Get a Life (1990–1992)

The misadventures of a 30-year-old paper-boy (played by Late Night alum Chris Elliot) and his wacky parents. Such show topics included the eating of a space alien, a robotic paper-boy and ... See full summary »

Creators:

Chris Elliott, David Mirkin, Adam Resnick

Stars:

Chris Elliott, Robin Riker, Elinor Donahue

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Chris Elliott	...	Chris Peterson (35 episodes, 1990-1992)
Robin Riker	...	Sharon Potter (34 episodes, 1990-1992)
Elinor Donahue	...	Gladys Peterson (34 episodes, 1990-1992)
Bob Elliott	...	Fred Peterson (34 episodes, 1990-1992)
Sam Robards	...	Larry Potter (23 episodes, 1990-1991)
Taylor Fry	...	Amy Potter (16 episodes, 1990-1992)
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Gus Borden (13 episodes, 1990-1992)
Brady Bluhm	...	Bobby Potter (13 episodes, 1990-1991)

Storyline

The misadventures of a 30-year-old paper-boy (played by Late Night alum Chris Elliot) and his wacky parents. Such show topics included the eating of a space alien, a robotic paper-boy and numerous beheadings. Get a Life was also one of the first television shows that featured the killing of the star of the show.

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Plot Keywords:

dying repeatedly | surrealism | paperboy | real life father and son playing father and son | sitcom | 

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Taglines:

America's Favorite Psycho

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 September 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Búscate la vida

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elliottland Productions, Mirkinvision, New World Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (35 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The series was briefly rerun on USA Network in 2000. But all of the songs including the theme song "Stand" by R.E.M. were replaced with generic music due to licensing issues. When David Mirkin saw the episodes, he demanded that they be removed. Music licensing issues are what prevented the complete series from being released on DVD until 2012.

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Quotes

Chris Peterson: [to a rival in his male modeling class] What's that? You had a *butt* lift?

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Connections

Referenced in American Pie (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Stand"
Performed by R.E.M.
Written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe

User Reviews

Totally Awesome

Somewhere in the early nineties a Dutch TV station bought a dozen of episodes of Get a Life and it was one of the funniest, if not THE funniest thing I have ever seen. I remember a few years later I even wrote to the TV station to beg for reruns (but never heard from them). Apparently not many people (in the Netherlands) liked it. The funny thing is though, that the good friends I have had, when I mentioned Get a Life, they have freaked out; they say it's one of the best things they ever saw! So do I have a specific taste in friends? :-) Weird! I am currently trying to get it from the U.S. on DVD cos needless to say it's not released in Europe. I so hope I get it cos it was so awesome! Everybody should watch it at least once when given the chance cos it's quite unique and if it IS your kind of thing, you probably will never see anything funnier.