This week, we're going to take a bit of a departure from the shows we normally cover. It's very rare that a show that puts out 76 episodes could be considered by anyone to be gone too soon, and yet I make the argument that 8 Simple Rules (for Dating My Teenage Daughter) is that show.

I'm also not going to try and convince you that 8 Simple Rules was one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, because it simply wasn't. It was a fairly standard, solid series headlined by a brilliant comic actor... and then it became something else.

John Ritter's widow Amy Yasbeck is suing two doctors who treated her husband before his death in 2003. She is suing for the potential earnings of the show he starred in before his death, 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter.

I'm kind of ambivalent regarding this lawsuit. On one hand, the death of a loved one is always a tough time and my heart always goes out to anybody who lost someone special in their lives. On the other hand, we have too many frivolous lawsuits in this country and suing a couple of doctors isn't going to bring John Ritter back.

The family of John Ritter has reached a tentative agreement in a wrongful death lawsuit with Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. Ritter collapsed on the set of the sitcom, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, on September 11, 2003. When he arrived at the hospital, he was suffering from chest pain, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. In the lawsuit, Ritter's family claimed that doctors misdiagnosed him twice and he "underwent improper and unnecessary procedures." Ritter died that night of an aortic aneurysm. He was 54. Ritter's wife, Amy Yasbeck, claimed damages of $25 million. The terms of the settlement are not being released.