ABC executives, anguished by the unexpected death of John Ritter Thursday night, now face the problem of whether to continue producing his show, the most popular comedy on the network.
ABC executives said they would not discuss anything yesterday about the future of the show, ''8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,'' saying their thoughts were only with Mr. Ritter's wife and children. But an executive involved in the production of the series said that although no decision would be made until at least next week, there was a growing chance that the series would continue.
The show's producers are considering incorporating the real-life tragedy of losing Mr. Ritter into the family events in the show's story line, which is about a sportswriter reconnecting with his three children when he decides to work at home.
Replacing lead characters on television shows has always been risky, with few shows surviving the loss of their most popular characters. But if ABC decides to cancel the program, it could face a significant rejiggering of its fall schedule. ''8 Simple Rules'' was the flagship in what ABC hoped would be a fleet of new family-friendly sitcoms that would help pull it out of fourth place in viewership behind CBS, NBC and Fox.
Mr. Ritter fell ill during a taping of his program Thursday night. He had suffered a tear in his aorta, a heart condition that had gone undiagnosed. He was 54.
The new season of ''8 Simple Rules'' was scheduled to begin a week from Tuesday. Three episodes have been completed, and ABC will have to decide whether to broadcast them. The executive involved in the production said that the episodes might be used to start the new season or could be used later, depending on how the death of Mr. Ritter's character is dealt with.
Whatever decision is made, the show is likely to take an extended hiatus. ABC has decided to replace the repeat of the show it had scheduled for next week with other programming.
Mr. Ritter's show had given ABC some of its best news in years.
Last year, in its first season, the show reached an average audience of about 11 million people. Though that was fewer than ''Friends'' on NBC (21.8 million) and ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' on CBS (18.6 million), it was a healthy number for network television and for ABC.
The show was also destined for syndication, if it had continued its initial success. ABC executives had predicted that it could have eventually made ABC's corporate sister, Touchstone Television, millions in revenues. Both the network and the studio are divisions of Walt Disney.
One issue that ABC must deal with is how intrinsic Mr. Ritter's character is to the concept of the series. ''8 Simple Rules'' is based on his character's point of view, so his role goes deeper than that of the typical star in a show.
ABC essentially has three options, analysts said: scrap the program; recast someone else in Mr. Ritter's role; or write in the fact that the lead character has died. The idea of recasting Mr. Ritter with another actor has already been rejected, the executive involved in the production said.
''What are you going to do, all of a sudden kill him off?'' said Steve Sternberg, senior vice president for audience research at Magna Global USA in New York, an advertising buying agency. ''Not only is that kind of cold -- how's the show going to go on that way? The whole show is about his interaction with his daughters. I'm not sure how they keep the show going.''
ABC's quandary, facing what to do about the death of a star in a hit comedy just two weeks before the start of the television season, may be a first, but some similar situations have arisen.