Paula Abdul's Interview with John Ritter

Oct 2nd, 2003

PAULA ABDUL: Why do you think America's fallen in love with "8 Simple Rules"?

JOHN RITTER: I am not sure about the Dakotas, and in West Virginia the votes are still out -- but we have Hawaii. No. (laughs) I hope people like the show. Every so often people need a laugh. What is amazing to me is several people have come up to me and said, "This is not that funny because I have teenage daughters. I am glad it is happening to you, too."

PAULA: You have already survived the dating scene with three of your own kids, how was that?

JOHN: That was okay. My eldest boy has a girlfriend he met in college. They are still together. I am not saying she is going to be my daughter-in-law, but she is Scottish -- and my middle daughter is in Scotland studying right now. So Scotland is a lot in our life right now.

PAULA: Like Paul Hennessey, did you ever have a phase when you felt as if you lost touch with your teenagers?

JOHN: My very first experience as a father was the anesthesiologist who came in at the last minute when NANCY was giving birth to JASON. We tried doing natural childbirth, but there was a problem at the end. So, the anesthesiologist came running in wearing orange glasses, jewelry, a big suede jacket and he had a comb-over. He looked like a William Morris agent.

It seemed wrong for the delivery room. At the end he said, "You got a boy. Congratulations. Love him while you can because when they get to be teenagers, they are punks. Don't give them any surfing or rock 'n' roll."

Here it is my first moment as a father, and this guy is yelling at me!

PAULA: You have the Midas touch. Everything you touch seems to turn to gold.

JOHN: That is so sweet of you. We have a happy set. Katey Sagal and I have known each other for a long time. On the show, we have three kids. Sometimes you get a kid that is really great, and sometimes the kid who plays his brother is like, "Do we have to sit through this?" Then the kids are bitching because there is a sale at Fred Segal. But these kids are great and they're wonderful actors. Who knows what they'll be like in season three?

PAULA: Are you prepared for a long run?

JOHN: I am. I would like to do the season and then have three months to go off to my alligator farm in Florida. (laughs) No, I don't have an alligator farm.

John Ritter died last month. He was a great actor, it's awful that he is no longer with us anymore.

[Thanx to Alina for this interview]

Filed under: TV