Syndication
While 8 Simple Rules ratings were well above those of the surrounding TGIF shows during its third season, ABC canceled it due to the perceived inability to sell reruns of the show into syndication (a fourth season would have given the show the 100 episodes necessary to enter syndication). Due to John Ritter's death, 8 Simple Rules could not air two daily cycles (with episodes from varying seasons), as some think doing so would confuse and/or upset viewers. Nonetheless, the series would enter reruns through other outlets.
On July 11, 2005 (less than two months after ABC officially canceled it), the WB television network announced it would air back-to-back repeats of all 76 episodes of 8 Simple Rules from 4–5 p.m. weekdays from January 2, 2006 to September 15, 2006 when it was replaced by Reba on The CW Daytime.
On Tuesday, June 12, 2007, the show joined the ABC Family line-up, airing weekdays from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm Then in September 2008, the show started airing from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, until October 10, 2008. On October 3, 2009, 8 Simple Rules returned to ABC Family, having been absent for a year, airing on Saturdays from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, and Sundays at 11:00 a.m.-12:00 pm Airings have mostly been sporadic due to the channel's unpredictable movie schedule and holiday programming block. On February 8, 2010, the series was added back to ABC Family's weekday lineup, airing from 6-7PM/ET, replacing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After a few months of being absent on the channel, 8 Simple Rules resumed airings on ABC Family at 7/6 c on select weekend mornings, beginning July 18, 2010, and lasting through August 7, 2010. 8SR currently airs in an hour block from 1:00–2:00 pm, on weekday afternoons, on ABC Family.
In 2003 the show began airing in the UK on the Disney Channel, which was edited for kid's viewing. It was picked up by ABC1 which aired the show until the channel's closure in 2007. The same year, Channel 5 began airing the series in which season one only aired, then in 2008 was shown on 5*. Danish channel TV3 and the Canadian channels YTV and ABC Spark (the Canadian version of ABC Family) also have carried the series.
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