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John Ritter’s Family Get Their Day in Court

by Chandra on January 24th, 2008

Now let’s take a brief moment for some not-so-funny news. My most recent post began “Everybody loves Martin Lawrence, right?” Well, I have to say the same about John Ritter, one of the most likable, talented, and entertaining comedy personalities in the history of, like, the galaxy.

If there’s one television show I can watch over and over and yet over again, no matter how simplistic or redundant or old the storylines can get, it’s Ritter’s star-making series Three’s Company, hands down. Just last year, TV Land had a round-the-clock marathon of the sitcom that lasted for days, and I nearly went blind watching too much of it at night in the dark.

Ritter passed away in September 2003 at the too-young age of 54 due to an undetected tear in his aorta, the body’s largest blood vessel. The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor was starring in the popular ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules… for Dating My Teenage Daughter at the time, which filmed right across the street from the medical facility that Ritter died in, and I remember when the awful news broke like it was yesterday. That’s how much I love John Ritter.

The Los Angeles Times and People magazine report that next month, the legal team representing Ritter’s widow Amy Yasbeck (a regular cast member on another excellent sitcom of old, Wings) and his four children will finally have the chance to argue their wrongful-death lawsuit in court. Ritter’s surviving immediate family members are suing two doctors for over $67 million dollars in damages because they claim the medical professionals should have and could have diagnosed Ritter’s congenital heart defect in time to prevent his death. If that’s true, I don’t even know what to say.

Read more about the forthcoming court case and relevant issues at the Los Angeles Times and People.

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