''The Good Life'' is an American

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 aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

as part of its 1971–1972 lineup. The series stars

Larry Hagman Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera, ''Dal ...

and

Donna Mills Donna Mills (born Donna Jean Miller on December 11, 1940) is an American actress. She began her television career in 1966 with a recurring role on ''The Secret Storm'', and in the same year appeared on Broadway in the Woody Allen comedy '' Don ...

, and was produced by

Lorimar Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisi ...

, in association with

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

Synopsis

''The Good Life'' is the story of a

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

American couple, the Millers (Hagman and Mills), who have tired of their mundane existence. Instead of following the time-honored premise of "hitting the road" to seek adventure or engaging in a stereotypical period activity such as joining a communal farm, they just decide to seek new employment as the live-in butler and cook of a millionaire industrialist, Charles Dutton. He notices that they are not particularly talented at their jobs, but finds them to be agreeable enough. Their limited skills most definitely are ''not'' enough for his stuffy sister Grace, however, and she constantly works to get them fired. Dutton's teenaged son, Nick, is the only one aware of what the Millers are doing in their new roles, but, finding great fun in their situation, he helps them to become accustomed to the social etiquette of high society and the wealthy in an effort to improve their skills in their roles. The theme song was the 1962 pop song '' The Good Life'', written by

Sacha Distel Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French singer, guitarist, songwriter and actor who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, " Scoubidou" ...

and

Jack Reardon Jack Reardon (1914-1991) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s and who later became a sports journalist. An Australian international and both a New South Wales and Queensland representative , he played club ...

, and sung under the titles by

Tony Orlando Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

. This program did not garner much of an audience and it was cancelled at mid-season. It was replaced by the action drama, ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situatio ...

''. A decade later, Hagman and Mills were reunited onscreen when he guest-starred on ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives of ...

'', on which Mills had become a series regular in 1980. Being a spin-off from ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'', ''Knots Landing'' featured Hagman in the role of

J. R. Ewing John Ross "J.R." Ewing Jr. is a fictional character in the American television series ''Dallas'' (1978–1991) and its spin-offs, including the revived ''Dallas'' series (2012–2014). The character was portrayed by Larry Hagman from the serie ...

, who was often in cahoots with Mills' character

Abby Cunningham Abby Fairgate (formerly Cunningham, Ewing and Sumner) is a fictional character from the CBS prime time soap opera ''Knots Landing'', a long-running serial about middle class life on the fictional cul-de-sac known as Seaview Circle in Los Angele ...

. Both series were also Lorimar productions. David Wayne would also reunite with Hagman on ''Dallas'', where he originated the role of

Willard "Digger" Barnes Willard "Digger" Barnes is a fictional character in the popular American television series ''Dallas'' created by David Jacobs. Digger was played by actors David Wayne and Keenan Wynn in the show's first three seasons from 1978 to 1980, and as a ...

. The British television series '' The Good Life'' was released as ''Good Neighbors'' in American syndication to avoid confusion with this earlier series.

Cast

as Albert Miller *

as Jane Miller *

David Wayne David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life and career Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...

as Charles Dutton *

Hermione Baddeley Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley (13 November 1906 – 19 August 1986) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She typically played brash, vulgar characters, often referred to as "brassy" or "blowsy".Folkart, Burt, "Noted ...

as Grace Dutton *

Danny Goldman Daniel Goldman (October 30, 1939 – April 12, 2020) was an American actor and casting director. He was most widely recognized as the voice of Brainy Smurf in Hanna-Barbera's ''The Smurfs'' (1981–1989). Early life Goldman graduated from Far ...

as Nick Dutton

Episodes

References

* Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present'' is a trade paperback reference work by the American television researchers Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, first published by Ballantine Books in 1979. History Th ...

'' * Wallop, Douglass, ''The Good Life'' (1969 novel on which the TV series was based)

External links

*
''The Good Life''
at Television Obscurities {{DEFAULTSORT:Good Life, The 1971 American television series debuts 1972 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows based on books Television series by Lorimar Television Television series by Screen Gems