Life Goes On

1989

Seasons & Episodes

  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
7.1| 0h30m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 12 September 1989 Ended
Producted By:
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12, 1989, to May 23, 1993. The show centers on the Thatcher family living in suburban Chicago: Drew, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Paige, Rebecca, and Charles, who is known as Corky. Life Goes On was the first television series to have a major character with Down syndrome.

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Reviews

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
bkoganbing As the Beatles hit song Obla Di Obla Da opened Life Goes On with said lyric, it opened on a family show where people looked real and acted real. It was a groundbreaking show in so many ways, not the least of which it had a high functioning Down's Syndrome cast member.Obviously Chris Burke was limited in his casting potential nevertheless a whole group of people suddenly became visible for America. That in and of itself would have made the show landmark.But Life Goes On also had the first person with AIDS as a regular. Chad Lowe younger brother of Brat Pack stalwart Rob Lowe played a kid with AIDS and he was shown firstly as a heterosexual kid who caught the virus. That went a long way in dispelling the myth it was a 'gay disease'. Lowe had as normal life as possible under the circumstances.One aspect of Lowe's character that was not handled well, but quite frankly who knew how to handle it then. In those days it was pretty much of a death sentence eventually. Now with a lot of the advances made in medicine that is no longer the case. But when the series ended somewhat abruptly it was with gloom and foreboding for Chad Lowe's character.The center of the show was Kellie Martin typical American teen who carried a statue of liberty size torch for the high school hunk Tommy Puett. It sadly was never to be for them as Puett's character was killed off in the 3rd season.Reading here that parents Bill Smitrovich and Patty Lupone couldn't stand each other. I suspect that had a lot to do with canceling Life Goes On.But it was good while it lasted.
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.
jakedamstra I couldn't wait to see this show every week. It was one of those things I was looking forward to every day of the week. If I had a bad day, I thought about the fact that the show would be coming on and my day would be better. A series that would make you laugh and cry, depending on the episode. Corky was my hero !!! The fact that he dealt with life the way he dealt with should be an example for everyone. You think you got a bad day ? Put yourself in Corky's shoes. Or his family's for that matter. Not too mention the fact I had a bit of a crush on Kellie Martin...... This is definitely one of those groundbreaking shows that I would watch again. We can all learn from this.
app354 "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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