There was only one John Ritter, but his son is doing a heck of a job reminding us how amazing he was.
Jason Ritter posted a TikTok video in which he nails an impression of his late father in “Three’s Company,” and it is so good you’ll want to clear your mind by grabbing a drink at the Regal Beagle.
“Can you do the creep face your dad used to do chasing the girls around the apartment on 3’s company…. That was always my favorite thing,” a user wrote Jason Ritter, 44, an actor who can currently be seen in the new “Matlock” reboot.
“Um, is it this one? The one that’s like —” the younger Ritter asks in the clip before doing the impression. “Is it that weird one?”
The impression certainly resonated with fans, generating more than 24,000 comments. Just check out some of them:
- “Core memory unlocked.😳🤣🤣”
- “Omg! Three’s Company was my favorite!! Awe.. you look just like your dad. He was awesome!! Loved John Ritter!! You have his sense of humor! 🤣”
- “I didn’t look at your name, but as soon as you did that I knew you were John Ritter’s son. Plus you look so much like him.”
- “Awwww Jason, please know we loved your dad but we love you for you just the same! Thank you for humoring us. I’m looking forward to starting Matlock this weekend!!!”
- “Oh my god…… that hit me right in my feels 🥺🥺🥺”
- “You’re a living memory for us, you look so much like him. Hope that’s a good thing in your eyes!”
One fan pointed out how much John Ritter meant to her as a child.
“I was born and raised in LA, a daughter of Mexican immigrants,” the person wrote.
“We only spoke Spanish at home. But I watched 3s Co. bc John Ritter transcended language. He brought joy to us as a family, even though we didn’t fully understand the language. To this day, he’s the only celeb I’ve cried for at their death. He keeps me laughing on Pluto TV. May he be resting in paradise.”
That comment prompted Jason Ritter to reply, “I love this so much… thank you for sharing this with me!!”
Considered one of the preeminent physical comedians of all time, John Ritter starred as aspiring chef Jack Tripper on “Three’s Company” during its entire eight-season run from 1977 to 1984, winning one Emmy Award for his work. In the sitcom, he played a straight man pretending to be gay in order to live with two women (originally played by Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt), so as not to arouse any suspicion of hanky-panky with their landlord.
John Ritter would later go on to star in comedies “Hooperman,” “Hearts Afire” and “8 Simple Rules.” In 2003, he collapsed on the set of the latter series and later died from an aortic dissection. He was 54.
Jason Ritter has followed in his father’s footsteps, carving out a career on the small screen. In addition to “Matlock,” he has also appeared on “Parenthood,” “Gravity Falls” and “Raising Dion.”
Jason Ritter says his father helped him break into show business, getting him his first role when he was 6 in “The Real Story of O Christmas Tree.”
“I will say, without any hesitation, this was like a full-on nepotism hire,” Jason Ritter said in 2023 on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show.” “I will admit that. He for sure got me the job. I did try to stay away from that later.”
