TV Insider reported that Ritter died after he had an aortic dissection while 8 Simple Rules was in its second season. The series ended after its third season, which premiered in 2004. Katey Sagal, who played Paul’s wife, Cate, discussed the experience of losing Ritter in a February 2024 interview on The Howard Stern Show.

 She recalled that Ritter felt ill while the cast was shooting “a promo.” He eventually “went to his room,” and the rest of the show’s stars went home because they “were done for the day.” She said she was informed that Ritter had been hospitalized later that night.

“So we get to the hospital and within a couple of hours, he had passed. It was a shock,” said Sagal during the interview.

She also said she disagreed with how the show was handled after Ritter’s death.

“This is all the corporate decisions I don’t understand. But the nature of the show was it was a family show. Everyone was devastated. And it didn’t feel right to end it immediately. And it didn’t feel right to go on,” said Sagal. “Nothing felt right. 

So the powers that be made a decision to bring in James Garner, who played my father. And I think we took a month break and James Garner came back and they played it out as a real thing. Like the father in the family died.”