8 Simple Rules: 13 Facts Only Major Fans Of ABC's Hit Sitcom Will Know

"8 Simple Rules" is perhaps best remembered for the death of John Ritter during the second season in 2003. The show continued for another season, meaning that there are actually more episodes without Ritter than there are with the famous comedian and actor. Originally titled "8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter," the show saw Paul Hennessy (Ritter) try to deal with his teenage children as he works from home as a freelance reporter while his wife works as a nurse in a hospital.

It had an impressive cast made up of Ritter and Katey Sagal along with up-and-coming actors of the era such as Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson, and Martin Spanjers. The likes of James Garner and David Spade joined the ABC sitcom later during its run. Canceled following low ratings in 2005 (via TV Series Finale) it has nevertheless developed a dedicated fan following and remains an important piece of television history as Ritter's final live-action role. Here are some things you might not know about the series, even if you've watched every single episode.

John Ritter and Katey Sagal played the husband-and-wife team of Paul Hennessy and Cate Hennessy in "8 Simple Rules" but this was not the first time that they appeared together in a project. That shouldn't be all that surprising, really — between the two of them, they have more than 200 credits to their names; their ages were only a few years apart, and they were both known primarily for comedic sitcom roles in the shows "Three's Company" and "Married... with Children," respectively. 

In 1998, they both starred in the television movie "Chance of a Lifetime." In the film, freelance reporter Tom Maguire (Ritter) loses his primary source of revenue right before it becomes clear that he needs back surgery. His work associate Irene Dunbar (Sagal) marries him so they can share health insurance, although this puts them at odds with family members and a dogged insurance inspector. Ritter went to appear in an episode of the 2000 sitcom "Tucker" where Sagal played one of the main characters.

Most fans of "8 Simple Rules" will be aware that John Ritter tragically died in the middle of Season 2 of the show. While rehearsing for an episode, the actor became unwell, noted a variety of symptoms, and was taken to a hospital. A few hours later he was pronounced dead from an aortic dissection (via Today). His death obviously left the studio and creative team behind the series with a problem — whether to continue the show and how to do that if cancellation was not an option.

The cast themselves had a lot of influence when it came to deciding how the series would address Ritter's death. While they were willing to continue "8 Simple Rules," they let it be known they believed that the actor should not simply be replaced by someone else or written out without addressing the tragic circumstances.

"We, as a cast, we really felt like, if it was going to go ahead, we wanted to tell it as a true story, like a family that lost their dad," said Sagal in a telephone interview with Today. "And that didn't feel horrible to us. What would have felt horrible to us was just like, I don't know, replacing him or brushing it off."

Although they were not direct replacements for John Ritter, both James Garner and David Spade joined the cast of "8 Simple Rules" in the episodes following Paul Hennessy's removal. Garner played Cate's dad Jim Egan who moves into the basement of the family home, while Spade played Cate's nephew C.J. Barnes. Both actors joined the cast full time as main characters and continued until the show was canceled after its third season (via Entertainment Weekly).

Garner didn't just contribute as a guest star, though — he was actually involved in some 45 episodes of "8 Simple Rules" in total. That's significantly more than Ritter, who filmed 31 episodes. Meanwhile, Spade also played a major role, appearing in 39 episodes of the sitcom over a season and a half, putting him higher than Ritter as well. Only Katey Sagal, Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson, and Martin Spanjers have more "8 Simple Rules" appearances than these two actors, having acted in the entire 76-episode run of the series.

Henry Winkler and John Ritter had been friends for many years before the latter began working on "8 Simple Rules." As the stars of "Happy Days" and "Three's Company" — two of the biggest sitcoms of the 1970s – the two had a lot in common and became instant pals upon meeting at the ABC 25th anniversary event in 1978 (via Archive of American Television). Winkler recalled their first encounter in an interview, saying, "He was sitting at the table in the chair behind me. And I bumped into him when I moved mine, and we were friends ever since."

This friendship even saw Winkler set to make an appearance in an episode of the series. In fact, he was rehearsing with the rest of the cast on the day that Ritter took ill and was rushed to hospital, meaning that he had seen his friend throughout the day (via Outsider). Following Ritter's death, the planned episode was scrapped and Winkler would never make a guest appearance on any subsequent episode of the series throughout its run. However, Entertainment Weekly reported there were rumors that he was apparently in the running as a possible replacement for Ritter.

Like many traditional three-camera sitcoms, "8 Simple Rules" was filmed in front of a live studio audience. It's a tried and tested process that not only provides a laugh track for broadcast but also gives the performers and creative minds behind the show a chance to gauge how well the material resonates based on audience reactions. The fact that "8 Simple Rules" was always planning on using this method is one of the reasons that Ritter was so interested in joining the series. In fact, he turned down a role in "The O'Keefes" because it would have meant acting without any audience in the room. "I guested on a couple of shows in front of a live audience and said, 'I really miss this,"' said Ritter to Entertainment Weekly.

The classic sitcom atmosphere changed during in the first few episodes following the actor's death. The two-part hour-long episode "Goodbye" had no laugh track and wasn't filmed in front of a live audience, giving it a more serious and somber atmosphere (via People). Meanwhile, the three episodes that had already been completed aired as normal with one small change — each started with a member of the cast explaining what had happened and paying tribute to Ritter.

John Ritter was not just popular because of his kind nature and the fact he was such a welcoming presence to everyone involved in the show. He also made the cast and crew laugh out loud on many occasions thanks to his constant flubbing on set. A blooper reel uploaded to YouTube in 2009 showcases the mistakes that the actor seems to have made regularly.

Whether it was his ad-libbed lines that had his co-stars in stitches or the strange faces he might make in reaction to something that had just happened, he was sure to provoke laughter. There were also some examples of him making jokes and talking directly to the audience. Perhaps most endearing of all is the fact that Ritter and Sagal, along with the other actors, all seem to have genuine affection for each other as they end up in fits of laughter and fall into each other's arms.