John Ritter Dies

The sitcom actor collapsed while filming Thursday night, and died from "dissection of the aorta." He was 54.

While he was rather the opposite of Johnny Cash, he did serve the purpose of introducing my generation of pre-pubescents to the idea of permanent, unrequited yet undaunted horniness. And he was the one-man keeper of the pratfall flame after Chevy Chase left "Saturday Night Live."

Comments

[Citizen]

I don't know Fish Police, but I could watch Flight of Dragons over and over and over ... esp the scene where Peter (Jack) as the dragon learns to fly by eating limestone. What a hoot!

[Mark A.]

Don't forget "Clifford, the Big Red Dog".

[Anonymous]

Don't forget Ritter was in a Stephen King horror movie.

[tievsky]

"Sling Blade."

[tim]

What, no fans of Americathon?

[Dan]

"Hero At Large" changed my life. Seriously.

[Tommy_Grand]

he rules in noises off. great physical comedian. good actor. many bad projects

[Yaron]

My girlfriend and I dressed as the Ropers for Halloween last year. RIP

[Julian Sanchez]

For my money, it's "Stay Tuned"

[dude]

"permanent, unrequited yet undaunted horniness"

woa - my life in 5 words!

These are the sort of deaths that are unsettling. You just drop dead out of the blue.

[Richard]

Come on...Problem Child was the funniest of his movies and after UHF, Michael Richards (aka Kramer) second best film...

I grew up watching Jack Tripper and Larry slug through the rising tide of anti-male feminism and it was HILARIOUS...God Bless John Ritter...he made life in the late seventies and eighties more enjoyable.

[Rex Stetson]

Dan:
Hero at Large is an overlooked, obscure Ritter gem. Done while he was on Three's Company, it doesn't so much show off his range as an actor (he did have one we later found out) but it shows an interesting spin on his everyman Jack Tripper-style character. That is definitely my favorite, too.

For those of you who haven't seen it, John plays a struggling actor who gets a job promoting a superhero film, and while wearing the costume, is so overcome by the "role" that stops a robbery, and the high is so great that he keeps fighting crime,only to become exploited by corrupt politicians, greedy movie producers, and a cynical news media. It's a pretty realistic view, in my opinion, of what type of dangers (physical and psychological) a real-life superhero would face. "Watchmen" it ain't, but wouldn't the older, fatter John Ritter have made a great "Night Owl"?

Tommy Grand:
Noises Off is fantastic, I forgot about that one.

Am I the only one who remembers "Real Men"? I love that movie...

[David Nieporent]

And then there was his guest appearance on Buffy...

[Warren]

I'll accept that Ritter was under rated. But he was no Jim Henson. (I wept inconsolably that day)

Suess, Blanc (et. al.), Henson, and now even Rogers. Who will raise our children for us now? The thought of living out my golden years in a world run by people raised on Sponge Bob and Power Puff scares the shit out of me... Though I here there's good stuff going on in children's literature.

Sorry got off topic there. John may not have been one of the great ones, but he brought a smile to millions of faces, and how many can ever claim as much. He went before his time, he will be missed.

[Rex Stetson]

Warren:
There was also a LOT of crap on when I was a kid. I have been watching those old super friends cartoons, and they suck. They are still the best of those old superhero cartoons, and they really suck almost to the point of being unwatchable.

The new superhero cartoons: your Batman cartoons of a few years back, the new superman, and the justice league- are all infinitely better. Even the spider man/hulk/x-men cartoons of a few years back are way better written than the old ones from the '80s. They treat the characters with so much more respect.

And that's just the superhero stuff. The smurfs and the snorks and all that saturday morning crap sucked too. I'm sorry, but they did. The punky brewster cartoon with Glowmer? Monchichi? The Gary Coleman show with him as an angel? Stupid cartoon spinoffs of breakfast cereals, insipid sitcoms, and dumb toys.

I will give you that there were a few cool concepts, like the Transformers. The GI joe cartoon was decent. But the dozens of copycats that we had to sit through weren't: M.A.S.K, Silverhawks, GoBots. And don't get me started on He-Man and She Ra.

My point is, the quality programming ( and not just the Jim Hensons) were pretty few and far between, so don't idealize it too much...
I personally think Mr. Rogers was overrated, myself, although a truly amazing jazz pianist. I never liked Captain Kangaroo one bit. I preferred 3-2-1 Contact and The Electric Company.I caught a little of The Krofft Superhour but barely remember it.

The cleverest kid's show to come out of that decade (like Henson clever) was Pee Wee's Playhouse, definitely. Shame about poor Paul Reubens...

[Rex Stetson]

To amend my previous post:
I will concede that the early '80's Incredible Hulk tv show was far superior to today's.

[joe too]

One of the Chicago area NPR stations outed Three's Company this morning. Turns out it was all "low-brow humor". Glad they cleared that up...

[coward]

Everyone is wrong for denigrating Three's Company, which was a better sitcom than the much-revered Seinfeld.

"Three's Company" was a very funny, very clever show. The plot lines are complex; there's a lot of witty dialogue; the characters are both lovable and memorable.

[Steve]

What about Blake Edwards' Skin Deep? The fight scene with Ritter and another guy wearing glow-in-the-dark condoms is classic!

[James]

I was delighted to meet John Ritter at a SCUBA equipment expo in Anaheim in 1997. He stopped by our booth. He was by himself with no others, dressed rather casual, and was inquisitive about cold water diving. He was quite gracious, down to earth, and certainly came across as your average Joe. (No offense Joe, you are far from average!) Sure he wasn't a megastar as far as hollyweird was concerned, but he sure didn't pretend to be like a certain David Hasselhoff that was there with his flashy crew. Here's to you Jack Tripper, RIP.

[Sandy]

The other thing you have to admit with Ritter is, he had a hell of a work ethic. The guy may have gotten crappy scripts but he just kept working in one medium or another.

I, too treasure his Buffy guest appearance. Problem Child had moments, but unfortunately none were really written for him.

But man, the guy plugged away at it.

[Regal Beagle]

Yes! Skin Deep.

The "cockfight" scene features ILM's best lightsaber work outside of Star Wars.

[Rhywun]

Yep, his turn as evil "Ted" in the Buffy episode of the same name was simply wonderful. "Don't give me any backtalk, MISSY!" Still gives me chills....

[Andrew Lynch]

Ritter's death bums me out immensely. I don't want to get all high-falutin' and philosophical, but does anyone think that Three's Company did more for queers in five minutes of slapstick, misdirection, and comedy of errors than an entire season of Will and Grace (yawn)?

[Julian Sanchez]

September 11 will surely be long remembered for this tragic event... Whenever I hear the words "hijinks ensue," I think of Jack Tripper.

[Radley Balko]

Or, "it was all just a big misunderstanding."

[Jesse Walker]

Believe it or not, Ritter was a genuinely talented actor. Check out the movie Panic sometimes -- it's about as far from Three's Company as you can get, and Ritter is excellent in it.

[Sir Real]

It pains me to see people glossing over Mr. Ritter's greatest contribution-

Fish Police. The cartoon where Ritter was the voice of a fish detective.

He will be missed.

[Rex Stetson]

"September 11 will surely be long remembered for this tragic event... "

Julian: Thank you for actually making me laugh about this... seriously, I'm pretty bummed out about it, so that's quite an accomplishment. I eulogized John Ritter on my blog today, and recommended underrated forgotten Ritter films, etc.

This is a "death of Jim Henson"-like blow, though, to a child of the '80s, I'm sorry...

[Rex Stetson]

"September 11 will surely be long remembered for this tragic event... "

Julian: Thank you for actually making me laugh about this... seriously, I'm pretty bummed out about it, so that's quite an accomplishment. I eulogized John Ritter on my blog today, and recommended underrated forgotten Ritter films, etc.

This is a "death of Jim Henson"-like blow, though, to a child of the '80s, I'm sorry...

[Mona]

Ritter's quirky but likable gay fellow in "Sling Blade" is a superb performance. He was very talented and I am sorry he has died so young.

[Cridland]

You have to be younger to care deeply. I work at a cable tv entertainment network. And yesterday all my associates in who are in their twenties were moping around. I think if you're in your forties, you can remember how insipid the show was, how cheaply composed. But if you were a kid, you remember the simple lighting and bright colors as being cheerful. And yes, it introduced many to the idea that the sexuality of the future was in some ways comparable to candy. And if memory serves a subplot in the show concerned homosexuality, which we didn't get from Dick Van Dyke back in '60's. So maybe this represents progress. But still, he was a sitcom star.

In order to relate to my younger peers, I've been trying to imagine that Popeye or Fred Flinstone died. (It's nothing personal: Ritter & family gave many years and much effort to United Cerebral Palsy telethons, as was by all accounts a sweet guy.)

[Eric Pobirs]

Actually, there is a Johnny Cash connection here. Remember his father, Tex Ritter. Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash appeared with Tex any number of times. In all likelihood John Ritter was well acquainted with The Man In Blak.

[Mona]

Cridland: "But still, he was a sitcom star."

I sat on this all day; did shopping and other shit, but can't let it go.

No, John Ritter was not just a sitcom actor. Over the years (have you fucking seen "Sling Blade?") he took many great and/or small parts and showed himself to be as talented as he was reputed to be a fine human being. I'm not one to gratuitously heap praise on the dead, but Ritter was a fine actor.

And "Three's Company," yeah, schlock, but dammit, it was the best of my generation's, in no small part cuz of him. It is small-spirited not to acknowledge that cultural role.

[Cridland]

Fair enough. I'd forgotten he was in Sling Blade, but again, I got nothing against the guy: "...best [schlock] of my generation" damns more deeply than necessary.

American culture often rules by fast satiation of base appetites: Our football is violent as hell. McDonald's is fat and salty. Our TV (my industry) is lewd and coarsely constructed. Older folks will remember that 3's Company was DISTINCTIVELY banal. The "cultural role" was a product of market penetration through concentrated media, a success unlikely to be seen again in times of diverse sources. Michael Jackson's never going to sell 37 million copies of a dance record, either. Even with Quincy's help.

[Jean Bart]

In more positive news: OPUS RETURNS!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45450-2003Sep8.html