his passing but it comes several episodes after the arrival of a new character, but we’ll get to him.

It all begins in “No Right Way”, the episode mostly focuses on Kerry, but also on Bridget. While Kerry’s still mourning, Bridget already back to hanging out with her friends and making plans to go to the dance, and while Cate tells her its fine, Kerry just chastises both of them. It’s been two weeks since Paul died, and the kids are going back to school for the first time. Kyle declares his love for her, but she thinks he’s only saying it to make her feel better. Cate’s attempts to help her daughters only backfire. Bridget buys a revealing dress for the dance, but just before she can leave the house wearing it, she breaks down in tears, knowing that Paul would never have allowed her to, and finally realizes she still needs time to grieve. Kyle reassures Kerry that he meant his declaration of love, and she starts to allow herself to feel happy again. Meanwhile, Rory worries that he is taking advantage of a girl he has a crush on who is offering to help him catch up with his school, but Jim advises him that she’s the one taking advantage and to let her. Speaking of Rory…”What Dad Would Want”, is about him wanting to join the basketball team, but because Paul had been helping him practice, he’s nervous. Cate tells him that his father wouldn’t have wanted him to quit. The newspaper Paul worked at is sponsoring a scholarship dinner in his name for students majoring in journalism, and Bridget gets distracted while watching television, and accidentally wrecks a collage that Kerry had made of Paul for the dinner. When it’s announced at the party that Rory made the team, Rory angrily storms out. Cate later finds out that Rory didn’t make the team and when Rory comes home, he says he only said it because he was embarrassed that he let down his dad. But he’s happy when Cate tells him because the coach was impressed at his request to work out with the team, he’s now officially on it. “The First Thanksgiving” focuses on everyone, since it’s the first Thanksgiving without Paul. Cate’s mom, Laura visits and manages to get along well with Jim. Bridget and Kerry plan to sneak out to a party instead of staying with the family. Rory feels that, now he’s the man of the house, it’s his job to assume Paul’s role of being against every guy his sisters date, not to mention the carver of the turkey — which he does with clumsiness, inexperience and a lot of humor, which in the end helps the family to make it through the first of many milestones without Paul. Bridget’s full-fledged highlight episode, comes in “The Diary of Anne Frank and Skeevy”, where Bridget auditions and gets the title role, much to Kerry’s annoyance. Kerry and Cate points out how serious the role is, but Bridget wasn’t getting it, until Cate gives her the book, and after reading it she becomes more serious, focused, and understands the role she’s playing. Cate, Jim, and Rory attend the play and Bridget’s performance is excellent. When they get home, Everyone tells Bridget how impressed they were with her performance. Jim was even happy to miss Rockford Files for it! Kerry tells Bridget she’s proud of her. Cate is too and wonders how Bridget did it and tells her she tapped into some very serious emotion. The episode ends with Bridget staying behind downstairs after everyone goes to bed. She puts a red rose on Paul’s desk in front of a picture of him and whispers, “Good night” before going upstairs. Also, Rory takes up ventriloquism, that’s where the “Skeevy” part of the title comes from.

After an episode where the family get jobs at the YMCA, the stinger introduces yet another new character, Cate’s nephew, Corey J. Barnes, or CJ. He arrives much to everyone’s surprise (I guess no one checked the answering machine). CJ arrived to pay his respects to Paul, but Jim questioned why he never showed up earlier, and he admits, he felt ashamed that he didn’t live up to Paul’s expectations and decided lay low. CJ’s kind of a base-breaking character, you either find his antics funny or you don’t. But, he does provide some much needed levity, whether we want it or not. For example, the following episode, “Consequences” CJ and Rory steal a drug sniffing dog, and it busts Kerry for marijuana, much to everyone’s shock. CJ, provides some levity and understanding, as he himself use to smoke weed.

After a three-part Valentines Day special, the storyline continues in “Daddy’s Girl”, as Cate sees a therapist, played by Peter Bogdanovich, and it’s here we learn that she always wanted to sing, so he convinces her to fulfil her dream. Also, she tries to squash the feud between Jim and CJ. But the real highlight of the episode, was hearing Katy Sagal singing. For those not aware, in addition to acting and voice acting, Katy Sagal is also a talented singer, she had her own band prior to “Married with Children”. And she released two albums before and during 8 Simple Rules. I’m guessing either some one behind the scenes was a fan, and wanted her to sing, or they just worked out a deal to promote her album. Also, Bridget made Kerry blonde by accident. After another filler episode that doesn’t really factor into the plot until the finale, the main storyline comes to a conclusion in the two-parter “Let’s Keep Going”. After Bridget, Kerry and Rory vote against going on vacation to the cabin at the lake, Cate orders Bridget and Kerry to fly out to visit Laura instead of attending the Maeve Festival, believing the festival to contain “sex, drugs, and rock and roll”. However, on their way to the airport in Kyle’s car, the girls spot Cate hugging a mysterious stranger at their dad’s favorite bar. Meanwhile, Rory, even though he is dating Missy Kleinfeld, develops an interest in Rachel Sharpe. Upset and confused over their mother’s behavior, Bridget and Kerry decide not to go to their grandma’s, and instead take a road trip to sort out their feelings. Along the way, they pick up C.J., who has been attacked by a group of women at the Maeve Festival. Then, just when they think they are lost, it turns out they have arrived at the cabin at the lake, a place Paul loved. Later, Cate, Jim, Rory, and Kyle meet up with them, and Cate tells them that the last time they were there, Paul tried carving the name Hennessey on a wall behind a picture, before giving up when he cut his thumb. Cate removes the picture, and everyone is amazed but sad when they see “HI” carved into the wall. After three more filler episodes, one of which introduces a new supporting character, the kids’ principal, Ed Gibb, who will become more a prominent character in the last season. The season comes ends with Finale Pts Un and Deux. In that one previous filler episode, Kerry was working at burger restaurant to save money for a trip to Europe with her class (Jim also worked there to help Cate out), but Jim ultimately footed the bill for her trip. Unfortunately, Cate forgot to hand in the permission slip for Kerry’s trip, so she has to deal with Gibb again. Elsewhere, Cate also has to deal with Jim’s relationship with Tina, the owner of the bar she sang at. Kerry organizes a sit-in to protest at frog dissection in school, and Bridget takes the blame so that Kerry will still be able to go on her trip to Europe in the summer. As a result, Bridget is elected student body president. Meanwhile Jim plans a summer road trip with Rory to Florida, where he hopes to win back his wife; and C.J. deludes himself into believing that Steven Tyler wants him to be Aerosmith’s roadie; this turns out to be true, but C.J., after Rory expresses his excitement about C.J.’s joining them, passes it up and joins Rory and Jim on their trip instead.

Season three is kinda hit and miss, not helped by the fact that most of the original production staff had left the series, and it was dumped on Friday nights. During the fledgling TGIF block. That being said, it did have a few decent episodes, “Out of the Box”, is almost forgettable, but is saved by the speed-dating subplot between CJ and Jim. Long story short, Jim proves to be a hit with the ladies, which further shocks his grandson. “Car Trouble” is only notable, because Tiffany Thornton from Sonny with a Chance is in it. “Secrets”, was I feel as close to another Three’s Company episode since season one. There’s a myriad of misunderstandings between the kids, Cate, Gibb, and Jim. All culminating in a great punchline at the end involving CJ. Speaking of CJ, he and Cate start working at the school, Cate’s the school nurse, while CJ’s a substitute teacher, though as the show goes on, he becomes a full-time teacher.

So after “Come and Knock on Our Door”, I was wondering if they were going to do a “Married with Children” tribute episode, and they did… sort of. Unlike “Come and Knock on Our Door”, where the set was rebuilt to the last detail, and they able to do this because “Three’s Company” aired on ABC, “Married” aired on Fox, so the chances of seeing the Bundy living room again was nil. So, we instead got, “Old Flame”, Cate sends an email to her former college flame Matt Walsh to see how he has been over the years since college. During that time, she becomes fed up with her family’s wants and needs, and decides to take the night off, and locks herself in her room all night for some alone time. But she is shocked when Matt shows up at her window (played by Ed O’Neil) and whisks her off to re-live adventurous, old times. Excited, Cate demurs and climbs out her bedroom window with Matt and hops on to the back of his motorcycle and hang out at a bar from their college years. As the night goes on, Matt reveals that he has left his wife, as he continues to talk Cate into progressively more dangerous stunts and outrageous behavior. Next, he has her watching him trying to kiss a granite gargoyle high atop a 200-foot spire, as he instructs her to take a picture of him hanging by its beak. Then he tries to persuade her into running away with him to Wyoming to fulfill their teenage dream of “opening a water bed store and writing bluegrass songs” while “living on love and free-range chicken”. Things are going pretty well, until, Cate answers his cell phone, only to find out that it’s his wife, and that everything is a lie. At that point, Cate realizes what she has in the present, is her reality and a blessing after realizing that Matt’s maniac chaos, emotional instability and seductive lies are a mess. After turning Matt down, Cate returns home a changed woman, realizing that despite the neediness of her family, she has taken much for granted and that the grass is not greener on the other side. To her pleasant surprise, she finds that her family has come to the same conclusion by finding that without her, their lives have come to a grinding halt and that they too, have taken much for granted. Seeing Ed O’Neil and Katey Sagal together again was great, they were clearly enjoying themselves in this one, and the message in the episode was really good.

So, after three seasons, and declining ratings, 8 Simple Rules was officially cancelled. The show’s first two seasons were released on DVD and are available for streaming on Disney Plus. Season Three was never given any physical or digital release for some reason. 8 Simple Rules was a pretty good show, my only regret is not catching it when it was out as it was airing ABC.

When we return, we’re gonna look at some lost media.