John T. Ryan
WHEN WE THOUGHT of writing a review for this LIFE GOES ON Series, we didn't realize that it had been on for a total of four years. Looking it up in IMDb records refreshed our memory. With all due respect, working on the Police Department, afternoon shift with rotating days off, preempted us from being home every Sunday, when it aired.THE SERIES DELIVERED in the area that it promised. Being a far cry from depictions of "typical" American families from previous times, this story of the Thatcher family; who, like every family, have their share of bumps in the road of life.THE CAST WAS particularly well chosen; as everyone in the "Thatcher family" has both convincing attitude and appearance. The cast consisted of: Bill Mitovich (Drew Thatcher, Father), Patty LuPone, (Libby Thatcher, Mother), Chris Burke, son Corky), Kellie Martin (Becca Thatcher, Daughter) and Tracey Needham (Paige Thatcher, daughter).THE ONGOING STORYLINE chronicled the day to day struggles of the family at all levels. E.G., Father's construction business goes under and he regroups his energies into operating a restaurant. The Mother faces up to the inevitable changes in life as one ages. Becca struggles with the trials of an adolescent's coming of age.BUT THE MOST groundbreaking and innovative element was introduced in the character of Corky. It is that the younger Mr. Thatcher is a Son; who just happens to be a Down Syndrome teen. Actor Chris Burke, who portrayed Corky, is in real life, so afflicted.THERE COULD WELL have been a tendency for the production team to gravitate toward being preachy and maudlin. This they tastefully avoided and instead they gave us a straightforward, bold and realistic dramatization of a family whose love and devotion for each other, holds them together; all the while they were weathering economic chaos, social set backs and coming to grips with with the cold, cruel treatment that some gave to Corky.WHEN ALL IS considered and LIFE GOES ON is evaluated as a complete series, it surely will be rated as an all time top dramatic series! AND TO THINK, it was on ABC, not on that pretentious tax glutton, PBS.Now, what would Newton Minow say?* NOTE * Newton Minow (1926-) a politically active Chicago lawyer, was appointed as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in the Kennedy Administration. In a speech before the National Associatoion of Broadcasters in 1961, he referred to commercial TV as a "vast wasteland."
S.R. Dipaling
This show ran entirely on Sunday evenings at 7:00pm(6:00 pm CST)and while its ratings always kept it on the cutting block--in fact,it seemed like the show wasn't even going to make it to a fourth season,with the network opting to let it run almost in mid-cancellation--the show's fan base and the general reaction to it was almost always positive. As a sibling to someone with a developmental disability(though not Down's Syndrome),I found it quite edifying that a warm,realistic television show that could be best described as a "dramedy" could be made around a person with a disability. The Thatchers have done well raising down syndromed Corky(the wonderful Chris Burke)into a bright,well-meaning and responsible young man. His struggles are actually often in tandem with the struggles of the parents(Bill Smitrovich and Patti Lupone)and the non-disabled but highly different daughters(Kellie MArtin and Paige Needham),rather than the central focus of. Three strong(maybe more like two-and-half)seasons,followed by a forced last season or so may've diluted the full quality of this show,but it was still a pleasure to follow this story and would be intrigued to see these shows again,probably on cable.
jessicad-1
This show was a GREAT show, it was about a middle class American family who had to deal with a great deal of different "drama's" that life threw at them to include everything from business problems (they owned a restaurant) to marital problems, to coping with mainstreaming their son w/ down syndrome, to their daughter being in love with a man who has HIV / AIDS and then eventually what he had to deal with and what they as a couple had to deal with.It was a great show, i was just a kid when it was on, but i just loved it and my family greatly related to it in many ways, my father having a sister who has down syndrome, and us coming from a regular middle class American family who've seen the ups and downs this glorious ever evolving and continuing life has brought us.It wasn't always easy to watch. It wasn't always hard. But it was always consistently a caring, warm, relatively honest depiction of middle class American life at that time.
amber
Life goes on came on TV Land last weekend for a 50th anniversary warner bros. marathon. I was real little when it came on and I don't remember much about it. I watched the two episodes they should and Iloved it. I want Life Goes On to come on t.v. I wish TV Land or Hallmark channel would show it. It is a great show the whole family can enjoy. There are a lot of great characters and stories on there. It is a wholesome, heartwarming show.I also wish it would come on DVD. There is no channel that picks it up at all. Abc Family would even be a good channel. Another Great show that never comes on is MY so called life.