That's Life (2000 TV series)

That's Life
Created by Diane Ruggiero
Starring Heather Paige Kent
Kristin Bauer
Peter Firth
Kevin Dillon
Danielle Harris
Debi Mazar
with Paul Sorvino
and Ellen Burstyn
Composer(s) Jay Gruska
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 36 (4 unaired)
Production
Executive producer(s) Anita W. Addison
Maddy Horne
Lynn Marie Latham
Frank Renzulli
Producer(s) Peter Dunne
W. Mark McNair
Peter Woronov
Running time 60 minutes
Production company(s) Film Noir
Paramount Television
Distributor CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network CBS
Original release October 1, 2000 (2000-10-01) – January 26, 2002 (2002-01-26)

That's Life is an American comedy-drama series created by Diane Ruggiero, that was broadcast on CBS from October 1, 2000 to January 26, 2002.

Synopsis

The hour-long series follows the life of a young Italian-American woman (Lydia DeLucca, played by Heather Paige Kent), loosely based on Ms. Ruggiero's life, and her family in suburban New Jersey. The show was set in fictional Bellefield, ostensibly a play on the combination of Belleville and Bloomfield, two adjacent older working class suburbs on the north side of Newark, New Jersey. The show premièred a year after The Sopranos, also about an Italian-American family set in the New Jersey suburbs. Whereas The Sopranos depicted an organized crime family, however, That's Life was a light-hearted depiction of a law-abiding family (headed by veteran motion picture actors Ellen Burstyn and Paul Sorvino).

In the first season, Frank DeLucca works as a toll collector on the New Jersey Turnpike, while Dolly is a housewife. In the second season, Frank retires after suffering a heart attack on the job, and he and Dolly opens a restaurant. Kevin Dillon played Paulie, Lydia's younger brother who was a young officer on the Bellefield Police Department who still lived at home. Debi Mazar played Jackie, Lydia's wise-cracking friend who owned a hair salon. The show mixed family situations with situations focusing on Lydia's life as a young single woman looking for both love and stable career, and for more out of life than simply raising children.

The first season revolved around the fallout from Lydia's breaking off her engagement to Lou (Sonny Marinelli, who was written out after a few episodes), enrolling at a local university somewhat resembling nearby Montclair State University, and moving away from home for the first time. Most of the situations were light-hearted, but plots occasionally delved into darker subjects, including Paulie's struggle to resist the temptation to fall into corruption as a police officer. In the second season, Lydia finally selects a major to pursue a career in sports medicine. Her mother Dolly successfully ran for city council of Bellefield. Paulie started dating Plum (Danielle Harris), a classmate whom Lydia befriends in the first season, and marries her.[1]

The show developed a small fan base and received generally positive critical response, but languished in the ratings, despite the presence of well-known names in its cast, in part because it aired during the Friday night death slot for much of its run. It was cancelled at the end of the second season with numerous unresolved plot lines, including the budding romance between Lydia and one of her professors.

Cast

TV Ratings

Awards and nominations

Year Award Result Category Recipient
2001 Artios Award Nominated Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Pilot Mary V. Buck and Susan Edelman
2002 Golden Reel Award Best Sound Editing in Television - Music, Episodic Live Action Lisa A. Arpino (For episode "Touched by a Biker")

References

  1. ↑ My source is the episodes themselves. I have watched them, over and over again.
  2. ↑ http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/2002/2002-05-28-year-end-chart.htm
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