12-09-2003 14:05									#1
	John Ritter Dead At 54 Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

Apparently from a heart attack following a taping of his new show.

RIP

	12-09-2003 14:10									#3
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Who? I'll google it.

Oh...

Name didn't say much, but

	12-09-2003 14:17									#5
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I can't believe he was outlived by Mr. Furley...

	12-09-2003 14:20									#6
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We'll always have three's company.

	12-09-2003 15:14									#7
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Probably half the country watched that show in the 70's.

	12-09-2003 15:36									#8
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In one of the few instances of censorship in my household, my father refused to allow me to watch 3's Company... with him. Didn't care if I watched it in my room, he was just embarrassed to have me watch it with him.

He also made a pretty good homicidal robot in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

	12-09-2003 15:44									#9
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for the longest time, the fact that ritter's character was pretending to be gay to be in the same apartment with two women completely went over my head.

then again, i was eight or so when i first watched a few of those reruns.

it's a pity, too~ i liked his new sitcom.

	12-09-2003 16:38									#10
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Holy Hell...Cash and Ritter both? Man...

	12-09-2003 16:40									#11
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Someone else is going to bite it soon. They always come in threes.

	12-09-2003 16:44									#12
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A list of famous people who've died this year:

June Carter Cash, Bob Hope, Katherine Hepburn, David Brinkley, Warren Zevon, Charles Bronson, Gregory Hines, Sam Phillips, Buddy Ebsen, Barry White, Buddy Hackett, Larry Doby, Hume Cronyn, Gregory Peck, Wendy Hiller, Robert Stack, Fred Rogers, Nell Carter, Al Hirschfield, Richard Crenna, and Maurice Gibb, among others.

	12-09-2003 16:45									#13
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quote: Originally posted by Drake Tungsten Someone else is going to bite it soon. They always come in threes.

This year, they seem to be falling in multiples of 10.

	12-09-2003 16:47									#14
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bush might break the 20-year presidential assassination attempt cycle.

	12-09-2003 16:52									#15
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Not "assassination" but "death" - the president doesn't have to be assassinated to complete the (no longer existent*) cycle.

*Reagan broke the cycle back in the 80's.

	12-09-2003 16:55									#16
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Well, there goes another of ABC's foundations...

	12-09-2003 17:17									#17
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reagan had an attempt on his life, which i count. most of the attempts before that were just successful.

	12-09-2003 17:40									#18
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Well, there was no attempt on FDR's life while he was President, so your "cycle" extends to just two Presidencies.

	12-09-2003 17:46									#19
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He died in office, so that sticks with the cycle.

Bush almost choked on a pretzel...does that count?

	12-09-2003 17:49									#20
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quote: He died in office, so that sticks with the cycle.

Not if you're claiming an assassination-attempt cycle like Q^3 is. You can either have a death cycle (which Reagan ended) or an assassination-attempt cycle (which only goes back two presidencies), not both at the same time.

	12-09-2003 17:50									#21
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Yeah, there was a "death" cycle but not an "assassination" cycle.

	12-09-2003 18:22									#22
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I wonder how the show is going to deal with this. They haven't premiered the season opener yet (I checked), and I'm sure things are just totally anarchic on the set right now.

Imo, I would air the completed shows and then have an episode dealing with the death of the father, thereby ending the series.

I can't recall the last time a major character in a TV show died while it was being taped - Laura thought of "Good Times", but the actor playing the father is very much alive - John Amos was just kicked off the show and "killed" as a character. Coach of "Cheers" died, but his was a supporting role.

I'm pretty sure it happened, though - I've got a good case of "tip-of-the-tongue"-itis which means I'm forgetting something obvious.

	12-09-2003 18:28									#23
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quote: I can't recall the last time a major character in a TV show died while it was being taped

One of the principle actresses from a BBC hospital drama (Casualty I think, or maybe it was Holby City) recently died during a filming run of the show. She fell from her boyfriend's balcony at his flat in London. They wrote her out of the show by making her character win the lottery and run off without telling anyone (it was the actresses' family's idea).

	12-09-2003 18:29									#24
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Man, first Cash then this?!

What the hell's going on? Is there some weird planetary alignment going on this week?

	12-09-2003 18:31									#25
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quote: Man, first Cash then this?!

Well, technically it was first this, then Cash.

	12-09-2003 19:17									#26
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quote: Originally posted by JohnT I wonder how the show is going to deal with this. They haven't premiered the season opener yet (I checked), and I'm sure things are just totally anarchic on the set right now.

Considering that the show revolved around him for the most part (half the humor was in him busting on the shenangians of the daughters) I'd have to say 8 Simple Rules is done. There's no way they can recast him - just wouldn't be the same. I wouldn't be surprised if the premiere never sees the light of day.

Like I said, this really hurts ABC - 8 Simple Rules was one of their few bright spots last year.

The most recent example I can think of is Phil Hartman on Newsradio. They tried to go on without him, but it just wasn't the same and the show itself had been lagging in recent years anyway.

	12-09-2003 19:46									#27
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dissection of aorta - ? someone explain.

	12-09-2003 19:49									#28
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his aorta ruptured. i'm sure there are more technical definitions, but darned if i know them.

	12-09-2003 19:57									#29
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that had to hurt. never really heard of that.

	12-09-2003 19:59									#30
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quote: Originally posted by reismark The most recent example I can think of is Phil Hartman on Newsradio. They tried to go on without him, but it just wasn't the same and the show itself had been lagging in recent years anyway.

That's it! Thanks.