John Ritter, the funny man who’s known to older audiences as Jack Tripper from the 70’s sitcom Three’s Company, and who recently resurfaced in ABC’s new hit show 8 Simple Rules has died on Thursday, September 11th.
Why is it that the good ones die young, and the lousy ones live forever? OK, I’m not going to equate Ritter with the masters of comedy, and I’m not about to start praising every little thing he ever did. He was no king of comedy. But the guy was funny.
Lately, the funny things on TV seem forced, calculated, and contrived. John made it look simple. Goofy, but simple nevertheless. He could slip on a banana peel with class, and he could also be the one dropping it. He’s got the body language, and good comic timing – something that they probably stopped teaching a few years ago. The lines he’s been reading might have been simple, even silly, but he delivered them, instead of just blurting out one-liners, like many do today.
It’s a real shame that he didn’t get to enjoy the ‘second career’, since that ABC sitcom (8 Simple Rules) really was the sole network survivor of the last season. Everything else was either canned on definitely on its way to the trash bin. Wait, I’m forgetting Life with Bonnie.
We’ll remember you, John. You’ve given us many laughs, and left a lot of admirers.