Get a Life (American TV series)
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''Get a Life'' is a television
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
that was broadcast in the United States on the
Fox Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
from September 23, 1990 to March 8, 1992. The show stars
Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...
as a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parents' garage (Elliott's parents are played by
Elinor Donahue Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is an American actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the 1950s American sitcom ''Father Knows Best''. Early ...
and his real-life father,
comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
Bob Elliott). The opening credits depict Chris Peterson delivering newspapers on his bike to the show's
theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
, "
Stand Stand or The Stand may refer to: * To assume the upright position of standing * Forest stand, a group of trees * Area of seating in a stadium, such as bleachers * Stand (cricket), a relationship between two players * Stand (drill pipe), 2 or 3 ...
" by
R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...
The show was a creation of Elliott,
Adam Resnick Adam Resnick is an American comedy writer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his work writing for '' Late Night with David Letterman''. He co-created and wrote for '' Get A Life'' with Chris Elliott. Resnick also wrote and ...
(like Elliott, a writer for ''
Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...
''), and writer/director
David Mirkin David Mirkin (born ) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Mar ...
(former executive producer/showrunner for ''
Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...
'' and later for ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
''). Mirkin was executive producer/showrunner of the series and also directed most of the episodes. Notable writers of the series included
Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films ''Being John Malkovich'' (1999), ''Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial de ...
, screenwriter of ''
Being John Malkovich ''Being John Malkovich'' is a 1999 American fantasy comedy film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman, both making their feature film debut. The film stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Keener, with John Malkovich as a ...
''; and
Bob Odenkirk Robert John Odenkirk (; born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his role as Saul Goodman on ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). For the latter, he has re ...
, co-creator of ''
Mr. Show with Bob and David ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'', also known as ''Mr. Show'', is an American sketch comedy series starring and hosted by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. It aired on HBO from November 3, 1995, to December 28, 1998. Cross and Odenkirk introduced m ...
'' and ''
Tenacious D Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "tenacio ...
''. The show was unconventional for a
prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
sitcom, and many times the storylines of the episodes were surreal. For example, Elliott's character actually dies in twelve episodes. The causes of death included being crushed by a giant boulder, old age,
tonsillitis Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils in the upper part of the throat. It can be acute or chronic. Acute tonsillitis typically has a rapid onset. Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, enlargement of the tonsils, trouble swallowing, and en ...
, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, falling from an airplane, strangulation, getting run over by cars, choking on cereal, and simply exploding. For this reason, it was a struggle for Elliott and Mirkin to get the show on the air. Many of the executives at the Fox Network hated the show and thought it was too disturbing and found Elliott's character to be too unlikeable and insane. After only two VHS/DVD volumes were released,
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
released the complete series on September 18, 2012 – the first time all of the show's episodes were made commercially available.


Synopsis

Chris Peterson is a carefree, childlike bachelor who refuses to live the life of an adult. At the age of 30, Chris still lives with his parents in
St Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...
and maintains a career delivering the '' St. Paul Pioneer Press'', a job that he has held since his youth. He has no driver's license (instead, riding his
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...
wherever he goes) and is depicted as being immature, feckless, gullible, foolish, irresponsible, and extremely dimwitted. His low intelligence is exaggerated to absurd levels: in one episode he tries to leave his parents' house but is unable to operate the front door. In another he fell out of an airplane after opening the airlock, believing that the "EXIT" sign was a restroom. Chris' parents (Fred and Gladys Peterson) are an elderly
retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
couple who are almost always seen in their
pajamas Pajamas (American English, US) or pyjamas (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as night ...
and robes (even when they leave the house). They are often shown engaging in bizarre non-sequitur activities like polishing handguns, or trying to shoot a deer that ate flower bulbs in their garden. Gladys (Elinor Donahue) is a smiling, caring mother who doted over Chris, though she often makes sardonic, passive-aggressive comments about him and his lifestyle. Fred (Bob Elliott) is a brusque, sarcastic old man, who is constantly exasperated by his son and seems to have a reckless disregard for Chris' well-being (on one occasion, Chris demonstrated how his father taught him to use a
shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
by placing the barrel in his mouth). In early episodes, Chris wanted little more than to spend his days reliving his childhood with his father and his best friend, Larry Potter (
Sam Robards Samuel Prideaux Robards (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his role as Henry Swinton in the film ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence''. Early life and education Robards was born in New York City, the son of actor Jason Roba ...
). Larry was Chris' friend from childhood, but unlike Chris, Larry has since "grown up", owns a house, works a dead-end job as an
accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...
, and has two children and a wife, Sharon Potter (
Robin Riker Robin Riker (born October 2, 1952) is an American actress and author. She made her big screen debut in the 1980 horror film ''Alligator'' and later went to star in the Showtime comedy series '' Brothers'' (1984–1989). Riker had starring roles ...
). Sharon is overbearing and does not want her husband associating with Chris, preferring instead that he make friends with more sophisticated socialites that fit the image she wishes to portray. Sharon despises Chris, and Chris enjoys irritating her. Larry is envious of Chris' carefree lifestyle and is often coerced by Chris into joining him in his adventures, despite his wife's wishes. To Chris' dismay, Larry eventually heeds his advice and leaves his wife and children at the beginning of the second season. This leaves Sharon traumatized, and she becomes more and more obsessed with killing Chris in revenge. In a defiant nod to Fox Network demands that his character "be more independent", Chris Peterson was moved out of his parents' house at the beginning of the second season, much to his parents' amazement and joy, and into the garage of ex-cop Gus Borden, played by
Brian Doyle-Murray Brian Murray (born October 31, 1945), known professionally by his stage name as Brian Doyle-Murray, is an American actor, voice-actor and screenwriter. He has appeared with his younger brother, actor/comedian Bill Murray, in several movies, i ...
, who had been fired from the police force for urinating on his boss. Gus is a cranky, demeaning
sociopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been u ...
with minimal tolerance for Chris' antics, to which Chris seems oblivious, while looking up to Gus as a sort of paternal figure. Gus serves as Chris'
comic foil A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases f ...
throughout the second season. One of the more controversial episodes featured a character named Spewey the Alien (a parody of the films ''
Mac and Me ''Mac and Me'' is a 1988 American comic science fiction film cowritten (with Steve Feke) and directed by Stewart Raffill. Starring Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, and Tina Caspary alongside Lauren Stanley and Jade Calegory, it centers on a "M ...
'' and ''
E.T. ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...
''), an extraterrestrial who secretes mucus from under his scales (which Chris proceeds to drink and call the "nectar of the Gods") and projectile vomits when he becomes emotionally overwrought. At the end of the episode, Chris and Gus barbecued and ate Spewey, although the creature was resurrected inside their refrigerator.


Development

In the DVD commentary for the series by David Mirkin, he discusses the development of the Chris Peterson character and the series in great detail. Mirkin states that the Chris Peterson character was originally somewhat based on Dennis the Menace, i.e. "What would Dennis The Menace have been like when he was 30 years old?" In the pilot, "Terror on the Hell Loop 2000", Chris Peterson was a fully functioning, wisecracking adult who is beating the system. However, as the series went on, he became a darker, more psychotic character. According to Mirkin, the main character was made more likeable in the pilot to get the network to agree to order the series and, once the series was ordered, the producers took the character in the darker direction that was always intended. Mirkin explains that the series itself was both an homage to the sitcoms of the 1960s and 1970s as well as a subversive farce of the genre. Ultimately, Chris Peterson was a modern, borderline psychotic inhabiting a world of standard sitcom characters from a prior era. In particular, his main foil, Sharon, dresses and acts like a standard sitcom character from the 1960s. Her house is a standard sitcom set, and she has a standard sitcom family. The town is inhabited by standard sitcom
archetypes The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...
, often played by well-recognized character actors from that era (e.g. James Hampton from ''
F Troop ''F Troop'' is a satirical American television sitcom Western about U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and c ...
'' and
Graham Jarvis Graham Powley Jarvis (August 25, 1930 – April 16, 2003) was a Canadian character actor in American films and television from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Early years Jarvis was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Margaret Biddulph (Scratche ...
from ''
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' is an American satirical soap opera that aired in daily weeknight syndication from January 1976 to July 1977. The series follows the titular Mary Hartman, an Ohio housewife attempting to cope with various bizarre ...
''). A particular homage to that era of sitcoms is that the same actors would play different minor characters, only episodes apart. Mirkin also noted that the use of the original house from ''
The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...
'' as a backdrop at the end of the show's opening credits was another homage to the genre. According to Mirkin, the network executives did not understand a lot of the more surreal, violent content of the scripts but nevertheless allowed it to go ahead. This enabled the writers to proceed with limited interference. However, the studio did not want the episode "Spewey and Me" to be aired, largely on the grounds of the alien being disgusting and getting eaten by Chris and Gus. Written as a parody of science-fiction films '' E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial'' and ''
Mac and Me ''Mac and Me'' is a 1988 American comic science fiction film cowritten (with Steve Feke) and directed by Stewart Raffill. Starring Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, and Tina Caspary alongside Lauren Stanley and Jade Calegory, it centers on a "M ...
'', the show's creators intended it to be a hopeful story of rebirth, hence the alien's resurrection at the end. However,
Peter Chernin Peter Chernin (born May 29, 1951) is an American businessman and investor. He is the chairman and CEO of TCG (company), The Chernin Group (TCG), which he founded in 2010. TCG manages, operates and invests in businesses in the media, entertainment, ...
, who was in charge of Fox, proclaimed the episode to be one of the series' funniest and ensured that it would be broadcast. When the series was picked up for a second season, Bob Elliot announced he did not wish to return as the father character Fred Peterson. According to co-star Elinor Donahue, the senior Elliot did not enjoy being away from his regular home and life in Maine, and his attitude was made worse by a burglary of his rented Los Angeles home during the first season. He was convinced to film enough insert scenes with Donahue to allow several appearances in the early part of the second season, with their final appearance occurring in the episode "Prisoner of Love." Both continued to be credited in the opening titles for the remainder of the season. Had the show continued beyond its second season, Elliot, Mirkin and Resnick would have depicted Chris becoming a hobo, which would drop Fred, Gladys, Gus, and the other characters from the storyline. As Mirkin explained, he wanted to do a series that changed every year and did something different each season; "Chris would have moved out of Gus' garage and become a homeless drifter. And he would have traveled the country, in every place touching someone else's life and making it a little bit worse.


Reruns

The show was
rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...
in 2000 on the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
, although the series was only partially shown, and the theme song "
Stand Stand or The Stand may refer to: * To assume the upright position of standing * Forest stand, a group of trees * Area of seating in a stadium, such as bleachers * Stand (cricket), a relationship between two players * Stand (drill pipe), 2 or 3 ...
" by R.E.M. was replaced by generic music to avoid
royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
for each playing of the theme. Occasionally, however, episodes aired with the correct theme.


Home media

Rhino Home Video Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was originall ...
released the best of on VHS and DVD – four VHS tapes with two episodes each and two DVDs with four episodes each, as well as one or two bonus features. The eight episodes on VHS are the same as the ones on the DVDs. The DVDs were released in 2000 and 2002 respectively.
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
released the complete series on September 18, 2012. Although Chris Elliott stated in 2005 that he had recorded commentary tracks with Adam Resnick, none of Elliott's and Resnick's commentaries were used; they were substituted with commentaries by David Mirkin, and Mirkin is similarly the only creator present in the DVD set's extras. It was noted by Mirkin that the reason the full DVD box set took so long to release is that the original producers of the show felt that all of the incidental music was very important to the series. They didn't want to release the series until all the rights to the songs had been secured and the series could be released with all of the original music intact.


Legacy

Hip hop producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura is a noted fan of the series, stating "it was probably one of the best shows on television".
Handsome Boy Modeling School Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip hop producers Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) and Prince Paul (Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz). The collaboration originally lasted from ...
, consisting of Nakamura and "Prince Paul" Huston, is named after the series, and other works by Nakamura have referenced both ''Get a Life'' and ''
Cabin Boy ''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film, directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for '' Late Night with Dav ...
''.
Tom Scharpling Thomas John Giuliano II (born February 9, 1969), known professionally as Tom Scharpling, is an American comedian, television writer, producer, music video director, voice actor, and radio host. He is best known for hosting the weekly Internet r ...
and
Jon Wurster Jonathan Patrick Wurster (born October 31, 1966) is an American drummer and comedy writer. As a musician, he is best known for his work with Superchunk, the Mountain Goats, and Bob Mould. He is also known for appearing on '' The Best Show'' with ...
of ''
The Best Show on WFMU ''The Best Show with Tom Scharpling'' (formerly ''The Best Show on WFMU'') is a combination music, call-in, and comedy Internet radio show/ podcast hosted independently by Tom Scharpling since 2014, which previously aired on New Jersey-based r ...
'' became friends due to their mutual appreciation of ''Get a Life''.
Gothamist Gothamist LLC is the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Ricketts, ...
article:
Tom Scharpling, Writer, Producer, and Host of the Best Show on WFMU
."
The Built to Spill song "Get a Life" on the album '' Ultimate Alternative Wavers'' references the show and includes the lyric "Chris went right over their heads".


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Get A Life (Tv Series) 1990s American black comedy television series 1990s American sitcoms 1990 American television series debuts 1992 American television series endings English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company original programming American surreal comedy television series Television series about dysfunctional families Television series by New World Television Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series created by Adam Resnick Television series created by David Mirkin Television shows set in Minnesota