Get a Life (American TV series)
Get a Life | |
---|---|
New World Television (1990–1991) TriStar Television (1991–1992) | |
Original release | |
Network | Fox |
Release | September 23, 1990 March 8, 1992 | –
Get a Life is a television
The show was a creation of Elliott, Adam Resnick (like Elliott, a writer for Late Night with David Letterman), and writer/director David Mirkin (former executive producer/showrunner for Newhart and later for The Simpsons). Mirkin was executive producer/showrunner of the series and also directed most of the episodes. Notable writers of the series included Charlie Kaufman, screenwriter of Being John Malkovich; and Bob Odenkirk, co-creator of Mr. Show with Bob and David and Tenacious D.
The show was unconventional for a prime time 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, 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.[1]
After only two VHS/DVD volumes were released,
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
Chris' parents (Fred and Gladys Peterson) are an elderly
In early episodes, Chris wanted little more than to spend his days reliving his childhood with his father and his best friend, Larry Potter (
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
One of the more controversial episodes featured a character named Spewey the Alien (a parody of the films
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, often played by well-recognized character actors from that era (e.g. James Hampton from F Troop and Graham Jarvis from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman). 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 as a backdrop at the end of the show's opening credits was another homage to the genre.[2]
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, the show's creators intended it to be a hopeful story of rebirth, hence the alien's resurrection at the end. However, Peter Chernin, 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." [1].
Reruns
The show was
Home media
Rhino Home Video 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.
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.[2]
Legacy
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". [citation needed]
References
- ^ "Video David Mirkin interview from the out of print Volume 2 DVD".
- ^ a b "DVD Commentary by David Mirkin". Shout ! Factory. September 18, 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
- ^ O'Neil, Shawn (March 30, 2012). "Get A Life: The Complete Series is finally coming to DVD". avclub.com. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ^ Lambert, David (June 8, 2012). "Get a Life – 'The Complete Series' from Shout!: Date, Cost, Package Art". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
- ^ Epstein, Daniel Robert (September 27, 2005). "Chris Elliott interview". suicidegirls.com. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
- ^ a b Crain, Zac (November 25, 1999). "Handsome Dan, Automator Man". Miami New Times. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
- ^ Gothamist article: "Tom Scharpling, Writer, Producer, and Host of the Best Show on WFMU Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine."
External links
- Get a Life at IMDb
- Get a Life on Facebook