At the turn of the 21st century, actor John Ritter had begun to stake a claim as one of the most popular actors on American television, playing Paul Hennessey in 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter. He had made notable appearances in productions as varied as Scrubs to the movie adaptation of Stephen King's It, and was known as a master of physical comedy. However, in September of 2003, Rittter was rushed to hospital whilst rehearsing on the set of 8 Simple Rules, and was treated for a heart attack. Unfortunately, this was a misdiagnosis and his condition worsened as it was finally revealed to be an aortic dissection causing his illness. Sadly, Ritter passed away during the operation to solve the problem, in a sorrowful end to a surreal few hours which had seen the actor on set earlier in the day. Fittingly, two of the shows Ritter had appeared in offered tributes to him in episodes which aired not long after his death. Firstly, 8 Simple Rules continued for another few series, writing in the death of Paul Hennessey, and allowing the cast to act out their sorrow in tribute for the onscreen father. Second, Scrubs also wrote his death into the script, as he had played the father of J.D., the main character; the young doctor would be shown to struggle with, but overly overcome the loss of his father through humour, a fitting tribute for a man of comedy.
