REFLECTIONS OF A 'COMPANY' MAN.

Byline: - David Kronke

John Ritter is backstage at the Hollywood Palladium after rehearsals for his hosting gig on the first annual TV Land Awards. He'll be playing to perhaps the ultimate tough crowd - a baby boomer's entire childhood of television will be spread out before him.

``I'll be looking down at Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore and Don Knotts,'' he marvels. ``During the rehearsal, I'm getting nervous just looking down at their pictures. Don Knotts won three of his Emmys here!''

Ritter, of course, is on his way to fitting into that show-biz pantheon. He's appeared in a hit or critically acclaimed sitcom in each of the past four decades, beginning of course with the infamous jiggle show ``Three's Company,'' and continuing to his current success, ``8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,'' in which his character, ironically, strives to rescue his daughters from the sort of character he played in ``Three's Company.'' ``8 Simple Rules'' has already been renewed for next season.

Ritter, an ebullient and friendly guy, reflected on his life and career in an ebullient and friendly manner:

JONES-ING: ``Shirley Jones will be in the crowd - I had my first sexual awakening with Shirley Jones in 'The Music Man,' not the most sensual film. But there was a scene where she's sipping a cherry phosphate with Robert Preston in the soda shop, and she starts talking after she's been sipping, and the inside of her mouth and her lips are bright red. And there was something about that that made me go, 'Woman - good. Woman, good; cherry phosphate, really good. Taste, lips, tongue - all good; give me Shirley Jones!' And I'll look at her tomorrow night, and she'll have no idea what's going through my mind, but now all the readers of the Daily News will - I want Mama Partridge.''

NO THINKING ALLOWED: `` 'Three's Company' was just about making people laugh. It didn't have anything (substantive). I asked the writers, who had earlier worked on 'All in the Family,' 'Can't we have a little (message),' and they said, 'This is just a souffle. We did all the message stuff, and now we're doing farce.' Which was fun, but you want a main course.''

WHY JOHN RITTER NEVER BECAME A CUB REPORTER: ``I did all the MTM shows. I had 'Three's Company,' which I thought was going to be a one-joke show. Grant Tinker asked me, 'How long is your contract?' I said, 'I think it's up in three or four months.' He said, 'I've got this show with Ed Asner, 'Lou Grant,' but it's an hour.' I said, 'How are you going to do that? You're going to have a studio audience in there for an hour? ... I don't think that'll work.' But I was sort of hoping to do that, but I ended up doing 'Three's Company' for eight years.''

IMAGINE A WORLD WITHOUT SUZANNE SOMERS: ``When Suzanne came in, people's heads turned. She might've been raw, but she had something. But Loni Anderson gave an amazing reading before. She was the best of all the blondes who tested - and so sexy. But they said, 'No one would believe that she couldn't get the rent money together.' '' (Laughs)

WHY RITTER WAS RELUCTANT TO WORK WITH CHILDREN AGAIN: ``On 'Problem Child,' when the kid worked, I couldn't take it anymore. The only difference between that kid and a chimpanzee was a chimpanzee has a longer attention span. I told the director, 'I'm burning out.' The kid asked me, 'Mr. Ritter? Can I call you John?' I said, 'Mr. Ritter will be fine' - and I was never like that!''

WHY HE IS WORKING WITH CHILDREN AGAIN: ``When I read '8 Simple Rules,' they said, 'We don't have the husband and wife, but we have the three kids.' ... I see them, and, well, they're obviously from three different families - a redhead, a blonde and a brunette. But I thought, 'How can they cast the kids before the parents?' Then we read, and I just marveled. I didn't want to do a show with kids every week. But these kids are amazing, they're so wonderful and disciplined, and they know their stuff. ... We sit around the set like we are a family, eating out of a bag of barbecue potato chips.''

KIDS THESE DAYS: ``('8 Simple Rules') centers around this guy, (writer/series creator) Tracy Gamble, who has three kids and loves them but is so frustrated by the mood shifts of teenagers. He really shares about his life. Those who have had teenagers or will have teenagers just start to get the cold sweats thinking about the next mood swing that's going to come at you at 100 miles per hour. It's not, 'I'm a little frustrated.' It's, 'OH MY GOD!' And it could be because a car ran over the dog or I a have a zit on my shoulder and can't wear my strapless top.''

8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER

What: John Ritter stars as a father baffled by the mores of today's kids.

Where: ABC (Channel 7).

When: 9 p.m. Tuesdays.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Martin Spanjers plays John Ritter's son on ABC's ``8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.''