Jason Ritter was only three degrees of separation from original Matlock star Andy Griffith, but he never got a chance to meet the iconic actor.
On Sunday, March 23, Ritter, 45, joined costars Kathy Bates, Skye P. Marshall, David Del Rio and Leah Lewis for a special screening and panel discussion of CBS’s Matlock reboot as part of PaleyFest L.A. Ahead of the event at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Ritter told PEOPLE that he has some “strange and interesting connections” to the original series.
The actor’s father, the late John Ritter, starred opposite Don Knotts on the beloved ABC sitcom Three’s Company from 1979 to 1984. Knotts, who joined the Three’s Company cast it its fourth season, previously co-starred with Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 to 1968. Griffith, of course, starred as the titular defense attorney, Ben Matlock, in the original Matlock, which aired on NBC from 1986 to 1992 before moving to ABC, where it aired until 1995.
Despite the connection, however, Ritter said he never got to meet Griffith, who died in 2012 at the age of 86.
“I would’ve loved to,” Ritter told PEOPLE. “It’s been fun watching a lot of the old Matlocks, getting to see what the show was before and how it’s got the same sort of bleeding heart elements of the very satisfying thing of someone being underestimated and being better than everybody else. But yeah, he’s such a lovely actor and it’s so fun to see that sweet character.”
However, Ritter, who plays lawyer Julian Markston on the new Matlock, does have fond memories of meeting Knotts from his dad’s time on Three’s Company.
“As a kid I definitely met him a bunch of times and then I saw him a couple of times,” Ritter recalled of Knotts, who died in 2006. “But I think most of the times I ran into him were after my dad passed [in 2003], at various events and things like that, or TV Land Awards, I think at some point.”
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Ritter said he only “became conscious” of Three’s Company after Knotts joined the cast. The actor’s character, Ralph Furley, was introduced in 1979 to replace Norman Fell and Audra Lindley’s Mr. and Mrs. Roper, who were given their own short-lived spin-off, The Ropers.
“He made me laugh so much,” Ritter recalled of Knotts. “And his facial expressions and just his whole vibe was so funny to me on that show. And so it was a thrill for me to see him, to meet him.”
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