8 Simple Rules

8 Simple Rules
Also known as	8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter (S01E01-S02E05 title)
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Tracy Gamble
Starring	Katey Sagal Kaley Cuoco Amy Davidson Martin Spanjers John Ritter (season 1-season 2, episode 3) James Garner (seasons 2-3) David Spade (seasons 2-3)
Theme music composer	Dan Foliart
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	76 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Tom Shadyac Michael Bostick (entire run) Tracy Gamble (seasons 1-2) Flody Suarez (seasons 1-2) James Widdoes (seasons 2-3) Judd Pillot John Peaslee (season 3)
Location(s)	Detroit, Michigan (setting) Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California (filming location)
Camera setup	Film; Multi-camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Shady Acres Entertainment (entire run) FlodyCo (seasons 1-2) Tracy Gamble Productions (season 2)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Original run	September 17, 2002 (2002-09-17) – April 15, 2005 (2005-04-15)
Status	Cancelled/ended

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 September 17, 2002 to April 15, 2005. It was loosely based on humor columnist W. Bruce Cameron's book of the same name.

The show starred John Ritter until his death on September 11, 2003. Katey Sagal took over the show's starring position for the rest of the series' run.

Premise

8 Simple Rules is about a married couple with three children and is set in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. 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.

The rules are:

1. Use your hands on my daughter and you'll lose them after.
2. You make her cry, I make you cry.
3. Safe sex is a myth. Anything you try will be hazardous to your health.
4. Bring her home late, there's no next date.
5. If you pull into my driveway and honk, you better be dropping off a package because you're sure not picking anything up.
6. No complaining while you're waiting for her. If you're bored, change my oil.
7. If your pants hang off your hips, I'll gladly secure them with my staple gun.
8. Dates must be in crowded public places. You want romance? Read a book.

The third season took a creative turn, revolving more around cousin C.J. and Jim, the grandfather, than the immediate Hennessy family, more specifically not revolving around the raising of the Hennessy girls. After the novelty of newly added ensemble characters wore off, the show shortly returned to its roots.

Come And Knock on Our Door connections

The episode "Come and Knock on Our Door" features a dream sequence in which Paul is on the set of Three's Company, the sitcom from which John Ritter gained fame. Also, Paul's wit and deadpan expression are similar to Stanley Roper's. His co-star on Three's Company, Don Knotts, 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.

Old Flame

In the episode Old Flame (S03E15), Cate sneaks away from the house for an evening with her ex-boyfriend, Matt (Ed O'Neill). O'Neill and Sagal played Al and Peg Bundy in 'Married With Children'. Producers felt that one of their most successful episodes to date was "Come and Knock on Our Door" because it clearly linked to a well known show that the main actor (Ritter) had starred in. It was believed that a similar episode for Sagal would boost ratings and re-create the previous success. However, the episode did not affect the ratings in any notable way.

Other significant episodes

In the episode "The Doyle's Wedding" (s01e26), former Cheers stars (John Ratzenberger & Shelley Long) appear as the Doyle family at their daughter's wedding. Ratzenberger guest-starred in three episodes, again playing Fred Doyle, the Hennessys' pesky and annoying neighbor. For the "Doyle Wedding", ex-Cheers co-star Shelley Long played Fred's wife Mary Ellen. For his other two appearances, Laverne and Shirley's Cindy Williams played Mary Ellen. Ratzenberger's last appearance on 8 Simple Rules was on the first segment of the "Goodbye" episode following John Ritter's death from an aortic dissection in 2003.

The first season finale and second season premiere featured Cybil Shepherd as Cate's sister Maggie. Throughout the first series, it is suggested that Cate and Maggie has a similar sibling bond to that of Bridget and Kerry, with Cate being like Kerry. In the two episodes in which Maggie appears, the pair play out an adult version of the Hennessey daughters. First of all, Cate would represent Bridget and Maggie would represent Kerry. But in the second episode, they switched roles. From Maggie's first appearance, Cate and Jim frequently talk about the sibling relationship as if Cate was the Bridget type.

Production

Death of John Ritter

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 Katey Sagal introducing them.

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, C.J. Both Garner and Spade eventually received starring roles following Ritter's death.

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 42nd in the Nielsen ratings. By the end of the second season, the show slipped to 50th. After ABC moved the show to Friday nights at 8:00 p.m., it plunged to 94th in the Nielsen standings.

It is one of the few instances in U.S. television history that a series continued nearly two full seasons beyond the death of the show's star. But the Friday night death slot ratings took their toll on the show. 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 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' Joan of Arcadia (4.9/10), which starred Ritter's son Jason. On May 17, 2005, ABC officially cancelled 8 Simple Rules.

"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 funny, the show should have ended immediately after John Ritter's death.^[2]

Characters

Main characters

• Paul Hennessy, portrayed by John Ritter (2002–2003). A former sports writer, who worked from home as a Lifestyle columnist. Described as being "the master of the double standard", a "Psycho-Dad" as well a perceived hypocrite who often embarrasses his children, even if he wants what's best for them. Nonetheless, he loves his children, and wants them to have happy futures. Paul dies in the second season after collapsing in the store while buying milk. (Though no real reason is given for why he collapsed, it's believed that it had something to do with his heart, as was the reason for John Ritter's death).
• Cate S. Hennessy (née Egan), portrayed by Katey Sagal. The wife, mother, nurse and easily the most sane and composed person in the family, who is made a widow by 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 (portrayed by Adam Arkin), 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; to hide this, she claims that the S stands for "Stacy."
• Bridget Erin "Beach" Hennessy, portrayed by Kaley Cuoco, Bridget is the beautiful, dim-witted oldest child of Cate and Paul's three. She is depicted as a stereotypical blonde, popular bombshell who is interested in her looks, teenage boys and little else. 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 initially few and far between, yet often surprisingly poignant, like when she reveals her favorite book is J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (s01e18). After her father dies, she starts to mature more. Bridget initially felt guilty about Paul's death because the last words she ever spoke to him were "I hate you" after arguing with him earlier that morning. It is mentioned many times that Bridget has a tattoo, though it is not known where it is or what it is of. (It's possible that it is on her lower back as Kaley Cuoco has a tattoo there and it can be seen a few times throughout the series).
• Kerry Michelle "Care Bear" Hennessy, portrayed by Amy Davidson. She is the middle child and not very happy about it. She is often seen as unattractive when compared to her beautiful older sister, Bridget. 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 is also a passionate activist who cares about animals rights. She lost her virginity to Bruno (her boyfriend in Europe) later in the third season. She is often annoyed at her sister and is easily upset, yet frequently the two girls team-up against their parents' authority or at the expenses of their younger rascal brother. Kerry is also very artistic and keeps a sketchbook. She is the smart child, but often shows naiveté. After she starts dating Bridget's popular ex-boyfriend Kyle, her own popularity increases, and she begins to act a little more like her older sister.
• Rory Joseph Hennessy, portrayed by Martin Spanjers, the boy. 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 waited 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, which he once had by trading some of his father's baseball trading cards; the monkey was later traded for a guitar, which was short-lived as Rory annoyed the family with it. He also delights in showing his friends the private aspects of his popular sister Bridget's life, mentioning once that his friends looted through Bridget's underwear drawer. Rory was hit hard by Paul's death and ended up punching a hole in his wall out of anger, cutting his hand. He covered for it saying he burnt it taking a casserole out of the oven. After he entered high school, Rory seemed to mature greatly and C.J. became the wisecracker of the family. However, Rory still had his moments.
• 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. When C.J.'s biological father comes to visit his son, Jim feels out of place and angry because he prepared a car for C.J. after he becomes a full-fledged teacher, but then Mr. Barnes gives C.J. a sports car.
• C.J. Barnes, portrayed by David Spade (2004–2005). C.J. is a thirty-two year old man who is Cate and Paul'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, which is in complete contrast with his generally childish attitude. 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). He once dated Mrs. Krupp, his cousins' (Kerry and Bridget) math teacher, but he ended up cheating on her with his ex-girlfriend Cheryl. He once revealed that "C" in "C.J." stood for Corey (while trying to get a woman to go out with him) to Rory's girlfriend's sister Sissy, but Rory said that it did not stand for Corey, and he was just making it up. CJ used to smoke marijuana heavily (and in fact used to smoke with Kyle's older brother), but at the start of his appearances claims not to have touched it in two years (he originally claimed it was five, though he relented after Jim expressed disbelief).

Other characters

• Kyle Anderson: Portrayed by Billy Aaron Brown, he is Bridget's and later Kerry's ex-boyfriend. He is often seen hanging around with Rory, when not with either Kerry or Bridget. His father, Tommy, used to work with Paul.
• Ed Gibb: Portrayed by Adam Arkin. He is the 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. Despite this, 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 Nick's daughter, and one of Bridget's rivals, who later becomes her friend. She has a younger sister, Racheal (Nicolde Mansure), who is a friend of Kerry's.
• Missy Kleinfeld, Portrayed by Daniella Monet (2003–2005), Rory's season 2 love interest. She has a sister, Sissy (Elena Lyons), who likes C.J.
• Jeremy: Portrayed by Jonathan Taylor Thomas (2003–2004), Bridget's tutor and eventual boyfriend. He is considered a nerd at school, and because of this, Bridget at first denied her interest in him by saying it was only because he was her tutor.
• Anthony W.: Portrayed by Cole Williams (2002–2003). A student in Bridget's class. He was a white boy who spoke like a black rapper, which often got confusing, but there were times he could be understood. It is revealed in 'Cool Parent' that he plays lacrosse.
• Maggie Barnes, (née Egan) 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.
• Fred Doyle, Portrayed by John Ratzenberger. He is the persistent and over-friendly neighbor of the Hennessys, and husband of Mary Ellen (portrayed originally by Shelley Long and then by Cindy Williams). He is the father of Donald "Donny" Doyle who's dated Bridget for some time. Fred was the head of neighborhood watch, and it was noted that his family's religious when Bridget claims she's going over for Bible study in one episode in Season 2.

Episodes

American ratings

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 some think doing so would confuse and/or upset viewers. However, Danish channel TV3 and the Canadian channel YTV does air episodes featuring Ritter.

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 CW Daytime.^[6]

On Tuesday, June 12, 2007, the show joined the ABC Family line-up, airing weekdays from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Then in September 2008, the show started airing from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., until October 10, 2008. On October 3, 2009, 8 Simple Rules returned to ABC Family, having been absent for a year, airing on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and Sundays at 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.^[7] Airings have mostly been sporadic due to the channel's unpredictable movie schedule and holiday programming block. On February 8, 2010, the series was added back to ABC Family's weekday lineup, airing from 6-7PM/ET, replacing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After a few months of being absent on the channel, 8 Simple Rules resumed airings on ABC Family at 7/6 c on select weekend mornings, beginning July 18, 2010. The latest the series aired was on Saturday, August 7, 2010.

International

Country	Channel	First airdate	Last airdate	Notes
United Kingdom	Disney Channel	2003	2006
United Kingdom	ABC1	2005	September 26, 2007	Channel closed September 26, 2007
United Kingdom	Five	2007
United Kingdom	Fiver	2008	Currently showing	All three seasons
Uruguay	Warner Channel	2005	2007	All three seasons
Turkey	TNT atv	2006		Second Season
Australia	FOX8		April 15, 2005	Every Weekday at 1pm
Austria	ORF 1			All Seasons everyday at 3:50pm
New Zealand	TV2	2003	2005	Occasionally Rerun
Bulgaria	Kanal 1 Fox Life (repeats) Nova Television (repeats)	2006 2007 April 5, 2008	2006	All seasons on every channel
Serbia	Foxlife and RTS	2007	2008
Canada	Family		2008	Recently Cancelled.
Canada	Vrak TV	2004	2009	All three seasons
Canada	YTV	2009	currently showing	All 3 seasons aired, reruns
Canada	CMT	September 2010 at TBA	This Fall	All 3 seasons will be aired, reruns
Russia	STS	October 19, 2004
France	M6			Renamed as Touche pas à mes filles (Don't mess with my daughters or Don't touch my daughters)
Belgium	VT4
Ireland	RTÉ Two			Airing cancelled
Ireland	TG4			Airing Weekdays at 5:35pm
Spain	SET en VEO
Netherlands	Comedy Central	2007	Currently showing	Daily 23:05
Poland	Comedy Central	2010
Norway	TV3		2007	All three seasons. Every weekday at 5 pm.
Sweden	TV3
Sweden	TV6
Sweden	Comedy Central		Currently Showing	Weekdays at 1:45 AM
Japan	NHK Educational TV	2003	2005	Renamed "Papa niwa Himitsu(パパにはヒ・ミ・ツ)" (Keep It Secret From Dad).　First and Second Seasons. All the episodes were aired in rerun spending 9 days in 2007.
Estonia	TV3			Renamed "8 Lihtsat Reeglit minu Tütre kohtamiseks"
Germany	ProSieben	February 21, 2004 January 2, 2005 April 1, 2006	Dec. 19, 2004 July 24, 2005 Sep. 9, 2006	Renamed "Meine wilden Töchter" (My Wild Daughters) First Season. Saturday at 4 pm (until May 29) / Sunday at 11.30 am (starting September 5). Second Season. Sunday at 10.30 am. Third Season. Saturday at 2.25 pm.
Germany	Comedy Central	August 10, 2009	Currently showing	Renamed "Meine wilden Töchter" (My Wild Daughters) Monday – Thursday at 9.40 pm. (until October 1) / Monday – Thursday at 8.15 pm (starting October 5) / Currently Monday – Thursday at 1.25 am
Saudi Arabia	MBC4	2007	2008	All three seasons
United Arab Emirates	Dubai One	2006	2007	All three seasons
Israel	yes	2007
Slovenia	Kanal A		2007	All three seasons
India	Star World
Pakistan	Star World	2005	2008	All three seasons
Turkey	TNT Turkey atv Turkey	March 3, 2008
Finland	TV Viisi, Nelonen		currently showing (Tv viisi)	Renamed as Teinitytön kasvatusopas (How to raise a teenage girl) On weekdays 7.30pm
Ukraine	1+1	2008		Third season only.
Slovakia	TV Markiza		July 15, 2008	All three seasons
Denmark	TV3			Renamed as Fingrene væk fra min teenage datter (Get your hands off my teenage daughter)
Brazil	Sony Entertainment Television			All three seasons
Hungary	Viasat 3	March 2, 2009		Renamed as Pimaszok (Cheekies)

DVD releases

On August 7, 2007, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Season 1 of 8 Simple Rules on DVD in Region 1. Season 1 was released in the UK on the 1st of September 2008. [1]

In August 2008, Lionsgate Home Entertainment announced that they had acquired the rights to the series from ABC Studios. They subsequently released Season 2 on DVD in Region 1 on May 19, 2009. [2]

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 (which also aired on ABC), 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.

• 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."

• "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Couch Potato" references the show.

• In an episode of Scrubs entitled 'My Lucky Day' (from season two), a flashback shows that JD's father, as portrayed by John Ritter, bought him a part of a bike, and said he was going to buy another bit of his bike the following year. This segment was actually filmed on the set of '8 Simple Rules', and this is surprisingly easy to notice as 8 Simple Rules premiered the same year as Scrubs on ABC.

• The song "One Big Heart", written and composed by Murray Wilde, was inspired by an episode of the show when one of the daughters remarks to her sister, "Don't you feel sometimes like the world is just one big heart?"

References

External links

• 8 Simple Rules at the Internet Movie Database
• 8 Simple Rules at TV.com
• 8 Simple Rules at epguides.com
• An online version of the original article at the author's web site
• Jump The Shark – 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter
• James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show
• James Garner interview at Archive of American Television