STORM2K

The 1-hour farewell episode should be incredibly moving tonight. It will be interesting to see how the writers decided to write his death and funeral into the script. I can't wait to see the new cast members. The show's on in just 2 hours in the east time zone. I'm in the west, so I still have 5 hours to wait . Why not post your comment on the show here. BTW, what do you think of the decision to continue without John Ritter? Do you think the show can survive? It airs 8 pm local time on ABC.

I set my DVR to record as soon as I saw it listed on the guide. I hadn't seen much or heard much in the way of promotion for it until today on the radio.

I'm okay with the decision to keep the show going. Whether or not it can survive is up to how the writers continue to write it and how the surviving cast plays it out. As I understand it, James Garner has joined the cast as a relative of Kate's (father, uncle?).

I won't tell you the details ... but will offer a suggestion ...

Get a lot of Kleenex (for your eyes) ...

SF

You beat me to it, SF! Definitely for the first part.

But then I was really bugged by how, during the commercial break, they decided to throw in an ad for the "Three's Company" DVD. How wrong was that!

Sniff sniff....i'm watching right now!

*sigh*

That was so sad.. I watched it from start to finish. I don't agree with the plug for the 3's company DVD but I thought it was quite sad.

Even brought a few memories back to when I lost my father. I lost him just 5 years ago..

Just like stated above.. If you're waiting to watch it still.. Get a load of Kleenex.

I just watched it. You are right SF, what a tear jerker!! I just love James Garner and Suzanne Pleshette. I remember her best in the "Love Bug" and "The Birds"

I loved John Ritter!! This show will not be the same without him.

Oh man! I missed it! Go figure..... why didn't I see this topic BEFORE it came on!

What a touching tribute to John Ritter! My daughter and I watched it. We smiled, teared up, smiled some more during the entire hour. She's 16 so she could relate to his last column, read at the end. We mute commercials and get snacks so I missed the whole Three's Company promo. I'd have to see it to really give my opionion but it doesn't seem quite right to push that product on such a sad night. The tears we saw I think were genuine. I had read the cast could barely get thru filming, it was that sad.

John Ritter is one of those rare celebs that I just don't remember ever hearing or reading negative press about. He really was a great guy!

I loved James Garner in the role of Grandfather, he was superb. Suzanne Pleshette was a little hard to take, but hey my mom's like that. "It was God's will.....", comments like that, oh my Mom would be saying them too. Some people just don't know what to say at funerals or after a sudden death. So her mother's reaction and comments were accurate I thought. What the grieving family left behind really needs is to be listened to. And hugged. So again, while the Grandmother's mildly irritating ways were hard to take, they were real reactions.

For a comedy sitcom, daring to firm a 60 minute drame type episode, was commendable. I thought this show was good as TV can get. The writers should be nominated for an award for this one episode.

Mary

PS - Linda, I think maybe you're confusing Michele Lee (Knots Landing/Love Bug) with Suzanne Pleshette?

Mary, Suzanne Pleshette was the landlady in The Birds...I happen to know that cuz it was on last Thursday nite and I saw the credits.

CajunMama - I meant for the movie the Love Bug. Michele Lee starred in that movie. You're right about the Birds. Thanks though - meant the Love Bug confusion.

M.

I thought Suzanne Pleshette was in Herbie the VW movies.

I really want to see it now, I wish they would show it again, nobody happened to tape it did they?

I did.

jason0509 wrote:The 1-hour farewell episode should be incredibly moving tonight. It will be interesting to see how the writers decided to write his death and funeral into the script. I can't wait to see the new cast members. The show's on in just 2 hours in the east time zone. I'm in the west, so I still have 5 hours to wait . Why not post your comment on the show here. BTW, what do you think of the decision to continue without John Ritter? Do you think the show can survive? It airs 8 pm local time on ABC.

When all the tears are over it is still about the money. They have been living off his death since it happened. Have you seen the sad teary commercials. The show was John Ritter. Change the name and rebuild the plot a bit.

stormchazer wrote:When all the tears are over it is still about the money. They have been living off his death since it happened. Have you seen the sad teary commercials. The show was John Ritter. Change the name and rebuild the plot a bit.

I disagree. If by "they," you mean the cast, then they certainly weren't living off his death since this was the first show to air without him. The show was successful last season, long before he died. They were living off their success. And, true, it is about money to an extent. They are actors and they do that for a living. Otherwise, where does their income come from?

I watched the show last night, and to be honest, I thought it was really terrific! Man, I would be lying if I said I didn't choke up a few times. You know what I thought was really touching, was how they left all the laughter out of it. I thought that was very respectful. Couldn't have done a better job.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to watch 8 Simple Rules.....I had to work til late. Just be reading the previews, I knew before hand that the plot was a tear jeaker.

It was well written IMO, but very tough to watch...especially for folks like me who lost their mom or dad as teens.

Neither my sister or I could NEVER watch "Eight Is Enough" again after the actress who played the mother (Diana Hyland) died, and her death was written into the show at the beginning of the next season -- it just hit too close to home

I also thought the commercials hawking "Three's Company" DVD's during the show last night was extremely tasteless and poorly timed.