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[Papytendo]

As today commemorates a terrible day in US history from 12 years ago, it also is the same day that ten years ago, a sitcom legend was taken away too soon.

John is most famously remembered as Jack Tripper from Three's Company, a role he played for all eight seasons of this show. John's most notable trait on this show was his physical comedy, done to make Jack look like the klutz he was written to be. Before his death, he was starring in the sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. This highly well received show was cited for the reason why the TGIF block on Friday Night on ABC was popular again. However this would not last long, as John died of an aortic dissection after shooting just three episodes of season two. He was also well known as the voice of Clifford the Big Red Dog. He was 54.

 

[The Real Abed]

I was just thinking about this yesterday wondering when it was. Wow. 10 years. I miss him. He was great.

 

[Anticitizen One]

He was also the hero in IT

Beep beep Reggie!

 

[NinjaFridge]

8 simple rules went to shit after he died.

 

[FStop7]

"There is a God! And he's a gag writer!"

*struck down by a flood of water*

 

[BertramCooper]

I feel bad that I remember him most from those awful Problem Child movies.

 

[strafer]

I remember him in Bad Santa.

 

[johnny_park]

8 simple rules went to shit after he died.

It didn't have to fall very far.

 

[Collete]

8 simple rules went to shit after he died.

That, and it was just depressing seeing that show after he passed away =\
Still RIP, Ritter.

 

[Zee-Row]

I feel bad that I remember him most from those awful Problem Child movies.

Man , you take that back! I loved those movies as a kid!

 

[Randolph Freelander]

 

[alr1ght]

He will always be Junior's dad to me.

 

[matt360]

He is definitely missed. I watch Bad Santa every year, and the scenes with both him and Bernie Mac always make me a little sad.

 

[ukas]

Apparently, he had some good friends in my dinky hometown. I waited on his table when I was a busboy in high school. He was wearing sunglasses and had a full beard at the time. I couldn't tell it was him at first. He was a nice guy.

 

[Batigol]

I like him in that Chucky movie with Jennifer Tilly

 

[Devolution]

I didn't even realize he was In Sling Blade the first time I watched it because he looks so different.

 

[Ballistik]

This hit me hard when the news hit. So sad to see him go soon..

His death was written into both 8 simple rules and Scrubs.

 

[Ahasverus]

HE DIED? :O

 

[Elija2]

However this would not last long, as John died of an aortic dissection after shooting just three episodes of season two.

Wow, that early on? I didn't know that he was gone for the majority of the show.

 

[SaintZ]

I feel bad that I remember him most from those awful Problem Child movies.

Goodbye. The first two Problem Child movies are awesome

 

[sqwarlock]

Ritter in Noises Off! is one of my favorite roles of his.

 

[strafer]

Two greats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVWk6IfRuEE

 

[borghe]

Ok, so slightly... not funny.. But an interesting story about this nonetheless.

11 years ago my dad died. I got a call out of the blue some Sunday morning saying that my dad, about 200 miles away, had been taken to the hospital. They didn't know what was wrong but he was going to the ER and they were going to operate and get him stabilized. Well, a three hour drive and around 10 hours later and they never did. He died the next morning.

So a year goes by and probably not a single day passes without me being pissed. 55 years old and he was taken from us just like that.

Then the news comes along that John Ritter died. Like most of the fans in this thread, John Ritter was a part of my growing up. First on first runs of Three's Company, then reruns.. The guy was honestly a modern day Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and I mean that with nothing but the utmost respect for all three. Though the art of pratfall and physical comedy was no longer deemed significant for decades until brought back by Jim Carey and Will Farrel (who neither of which had a thing on Ritter.. Totally lucked out with a right place right time sense of timing), his physical work on Three's Company is some of the best physical work in the history of Hollywood.

So anyway, he dies. Very suddenly, very unexpectedly. His career was getting a second shot in the arm and he was living up to the task.

Well, Ritter died of the same thing my dad did. An aortic dissection. For an entire year I wondered "What if my dad hadn't lived in Podunk USA? What if he was in a big city with real doctors? Was it a correspondence school doctor who couldn't save his life? A part time veterinarian?" Yet here a year later one of the most loved actors in my history died of the same thing in one of the largest cities in the world and a top hospital as well.

Anyway... Thank you to John Ritter. For the decades of laughs, and for giving me personal understanding through his tragic death. For these two things he will forever remain one of the most important celebrities I regard and will have always indirectly played a role at various points in my life.

 

[Ecto311]

Sucks he was the perfect dad to JD on scrubs though. They even look like a Dad/son and have similar comedic timings.

 

[NomarTyme]

Awesome dude.

 

[B-Dubs]

8 simple rules went to shit after he died.

Yep, he was really good on that show. He made that whole thing work.

 

[Mr. Tone]

Damn.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Loved him in Noises Off!, loved him in Skin Deep, loved him on Three's Company & Scrubs. I even liked him in Stay Tuned, although I don't know if I'd still like that movie watching now than in the 1990s.

 

[feel]

Still remember the 8 Simple Rules mourning episode with peggy, penny and the little redhead one all crying, pretty sad stuff.

 

[dorkimoe]

Cried my eyes out watching that 8 simple rules episode. Because I loved him on 3s company and that show.

 

[jakncoke]

Threes Company should be put on Netflix instant watch

 

[Ferrio]

Loved him in Noises Off!, loved him in Skin Deep, loved him on Three's Company & Scrubs. I even liked him in Stay Tuned, although I don't know if I'd still like that movie watching now than in the 1990s.

Me and my friends recite quotes form Noises Off all the time. Great movie, he was excellent in it.

 

[CountAntonius]

 

[Loxley]

He was great on the one or two episodes of Scrubs he was in (he played J.D.'s dad).

 

[highrider]

Perfect. Such a gifted physical comic.

 

[Afrikan]

loved him in this....

and this...lol

can't believe both are gone.

 

[ThroneZwei]

I remember him in 8 Simple Rules. He was one of my favorite TV actors at the time. I still remember when they announced that he had died, and it sucked alot...he was a great actor.

 

[Yeef]

Eye
Warship
Satin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhHR1xmRtno

 

[smr00]

Goodbye. The first two Problem Child movies are awesome

I can't believe i found another person that likes Problem Child 2.

 

[Magnus]

Never forget, deadly old Ted, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Legitimately terrifying villain.

 

[Jarnet87]

Stay Tuned is a really entertaining movie.

 

[slit]

Stay Tuned is a really entertaining movie.

Actually I agree with that. It's often an overlooked movie.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Watched an episode today of American Dad where they reference how 8 Simple Rules kept running after he died..made me sad. I watched so much Threes Company as a kid..

 

[Baby Milo]

RIP Jack Tripper

 

[-Deadpool-]

Great actor. Every year we watch Bad Santa at Christmas now. Can't believe both he and Bernie Mac are gone.

 

[CaptainGyro]

Threes Company should be put on Netflix instant watch

There's a lot of whole episodes on youtube. My favorite episode is Double Trouble, the one where Jack plays his twin brother Austin. John Ritter is hilarious in it.
People should watch it because it's also the most realistic and best written TV sitcom episode in history

 

[Radec]

Problem Child is awesome.

 

[jambo]

Also loved him in Scrubs as Sam Dorian

Them feels.

 

[Stahsky]

Loved this guy. Was a huge fan of Threes Company and some of his other works.

 

[CaptainGyro]

another scene with John Ritter that I enjoyed , where he gets into it with Gene Siskel on The Larry Sanders Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aelwaJmrXeg