10 hours ago, Khan said:

It's just a shame that that film didn't translate into more "serious" gigs for him. I feel like he was primed and ready for a lead on a really good, really dark drama series, like how Bryan Cranston went from "Malcolm in the Middle" to "Breaking Bad."

He may have missed out on them back then but in the changing climate of the 2010s, etc. he would absolutely have had at least one or two of those by now, same as Cranston. What a waste.

11 hours ago, Khan said:

IIRC, "Sling Blade" was the moment when the industry, at least, sat up and took notice of John Ritter as more than just the dude from "Three's Company" who "fell funny." It's just a shame that that film didn't translate into more "serious" gigs for him. I feel like he was primed and ready for a lead on a really good, really dark drama series, like how Bryan Cranston went from "Malcolm in the Middle" to "Breaking Bad."

This is likely what helped get him his guest work as the villain of the week in "Buffy." I remember his performance getting a lot of praise.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by DRW50

John Ritter did serious work in a lot of tv movies in the 90s... I think he even played a killer and he was creepy. Shame people didn't pay attention to tv movies back in the day because back in the 80s and 90s, they were an outlet for comedic actors/actresses to play more serious and darker roles (i.e. Meredith Baxter, Joanna Kerns, Judith Light, Kirstie Alley, etc).

Streaming has caused a huge uptake in quantity, but the quality has kind of diminished in some ways. It's why a lot of older shows from the 2000s and earlier seem to do well in streaming despite a loud minority proclaiming how out of touch those classic shows are.

Bringing it back to a soap opera focus... William Devane had trouble finding a successful series after Knots Landing ended.

Phenom - An odd coupling pairing with Judith Light where the two had a good comedic chemistry.. but didn't survive past one season.

The Monroes - Prime soap where he and Susan Sullivan played well opposite one another... but bad time slot and a slow start killed the show.

Turks - A short of Blue Bloods esque show about a family of cops in Chicago that came out in the late 90s

The Michard Richards Show - I understand work is work, but the Seinfeld curse was still a thing in 2000 LOL

Crumbs - He and Jane Curtin were feuding exes with Fred Savage as their gay son... Such an odd pairing of performers LOL

The Grinder - I believe he played the father of Rob Lowe and Fred Savage.. lasted just a season.

His best success post Knots Landing was a strong recurring role in 24 and also some good tv movies.