Editing 8 Simple Rules (section)

===Third season and cancellation===
Before Ritter's death, ''8 Simple Rules'' ranked 42nd in the [[Nielsen ratings]]. After Ritter's death, it had slipped to 50th, but was renewed for a third season, in which ABC moved the series to Friday at 8:00&nbsp;p.m. as part of its ''[[TGIF (ABC)|TGIF]]'' comedy line-up. The series' creator and show-runner, Tracy Gamble, left the series for a time over creative differences prior to the third season, but he later returned as a consulting producer midway through the season. Gamble was replaced by Judd Pillot and John Peaslee, who had performed the same role in the final season of Spade's sitcom ''[[Just Shoot Me!]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Show Must Go On: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series|last=Snauffer|first=Douglas|publisher=McFarland|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7864-3295-0|location=Jefferson, NC|pages=17}}</ref> The series plunged to 94th in the ratings. Even before the third-season finale's airing, rumors began circulating that ''8 Simple Rules'' was facing cancellation because of Ritter's death and poor ratings. The Friday night "death slot" ratings took their toll on ''8 Simple Rules''. The third-season finale was not aired for May [[sweeps]]. The finale received a 3.9/8 rating share, which gave ABC a third-place finish behind [[NBC]]'s ''[[Dateline NBC|Dateline]]'' (5.8/11) and [[CBS]]'s ''[[Joan of Arcadia]]'' (4.9/10), which starred Ritter's son, [[Jason Ritter|Jason]]. ABC officially cancelled ''8 Simple Rules'' in May 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/8-simple-rules-for-dating-my-teenage-daughter-last-episode/|title=8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter last episode|date=August 2, 2009}}</ref>