''Life's Work'' 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 ...

series that aired from September 1996 to June 1997 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

; the show stars Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, an assistant district attorney in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Lisa Ann always wanted to practice law since she was young because she always argued with her parents. She also had a basketball coach husband named Kevin Hunter (Michael O'Keefe) who served as the patriarch of the family. Together, they raised a seven-year-old daughter Tess ( Alexa Vega) and a toddler son named Griffin (Cameron and Luca Weibel). During the entire run of the series, an electric guitar & piano instrumental was used as the show's opening theme. Walter helped Mark Mothersbaugh write the theme. Lisa Ann Walter was an actress turned stand-up comic whose "voice" of a busy working mom became a top headlining act in the 1990s. The offer from ABC developed into ''Life's Work'', where Walter played a feisty feminist who could stand up to her mother in addition to her superiors at work. Walter received almost unanimous positive reviews for her portrayal of a harried working mother in a bold departure from the usual working mom shows where you never see the mom actually working. As of July 2022, 15 (of the 18) episodes are available to purchase on several streaming services including AppleTV, Amazon, and YouTube. In one of the episodes, Lisa Ann claimed to have a sexual affair with then-current American President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

Cast

Main

Michael O'Keefe Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in '' Caddyshack'', Ben Meechum in '' The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for B ...

as Kevin Hunter * Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter * Alexa Vega as Tess Hunter * Cameron and Luca Weibel as Griffin Hunter

Recurring

* Larry Miller as Mr. Jerome Nash * Lightfield Lewis as Matt Youngster *

Molly Hagan Molly Joan Hagan is an American actress. She co-starred in films ''Code of Silence'' (1985), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), ''The Dentist'' (1996), ''Election'' (1999), and '' Sully'' (2016), and is also known for her roles in television on ...

as Dee Dee Lucas *

Jenny O'Hara Patricia Joanne "Jenny" O'Hara (born February 24, 1942) is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for Dixie in ''My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988), Janet Heffernan in ''The King of Queens'' (2001–2007), and Nita in ''B ...

and

Lainie Kazan Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actr ...

as Constance "Connie" Minardi *

Tara Karsian Tara Karsian (born August 5, 1965) is an American actress and writer. She is the daughter of actress Pat Carroll. Life and career Karsian is the daughter of actress Pat Carroll and Lee Karsian, and the sister of casting director Kerry Karsian. Sh ...

as Emily

Episodes

Cancellation

The show was put on hiatus after the episode "Neighbors" aired on January 27, 1997. Months later, the show was officially cancelled even though it earned higher ratings than ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalize ...

'' and held on to 90% of the viewers who watched the final season of '' Roseanne''.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Life's Work 1990s American sitcoms 1996 American television series debuts 1997 American television series endings 1990s American legal television series 1990s American workplace comedy television series American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series by ABC Studios Television shows set in Baltimore