Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Stars Mourned

Aired September 12, 2003 - 09:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, how will Johnny Cash and John Ritter be remembered? For their reflections, we're joined by Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight." She is just outside the hospital where John Ritter died. And here in New York, Lisa Bernhardt is deputy editor of "TV Guide," and Tom O'Neil is the senior editor of "In Touch Weekly" magazine.
Good morning to all of you.

And, Jann, let's begin with you. I know that you interviewed John Ritter just a couple of weeks ago. Give me a sense of how he seemed to you. Did he appear healthy?

JANN CARL, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": yes, I guess it was about two weeks ago I was invited to be first on the set as they were prepping for the new season which was to launch September 23rd. John seemed like his normal, typical self, sort of crazy, fun. The center of fun is the way I would describe him. Tons of energy. I mean, everything but a pratfall. I think he was the one that then that day taught me the art of the spit take. So he seemed like his normal, very happy, full of energy self.

O'BRIEN: You said he taught you the art of the spit take. What's that?

CARL: Well, you see it with someone on a -- I don't know if this is taught in acting school, when someone has a reaction during a take where they need to spit out water, there are apparently three different kinds, and John gave me the lesson on all three. We had a blast. We all got a little wet. We all drooled a little bit. You know, it was typical John. I think that's part of the reason why America loved him so much in all the roles that he played is there was a little bit of that little boy in him that just never went away.

O'BRIEN: You know, I've got to tell you when we heard the news this morning, we were shocked. I have to imagine where you are today, the shock is even more significant. Is that fair to say?

CARL: Absolutely. I think that everyone felt that John was -- I don't want to say that "8 Simple Rules" was a comeback for him, because he never left. He was constantly in plays. I think he did more than 50 plays. He did 25 television movies. He was producing. He was always guest starring on shows like "Ally McBeal" and things like that. So he never really went away. But certainly "8 Simple Rules" brought him back into the hearts and minds of America in primetime television, and the show was going very, very well. Everyone was looking forward to the second season. They had just won a Teen Choice Award.

So I think that yes, everyone was looking forward to seeing him back and enjoying him. And I think all of those things make this even that much more shocking.

O'BRIEN: Jann, you certainly have interviewed 10 zillion celebrities. But give me a sense -- I mean, he always came across as a guy who was genuinely a good guy, and I know that Hollywood is full of not many good guys. And he seemed like he was one of them, truly loved his wife, had a beautiful daughter, little daughter, and then older children as well. Was he the great guy that he came across as?

CARL: You know, he was either the best actor in the world, or yes, he truly -- he always loved his wife.

In fact, about a year ago, he and Amy, they came to "ET," they sort of acted as "Entertainment Tonight" correspondents, and interviewed each other and opened up, and they were very funny about their relationship. They talked about the birth of their daughter. That's something that we're going to readdress tonight on "Entertainment Tonight." We're going to show parts of them interviewing each other. And I think then, yes, you'll get a real sense of how much love there was there and the sweetness and how much he loved being a father.

The other thing that happened when I was on the set two weeks ago is that he had recently taped a special appeal for Jerry Lewis for "Jerry's Telethon" over Labor Day weekend. And when I came to the set, he had just gotten off the phone a few minutes earlier with Jerry. And what was so sweet about John is that he said he was so overwhelmed, that he looked up to Jerry, and Jerry was such an icon for him, and that he had to go to his dressing room and call Amy on the phone, and he had to sit down for a moment, he was so excited. I thought, well, here's someone that most Americans would love to meet and love to talk to, and would be star struck if they met John Ritter. And here was John admitting to me at how starstruck he was that Jerry Lewis called him on the phone. The fact that he would admit that and that's how he truly felt in his heart, yes, I think that's what made him endearing and made him truly a good guy.

O'BRIEN: Jann Carl, thanks for your thoughts for us this morning. We appreciate it.

Let's get back to Lisa Bernhardt and Tom O'Neil. You know, we just heard that really sweet story. And I have to say, I think John Ritter is one of those people where you say, you know, that is exactly the kind of guy he was. He seemed like a guy who never minded being Jack Tripper when many stars is, when they have an old sitcom, don't want to be remembered for the role that made them famous. They sort of resent it. Is that fair to say, Lisa?

LISA BERNHARDT, "TV GUIDE": You know, it is. I think he really came to appreciate that show, actually, over time. He did tell me -- I had interviewed him some years ago, and he did tell me that he was a bit conflicted, because he lived in the shadow of his famous father, Tex Ritter, who was this country singer known for the "High Noon" theme song. And he said there was a period actually where he would introduce himself and almost say, hi, I'm John Ritter, I'm sorry, because he sort of felt that three's company was this kind of guilty pleasure, and he had to wrestle with that a little bit, because he had a lot of diversity to his talent.

HEMMER: Exactly. But at the same time, I think people did consider him not just a comedic actor from that role. But he was amazing in "Sling Blade." He was well regarded, right, Tom? And then he was on the stage. I mean, he had a real resume.

TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY" MAGAZINE: Right. And even if you go back to "Three's Company," the least appreciated fact, I think, about that show was that it won eight Emmy Awards. They're tough at the Emmys. Your peers voting. It won a People's Choice Award, and it was a Golden Globe Award. Which means he had the media, the people and the industry behind him.

But what I think is most remarkable is that the show was dismissed as jiggle TV. He ended up getting the last laugh. He's got -- that show is doing extremely well in syndicated reruns.

BERNHARDT: A whole generation grew up with that show and really just loved it. It remains close to people's hearts in a lot of ways.

O'BRIEN: I love the reruns now. The head of ABC's current -- I don't think it's fair to call it a hit.

O'NEIL: It's a solid show.

O'BRIEN: But a show that was doing pretty well for them, "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," seemed like a good fit. We heard Jann Carl say, it's not quite a comeback, because it's not like he went away.

BERNHARDT: Well, true. He had a couple of other series, "Hooperman," "Hearts Afire," that some critics liked, you know, didn't have a really long lives, either one of them. This has been a solid show for ABC. This is a tremendous loss for ABC. He's the heart and soul of the show.

O'BRIEN: Right. You can't just bring somebody else in. What happens?

O'NEIL: I don't know. That's a very good question -- Lisa?

BERNHARDT: I don't think they've made a decision yet. I think it's too soon. I think it's a really tough decision. I think that my guess would be that they would try to keep the show going, and they have the kids on the show, they have Katie Seagal. But he is the center of that show. He carries that show. He's a slam dunk as a sitcom actor in terms of his timing and his physical comedy.

O'NEIL: He had this inner glow about him that I'm not sure can translate to a replacement star. Throw back just a few months ago, he hosted these new awards for TV Land. And there we saw John Ritter as ringmaster of all these showbiz veterans. It was one of his finest hours as a performer. He was terrific.

O'BRIEN: He was terrific, fair to say. All right, guys, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 12, 2003 - 09:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, how will Johnny Cash and John Ritter be remembered? For their reflections, we're joined by Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight." She is just outside the hospital where John Ritter died. And here in New York, Lisa Bernhardt is deputy editor of "TV Guide," and Tom O'Neil is the senior editor of "In Touch Weekly" magazine.
Good morning to all of you.

And, Jann, let's begin with you. I know that you interviewed John Ritter just a couple of weeks ago. Give me a sense of how he seemed to you. Did he appear healthy?

JANN CARL, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": yes, I guess it was about two weeks ago I was invited to be first on the set as they were prepping for the new season which was to launch September 23rd. John seemed like his normal, typical self, sort of crazy, fun. The center of fun is the way I would describe him. Tons of energy. I mean, everything but a pratfall. I think he was the one that then that day taught me the art of the spit take. So he seemed like his normal, very happy, full of energy self.

O'BRIEN: You said he taught you the art of the spit take. What's that?

CARL: Well, you see it with someone on a -- I don't know if this is taught in acting school, when someone has a reaction during a take where they need to spit out water, there are apparently three different kinds, and John gave me the lesson on all three. We had a blast. We all got a little wet. We all drooled a little bit. You know, it was typical John. I think that's part of the reason why America loved him so much in all the roles that he played is there was a little bit of that little boy in him that just never went away.

O'BRIEN: You know, I've got to tell you when we heard the news this morning, we were shocked. I have to imagine where you are today, the shock is even more significant. Is that fair to say?

CARL: Absolutely. I think that everyone felt that John was -- I don't want to say that "8 Simple Rules" was a comeback for him, because he never left. He was constantly in plays. I think he did more than 50 plays. He did 25 television movies. He was producing. He was always guest starring on shows like "Ally McBeal" and things like that. So he never really went away. But certainly "8 Simple Rules" brought him back into the hearts and minds of America in primetime television, and the show was going very, very well. Everyone was looking forward to the second season. They had just won a Teen Choice Award.

So I think that yes, everyone was looking forward to seeing him back and enjoying him. And I think all of those things make this even that much more shocking.

O'BRIEN: Jann, you certainly have interviewed 10 zillion celebrities. But give me a sense -- I mean, he always came across as a guy who was genuinely a good guy, and I know that Hollywood is full of not many good guys. And he seemed like he was one of them, truly loved his wife, had a beautiful daughter, little daughter, and then older children as well. Was he the great guy that he came across as?

CARL: You know, he was either the best actor in the world, or yes, he truly -- he always loved his wife.

In fact, about a year ago, he and Amy, they came to "ET," they sort of acted as "Entertainment Tonight" correspondents, and interviewed each other and opened up, and they were very funny about their relationship. They talked about the birth of their daughter. That's something that we're going to readdress tonight on "Entertainment Tonight." We're going to show parts of them interviewing each other. And I think then, yes, you'll get a real sense of how much love there was there and the sweetness and how much he loved being a father.

The other thing that happened when I was on the set two weeks ago is that he had recently taped a special appeal for Jerry Lewis for "Jerry's Telethon" over Labor Day weekend. And when I came to the set, he had just gotten off the phone a few minutes earlier with Jerry. And what was so sweet about John is that he said he was so overwhelmed, that he looked up to Jerry, and Jerry was such an icon for him, and that he had to go to his dressing room and call Amy on the phone, and he had to sit down for a moment, he was so excited. I thought, well, here's someone that most Americans would love to meet and love to talk to, and would be star struck if they met John Ritter. And here was John admitting to me at how starstruck he was that Jerry Lewis called him on the phone. The fact that he would admit that and that's how he truly felt in his heart, yes, I think that's what made him endearing and made him truly a good guy.

O'BRIEN: Jann Carl, thanks for your thoughts for us this morning. We appreciate it.

Let's get back to Lisa Bernhardt and Tom O'Neil. You know, we just heard that really sweet story. And I have to say, I think John Ritter is one of those people where you say, you know, that is exactly the kind of guy he was. He seemed like a guy who never minded being Jack Tripper when many stars is, when they have an old sitcom, don't want to be remembered for the role that made them famous. They sort of resent it. Is that fair to say, Lisa?

LISA BERNHARDT, "TV GUIDE": You know, it is. I think he really came to appreciate that show, actually, over time. He did tell me -- I had interviewed him some years ago, and he did tell me that he was a bit conflicted, because he lived in the shadow of his famous father, Tex Ritter, who was this country singer known for the "High Noon" theme song. And he said there was a period actually where he would introduce himself and almost say, hi, I'm John Ritter, I'm sorry, because he sort of felt that three's company was this kind of guilty pleasure, and he had to wrestle with that a little bit, because he had a lot of diversity to his talent.

HEMMER: Exactly. But at the same time, I think people did consider him not just a comedic actor from that role. But he was amazing in "Sling Blade." He was well regarded, right, Tom? And then he was on the stage. I mean, he had a real resume.

TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY" MAGAZINE: Right. And even if you go back to "Three's Company," the least appreciated fact, I think, about that show was that it won eight Emmy Awards. They're tough at the Emmys. Your peers voting. It won a People's Choice Award, and it was a Golden Globe Award. Which means he had the media, the people and the industry behind him.

But what I think is most remarkable is that the show was dismissed as jiggle TV. He ended up getting the last laugh. He's got -- that show is doing extremely well in syndicated reruns.

BERNHARDT: A whole generation grew up with that show and really just loved it. It remains close to people's hearts in a lot of ways.

O'BRIEN: I love the reruns now. The head of ABC's current -- I don't think it's fair to call it a hit.

O'NEIL: It's a solid show.

O'BRIEN: But a show that was doing pretty well for them, "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," seemed like a good fit. We heard Jann Carl say, it's not quite a comeback, because it's not like he went away.

BERNHARDT: Well, true. He had a couple of other series, "Hooperman," "Hearts Afire," that some critics liked, you know, didn't have a really long lives, either one of them. This has been a solid show for ABC. This is a tremendous loss for ABC. He's the heart and soul of the show.

O'BRIEN: Right. You can't just bring somebody else in. What happens?

O'NEIL: I don't know. That's a very good question -- Lisa?

BERNHARDT: I don't think they've made a decision yet. I think it's too soon. I think it's a really tough decision. I think that my guess would be that they would try to keep the show going, and they have the kids on the show, they have Katie Seagal. But he is the center of that show. He carries that show. He's a slam dunk as a sitcom actor in terms of his timing and his physical comedy.

O'NEIL: He had this inner glow about him that I'm not sure can translate to a replacement star. Throw back just a few months ago, he hosted these new awards for TV Land. And there we saw John Ritter as ringmaster of all these showbiz veterans. It was one of his finest hours as a performer. He was terrific.

O'BRIEN: He was terrific, fair to say. All right, guys, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com