In the series premiere, Charles "Corky" Thatcher tries to mainstream in a regular high school with his sister, Becca. But his first few days in Grade 9 take a serious turn when he is accused of ...
Encouraged by Rona Liberman, Corky runs for freshman class president with the help of smart, but very unpopular classmate, Lester. Thinking that Rona likes him, Corky doesn't know he was only ...
In the series finale, Becca, now about 27, tells her son a story about what happened after graduating from high school. Corky doesn't graduate, but says, "I'll be back" while Jesse leaves for Europe,...
A teenage girl sees a photograph of herself one day in the school cafeteria - on a Missing Persons column on the side of a milk carton. But her beloved parents would never kidnap anyone and there's a deeper mystery ahead.
Director:
Waris Hussein
Stars:
Kellie Martin,
Sharon Lawrence,
Edward Herrmann
Slightly offbeat television police comedy-drama. Tony Scali is the Police Commissioner in a small town, where solutions to difficult situations often require considerable creativity. Tony's... See full summary »
Stars:
Michael Chiklis,
Theresa Saldana,
Kaj-Erik Eriksen
After his wife leaves him for his best friend, John Lacey joins the One Two One Club, a support group for divorced and widowed people. The group consists of its fiery British leader Louise,... See full summary »
Kwai Chang Caine was a priest at a Shaolin temple, where his son Peter also lived and studied. The temple was destroyed and father and son each thought the other had perished in the fire. ... See full summary »
Stars:
David Carradine,
Chris Potter,
Richard Anderson
When popular and beautiful cheerleader Stacey is stabbed to death, who could have done it? It could have been asocial Goth girl Monica, it could've been angst-ridden Jill - or maybe it was the plain girl nobody suspected.
In her autobiography, Patti LuPone says she and her co-star Bill Smitrovich, who played her husband in the series, heartily disliked each other, so much so that by the fourth season that they weren't even speaking to each other off the set and that she was amazed the series lasted as long as it did. See more »
Alternate Versions
The Season 1 DVD omits the Beatles' "Ob La Di" as the theme song -- replaced with an original song written for the DVD release -- to avoid the high licensing fees. The one exception is the pilot episode. See more »
"Life Goes On" focused on the daily life of the Thatcher family, particularly Corky (Chris Burke), a young man with Down's Syndrome. When the show began in 1989, 18-year-old Corky was mainstreamed into a normal high school as a freshman, which meant that he was in the same grade as his younger sister Becca (Kellie Martin). At first, Becca was embarrassed about the idea of going to school with her brother, but eventually she accepted him as a fellow high school student (and served as his primary source of emotional support during school). As a developmentally disabled person trying to function in a difficult world, Corky dealt with many struggles and hardships. The show was not all about Corky, of course: viewers also saw the other members of the Thatcher family face their own problems.
In my mind, the most impressive thing about Corky was his optimistic view of life, as well as his perseverance. No matter how many obstacles or drawbacks he faced, Corky always bounced back with a positive attitude. Chris Burke was very realistic in his portrayal of Corky, of course (since Burke actually has Down's Syndrome), but he also made the character very charming and likeable. There was another young person on the show (other than Burke) who showed a lot of promise from the very beginning: Kellie Martin. Even though she was only 13 when the series began, Martin immediately displayed a natural talent for acting. As the character Becca became more confident and mature, Kellie developed into an actress seemingly capable of taking on any dramatic role.
After four years, ABC canceled "Life Goes On" in 1993. The Family Channel and PAX both reran the series, but unfortunately it is not currently on cable. I would love to see reruns of this great show again, particularly on a network like ABC Family (which is the successor to the Family Channel). Also, I think the talented Kellie Martin should star on another TV series, especially since she has not done much acting over the past couple of years (since her two-year stint on "ER" ended in 2000).
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"Life Goes On" focused on the daily life of the Thatcher family, particularly Corky (Chris Burke), a young man with Down's Syndrome. When the show began in 1989, 18-year-old Corky was mainstreamed into a normal high school as a freshman, which meant that he was in the same grade as his younger sister Becca (Kellie Martin). At first, Becca was embarrassed about the idea of going to school with her brother, but eventually she accepted him as a fellow high school student (and served as his primary source of emotional support during school). As a developmentally disabled person trying to function in a difficult world, Corky dealt with many struggles and hardships. The show was not all about Corky, of course: viewers also saw the other members of the Thatcher family face their own problems.
In my mind, the most impressive thing about Corky was his optimistic view of life, as well as his perseverance. No matter how many obstacles or drawbacks he faced, Corky always bounced back with a positive attitude. Chris Burke was very realistic in his portrayal of Corky, of course (since Burke actually has Down's Syndrome), but he also made the character very charming and likeable. There was another young person on the show (other than Burke) who showed a lot of promise from the very beginning: Kellie Martin. Even though she was only 13 when the series began, Martin immediately displayed a natural talent for acting. As the character Becca became more confident and mature, Kellie developed into an actress seemingly capable of taking on any dramatic role.
After four years, ABC canceled "Life Goes On" in 1993. The Family Channel and PAX both reran the series, but unfortunately it is not currently on cable. I would love to see reruns of this great show again, particularly on a network like ABC Family (which is the successor to the Family Channel). Also, I think the talented Kellie Martin should star on another TV series, especially since she has not done much acting over the past couple of years (since her two-year stint on "ER" ended in 2000).