Life Goes On was a late eighties, early nineties family drama that attempted to break new ground by being the first television show to feature a young man with Down Syndrome as a cast member.
The Thatcher family consists of dad Drew (Bill Smitrovich), mom Libby (Patti LuPone, of Broadway’s Evita fame), teenager Becca (Kellie Martin), Drew’s daughter from a previous marriage, Paige (Monique Lanier), and the most important role of all, Chris Burke as Charles “Corky” Thatcher, the 21-year-old with Down Syndrome. The problems the Thatcher family faces are fairly ordinary and mundane, but are given a different sense of urgency when seen through Corky’s eyes.
In the pilot episode, an excited Corky is ready before everyone else on his first day at younger sister Becca’s school. The young man is being mainstreamed into a regular classroom for the first time. We see Corky’s struggles as he tries to fit in with Becca’s 9th grade class. He struggles with schoolwork, gets bullied, develops a crush, witnesses a crime and participates in the Special Olympics; a place where he seems to feel free to be himself.
The rest of the family faces their own set of problems while lending constant support to Corky. Drew struggles to open a new restaurant, Libby hits the glass ceiling at her ad agency and surprises everyone with the announcement that she’s pregnant, Paige get a job as a veterinary assistant and Becca goes through the trials and tribulations of being a teenager — she finds a boyfriend with a roving eye — and whines about it endlessly.
The first season of Life Goes On is a solid view choice for anyone who may want to learn more about Down Syndrome and some of the issues involved in mainstreaming a child with a disability into a regular classroom. The show is also just a solid family drama and fun way to spend a day for you Kellie Martin fans out there.
The six-DVD set includes all 22 episodes from the shows first season, the screen tests of Bill Smitrovich and Patti LuPone, pilot episode commentary by Chris Burke and series creator Michael Braverman and Laugh’s Go On: A Mini Gag Reel.
The video is presented in standard format with English, French and Spanish subtitles for the episodes only.
Article comments
1 - Ty
"The first season of Life Goes On is a solid view choice for anyone who may want to learn more about Down Syndrome and some of the issues involved in mainstreaming a child with a disability into a regular classroom. The show is also just a solid family drama and fun way to spend a day for you Kellie Martin fans out there."
You are absolutely right. This is the season to watch. You might want to avoid the later seasons with all the Chad Lowe AIDS borefest drama.
Sorry, but even when this show aired in the early 90's, AIDS was a tired subject to portray in a family drama.