Life Goes On: The Complete First Season (1989) Review

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(More customer reviews)Family dramas had existed since the invention of television-but 'Life Goes On' really attempted to deal with real life.
14 years after the passage of laws requiring special education, this was the first series realistically examining a person with a disability as lead character that audiences intentionally were supposed to empathize with.
Nineteen year old Charles "Corky" Thatcher has Downs Syndrome (as does the actor Chris Burke who plays him). Many plots of this award-winning series involved Corky adjusting to being mainstreamed in a regular school after previously having attended a special school.
Younger sister Becca (Kellie Martin-in her breakout role) loves her brother, but also wrestles with her own challenges of wanting to support family while wanting to fit in with her peers who don't take easily to the `weird'. Winning the affections of Tyler Benchfield (Tommy Puett) is her recurring goal throughout the 1989-1990 season. She also gets an EXCELLENT `star' episode in "Becca and the Underground Newspaper" , learning the hard way that publishing everything and anything you find out without first doing fact-checking is irresponsible journalism. Tyler is admittedly hot for the era, but the writers wanted Becca to also be daring.
"Corky for President" is a good episode because Corky runs for president---without realizing that the girl whom he sincerely had a crush on encouraged him to run to only toy with his emotions. She did not feel the same way about him. At the same time, it showed Corky seriously campaigning and sincerely believing that he could be president.
Another memorable episode is "The Baby-sitter" because Corky gets a job as a babysitter, taking care of children. This is important because people with disabilities ourselves are historically portrayed as children, needing other people to take care of us. Corky himself is considered responsible and capable.
"Ordinary Heroes" is a pivotal episode because Drew decides to quit his construction business and instead open up a restaurant. The current owner of the property the Thatchers are interested in won't sell because of Corky's disability, but the Thatcher family restaurant ultimately comes into fruition.
Then, Corky is paired up with none other than Shannen Doherty herself when a teacher has students do a `marriage' project ("Corky's Crush").He subsequently develops a crush on her-while she has the hots for another guy. I still get a kick out of this episode because both Kellie Martin and Doherty now look so different from how they once looked.
"Corky Rebels" is an important episode because it communicates that some families smother their members with disabilities under the guise of protecting them They don't want to acknowledge us as being independent. Corky's `fight the power' act looks somewhat campy now, but ironically aired at a time when disability activists demanded greater freedoms for people with disabilities and passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"The Return of Uncle Richard" reminds us that those upcoming freedoms will not leave the world in a free for all. Drew Thatcher (Bill Smitrovitch) mends fences with his estranged brother Richard so Corky still will have a guardian if something bad were to happen to his parents.
I have a different disability and am a young adult in a much different era, but this series continues to address so many similar issues. It grows ever more relevant for me and other people with disabilities. Many of our experiences continue being reflected in the series scripts without being condescending, overdramatic, or disempowering.
Extras include commentary by both Chris Burke and the series creator Michael Braverman. During this season only, Paige Thatcher, Drew's daughter from a previous marriage, is played by Monique Lanier. This series was good in it's time, but grows ever more cherished with age. It's a scathing indictment of current television that other series have yet to make a similar cultural impact, particularly concerning people with disabilities, our families, and friends.

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This heartwarming family drama broke ground by addressing difficult social issues including Downs Syndrome and AIDS is on DVD for the first time. The show centers around the Thatchers: Drew, Libby, Becca, Paige and Corky.

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Nine to Five (1980) Review

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(More customer reviews)This film is one of the rare achievements in comedy: I can watch this over and over (and I have) and still laugh at the same parts. The jokes never wear out after a viewing or two. That's due in part to the excellent camaraderie between Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. I simply can't imagine this film without any of those three, for they made their roles what it is and the interractions between the three of them are hilarious. Dabney Coleman as their sexist boss with an extremely naive wife is also hilarious as he gets his comeuppance.
Jane Fonda plays a mousy lady who enters the work force after her husband runs off with his secretary. Seeing her flustered by the photocopier is hilarious and it's fun to watch her transformation into a confident lady who can hold her own (gun) against the boss.
Lily Tomlin plays the lady who's been at the company for a long time and is passed over for a rightful promotion because she's a woman. I love her scene when she schemes to steal a body from the hospital, mistakingly thinking it's her boss's dead body. When she's in a doctor's white coat and a candy striper stops her and apologizes when she realizes she's interrupting a doctor, Lily says, "that's right, I'm a doctor...so why the hell am I talking to you?"
Dolly Parton plays the secretary who uses her God-given endowment to humorous effect. Dabney Coleman can't help to push pencil holders off his desk so she can bend down and pick them up while he gets to sneak a peak. It was this film that has made me a lifelong fan of Dolly Parton because I love how she rebukes her boss by telling him that she put up with his behavior because of the way she was brought up and won't tolerate it anymore and if he messes with her, she'll gladly turn him "from a rooster to a hen in one shot!" I especially loves how she tells him, "I never thought I'd live to say this about another human being, but you are evil, that's right, EVIL TO THE CORE!" Yow! She means business, but it only makes the boss more turned on, so she has to back her words with deeds, thus fulfilling her fantasy sequence.
The dream sequences are hilarious and it is interesting to see the way they each come true. I love Lily Tomlin's Disney-esque dream sequence, the one that causes the most problems. While the movie does veer off in a surprising way, and some might say outlandishly unrealistic, and while one reviewer mentioned that it doesn't end with a "big bang", I think the ending was delightfully ironic. The ladies improved the office environment, no one missed the boss, someone even higher up noticed the improvements and justice prevailed. Beautiful!
I was only a kid when I saw this film in theaters and it has been one of few films where the humor never gets old. Anytime I need a laugh, I can rely on this film to provide them despite the numerous times I've seen it. That's a credit to everyone involved in making this film, but most especially to the three actresses who really play well off each other with comedic brilliance! I'm glad they have released a special edition, as I waited to buy it on DVD for just such an edition. Now the long wait is over.

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