LOS ANGELES, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- James Garner has signed a deal to stay with the cast of the U.S. sitcom "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," The Hollywood Reporter said Wednesday.
Garner, who plays a grandfather to the Hennessey clan, joined the cast following the sudden death in September of John Ritter, who starred in the ABC sitcom.
Garner, a veteran TV and film actor, initially joined the show to help transition the storyline from the daily life of a busy newspaper columnist dad (Ritter) to a family who suddenly lost its patriarch.
Garner plays Grandpa Jim, the father of Katey Sagal's character, the widowed Cate Hennessy, who came to support his daughter and three teenage grandchildren as they deal with their grief and the reality of becoming a single-parent family.
Garner has been on the show since Nov. 4, the first episode without Ritter.
