8 Simple Rules
| 8 Simple Rules | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Tracy Gamble |
| Starring | John Ritter (2002-2003) Katey Sagal Kaley Cuoco Amy Davidson Martin Spanjers James Garner (2003-2005) David Spade (2004-2005) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 76 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx 22 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 17, 2002 – April 15, 2005 |
8 Simple Rules (originally known as 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter) is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 2002 to 2005.
Premise
8 Simple Rules is about a married couple with three children, set in a Detroit, Michigan suburb. The father, Paul Hennessy (John Ritter), is a sportswriter who is prompted by his wife Cate's (Katey Sagal) return to nursing to take a more active role in raising their two teenage daughters, Bridget (Kaley Cuoco), and Kerry (Amy Davidson), and their son Rory (Martin Spanjers). He is soon overwhelmed by the responsibility of being the father of teenage daughters and misses being a sports writer. Paul begins writing a column from home about his struggles with his children and offers advice to people who are in his same position. His teenage daughters are dating, which sparks the use of the "8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter". The show, created by veteran comedy writer Tracy Gamble, derives its name and some of its elements from W. Bruce Cameron's book 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter (ISBN 0-7611-2314-8).
The rules are:
- Use your hands on my daughter and you'll lose them after.
- You make her cry, I make you cry.
- Safe sex is a myth. Anything you try will be hazardous to your health.
- Bring her home late, there's no next date.
- Only delivery men honk. Dates ring the doorbell. Once.
- No complaining while you're waiting for her. If you're bored, change my oil.
- If your pants hang off your hips, I'll gladly secure them with my staple gun.
- Dates must be in crowded public places. You want romance? Read a book.
The third season took a creative turn, revolving more around Jim and CJ than the Hennessy family, more specifically not revolving around the raising of the Hennessy girls. However this was little more than a phase in a way, and newly added characters joined the show as an ensemble, and shortly after their novelty wore off, the show found its roots once more.
Three's Company spoof
One episode does feature a dream sequence in which Paul is in the set of Three's Company, the sitcom from which John Ritter gained fame. Also, Paul's wit and deadpan expression are similar to Jack Tripper. His co-star on that series Don Knotts even appeared in a cameo at the end of the episode. Knotts would be the last Three's Company co-star to work with Ritter before his death.
Production
John Ritter's death
On September 11, 2003, following an interview on the set with the Museum of Television & Radio, John Ritter suffered an aortic dissection. After he experienced discomfort during a rehearsal that afternoon, crew members took Ritter to a nearby hospital, where he died that night. Following Ritter's death, ABC announced that the show would continue after a hiatus, and would incorporate the death of Ritter's character. The three new episodes that Ritter completed were aired with reflections from the cast.
The show returned on November 4, 2003 with a one hour episode, "Goodbye," dedicated to Ritter's death. Subsequent episodes dealt with the family's reaction to his death and their moving on. The first four post-Ritter episodes were shot without a live audience. Suzanne Pleshette and James Garner guest-starred as Cate's parents. David Spade later guest-starred as Cate's wayward nephew, CJ. Both Garner and Spade eventually received starring roles.
In the fourth episode of the first season titled, "Wings", Katey Sagal's character, Cate Hennessy, unintentionally foreshadows John Ritter's death. John's character Paul asks Cate to "feel my heart". She then reaches over and feels his heart. She says, "There's nothing wrong with your heart, Paul" to which he replies, "What do you know, you're just a nurse?"
Season 3 and subsequent cancellation
Shortly after the third season finale, rumors began circulating that 8 Simple Rules was facing cancellation. In its first season, the show ranked a respectable 42nd in the Nielsen Ratings. It did a little better when more viewers tuned in out of sympathy and curiosity after Ritter's unexpected death. But by the end of the second season, the show slipped to 50th. After ABC moved 8 Simple Rules to Friday nights at 8:00 p.m., it fell to 94th in the Nielsen standings.
Some observers simply could not get beyond the tragic absence of John Ritter and welcomed its end. But others applauded the show's portrayal of a family sticking together and growing after a staggering loss that millions of families have shared. Regardless of either view, it is certainly one of a few times in U.S. television history that a series continued two full years beyond the death of its star. But the Friday night death slot ratings took their toll on the show that had already endured so much. The third season finale (in which Katey Sagal's character tells her family that she has been dating the school principal played by Adam Arkin) was not even aired for May sweeps. The finale received a 3.9/8 rating share which gave ABC a third place finish behind NBC's Dateline (5.8/11.) and CBS's Joan of Arcadia (4.9/10.) which happened to star John Ritter's son Jason (and, coincidentally, was also canceled due to declining ratings).
On May 17, 2005, 8 Simple Rules was officially cancelled by ABC.
"Jump the Shark" founder Jon Hein[1] believed that the idea of 8 Simple Rules bringing in David Spade was like bringing in Scott Baio to play Chachi on Happy Days. Hein added that while he thought Spade was really funny, the show should have ended immediately after John Ritter died.[2]
Production companies
Throughout the series' three year run it had a number of changing production companies:
- Shady Acres Entertainment - Helped produce Seasons 1 and 2, produced all of Season 3.
- Tracy Gamble Productions - Produced Season 2; left after Season 2 because Tracy Gamble, herself, left the series.
- Flody Co - Produced Seasons 1 and half of season 2, before Flody Suarez left the series.
Characters
- Paul Hennessy Portrayed by John Ritter (2002-2003), A former sports writer, who now works from home as a Lifestyle columnist. Described as being "the master of the double standard", a "Psycho-Dad" as well a hypocrite who often embarrasses his children. John Ritter died very suddenly in 2003 from an aortic dissection during rehearsal; his character Paul collapsed and died at the store while getting some milk.
- Cate S. Egan-Hennessy Portrayed by Katey Sagal, A wife, mother, nurse and easily the most sane and composed person in the family, who becomes a widow after Paul's death. She takes a nursing job at the kids school so that she can work standard hours and spend more time with the kids. Cate starts dating her kids' High School Principal, Ed Gibb towards the end of season 3. At first, the rest of the family, especially the kids, do not take this well, claiming the potential relationship was "wrong on a million different levels." However, they grudgingly came to accept it. She received her middle name "Stinky" as a result of her father promising his best friend he would name one of his children after him after accidentally stabbing him with a bayonet while they were drunk in Korea.
- Bridget Erin Hennessy Portrayed by Kaley Cuoco, Bridget is the oldest child out of the 3 kids Cate and Paul have. She depicts a stereotypical blond, popular, bombshell who is interested in her looks, teenage boys and is very shallow. She has many times mentioned she wears thongs. Whilst dating Donny Doyle, Bridget once complained that all she had left was thongs having worn her "only real ... underwear to church". Sometimes she has a deep or intelligent moment, but these are few and far between.
- Kerry Michelle Hennessy Portrayed by Amy Davidson, she is the middle child and not very happy about it. She is a nerd in her sister Bridget's eyes as she made a comment about looking like one of the kids who sits at her lunch table when her nose was broken and is not known to have any friends. She was accused by Bridget of stealing her (ex-)boyfriend, Kyle. She is sarcastic, and constantly makes snide remarks about essentially everybody, though less to her mother. She lost her virginity to Bruno (her boyfriend in Europe) later in the 3rd season. She is often annoyed at her sister and is easily upset. She is also very artistic and keeps a sketchbook. She is the smart child, but often shows naivety. She is often compared to Chandler Bing from Friends - played by Matthew Perry.
- Rory Joseph Hennessy Portrayed by Martin Spanjers, The boy. He is usually making wise cracks and is seen going out with Missy]. He constantly tattles on his sisters, getting twisted pleasure out of it, as per his remark when he had stirred the pot to his liking: "This is just like my birthday!" Usually he waits until his sisters already did whatever it was, then tattled just to see his father lose it as well, but he is still his father's favorite, being the boy. He is also involved in money making schemes along with C.J. and is very immature at times as the youngest out of the three children. He can be seen playing video games in the living room and shows signs of always wanting a monkey. He once successfully traded some of his father's baseball trading cards for a monkey. He also delights in showing his friends the private aspects of his popular sister Bridget's life, mentioning once that he revealed that his friends looted through Bridget's underwear drawer.
- Jim Egan Portrayed by James Garner (2003-2005), Jim was in the Korean War and looks out for his family. He often sneaks away and "takes care" of his smoking habit. He is now divorced and used to live in Florida but now lives in his daughter's basement and often used to try to beat C.J. with his cane. He once sent C.J. to Canada to buy acetylsalicylic acid for him. When C.J. discovers this is just Aspirin, Jim explains, "C.J., the pain in my hip is still here. But now the pain in my ass is in Canada!" He is now proud of C.J.'s success as a teacher.
- CJ Barnes Portrayed by David Spade (2004-2005), C.J. is a thirty-two year old man who is Cate's nephew and was once in the Army. He claims to have studied aerial photography during the Gulf War, and to have received a Purple Heart in combat. He is a teacher at the school and often tries to get women, but fails to do so. When C.J. first arrives, he claims to have had a job at the circus operating a tilt-a-whirl ride. He lives along with his Grandfather in the basement (having previously lived in a van, which was burned by that same Grandfather).
Other characters
- Kyle Portrayed by Billy Aaron Brown, the dumb one, Bridget's, and later Kerry's, ex-boyfriend. He is often seen hanging around with Rory, when not with either Kerry or Bridget.
- Ed Gibb Portrayed by Adam Arkin, principal of the high school. He and Cate knew each other in High School, and even dated. When discussing it, his and Cate's account of their first romantic encounter varied, with either believing they had more self-control and admitting to the other that they liked the other as just friends. Even though they have had some very intimate moments.
- Coach Scott Portrayed by Dan Cortese, Coach whom Bridget had a crush on, who likes Cate. Cate at first likes him, but then discovers Bridget's crush, which caused her from thence forth to deny Scott's romantic advances towards her, such as asking her out on dates.
- Jenna Sharpe Portrayed by Nikki Danielle Moore (2003-2005), Paul's boss's daughter, and one of Bridget's rivals.
- Jeremy Portrayed by Jonathan Taylor Thomas (3rd season), Bridget's tutor and eventual boyfriend. He is considered a "nerd" at the High School, and because of this, Bridget at first denied her interest in him by saying it was only because he was her tutor.
- Maggie Egan Barnes Portrayed by Cybill Shepherd. Cate's sister and also C.J.'s mother. Maggie shares the same sensitive, moody nature as Kerry. However it appears (from a conversation between Ed Gibb and Cate) that Cate was the smarter one as well as being more popular.
Episodes
| Season | Ep # | First Airdate | Last Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 28 | September 17, 2002 | May 20, 2003 |
| Season 2 | 24 | September 23, 2003 | May 18, 2004 |
| Season 3 | 24 | September 24, 2004 | April 15, 2005 |
Syndication
While 8 Simple Rules ratings were well above those of the surrounding TGIF shows during its third season, ABC canceled it due to the inability to sell it to syndication. Due to John Ritter's death, 8 Simple Rules could not air two daily cycles (with episodes from varying seasons) as it is thought that this would confuse and/or upset viewers, although, on UK TV channel ABC1 and Danish TV3, this does occur.
On July 11, 2005 (less than two months after ABC officially canceled it), the WB television network announced it would air back-to-back repeats of all 76 episodes of 8 Simple Rules from 4–5 p.m. weekdays from January 2, 2006 to September 15, 2006 when it was replaced by Reba on the The CW Daytime.[3]
On Tuesday, June 12, 2007, the show joined the ABC Family line-up, airing weeknights from 6-7 p.m. [4] Ironically, it runs against Lifetime airings of Reba, the show that replaced 8 Simple Rules when Daytime WB became The CW Daytime in September 2006.
International
8 Simple Rules aired all its seasons in the UK on ABC1 until the channel closed in September 2007. The third season began airing at 5.30 p.m. on March 6, 2006 on ABC1. In Australia, the Seven Network is currently showing the third season daily each morning in some cities, and the cable channel FOX8 is currently broadcasting all three seasons. Star World also airs weekly episodes in India. In Canada the [[Family Channel], until this year played episodes on Monday-Thursday at 9:00 p.m., and again at 11:00 p.m., (Eastern time) and weekends at 8:15 p.m. and have now chosen not to play the series in the coming year of 07/08 In France, the show was shown on M6. In Belgium they air in on the TV station VT4. It was shown in Ireland on RTÉ Two and is currently being shown on TG4. Also aired in Middle East on One TV and MBC 4. It is currently aired at the Spanish channel SET en VEO. Shown on Norwegian TV3 weekdays at 5 PM. And it was broadcasted in NHK Educational TV in Japan since 2003. Shown in Estonia weekends on TV3.
DVD releases
On August 7, 2007, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released Season 1 of 8 Simple Rules on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The suggested retail price is $23.99.[5]
| 8 Simple Rules: The First Season | ||||
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August 7, 2007 | |||
References in popular culture
- A joke about John Ritter's role in 8 Simple Rules was deleted from the "North by North Quahog" episode of Family Guy in an apparently rare case of the writing team finding one of their own jokes too distasteful to broadcast; originally, the gag involved Meg wanting to watch 8 Simple Rules, but Chris refuses to change the channel, commenting "That show hasn't been the same since they killed John Ritter." It was replaced with a joke about George Lopez, with Meg wanting to watch The George Lopez Show, but Chris refusing to change the channel, quoting "That show only furthers the stereotype that George Lopez is funny". Incidentally, Family Guy also had an episode entitled "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter."
- On the short-lived The Warner Bros. Television Network sitcom The Help one of the male characters joked about "Not seeing so much phony emotion since the promos for '8 Simple Rules'." Although there was never a direct reference to John Ritter's death, TV Guide still placed that particular joke in their weekly "Cheers & Jeers" section as one of the Jeers of the Week.
- The name of the program was parodied in the pornographic film 8 Simple Rules for Banging My Teenage Daughter.
- On the premiere episode of the FOX sitcom The War at Home, the main character portrayed by Michael Rapaport boldly proclaimed "I only have one simple rule for dating my teenage daughter. If she sees your penis, I'll cut it off!"
- FOX's animated series, American Dad!, had an episode where the main character, Stan, says "It's a bizarre situation. Not '8 Simple Rules', let's-keep-it-going-after-the-father-died bizarre, but close."
Notes
- ^ Howard's Atlantic City Trip. 9/22/03. 6:00am
- ^ Howard And Robin Discuss Their Weekend. 03/01/04. 6:00am
- ^ The Futon Critic
- ^ [1]
- ^ It has been annonunced that Season 2 will be released on DVD, though no date has been determined. [2]