CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- Emmy-winning actor James Garner ("The Rockford Files") is set to join the cast of ABC's "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" when it resumes production on Monday.

He'll play the father of Katey Sagal's character "who will help his daughter and grandchildren through the good and bad times, as the family deals with the death of patriarch Paul Hennessy (John Ritter)" according to the network's press release this afternoon. "Rules" has been on production hiatus since Ritter's death after the taping of the show's third episode this season. ABC plans to air the first post-Ritter episode, a one-hour special entitled "Goodbye," on November 4 at 8:00/7:00c.

Garner is currently signed on for at least four episodes of the comedy with the option to appear in more. In addition, Suzanne Pleshette ("Good Morning, Miami") has signed on as Garner's estranged wife on the series. She'll appear in Garner's first episode but beyond that it's not clear.

The series, which comes form Touchstone Television, also stars Kaley Cuoco as Bridget Hennessy, Amy Davidson as Kerry Hennessy and Martin Spanjers as Rory Hennessy.

This article was updated on October 17 with additional information.