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American Morning
Sudden Death of John Ritter
Aired September 12, 2003 - 08:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More now on the sudden death of John Ritter. The actor died after collapsing on the set of his ABC series "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."
Miguel Marquez of CNN live outside the hospital where Ritter died last evening in Burbank, California -- good morning there, Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
He was brought here to this hospital in Burbank, Providence St. Joseph's, after suffering a heart attack. In a statement, his publicist said that the cause of death was a dissection of the aorta, which results from an unrecognized flaw in the aorta. The condition is undetectable, sadly. Essentially, it was a very sudden and very massive heart attack Mr. Ritter had.
Mr. Ritter would have turned 55 next week and his ABC series "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" would have begun its second season on the 23rd of this month.
One thing that I found surprising about him today, as I've sort of learned more about John Ritter, is that he was also the voice for the Clifford, the big red dog on PBS. He also has a film due out in November.
So he will be with us for quite some time -- Bill.
HEMMER: Miguel, thanks.
Miguel Marquez in Burbank.
While he died too young, John Ritter's career spanned several decades. He was a success from the very beginning. A look now at the actor's life and what it means going forward.
"Newsweek's" B.J. Sigesmund is with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Nice to see you, B.J.
Good morning to you.
Was this a bit of a revival, do you think, with the success of that program on ABC?
B.J. SIGESMUND, "NEWSWEEK": Absolutely. This was a complete comeback for John Ritter. An entire generation had grown up with this guy. Who didn't love him from "Three's Company," right? It was on for six years, a really important six years. It turned him into a huge star. And then he was kind of off the map for many years. He did a show called "Hooperman." He did many shows. He was a theater guy, too. He did a show in New York called "The Dinner Party" for about a year in the '90s. And then this show, "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" came along and really was a wonderful comeback for him. It was on ABC, which is, as you remember, the station that -- I'm sorry, the network of "Three's Company" and "Three Is A Crowd," as well. And it brought him back to America.
HEMMER: If you read some of the comments from people talking about John Ritter, they say this guy was great on set.
SIGESMUND: Absolutely.
HEMMER: He made it fun for everyone.
SIGESMUND: He was a really, really lovable guy. And you know what's funny? I grew up in L.A. and I actually met him with my sister once at a restaurant. We were just kids and it was the height of "Three's Company." And we went up to him and we asked him for autographs, like a lot of kids. And he said, "You know what? How about if I just shake your hand, because giving an autograph just dehumanizes me?"
And that's the kind of guy he was, you know, very, very real, very warm, very open.
HEMMER: Some people think "Three's Company," the program we're watching here on this videotape, changed the course for sitcoms. Do you agree with some of that?
SIGESMUND: I don't know about that. I mean it was not really so different from "I Love Lucy" in many ways. You know, it was just about kind of mishaps and shenanigans and misunderstandings...
HEMMER: And a lot of laughs, too.
SIGESMUND: It was just very, very funny. I mean it was so simple. Sometimes if you watch them on reruns now, you just see how the production values were so different. You see a little sweat under his arms sometimes or you see, you know, underwear sticking out from under the women's clothing. They didn't make sitcoms then with all the production that they do now.
It was just really, a really sweet show with a lot of laughs.
HEMMER: Quickly, you're in the entertainment business. This is your beat, essentially, for "Newsweek" magazine. What's the impact on ABC and a primetime lineup with a loss like John Ritter?
SIGESMUND: This is hugely impactful to ABC. This show, "Eight Simple Rules," was part of Susan Lyne's comeback strategy for ABC. She wanted to make ABC, again, the network of the great middle class and shows about families were important to her.
And this show, while it didn't do incredibly well in the ratings last year, was doing well enough that they kept it on for a second year. And it'll be interesting to see what ABC has to do once the season starts again.
HEMMER: He would have turned 55 next Wednesday.
John Ritter dead at 54.
B.J., thanks for your thoughts today.
SIGESMUND: Thank you.
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 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More now on the sudden death of John Ritter. The actor died after collapsing on the set of his ABC series "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."
Miguel Marquez of CNN live outside the hospital where Ritter died last evening in Burbank, California -- good morning there, Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
He was brought here to this hospital in Burbank, Providence St. Joseph's, after suffering a heart attack. In a statement, his publicist said that the cause of death was a dissection of the aorta, which results from an unrecognized flaw in the aorta. The condition is undetectable, sadly. Essentially, it was a very sudden and very massive heart attack Mr. Ritter had.
Mr. Ritter would have turned 55 next week and his ABC series "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" would have begun its second season on the 23rd of this month.
One thing that I found surprising about him today, as I've sort of learned more about John Ritter, is that he was also the voice for the Clifford, the big red dog on PBS. He also has a film due out in November.
So he will be with us for quite some time -- Bill.
HEMMER: Miguel, thanks.
Miguel Marquez in Burbank.
While he died too young, John Ritter's career spanned several decades. He was a success from the very beginning. A look now at the actor's life and what it means going forward.
"Newsweek's" B.J. Sigesmund is with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Nice to see you, B.J.
Good morning to you.
Was this a bit of a revival, do you think, with the success of that program on ABC?
B.J. SIGESMUND, "NEWSWEEK": Absolutely. This was a complete comeback for John Ritter. An entire generation had grown up with this guy. Who didn't love him from "Three's Company," right? It was on for six years, a really important six years. It turned him into a huge star. And then he was kind of off the map for many years. He did a show called "Hooperman." He did many shows. He was a theater guy, too. He did a show in New York called "The Dinner Party" for about a year in the '90s. And then this show, "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" came along and really was a wonderful comeback for him. It was on ABC, which is, as you remember, the station that -- I'm sorry, the network of "Three's Company" and "Three Is A Crowd," as well. And it brought him back to America.
HEMMER: If you read some of the comments from people talking about John Ritter, they say this guy was great on set.
SIGESMUND: Absolutely.
HEMMER: He made it fun for everyone.
SIGESMUND: He was a really, really lovable guy. And you know what's funny? I grew up in L.A. and I actually met him with my sister once at a restaurant. We were just kids and it was the height of "Three's Company." And we went up to him and we asked him for autographs, like a lot of kids. And he said, "You know what? How about if I just shake your hand, because giving an autograph just dehumanizes me?"
And that's the kind of guy he was, you know, very, very real, very warm, very open.
HEMMER: Some people think "Three's Company," the program we're watching here on this videotape, changed the course for sitcoms. Do you agree with some of that?
SIGESMUND: I don't know about that. I mean it was not really so different from "I Love Lucy" in many ways. You know, it was just about kind of mishaps and shenanigans and misunderstandings...
HEMMER: And a lot of laughs, too.
SIGESMUND: It was just very, very funny. I mean it was so simple. Sometimes if you watch them on reruns now, you just see how the production values were so different. You see a little sweat under his arms sometimes or you see, you know, underwear sticking out from under the women's clothing. They didn't make sitcoms then with all the production that they do now.
It was just really, a really sweet show with a lot of laughs.
HEMMER: Quickly, you're in the entertainment business. This is your beat, essentially, for "Newsweek" magazine. What's the impact on ABC and a primetime lineup with a loss like John Ritter?
SIGESMUND: This is hugely impactful to ABC. This show, "Eight Simple Rules," was part of Susan Lyne's comeback strategy for ABC. She wanted to make ABC, again, the network of the great middle class and shows about families were important to her.
And this show, while it didn't do incredibly well in the ratings last year, was doing well enough that they kept it on for a second year. And it'll be interesting to see what ABC has to do once the season starts again.
HEMMER: He would have turned 55 next Wednesday.
John Ritter dead at 54.
B.J., thanks for your thoughts today.
SIGESMUND: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
