Today Exclusive: John Ritter:s Widow Amy Yasbeck Discusses Aorta Health And Losing Her Lawsuit Agai
NBC ID: AR6LVX2NPS | Production Unit: Today Show | Media Type: Aired Show | Media ID: NY-TDY-20080320-0001 | Air Date(s): 03/20/2008 | Event Date(s): 03/20/2008Transcript
Event Date(s): 03/20/2008 | Event Location(s): Glendale, California;Beverly Hills, California;Burbank, California;Today New York Studio; | Description: EJ: 8:09:37 (1:43) EXT DAY GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA MS: Actress Amy Yasbeck, the widow of actor John Ritter, walks with lawyer outside courthouse past others. EXT DAY BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA 2008-02-04 MS: Yasbeck walks in her backyard with Vieira during an interview. INT BEVERLY HILLS 2008-02-04 MS: In interview in her home an emotional Yasbeck says"And he was smiling at me. You know, people say, `Did you get to say I love you?' I couldn't talk. Listen to my voice. You know, I couldn't talk. I mouthed to him as they're, like, rolling him away, and he's sitting up with this little, like, `Bweep, sorry, I'm ruining Stella's birthday face,' you know, and I said, `I love you,' and he went-you know American sign language which we had been doing on stage to each other forever and he held it till he went around the corner and that is the last time I saw him till I saw him dead." CLIP: Clip from TV show"Three's Company" with actors Ritter, Suzanne Somers, and Joyce DeWitt. EXT DAY CALIFORNIA 2003-09 MS: flowers, photos, and teddy bear left in memorial at a makeshift shrine for Ritter. CLIP: Clip from TV show"Eight Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughters" with actors including Ritter. EXT DAY BURBANK, CALIFORNIA MS: Sign"Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center" pulls back to show the hospital's exterior. INT IN A HOSPITAL MS: Slow-motion of medic's legs (faces unseen) wheeling a gurney down a hallway. GFX: Torso with heart and arteries. GFX: Superimposed normal heart and heart with a tear (dissection). INT BEVERLY HILLS MS: Panning shot of framed Ritter family photos on display. EXT DAY GLENDALE 3 MS: Cardiologist Joseph Lee, who worked on Ritter and was sued by Yasbeck, walks with others. 2 MS: Radiologist Matthew Lotysch, who worked on Ritter and was sued by Yasbeck, walks with man. MS: At a press conference defense attorney Steven Fraser says"I think that they knew all along in their heart of hearts that they were going to prevail." INT IN A COURTROOM MS: Panning shot of empty jury seats. EXT DAY GLENDALE 2 MS: At a press conference next to juror Audrianna Gold, Juror Bill Boller says"My kids still watch'Threes Company' but that had nothing to do with case as far as the doctors being liable for negligence." MS: Goad says"I went in there really liking John Ritter a lot and I think I left really loving him as a husband and as a father. He was a great man but again, that's not why we were in court." In a Today Exclusive live in-studio interview Yasbeck says the family is disappointed and still believes the doctors had a hand in what happened to Ritter but the jury has spoken, notes what doctors testified about during the trial, says everyone was educated through the trial about aorta health, says there's a very high genetic predisposition to aortic problems, says Ritter's brother had an aorta test and found a problem which was fixed, and notes Ritter's legacy. 8:16:01 Graphic plug for"todayshow.com" website. STILLS: Ritter and Yasbeck together and with their children.