The show must go on?

On September 11, the ABC sitcom "8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter" unexpectedly lost its star John Ritter. Two weeks later, it landed 17 million viewers, easily earned top Nielsen honors for the night and completely trounced its primetime competitors. Lose a legend, rake in ratings. All in all, not a bad trade for Disney, the network's parent corporation. Apparently, these Mouseketeers-turned-profiteers are well-versed in the simple rules of exploitation. ("M-I-C-K-E-Y Why? Because we like shamelessly cashing in on tragedy.")

Ritter, best known for his portrayal of the bumbling Jack Tripper on "Three's Company," was Hollywood's everyman, a work-a-day wonder that inter-generational television fans grew to love for his simple comedy and endearing warmth (He's like your favorite uncle, only he got to hang out with Mr. Furley). Sure, Problem Child wasn't cinematic excellence, but he was a good father to Junior. Simply put, the man was likeable. And for no other reason than that, when John Ritter quietly passed away at Providence St. Joseph hospital, "8 Simple Rules" should have died with him.

Instead, in what can only be described as a cowardly and classless decision, ABC has chosen to proceed with the sitcom--without the program's patriarch. The first two episodes taped before Ritter's death have already aired. A third will follow next Tuesday. From there, the network will air a series of "8 Simple Rules" reruns while Ritter's character's death is written into the script, the new focus of the show becoming the manner in which a family copes with the untimely death of a father and husband. How touching--and awful.

The easiest way to justify doing anything immediately following a death is to claim that the recently departed "would have wanted it that way." Can't argue with a dead man. Sure, Ritter's widow has given her blessing to the decision in an unselfish move, but ultimately Ritter's memory suffers while ABC profits. It's greed--pure and simple.

Ritter's death shocked and saddened his fans, but it merely inconvenienced ABC, a network left without a leg to stand on. The network's fall line-up is mediocre at best, and retiring "Rules" before the season debuted would have been an insurmountable catastrophe. Instead, it's "Hey, we've got $30 million in advertising invested in this! Let's pull the old switcharoo and see if Big John can't still make us some bank. Afterall, he would have wanted it that way." Now, the show is dominating the first few weeks of new programming by teasing its television audience with the last remaining footage of Ritter and coming back with a new storyline flimsily built around his legacy... just in time for November Sweeps. Coincidence?

The worst part of all is that ABC is knowingly sacrificing the show. When John Ritter died, "8 Simple Rules" was mortally wounded, and this contrived life-support will certainly fail. The show was about John Ritter. The show was John Ritter. Now, left without its star, it's nothing but a spectacle-a ratings grab for all those who can't resist seeing how the network is going to (fail to) pull this off. It's not even a comedy anymore, for Christ's sake. But let's milk the cash cow before she dries up forever.

When Freddie Prinze committed suicide in 1977, "Chico and the Man" continued; it was canceled in a year. When Redd Foxx died in 1991, "The Royal Family" rolled on; no one remembers it, however, because it never survived a second season. Even "News Radio" folded after Phil Hartman's death, despite the strength of a successful ensemble cast and the addition of a well-liked replacement in Jon Lovitz. "8 Simple Rules" will inevitably become the next program to realize that there's no television life after death.

ABC should have honored the actor's life and memory by retiring his show before the season started. We should have glued ourselves to Nick at Nite to catch the "Three's Company" marathon instead of anticipating unfinished, posthumous contributions to Tuesday night TV. We should have rented Slingblade or maybe even Problem Child instead of ignoring the gaping hole left in a lame duck program.